SPOTLIGHT

• Film

  

  The Latest: Portman female Thor in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

  SAN DIEGO (AP) --Thor is going to be a woman played by Natalie Portman in the fourth installment in the series about the god of Thunder.  Director Taika Waititi dropped the hammer on the Hall H audience Saturday at Comic-Con. Portman played the character Jane in the first two Thor movies. Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Waititi have revealed the title and logo. "Thor: Love and Thunder'' is set for release on Nov. 2, 2021.  Waititi says he was inspired by the comic source mater

• Industry

  

  Hyundai Mobis develops camera system to replace side mirrors

  Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's largest auto parts maker, said Sunday it has developed a camera monitoring system that will replace side-view mirrors in next-generation vehicles. Three high-performance camera sensors inside the vehicle will not only increase driving safety by significantly reducing blind spots, and but also improve fuel efficiency as side-view mirrors will be hidden inside the car, Hyundai Mobis said in a statement. "The paradigm shift to the future car is demanding both f

• Golf

  

  Golf-Korean duo An and Park on the rise at British Open

  South Korea's An Byeong-hun roared up the British Open leaderboard as he picked up three strokes by the halfway stage of his third round on Saturday.With the leading pairs still to tee off on a pleasant day on the Antrim coast, An made headway as he got himself to five under, just three off the lead held jointly by Ireland's Shane Lowry and American J.B. Holmes.An, who carded a four-under 67 on Friday, gathered birdies at the second, fourth, fifth and eighth to jump 20 places up the leaderboard

• Social affairs

  

  Free film screenings to be held under Han River bridges

  Free film screenings, including renowned film director Bong Joon-ho’s movies, will be held under three bridges across the Han River and a park in Seoul on Saturday evenings.  As part of the annual Han River Under the Bridge Film Festival, 23 movies spanning five themes will be screened free of charge at 8 p.m. on Saturdays from July 20 to Aug. 17, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The four locations are Cheonho Bridge in Gwangnaru; Cheongdam Bridge in Ttukseom; Wonhyo Br

LATEST NEWS

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  Social affairs

  3.9 magnitude quake detected in central S. Korea

  A 3.9 magnitude earthquake struck the central South Korean city of Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Sunday, the weather agency said.The quake occurred at 11:04 a.m. in Sangju, 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The agency said it will announce additional information after manually analyzing the tremor. (Yonhap)

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  Economy

  Investors pour money into short-term vehicles amid low rates, uncertainty

  Investors have increasingly shifted their money to short-term financial instruments, such as money market funds, amid low interest rates and growing economic uncertainties, data showed Sunday. Money market funds are short-term debt securities such as Treasury bills and commercial papers. They are widely considered to be as safe as bank deposits while providing a higher return. The net asset value of MMFs came to 120.18 trillion won ($102 billion) as of Wednesday, breaching the 120 trillion-won t

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  Social affairs

  Damage from cryptocurrency-related crimes estimated at 2.7 tr won

  The financial damage caused by cryptocurrency-related crimes reached nearly 2.7 trillion ($2.3 billion) over the past two years, government data showed Sunday. The financial loss of scams and fraud involving cryptocurrencies came to 2.69 trillion won between July 2017 and June 2019, according to the data from the justice ministry. The ministry said 132 cryptocurrency-related criminals and fraudsters have been indicted and detained, with another 288 indicted without physical detention over the ci

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  Foreign Policy

  US security adviser Bolton heads for S. Korea, Japan amid trade row

  US National Security Adviser John Bolton left for South Korea and Japan on Saturday, a US official said, amid a growing trade dispute between Seoul and Tokyo over wartime forced labor. White House National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said on Twitter that Bolton "departed today for Japan and South Korea to continue conversations with critical allies and friends." The visit by Bolton to South Korea and Japan came a day after US President Donald Trump said he is willing, if

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  Foreign Policy

  Trump offers to help ease tension in Japan-South Korea dispute

  WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump on Friday offered to help ease tensions in the political and economic dispute between Japan and South Korea, which threatens global supplies of memory chips and smartphones.Lingering tension, particularly over the issue of compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese occupiers during World War Two, took a turn for the worse this month when Japan restricted exports of high-tech materials to South Korea.The United States has bee

