SPOTLIGHT

• Music

  

  BLACKPINK surpasses 20 mln YouTube subscribers

  South Korean girl group BLACKPINK has topped 20 million in the number of subscribers to its official YouTube channel, the first for a K-pop act. The group hit the milestone Thursday (US time) to become the first K-pop act to do so, US Billboard magazine said. The number was 20,307,402 as of Sunday morning."This week, YouTube announced that the girl group is the first K-pop act to hit 20 million subscribers on their official channel," the magazine reported. "The recent Billboard cover stars are j

• Television

  

  Meet mastermind behind the original ‘Masked Singer’

  Fashion designer Hwang Jae-keun talks making masks, US version, fashion advice

• World News

  

  Polls open in first Thai general election since 2014 coup

  BANGKOK, March  24, 2019 (AFP) - Polls opened Sunday for the first Thai election since a 2014 coup, with a high turnout expected among a public who received a cryptic last-minute warning from the Thai king to support "good" leaders to prevent "chaos."All television stations repeated the rare statement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn moments before polls opened across a politically turbulent country.Sunday's election pits a royalist junta and its allies against the election-winning machine of billion

• Social affairs

  

  Koreans remember prominent independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun

  　A memorial service was held Saturday to remember a prominent anti-Japanese Korean independence fighter, with North Korea‘s Catholic Church also delivering a eulogy to Ahn Jung-geun (1877-1910).　This year marks the 109th anniversary of the death of Ahn, one of Korea’s most honored independence fighters who assassinated the Korean Peninsula‘s first Japanese governor-general, Hirobumi Ito, in Harbin, China, in October 1909. Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun (Yonhap)　  The assassination was

LATEST NEWS

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  Defense

  Pyongyang’s silence sheds doubt on inter-Korean military talks

  Prospects are grim for the two Koreas to hold military talks this month, as the North appears to have closed up on all inter-Korean cooperation plans following the breakdown of its second summit with the United States last month. The Ministry of National Defense here said Sunday it recently proposed to hold military talks with the North via a communications line, but it had not received confirmation. Seoul has been pushing to hold military talks before the end of this month, as the implementatio

• 

  World News

  Barr preparing a summary of Mueller report's key conclusions

  WASHINGTON (AP) _ Attorney General William Barr scoured special counsel Robert Mueller's confidential report on the Russia investigation with his advisers, deciding how much Congress and the American public will get to see about the two-year probe into President Donald Trump and Moscow's efforts to elect him.Barr was on pace to release his first summary of Mueller's findings on Sunday, people familiar with the process said.The attorney general's decision on what to finally disclose seems almost

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  Industry

  Overcoming Elliott hurdle, Hyundai heir tightens grip over W220tr empire

  In a crushing victory over US hedge fund, Chung cements his leadership -- but is a bigger battle ahead?

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  Industry

  Korea widens tax evasion crackdown on ‘Seungri scandal’

  South Korea’s tax authorities have launched an industrywide tax evasion probe into local entertainment and nightclub businesses, fueled by scores of allegations surrounding K-pop star Seungri’s sex bribery scandal. The National Tax Service said Friday it had launched a crackdown on 21 nightlife businesses suspected of evading taxes. The NTS is to cooperate with prosecutors on obtaining warrants for search and confiscation, it added.  (Yonhap)Though the NTS has yet to confirm, industry watchers s

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  Social affairs

  Seungri saga grows amid police corruption, supposed link with the mob

  Recently retired K-pop singer Seungri on Saturday denied that he was involved in the operation of the Burning Sun nightclub or that he brokered prostitution for his investors. But new revelations by local media are increasing the pressure on the singer, alleging connection between the disgraced celebrity, local law enforcement, and a Taiwanese mogul believed to be related to a Chinese Triad gang. In an interview with Korean daily the Chosun Ilbo, Seungri reiterated his previous claim that he was

