SPOTLIGHT

• Film

  

  ‘Romang’ a beautiful story, but clumsy in telling

  First impressions can be deceiving, but so can second and third impressions. Sometimes a film that looks promising from its opening scene will falter, only to rally with heartfelt moments of joy and grace.Lee Chang-geun -- who took the helm of “Romang,” a romance featuring an elderly couple suffering from dementia -- did not show top-notch directing skills with his first feature film. But he delivered when it counted in the crucial moments depicting the couple’s love, care and companionship -- a

• Culture

  

  52 temples recognized for excellent templestay programs

  With the aim of encouraging and promoting templestay programs, the Korean Buddhist Cultural Foundation honored 52 temples across South Korea on Tuesday for their effective programs.The Korean Buddhist Cultural Foundation held an award ceremony at Jogyesa in central Seoul to recognize temples that had operated outstanding templestay programs in 2018. Templestay program (Korean Buddhist Cultural Foundation) Representatives of temples recognized for offering outstanding templestay programs in 2018

• Fashion

  

  Fashion is in the air: 2019 F/W Seoul Fashion Week kicks off

  The 2019 F/W Seoul Fashion Week kicks off Wednesday at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul, for six days of fall-winter fashion previews.Thirty-seven fashion shows will be held in the main Seoul Collection, including 33 for designer brands such as the Miss Gee Collection, Beyond Closet, Songzio, Besfxxk, Greedilous and Dew E Dew E.Three brands collaborating with major fashion firms will also grace the stage. For example, Iise, the winner of the 2018 Samsung Fashion & Design Fund, will s

• Travel

  

  Germany holds exhibitions, events to commemorate Bauhaus centenary

  Bauhaus, the early 20th century German crafts and fine art school, will be commemorated this year through a number of special exhibitions and events around the country.According to the German National Tourist Board, the marketing theme for 2019 is celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the institute formally called the Staatliches Bauhaus, founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919. Last year‘s German tourism theme was “culinary Germany.”“We believe that Bauhaus is a crucial heritage in Germ

LATEST NEWS

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  Technology

  Analysts call on Korean panel makers to make faster shift to OLED

  In response to Chinese panel makers’ latest moves to start producing large liquid crystal display panels, market analysts called on Korean display companies to speed up execution of their plans to switch existing LCD panel production lines to organic light-emitting diode panel lines at a conference held in Seoul on Tuesday. “In the long run, it is clear that LCD prices are going downhill -- with some quarterly ups and downs -- but Samsung Display and LG Display are still being cautious about shu

• Editorial

  Lifesaving aid

  North Korea’s adherence to nuclear arms reduces humanitarian assistance for its people

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  Columnists

  “You can’t go home again”

  In Thomas Wolfe’s novel, “You Can’t Go Home Again,” the protagonist, George Weber, is a fledgling writer who has published a novel about his hometown in the US. The book turns out to be a huge success. When Weber returns to his hometown, however, he is greeted by hatred and fury from townspeople who think Weber has betrayed his hometown by delineating it wrongfully and critically. Amid death threats and menacing gazes, Weber is forced to leave his hometown. Now, he will never be able to go back

• Columnists

  Debates, sufficient deliberations key to legislative process

  Usually, society changes first. Laws then follow. Which means a gap between the two. The norm-reality gap has become more evident these days: the speed of social changes is unprecedented, and laws are lagging behind, panting. The narrower the gap, the more likely society benefits from harmony and stability. A gap left unattended grows into a gulf, fostering social discord and instability. It all depends on the quality of the legislative institution. The legislature fails us either by over-regula

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  Automode

  Hankook Tire strives to be global top-tier OE tire maker

  South Korea’s leading tire manufacturer, Hankook Tire, is currently ramping up its research and development efforts in hopes of becoming a world-leading maker of original equipment tires. Hankook Tire is known for supplying original equipment tires to many domestic and foreign automakers. Currently, the company supplies OE tires for models such as BMW’s flagship New BMW 7 Series and the Audi RS5 Coupe.It also recently signed a supply contract for the 2019 Nissan Altima, which will feature the co

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  Technology

  Samsung verification to hasten S. Korea’s 5G launch

  Concern persist among experts over government’s ‘hasty’ efforts to clinch the title of world’s first 5G service

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  Finance

  Talks for alternative trading system rekindle in Korea

  Talks of launching an alternative trading system have recently rekindled in South Korea, encouraged by the government and financial sector’s moves to build a more active equity trading environment.Neoframe, a local IT firm and home trading system developer, said Monday it has developed an ATS platform that provides the same service as the Korea Exchange, operator of the nation’s main stock exchange.Known in US and Canada as a non-exchange trading venue, the ATS matches buyers and sellers to find

