SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  Court upholds refugee status of Ugandan lesbian

  The Seoul High Court overturned a Supreme Court ruling in a remanded case by recognizing as a refugee a Ugandan lesbian woman who claims to face risks of persecution for her sexual orientation if she returns home.The Seoul High Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, saying she has already been persecuted in Uganda with threats to her life and body after her sexual orientation became known. (Yonhap)“Should she return to Uganda, there are risks that she may be persecuted by homophobic people or th

• Music

  

  BTS renews contract with Big Hit Entertainment

  Here’s good news for BTS fans: The K-pop heavyweight group has inked a deal to work with its agency for another seven years. Representing the act, Big Hit Entertainment said Thursday that it had signed a seven-year contract with all seven bandmates of BTS out of “deep trust and affection.”In its sixth year now, BTS still has over one year left in its first deal -- seven-year contracts have become the standard in K-pop -- but both sides decided to seal the deal early, which the agency explained i

• Culture

  

  TVXQ’s Yunho rises as icon of relentless passion

  K-pop idol Yunho of TVXQ has become an icon of positive energy and can-do spirit, inspiring many of the nation’s frustrated young people.  (JTBC) The veteran singer, who made his debut more than 15 years ago and has been performing ever since, recently appeared on various TV programs and shared his self-empowerment tips.Yunho’s morning routine, which he revealed on MBC’s “I Live Alone” in March, starts with dance practice. As soon as he gets out of bed, he turns on the TV, plays his concert vide

• Fashion

  

  Can Seoul Fashion Week ever be show for the people?

  Though promoting itself as ‘festival for people,’ fashion event remains exclusive to industry insiders

LATEST NEWS

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  Television

  TV producer Na, actress Jung to sue over affair rumors

  Na Young-seok, the producer of “Grandpas over Flowers,” a TV entertainment show remade in the US as “Better Late Than Never,” said he would sue the people behind rumors he was having an affair with actress Jung Yu-mi. Jung was in the cast of one of Na’s more recent series, “Youn’s Kitchen.” The show was a hit, and a pioneering work that took Korean celebrities overseas to Gili Trawangan Island in Indonesia in season one and a beachside Spanish town of Garachico in season two for them to start ov

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  Social affairs

  200 Vietnamese students come to learn Korean, end up with illicit jobs

  Immigration authorities said Wednesday they uncovered the irregular practices of a Korean agency that illegally hired Vietnamese students who entered the country to learn the local language.Between November 2016 and August 2018, the agency, located in Gyeonggi Province, hired 262 Vietnamese university students and put them to work at various subcontractor firms for large-scale supermarkets’ distribution centers. The agency profiteered off the wages the students received. If a student earned 10,0

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  North Korea

  S. Korea's top nuclear envoy arrives in Beijing for talks on N. Korea

  South Korea's top nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing on Thursday to discuss North Korean denuclearization issues with his Chinese counterpart.    Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, is scheduled to meet Kong Xuanyou, China's point man on the Korean peninsula affairs, in Beijing on Friday.     Both Lee and Kong are chief delegates to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. The forum also involves the United States, Russia and Japa

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  North Korea

  Pope Francis says may visit Pyongyang following official invitation

   Pope Francis expressed his willingness Thursday to visit North Korea if officially invited, also saying he will "certainly" respond to such an invitation from the communist state.   The remarks came in a meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, who paid a courtesy call on the pope to deliver a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the pope to visit Pyongyang.   "The pope said '(I) will unconditionally give an answer if an (official) invitation arrives and I can go',

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  Automode

  GM Korea R&D center spinoff vote sparks new round of disputes with KDB, labor union

  KDB to take legal action, union to stage strike

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  Music

  Music label accused of abusing artists confesses, issues apology

  A music label with decades of history admitted Thursday to abusing members of one of its boy bands. Media Line Entertainment owned up to the allegations a few hours after local media outlets reported on suspicions of verbal and physical abuse by the label’s CEO and producer of The East Light, a six-member boy band that debuted under the label in November 2016.In the official statement issued in the afternoon, the label said it offers “words of apology for the disgraceful incident” and admitted t

• 

  Culture

  Sinpo-dong, where old meets new

  Dubbed Incheon’s “Myeongdong,” one of the busiest shopping districts in Seoul, Sinpo Market in the port city Sinpo-dong is blooming with new energy. (Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Dating back to the late 19th century, the historical market was formed as Korean vendors started selling fresh vegetables and fish to the Japanese, Chinese and Westerners who settled near the port. Now home to about 160 stores, the market has been Incheon’s most crucial cultural and economic center for

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  Social affairs

  Man gets 1-year jail for assaulting convenience store clerk, civil servant

  Incheon District Court on Thursday ordered a 47-year-old man to serve a one-year prison term for assaulting an employee at a convenience store and a civil servant in two separate incidents. The assailant was indicted on charges of “special violence, interference with business and obstruction of official duties,” according to authorities.  (Yonhap)On July 20, the man assaulted a part-time convenience store employee in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, at around 2:40 p.m. after the worker reportedly refused t

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  Music

  Unmasked by a mask

  [Eye] Rapper Mommy Son explodes his other self by covering face with a pink beanie

