SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  Matchmaker survey reveals changing criteria for ‘ideal’ marriage partners

  Age is not as important as it used to be for single South Koreans seeking marriage partners, a survey revealed Wednesday. Rather, a person’s family background is getting more emphasis than in previous years, according to matchmaking company Duo, which carried out the nationwide survey of 1,000 single Korean men and women between the ages of 25 and 39. Korea’s biggest matchmaking company conducted the survey Nov. 1-15, questioning 489 men and 511 women.According to Duo’s findings, an ideal husban

• Arts&Design

  

  Artist Jun So-jung wins 18th Hermes Foundation Missulsang

  Korean artist Jun So-jung has been selected as the winner of the 18th Hermes Foundation Missulsang, the foundation announced Wednesday.Jun made her name with narrative-focused works of art using various mediums, including photography, installations and video. Her works often include real-life stories of individuals she comes across, framing them in relation to other existing texts and stage works. Artist Jun So-jung (Atelier Hermes)Jun won the Noon Award at the Gwangju Biennale in 2016 the grand

• Music

  

  Troye Sivan to hold Seoul concert in April

  Singer-songwriter Troye Sivan will hold his first solo concert in Korea in April.　Live Nation Korea announced Wednesday that Sivan will come to Korea as part of his world tour titled “The Bloom Tour.” He will perform at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul on April 27. (Live Nation Korea)This will be Sivan’s second visit to Korea after his performance at the Jisan Valley Music & Arts Festival in 2016.Sivan will also tour other Asian countries, including Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines, from A

• Social affairs

  

  131 sex offenders dismissed from child-related facilities

  A total of 131 sex offenders have been dismissed from facilities related to children, such as schools or hospitals, the government said Tuesday. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, inspecting over 300,000 facilities including schools, day care centers, kindergartens, study centers and hospitals, from July to September discovered 131 sex criminals working at 132 facilities. Among them, 45 were working at sports-related facilities, 26 in private education facilities and 21 in game-related

LATEST NEWS

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  Foreign Affairs

  Top diplomats of S. Korea, India agree on arms industry cooperation, people-to-people exchanges

  The top diplomats of South Korea and India agreed Wednesday to enhance cooperation in the arms industry and expand people-to-people exchanges, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj held their joint committee meeting in New Delhi to evaluate bilateral ties and cooperation in various areas, including the economy, science and technology, the ministry said in a press release. (Yonhap)The two sides agreed to continuously consult over ho

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  Film

  ‘Mal-Mo-E’ has heart, comedy, great characters and a beautiful story

  A disclaimer: It is possible that bias may have influenced this reviewer’s opinion that Eom Yu-na’s directorial debut, “Mal-Mo-E: The Secret Mission,” is one of the best films of the decade. Depictions of the people who fought to keep the nation’s spirit alive against foreign suppression always stirs patriotism in the hearts of South Koreans.But as someone who found the 2015 film “Assassination” a bit clunky and 2014’s “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” a bit too emotional, I can confidently say th

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  Foreign Affairs

  Defense officials of S. Korea, China hold working-level talks over bilateral cooperation

  Defense officials of South Korea and China held working-level talks over ways to enhance bilateral cooperation and exchanges in Beijing on Wednesday, Seoul's defense ministry said.During the 17th round of bilateral policy consultations, Lee Won-ik, director general of international policy at the Ministry of National Defense, and his Chinese counterpart Song Yan Chao discussed exchanges of high-level officials to strengthen "strategic communication" and other issues, the ministry said. (Ministry

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  Social affairs

  Taxi drivers to hold massive protest against Kakao carpool service

  About 100,000 taxi drivers will gather at Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday afternoon for a massive protest against Kakao’s carpool service, taxi unions said Wednesday. The drivers also warned that they might surround the National Assembly with their taxis. Amid the ongoing conflict between the taxi industry and Korea’s tech giant Kakao, taxi drivers have organized multiple protests urging the company to abandon its carpool business plans. The recent death of a 57-year-old taxi driver, who set himself on

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  Social affairs

  Korea to accept 56,000 foreign workers in 2019

  South Korea will accept 56,000 foreign workers under the Employment Permit System in 2019, the same number as this year, in a bid to relieve a labor shortage in the country. The government decided on the job quotas Tuesday at a meeting chaired by Noh Hyeong-ouk of the Office for Government Policy Coordination.  (Yonhap)Under the plan, Korea will accept 43,000 newcomers and 13,000 returnees -- 2,000 fewer newcomers than in 2018 and 2,000 more returnees. Under the EPS, a foreign worker can work in

