SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  Man dies after jumping from Ulsan Bridge

  A man in his 30s apparently jumped to his death from Ulsan Bridge on Monday, marking the fifth fatal leap this year from the bridge, police said. Ulsan Maritime Police Station said they received a report at around 1:40 a.m. of a man “abandoning his car mid-bridge and leaping off the edge.”The rescue team reportedly discovered the victim floating in waters 200 meters south of the bridge at around 2:30 a.m. He was rushed to the hospital, but was pronounced dead upon arrival, according to reports. 

• Music

  

  British pop star Ellie Goulding to hold first Seoul concert

  British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding will perform for the first time in South Korea in September.The female singer will hold her first Korean gig at Olympic Hall in Olympic Park in southern Seoul on Sept. 6.Goulding was propelled to stardom with her debut album “Lights” in 2010, topping the BBC’s Sound of 2010 list and leaving behind the likes of Hurts and Owl City. (Live Nation Korea)The singer has a bank of hit singles including “Lights,” which peaked at the second spot on the US Billboard

• Television

  

  Actor Jang Geun-suk starts alternative military service

  Actor Jang Keun-seuk began his mandatory military service on Monday, his agency Tree J said in the morning.Earlier this month, the agency said the actor would do alternative service as a social office worker following his diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2011, which classified him as ineligible for active duty in the military. The agency didn't disclose where the 31-year-old actor will work for the coming two years. Actor Jang Keun-suk is shown in this photo provided by Tree J Company. (Yonhap)U

• Social affairs

  

  S. Korea leads world in proportion of people working more than 49 hours per week: report

  Korea is ahead of leading economies in terms of the percentage of people putting in more than 49 hours per week at offices or factories, a report by the central bank showed Sunday.According to the Bank of Korea's Overseas Economic Focus publication, 32 percent of Korean workers coped with near 50 hour workweeks, far exceeding the 20.1 percent for Japan and 16.4 percent tallied for the United States.(Yonhap)"In effect, a third of all Korean workers can be classified as having excessive hours," th

LATEST NEWS

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  Automode

  Hyundai’s Veloster hatchback offers smart drive

  Hyundai’s three-door with yellow flames and purple wrapping Veloster hatchback roaming the streets of San Francisco is the ride characters in the Marvel movie titled “Ant-Man and the Wasp” use to save Ant-Man.Setting out to cement its image as a fun and exciting brand, Hyundai has launched the Veloster hatchback this February.The vehicle, with its red, asymmetrical exterior design, is unique and eye catching on first impression. The new Veloster (Hyundai Motor)The three-door hatchback has one ov

• 

  Soccer

  Son Heung-min headlines Korea's football roster for 2018 Asian Games

  Tottenham Hotspur attacker Son Heung-min is the headline star of South Korea's squad for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia. The Korea Football Association on Monday unveiled the men's national football team roster for the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games that includes Son as one of its "wild card" members. Son, who turned 26 on July 8, will make his first Asiad appearance. The men's football competition at the Asian Games, which will be held from Aug. 14 to Sept. 1, is open to players born in o

• 

  Soccer

  Four World Cup team members reunited in pursuit of Asian Games gold

  Four members of the South Korean 2018 World Cup squad have been reunited in the country's pursuit of a second straight Asian Games gold medal.Head coach Kim Hak-bum announced his 20-man roster for the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, where South Korea will be the defending champions. The opening ceremony is Aug. 18, but the men's football tournament kicks off on Aug. 14.Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min was a no-brainer selection as one of five forwards. He led South Korea with two goals at the FI

• 

  Automode

  Toyota Scholarship

   Kim Soung-soo (second row, third from right), chairman of Youth For Understanding Korea, a nonprofit student exchange organization, poses with seven Korean students selected for the 2018 Korea-Japan exchange program sponsored by Toyota Korea. In the back row left from Kim are Nobuyuki Takemura, head of Toyota Korea; Hiroshi Shimbo, first secretary of the Japanese Public Information and Cultural Center; and In Sung-yeon, YFU Korea assistant national director. (YFU Korea)

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  Social affairs

  Public torn over expanding military service exemptions for athletes: poll

  South Koreans are torn over expanding military service exemptions for athletes, a poll showed Monday.In a survey of 500 adults by Realmeter, 47.6 percent said they were for creating more ways for male athletes to be exempt from conscription. The poll showed that 43.9 percent said they were against such measures, while 8.5 percent said they didn't lean one way or the other.The survey, conducted last Thursday, had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points and a 95 percent confidence level. (Yonha