• 

  Columnists

  If Mattis goes, Trump will miss him

  It took nearly two years, but President Donald Trump has finally said something unflattering about Secretary of Defense James Mattis. Rumors of the president’s unhappiness with Mattis date back several months, yet only last weekend did Trump himself express any, telling “60 Minutes” that he thinks the retired four-star Marine general “is sort of a Democrat.”In another era, when retired generals gravitated toward the center, being called a Democrat by a Republican president would be worth its wei

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  If Mattis goes, Trump will miss him

  It took nearly two years, but President Donald Trump has finally said something unflattering about Secretary of Defense James Mattis. Rumors of the president’s unhappiness with Mattis date back several months, yet only last weekend did Trump himself express any, telling “60 Minutes” that he thinks the retired four-star Marine general “is sort of a Democrat.”In another era, when retired generals gravitated toward the center, being called a Democrat by a Republican president would be worth its wei

• Columnists

  

  America’s ongoing civil war

  America continues be in a state of civil war. Not just a civil war, but the civil war. In the first round, back in the 1860s, the Confederacy lost. Yet now the Confederacy is temporarily on top. The United States remains one country divided by two cultures.From the start, the US has been a battleground of two competing visions. America’s founding credo was that “all men are created equal.” Yet the founding reality was that white males were far more equal than everyone else. White men owned slave

THE INVESTOR

• Samsung

  

  Samsung expands startup program for innovation

  Apart from its smartphones, there is something that tech giant Samsung Electronics is well known for: human resources practices to groom employees into “royal” and high performing, managers.Many say that the firm’s HR policies and practices were what made Samsung one of the largest conglomerates in Korea.After participating in courses of an on-the-job training program, for example, new Samsung employees often transform into the so-called “Samsung Man,” which carries a connotative

• Startups & Investors

  

  [INTERVIEW] Banksalad out to tackle info asymmetry

  Among the flurry of new credit cards hitting the market every year, many consumers face difficulties in picking one that fits their spending style. Carefully reading the terms and conditions is one way, but not everyone has the time nor understand the full-scope of contents printed in tiny fonts on thin-papered pamphlets. This kind of information asymmetry -- between card issuers and users -- is what led Korean fintech startup Rainist to roll out its financial product recommendati

• Retail & Consumer

  

  BTS renews contract with Big Hit Entertainment

  Big Hit Entertainment said on Oct. 18 that seven-member K-pop boy band BTS that is making waves globally has renewed its contract. “We signed a seven-year contract with BTS based on our existing trust and affection,” Big Hit Entertainment informed its shareholders. BTSThe band that is topping Billboard charts had earlier signed a seven-year contract with Big Hit Entertainment in 2013. The members still had a year left before the original contract ends but decided to extend the con

• Retail & Consumer

  

  SKINFOOD sued by franchisees for seeking court receivership

  Korean cosmetics maker SKINFOOD said on Oct. 18 that four of its franchisees have filed a lawsuit against it for seeking court receivership.“We are currently having talks with our franchisees to find a solution,” a SKINFOOD official said in a statement.Despite the company’s effort, according to sources, more franchisees are currently preparing to file a lawsuit against the company and CEO Cho Yoon-ho, after it announced on Oct. 8 that it has filed for court receivership due to mou

K-POP HERALD

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  BTS renews contract with Big Hit

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  Gong Yoo to star in feminist film

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  Kiha & The Faces to disband

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Education

  

  Toronto education leads way in ‘Second Machine Age’

• Music

  

  Jung Eun-ji says she sings to comfort herself

• Finance

  

  Former forensic technician creates new biometric standard

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  Costa Rica, South Korea kindred spirits in sustainability: first lady

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Sinpo-dong, where old meets new

  Dubbed Incheon’s “Myeongdong,” one of the busiest shopping districts in Seoul, Sinpo Market in the port city Sinpo-dong is blooming with new energy. (Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Dating back to the late 19th century, the historical market was formed as Korean vendors started selling fresh vegetables and fish to the Japanese, Chinese and Westerners who settled near the port. Now home to about 160 stores, the market has been Incheon’s most crucial cultural and economic center for

VIDEO

• Social affairs

  

  Sunfull Internet Peace Prize goes to Japanese anti-hate speech network, online activist

• Automode

  

  Adding an artful touch to CSR: Han Sung Motor focuses on coloring Seoul, nurturing young artists

• Automode

  

  Car from the future: Nexo excels but faces hydrogen indifference

• Culture

  

  Aged barbers’ trimming skills impress young customers

FEATURES

• Automode

  

  Hyundai, Kia reviewing US Senate request to testify over engine fire

  Kia refutes claim of manufacturing defects in a 2014 Kia Soul that it's connected with drug abuse

• Food

  

  Latest list of Michelin stars in Seoul released

  Mingles and Alla Prima join 2-star realm

• Theater

  

  Nederlands Dans Theater returns to Seoul after 16 years

  Nederlands Dans Theater is holding three concerts at Seoul Arts Center between Friday and Sunday, marking its first visit to Seoul since 2002.　Leading the cutting-edge contemporary dance company are artistic director Paul Lightfoot and artistic adviser Sol Leon. The two have been working for the company for some 30 years, in the past as dancers and choreographers, and now as the heads in charge.“It has been many years since the company has not been returning to Seoul. For us, it’s very significa

• Industry

  

  Toward stronger partnership between Korea and Southeast Asia

  Government, business leaders discuss ways to strengthen Korea-ASEAN ties at The Korea Herald Biz Forum