• Automode

  Hyundai Capital’s car-sharing platform Delivery Car launches

  Hyundai Capital said Wednesday it has officially launched its car sharing platform Delivery Car on Dec. 7 after running a beta service since September last year.The platform allows customers to have vehicles delivered at a time and place of their choice and to return the car at any location of their choice. The company has partnered with some 200 small and midsized rental car companies nationwide for the service.Since running the beta service, the company has made significant improvements in ser

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  Social affairs

  Korea ranks 115th in gender gap ranking last year

  　The level of economic participation and opportunity of South Korean women is well below the world average, ranking the country No. 115 out of 149 countries in terms of gender equality, according to a report from the World Economic Forum.　The forum‘s Global Gender Gap Report 2018 said South Korea’s gender gap index was 0.657, compared to 0.673 for China and 0.662 for Japan, which ranked Nos. 103 and 110, respectively.　The annual report uses the Global Gender Gap Index to see how countries compar

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  Industry

  Daewoo E&C continues to expand CSR activities

  Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., a major South Korean builder, has been expanding its corporate social responsibility programs for people with disabilities and other disadvantages ever since 2012.The company has operated CSR programs since 2007, initially involving only volunteer groups within its staff. But six years ago, it expanded its CSR activities to involve all employees in every one of its departments and business units. Daewoo E&C workers and their families paint murals in Seoul a

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  Industry

  Korea gears up for expansion of eco-friendly vehicles

  South Korea aims to have 430,000 electric cars and 65,000 hydrogen-fueled cars on local roads by 2022, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Tuesday.This is a big jump from previous targets, which were 350,000 electric cars and 15,000 hydrogen-fueled cars in four years. For the same period, the ministry also raised the target for exports of electric cars sevenfold to 250,000 and hydrogen-fueled cars by seventeen times to 5,000. With these adjusted targets, the government sai

• Columnists

  Must-reads of 2018: Poker, politics and, yes, Bob Dylan

  Most lists of the year’s best books reflect the personal tastes of those who produce them. This list is different. It’s entirely objective. What unites these five books is that nothing is rote or by-the-numbers about them. Each of them crackles with a kind of demonic energy.“A Crisis of Beliefs: Investor Psychology and Financial Fragility,” by Nicola Gennaioli and Andrei Shleifer.What caused the financial crisis of 2008? What’s likely to cause future crises? Gennaioli and Shleifer offer an origi

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Top objectionables in Moon’s policy thrust in 2018

  As the year’s end draws near, people tend to be more contemplative, looking back on and appraising what happened in 2018, the second year of President Moon Jae-in’s leftist rule. In my own journalistic perception, there was a rapid buildup of disappointment with the president and his staff during the year mainly in reaction to the two major directions of policy thrusts, one designed to improve workers’ lives and the other to settle wrongdoings by past powers. Key economic measures misfired, and

• Columnists

  

  Studies show Russia used internet to perfect its dark arts

  Imagine American politics for a moment as a laboratory experiment. A foreign adversary (let’s call it “Russia”) begins to play with the subjects, using carrots and sticks to condition their behavior. The adversary develops tools to dial up anger and resentment inside the lab bubble, and even recruits unwitting accomplices to perform specific tasks. This 21st-century political dystopia isn’t drawn from a “spec script” that just landed in Hollywood. It’s a summary of two reports on Russia’s Intern

THE INVESTOR

• Samsung

  

  OLED display gains momentum in smartphone market

  OLED displays are rapidly gaining market share in the global smartphone industry, crossing the 60 percent threshold in the July-September period, according to a report on Dec. 17.The market share of OLEDs by revenue, which was 35 percent in the first quarter last year, has been increasing with major smartphone companies, including Apple and Huawei, competitively adopting the self-luminous displays for their flagship models.Sales of the entire smartphone display market in the third

• Mobile & Internet

  

  SK hynix to build new DRAM plant in Korea

  SK hynix on Dec. 19 broke ground for its new semiconductor factory M16 in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. The company plans to invest 15 trillion won (US$13.30 million) for constructing the new chip manufacturing site. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-wonThe plant, which will be built on a 53,000-square-meter land, is expected to roll out 1z nanometer DRAM chips based on extreme ultraviolet lithography, which helps create ultrafine patterns of circuitries on wafers.In the chip segment, the l

• Economy

  