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  World News

  Hong Kong police seize explosives as rival camps rally

  HONG KONG (AP) -- Police in Hong Kong discovered a stash of a powerful homemade explosive as the semi-autonomous Chinese city readied for another major pro-democracy protest on Sunday following a pro-Beijing rally that attracted thousands.Police said they found about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP and arrested a man in a raid on a commercial building late Friday night. TATP, or tri-acetone tri-peroxide, has been used in terrorist attacks worldwide.Materials voicing opposition to an extradition

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  Social affairs

  Tour agency sells trips to Pyongyang for soccer match between Koreas

  A tour agency specializing in trips to North Korea has launched the sale of a tour package to Pyongyang for a rare World Cup qualification soccer match between South and North Korea, its website showed Saturday.In a recent draw, the two Koreas were placed in the same group for the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.South Korea is to play North Korea in an away match in October and expectations are growing that the game could take place in the North's capital of Pyongyang. 

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  Foreign Policy

  S. Korea, US mulling renaming next month's joint military exercise

  South Korea and the United States have been considering staging a joint military exercise next month as scheduled, but under a different name, sources said Sunday, amid warnings from North Korea that the drill could affect its nuclear talks with Washington. The allies were known to have planned to conduct the summertime exercise, named 19-2 Dong Maeng, to verify Seoul's operational capabilities for its envisioned retaking of wartime operational control of its troops from Washington. But they are

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  North Korea

  FAO predicts food shortages in N. Korea will worsen in Q3

  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations forecast North Korea will suffer worsened food shortages in the third quarter, the Radio Free Asia reported Saturday. In its quarterly Early Warning Early Action food security and agriculture report, the FAO reportedly placed North Korea among nine countries at "high risk" of food crises. The report picked drought and African swine fever virus as major factors that threaten the North's food security. The eight other high-risk

• 

  Technology

  Memory chip prices jump following Japan export curbs

  Major memory chip prices have jumped 25 percent in the past two weeks following Japan's restrictions on exports of high-tech materials to South Korea, industry data showed Saturday.  The prices of dynamic random-access memory chips jumped by up to 25 percent to $3,736 on Friday from $3,030 on July 5, one day after Japan's announcement on export curbs. Those of NAND flash memory chips rose by up to 6.1 percent to $2,493 from $2,350 during the same period, according to global market research

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  America’s immediate challenge in Persian Gulf is maritime security

  Here’s the most intriguing fact about Iran’s apparent seizure Saturday of a small oil tanker about 385 kilometers northwest of here: Thus far, it has brought only a muted response from the United Arab Emirates, in whose waters the vessel had been operating, and from the United States, which is quietly organizing a multinational effort to protect shipping in the Persian Gulf. If this were a boxing match, you’d say that the United States is trying to let Iran punch itself out. Th

• Columnists

  

  South Korean military lowers guards against North prematurely

  South Korea currently ranks 12th in terms of economic power of nations. It ranks a little higher in international researchers’ comparison of military strength. The oft-quoted Global Fire Power website listed the Republic of Korea as seventh in the world in its 2019 report. Based on a total of 55 metrics -- including weapons diversity, total population, military manpower and financial capabilities -- the GFP index covering 137 countries put South Korea below the US, Russia, China, India, Fr

THE INVESTOR

• Startups & Investors

  

  Priceza CEO hopes to change Thailand’s e-commerce landscape

  BANGKOK -- Southeast Asia has been one of the hottest destinations for venture investors and startups in recent years. Its combined population of almost 700 million offers opportunities for businesses ranging from e-commerce to mobility services. Thanawat Malabuppha, co-founder and CEO of Priceza, a shopping search engine and comparison platform in Thailand, said the e-commerce markets of Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries have huge potential due to their sheer size. But he warned that

• Bio & Medicine

  

  Celltrion establishes JV with Nan Fung Group to enter China

  Celltrion announced July 19 that it has established the joint venture Vcell Healthcare in Shanghai with Hong Kong-based conglomerate Nan Fung Group to make a foray into China.Established in 1954, Nan Fung Group’s businesses range from real estate development to life sciences.“We are now one step closer to entering the Chinese market,” Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin said in a statement. “We will work hard to provide Celltrion’s biosimilar products, which are recogni