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  North Korea

  N. Korean media keeps silence on pullout from liaison office for 3rd day

  North Korean media continued to criticize Seoul's low-key stance toward practical cooperation with Pyongyang on Sunday while keeping mum for the third day on its abrupt withdrawal of staff from a liaison office with the South.North Korea pulled out of the inter-Korean liaison office in its border city of Kaesong on Friday without offering any detailed reasons, weeks after a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended without an agreement. (Yonhap)Pyo

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  Social affairs

  Police raid surgeon's office in possible probe against Samsung heiress

  The police raided a plastic surgery clinic on Saturday in a possible probe into allegations that Lee Boo-jin, a daughter of Samsung Group patriarch Lee Kun-hee, may have abused an addictive substance.Investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency raided the clinic in Seoul's plush Gangnam area.The police earlier said they were simply checking facts regarding the drug abuse allegation brought up by a local news outlet.(Yonhap)Reports suggested Lee, currently the chief executive officer o

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  Baseball

  4 games sell out on S. Korean baseball's Opening Day

  　The new season in South Korean professional baseball began Saturday, with four of the five games played before sellout crowds.　The Korea Baseball Organization opened its 38th season, with all 10 clubs in action.　Changwon NC Park in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, hosted its first regular season game as the brand new home for the NC Dinos. All 22,112 tickets for the tilt between the Dinos and the Samsung Lions sold out last Saturday, the league office said.(Yonhap)　The first home ru

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  North Korea

  N. Korea's top envoys to China, UN arrive in Beijing

  North Korea’s ambassadors to China and the United Nations arrived in Beijing on Saturday, five days after they returned to Pyongyang. 　North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae-ryong and Ambassador to the UN Kim Song were seen at Beijing Capital International Airport earlier in the day after boarding an Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang.  (Yonhap)　Their visit to Pyongyang could have been aimed at attending an annual meeting of the North‘s overseas diplomatic mission chiefs, a source said. But the No

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  Social affairs

  Ex-vice minister barred from leaving Korea amid sex crime probe

  Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui has been barred from traveling overseas amid a fresh probe into allegations of a sex crime in 2013, officials said Saturday. 　Kim, who retired from public service in March 2013 amid allegations that he attended a sex party hosted by local contractor Yoon Jung-cheon at his villa in Wonju, 120 kilometers east of Seoul, had attempted to leave South Korea on Friday at Incheon International Airport, according to officials at the justice ministry. 　The ministry

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  China’s electric cars hit potholes

  For several days last week, the often distressingly poor quality of China’s electric cars was a leading topic across Chinese media. According to one survey ricocheting across the web, nearly 70 percent of respondents said they regretted buying a new-energy vehicle. Many expected the industry to be targeted in China’s wildly popular “Consumer Rights Day” gala television special, which shames corporate giants for service and quality lapses. While privacy-invading tech companies were harangued inst

• Columnists

  

  Kazakh strongman shows Putin a path for staying in power

  Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan since 1990, announced that he is stepping down at age 78. The way he is ostensibly relinquishing power could be an example for a younger counterpart and, in some ways, faithful student: President Vladimir Putin of Russia.Post-Soviet Central Asian dictators don’t resign. The first presidents of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, who, like Nazarbayev, ascended to their posts while the Soviet Union still existed, died in office, leaving behind regimes rem

THE INVESTOR

• Automobiles

  

  Overcoming Elliott hurdle, Hyundai heir tightens grip over W220tr empire

  In a crushing victory over US hedge fund, Chung cements his leadership -- but is a bigger battle ahead?Tension ran high early Friday morning, just before Hyundai Motor’s annual general shareholders meeting at the carmaker’s headquarters in Yangjae, southern Seoul, and it showed on the faces of the executives.Highlighted in the media weeks earlier, the second battle between the South Korean auto giant and the US hedge fund Elliott was a must-win for Hyundai Motor, which had already suffered big a

• Automobiles

  