  BTS to outpace PyeongChang Winter Olympics’ economic impact

  K-pop sensation BTS is forecast to generate 56 trillion won (US$49.70 billion) in economic benefits over the next 10 years, outpacing the 41.6 trillion won impact of this year’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics, according to the latest report of Hyundai Research Institute on Dec. 19. The local think tank’s report, titled Economic impact of BTS, estimated that the seven-member boy band’s production inducement and added value will reach 4.14 trillion won and 1.42 trillion won, respective

• Finance

  

  Hana Financial launches corporate VC

  Hana Financial Group said on Dec. 29 it has set up a corporate venture capital unit focusing on information technology and health care. Its 12th subsidiary Hana Ventures plans to kick off the 100 billion won (US$88.90 million) Fourth Industrial Revolution Fund in the first quarter of 2019 and operate 1 trillion won worth funds by 2021. “As Korea’s economy depends on small and medium enterprises and venture firms, we will not hesitate to invest and support them through Hana Venture

K-POP HERALD

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  NCT Dream up next for S.M. Station

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  'Encounter' reclaims TV chart throne

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  Stars on cover of ‘Arena Homme Plus’

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  ‘Investing in Ukraine’s IT, agriculture offers high returns’

• Fashion

  

  ‘I do not paint to be an artist, but to make clothes’

• Music

  

  ‘I learned how to love my fate’: Sohee of Elris

• Industry

  

  ‘Automation won’t reduce jobs but workers need to be protected in digital era’

PHOTO NEWS

• Arts&Design

  

  Photographer’s journey highlights beauty of Korean porcelains

  Photographer Koo Bohn-chang is holding a solo exhibition featuring his photographs of traditional Korean porcelains at the newly opened Kukje Gallery’s Busan branch located in a factory-turned-cultural center, F1936.“HA 05-1” by photographer Koo Bohn-chang (Courtesy of the artist)The photographer’s journey tracing the nation’s traditional porcelains spans some three decades. “One day, I came across with this picture of a Korean moon jar and a foreigner sitting right next to it. I wondered how su

VIDEO

• Music

  

  ‘I learned how to love my fate’: Sohee of Elris

• Social affairs

  

  Boiling water from pipeline rupture kills 1, injures dozens

• Technology

  

  Startups, VCs gather in Seoul to celebrate The Investor’s Choice

• Music

  

  Sohee says angles are most important in ‘Hurry Up’ dance

FEATURES

• Technology

  

  New LG Uplus CEO hints at CJ HelloVision acquisition in H1

  The new head of the nation’s third-largest telecom company said Wednesday that the firm would make a final decision as to whether it will acquire a local cable TV service provider by June next year, making its merger and acquisition attempt official for the first time. “We are going to decide whether to proceed with (acquiring the cable TV service provider) or not as soon as possible,” said LG Uplus CEO Ha Hyun-hoi at a press conference. “I will make that decision happen within the first half of

• Industry

  

  Fresh food deliveries, shoppers in 60s major e-commerce trends in 2018: data

  Fresh food deliveries, a rise in the number of shoppers in their 60s and e-mobility were among the five keywords that summarize this year’s e-commerce shopping trends, e-commerce company Interpark said Wednesday. According to data compiled by Interpark based on online sales and opinions from its merchandisers, fresh food deliveries have become common services for online shoppers in the past year, mainly due to quick delivery services.Market Kurly, for instance, saw the rapid expansion of its bus

• Finance

  

  Shinhan Bank benefits from ‘Park Hang-seo’ fever in Vietnam

  The Vietnamese football team’s latest victory in the regional finals under South Korean coach Park Hang-seo has helped South Korean companies.A leading beneficiary was Shinhan Bank, which appointed Park as honorary ambassador earlier this year, seeking to expand its overseas business in the Southeast Asian state.The Vietnamese team defeated Malaysia in the ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup finals on Saturday, scoring its first victory in a decade. Vietnamese star football player Luong Xuan Tr

• Industry

  

  Ministry to expand R&D spending, financial aid for autos, chips, batteries

  The Ministry of Industry on Tuesday unveiled a comprehensive plan aimed at revitalizing the sluggish auto sector and increasing state spending on research and development for manufacturers of chips and batteries to secure their leadership in the global market. Industry Minister Sung Yoon-mo (center) visit a local auto parts maker in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, as part of the industry inspection tour on Dec. 13. (Yonhap)For auto parts makers suffering from shrinking sales at home and abr