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  Finance

  S. Korea’s banks see 22.2% rise in overseas profits in 2018

  The overseas branches of South Korean banks last year saw their profit climb 22.2 percent on-year, reflecting the rise in interest income, data showed Tuesday.According to market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service, the banks’ overseas net profit stood at $983 million as of end-2018, which accounted for 8 percent of their total net profit.The total asset volume of overseas businesses came to $114.25 billion, up $93.7 billion or 8.9 percent from a year earlier.“The pick-up mostly resulted from

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  Social affairs

  Prosecutors to review 2009 suicide of actress Jang Ja-yeon

  The suicide of actress Jang Ja-yeon in 2009 is drawing fresh media attention after President Moon Jae-in ordered prosecutors to conduct a thorough fact-finding into the case.Jang, then a 30-year-old rookie actress, committed suicide in March 2009 after leaving a suicide note that accused her agent of forcing her to attend drinking parties and to provide sexual favors to 31 high-profile entertainment figures and journalists. She hanged herself at her house in Bundang, south of Seoul. (Yonhap)The

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  North Korea

  Is Kim Jong-un considering ‘new way’?

  Post Hanoi summit failure, speculation grows on what new mode of defense may be

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  “You can’t go home again”

  In Thomas Wolfe’s novel, “You Can’t Go Home Again,” the protagonist, George Weber, is a fledgling writer who has published a novel about his hometown in the US. The book turns out to be a huge success. When Weber returns to his hometown, however, he is greeted by hatred and fury from townspeople who think Weber has betrayed his hometown by delineating it wrongfully and critically. Amid death threats and menacing gazes, Weber is forced to leave his hometown. Now, he will never be able to go back

• Columnists

  

  Don’t let China trade deal kill US campaign against Huawei

  The US-led campaign against Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies has attracted much attention for the indictment of the company’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou. On Thursday, Huawei’s lawyers pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court to 13 counts of fraud involving an elaborate scheme to violate US sanctions against Iran.That case is no doubt important, not only because of the possibility that Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, could face incarceration. It is also a major ir

THE INVESTOR

• Deals

  

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

  For decades, lawyer Yoon Hee-woong has built his career providing legal advice for corporations. Since joining the South Korean law firm Yulchon in 2000, he has been paving the way for large business groups to take over financial companies, especially in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2007-2008.A big deal he helped close in 2007 was retail giant Lotte’s purchase of Daehan Fire & Marine Insurance. A year later, Yoon was involved in Hyundai Motor’s takeover of Shinheung Securities and

• Startups & Investors

  

  Kickboards to be allowed to run on bike roads

  E-scooters will be allowed on bike roads in South Korea, opening up opportunities for last-mile mobility startups, according to the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution on March 18. After a two-day marathon discussion, the committee, comprising industry experts and government officials, decided to allow kickboards and other personal mobility equipment to run on bike roads at a speed lower than 25 kilometers an hour. Currently, personal mobility equipment can only be used on

• Bio & Medicine

  

  Korean pharma firms aiming higher with new drugs this year

  Korean pharmaceutical companies have high hopes of leaping forward this year by boosting research and development to develop new drugs. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, over 100 Korean pharma firms possess a total of 953 self-developed drug candidates. Among them, 173 are undergoing phase 1-3 clinical trials.Many affiliates of large conglomerates are on the list. CJ Healthcare’s new drug Tegoprazan will undergo phase 3 clinical

• Deals

  

  Ready, set, binge: LG looks to change course with M&As

  LG Electronics CEO Jo Seong-jin recently conceded that as a newcomer in the mergers and acquisitions market in 2015, the firm had a tough time acquiring a stake in family-owned Austrian headlight maker ZKW Group. After years of negotiations, the tech giant and its holding firm LG Corp. were finally able to purchase shares worth 1.1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) in April 2018. It marked the largest acquisition in its 70-year history. Before that, it was focusing on research and development.Now, m

K-POP HERALD

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  The controversy around Seungri explained

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  Park Bom: ‘I hope people like me again’

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  Holland tells why he chose his name

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Industry

  

  Unity goes beyond games to cars, AI, VR

• Industry

  

  ‘Drinking less but better has helped single malt boom in Asia’

• People

  

  Cultivating hope through ‘Boccia’

• Industry

  

  Hanwha Q Cells’ advanced tech stands to lower cost of PV energy

PHOTO NEWS

• Social affairs

  

  A parade of color

  When the days get longer and start to feel warmer, it marks the arrival of spring, the season of regeneration and renewal. The whole nature awakens and so do flowers. It is also when South Korea’s biggest flower market springs back to life, after a long, dark winter. When The Korea Herald visited early this week, Yangjae Flower Market was already dominated by colorful spring flowers: freesia, tulip, royal azalea, Japanese apricot flower, daffodil, anemone, hyacinth, crocus, begonia or winter aco

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

• 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

• Social affairs

  

  Calls grow for lower minimum wage for foreign workers

  SMEs take on migrant workers in wake of stiff minimum wage hike in S. Korea