  Jaguar Land Rover Korea introduces upgraded Velar

  Automobile lovers in South Korea are about to be presented a feast for the eyes with a luxury crossover SUV built with a V8 supercharged engine and diamond-quilted leather interior.Jaguar Land Rover Korea will launch the Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition at the Seoul Motor Show, set to begin on March 29 at Kintex.  Range Rover Velar SVA-DThe new Range Rover Velar SVA-D has been dubbed the top Velar model produced by Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations team. It is an optimized

• Economy

  

  Korea widens tax evasion crackdown on ‘Seungri scandal’

  South Korea’s tax authorities have launched an industrywide tax evasion probe into local entertainment and nightclub businesses, fueled by scores of allegations surrounding K-pop star Seungri’s sex bribery scandal. The National Tax Service said on March 22 it had launched a crackdown on 21 nightlife businesses suspected of evading taxes. The NTS is to cooperate with prosecutors on obtaining warrants for search and confiscation, it added. Though the NTS has yet to confirm, industry watchers say t

• LG

  

  Most LG businesses to fully adopt cloud services in 5 years: LG CNS

  More than 90 percent of LG businesses structure will be transformed into the environment powered by cloud computing system within the year of 2023, the conglomerate’s information and technology solution provider said. During a press conference held in Seoul on March 22, LG CNS said it will assume a “central role” in introducing clouding service all across LG business units. The company said it would provide a clouding service platform applicable to every LG unit by the first half of this year.St

K-POP HERALD

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  ‘I have no regrets’: Holland on world tour, BTS’s UN speech, and coming out to family

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  YG CEO survives no-confidence vote

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  Twitter CEO: ‘Authentic’ K-pop stars more successful

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Social affairs

  

  Blaming China doesn’t help combat fine dust: GGGI director

• Finance

  

  Yulchon M&A lawyer predicts ‘new wave’ in Indonesia

• Food

  

  Chef Akira comes back to Seoul

• Industry

  

  Unity goes beyond games to cars, AI, VR

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  The history beneath our feet

  History is closer to people’s lives than in the musty pages of old books. In the ultra-modern metropolis of Seoul, there is a place where a step into the lower ground of a high-rise office building can pull one into the city’s past, dating back to the 16th century. It is Gongpyeong Historic Site Museum, a 3,817-square-meter space in the underground floor of Centropolis office building in Gongpyeong-dong, central Seoul -- the biggest historic site unearthed in Seoul to date.  (Park Hyun-koo/The K

VIDEO

• Industry

  

  Seoul Square, witness to Seoul’s economic history

• North Korea

  

  Hanoi welcomes US, N. Korean leaders

• Social affairs

  

  Violence erupts at Liberty Korea Party national convention as union stages surprise protest

• Social affairs

  

  Inside dog farm in Korea

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  Workers more likely to call out abuse in wake of 2016 candlelight vigils

  7 in 10 workers say they experienced workplace harassment in 2017: survey

• Industry

  

  Korea’s peeping Tom dilemma: Are censors getting too much power?

  Controversy erupts over government's method of blocking ‘illegal’ websites

• Industry

  

  Booyoung’s real estate dilemma on acquiring Samsung assets

  The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles and videos about some of the most expensive and fascinating landmark office buildings in Seoul. -- Ed. Defining the symbolic cityscape of Seoul is Sejong Main Street, a 10-lane road that runs across the downtown area, stretching from Seoul Station to Gwanghwamun Square. Halfway along this main road, just north of Sungnyemun, the southern gate of Seoul, is the “Taepyeong-ro zone,” location of landmark buildings such as the palace Deoksugun

• Social affairs

  

  Delinquency among self-employed gets critical

  SEJONG -- A string of business closures of small enterprises -- particularly the self-employed -- has been increasingly drawing attention since last year amid the sluggish economy.Their financial difficulty, in line with the drastic hike in minimum wage and weak consumer sentiment, is also seen from the lending data of commercial banks. Aside from the first-tier financial firms, a large portion of the self-employed were found to have borrowed from second-tier lenders.According to the Bank of Kor