• Bio & Medicine

  

  HanAll Biopharma invests W5.6b in Roivant Sciences’ subsidiary

  HanAll Biopharma, a subsidiary of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, invested 5.6 billion won ($4.76 million) in Switzerland-based biotech startup Roivant Sciences’ subsidiary Immunovant Sciences, according to industry sources on July 19.In return, the Korean company gained a stake in Immunovant Sciences. Industry sources viewed the move as a strategic investment, as HanAll’s drug candidate HL161, licensed out to Roivant, has been showing progress in development. HanAll recently received

• Startups & Investors

  

  Italy launches startup acceleration program in Seoul

  The Embassy of Italy in Korea and Italian Trade Agency have launched a startup program called Startup Erasmus in Seoul to nurture Italian startups and promote cooperation between businesses from both countries.Under the program, three preselected startups from Italy -- Geeks Academy Europe, Mash & Co and Nettoon -- will stay in Seoul for two to three months and seek partnerships with Korean companies and investors.“The cooperation between startups from Italy and South Korea in the fiel

K-POP HERALD

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  Kang Daniel ready to step back into spotlight

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  Meet songwriting duo behind Red Velvet’s ‘Zimzalabim’

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  We hope to become a band that sings every moment’: DAY6

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Technology

  

  How Facebook addresses beautification

• Finance

  

  Mirae Asset stands tall on Wall St. amid strong rivals

• More sports

  

  Diver Woo Ha-ram eyes 1st medal after strong performance in preliminaries

• Life&Style

  

  Chef goes on shining without star

PHOTO NEWS

• Social affairs

  

  Where startup dreams come true

  With an aim to nurture startups and create an environment where startups can thrive, Seoul Metropolitan Government established Seoul Startup Hub in 2017. It’s designed as a place where investors, conglomerates, startups and consumers can interact and build networks. Seoul Startup Hub has since become a platform to help Koreans make their dreams of launching startups come true -- from planning to implementing their ideas -- as it provides professional consulting, lectures and prog

VIDEO

• Food

  

  Behind jewelry shops, pairing pork, kimchi and oysters in Jongno

• Food

  

  Tender, sweet spareribs at Seongsu-dong

• Social affairs

  

  Partisanship pauses for Lee Hee-ho’s funeral

• Industry

  

  Big buyer NHIS signals real estate market trend shift

FEATURES

• Industry

  

  Calm, steady approach needed to tackle Japan’s export curbs: SK chief Chey

  KCCI chief urges political unity to support Moon on trade dispute 　

• Economy

  

  ‘Sagging economy’ faces 2nd rebound in dollar, oil

  SEJONG -- Prices of the US dollar and gasoline directly affect a large proportion of South Korean businesses and households in terms of manufacturing costs and purchasing power.While monetary authorities sometimes have intervened in the foreign exchange market and hamper the cheap dollar in an attempt to promote exports, the greenback’s current strong position versus the Korean won suggests the local economy has been sagging.Simultaneously, a hike in international prices of crude oil, whic

• Economy

  

  Portion of pessimists over economy hits record: poll

  SEJONG -- A large proportion of self-employed people have closed their businesses and joined the growing number of jobless people over the past two years. Simultaneously, the state payment of unemployment benefits has climbed to an all-time high.The Moon government started providing some young jobless people with 3 million won ($2,540) for six months per individual, while the number of people who lost jobs has been drastically increasing among those in their early 50s, 40s and late 30s. The

• Technology

  

  KT seeks to leverage 5G tech in global fight against diseases

  　After South Korea became the first country to launch commercial service for the fifth-generation network in April, hopes are high that the hyperspeed network will transform everyday lives. 　Ranging from ultrafast downloading of lengthy movies to driving autonomous vehicles on connected urban highways, the 5G network is expected to enable futuristic technologies. 　With telecom companies around the world seeking to maximize benefits of the advanced network technology, Korea’s leading mobile