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  Technology

  Renewable energy-based power trade hits new high in 2017

  The volume of electricity generated from renewable energy jumped more than 20 percent on-year in 2017 to touch a record high, industry data showed Monday.Asia's fourth-largest economy saw the trading value of power generated from renewable energy come to 2.05 trillion won ($1.82 billion) last year, up 20.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Power Exchange. (Yonhap)It was the largest amount since the exchange started to compile related data in 2001. That year, th

• 

  Economy

  Finance minister, BOK chief meet over economic conditions

  South Korea's top economic and monetary policymakers met Monday to discuss an array of economic issues, such as the growing trade tussle between the United States and China and sluggish job creation.The meeting between Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol is their seventh round of policy talks since Kim took office in June of last year.Other senior officials from the finance ministry and the central bank also attended the gathering. Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon (R)

• 

  Politics

  Parliament set to elect chairs of standing committees

  The National Assembly is set to hold a plenary session Monday to elect the chairs of standing committees as it was put back on track last week after a 45-day legislative vacuum.Lawmakers will meet at 2:00 p.m. to elect the chairpersons of the 16 committees for the second half of the 20th parliament's four-year term. Rival parties reached an agreement last week over the formation of parliament's new leadership and its 18 committees.The heads of another two committees will be voted on next Thursda

• 

  North Korea

  Trump touts meeting with Kim, halt in nuclear testing

  WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his diplomatic efforts with North Korea, saying his meeting with leader Kim Jong-un was "a good thing" and the regime's halting of nuclear and ballistic missile tests was a "wonderful" fact.In an interview with CBS, Trump was speaking about his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and how he has low expectations for the outcome.(Yonhap)"I think it's a good thing to meet. I do believe in meetings," he said in an excerpt o

• 

  North Korea

  Bolton suggests Trump's dismissal of NK threat should not be taken literally

  WASHINGTON -- US National Security Adviser John Bolton suggested Sunday that President Donald Trump's assertion that the North Korean nuclear threat is over should not be taken literally.Speaking in an interview with ABC News, Bolton said that the declaration by the president following his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un should be placed in the correct context. (Yonhap)"Come on, what he was saying in context was that if North Korea lives up to the commitments that it made on

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Putin and Trump will put on an empty show

  When President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16, some Americans will watch with apprehension: What if they hatch a plan that’ll harm US interests? What if Trump is meeting with his handler rather than his counterpart?　They shouldn’t worry. There’s little doubt that Putin can handle Trump, but not as an intelligence asset, as some conspiracy theorists suggest. Even if, as many believe, Putin “has something on Trump,” he has nothing to gain by releasing the kompr

• Columnists

  

  Trump is misjudging China’s resolve on trade

  US President Donald Trump’s strategy in his trade war with China boils down to inflicting sufficient economic pain to eventually force Beijing’s leaders into concessions the president wants -- whatever those may be. That’s the obvious purpose of the tariffs he plans to impose on another $200 billion of Chinese-made goods.　Trump may find with China, though, that there’s an inverse relationship between pressure and cooperation. Rather than bringing China’s leadership to heel, the extra duties are

THE INVESTOR

• Samsung

  

  Samsung Electronics ready to become ‘first-mover’ in global 5G equipment business

  Samsung Electronics is ready to become a first-mover in ushering in the new era of fifth-generation network systems with 5G network equipment technologies that sit above the competition, according to the chief of Samsung’s network equipment business.“Right now, Samsung is really becoming a ‘first-mover’ in 5G, a technology that will bring new value to the world,” Kim Young-ki, head of Samsung Electronics’ network business division, said in a press conference Friday at the tech fir

• Bio & Medicine

  

  Inside the FSC ruling on Samsung BioLogics

  A long-standing controversy over Samsung BioLogics’ accounting practices has concluded for the time being as the country’s financial watchdog ruled that it clearly violated related rules. The decision, however, only touched upon a relatively minor issue that the company “intentionally dropped” a regulatory filing.The authorities are expected to make another decision to address the heavier charges involving its change of accounting methods for its stake in Samsung Bioepis, which in

• Finance

  

  K Bank faces impasse on capital increase failure, regulation

  K Bank, Korea’s first online-only challenger bank, has come under financial pressure over its failure in capital increase through issuing new stocks as pledged in May. By July 12, K Bank shareholders were scheduled to buy 24 million newly issued common stocks and 6 million convertible preferred stocks without voting rights, worth a combined 150 billion won ($132.4 million). Of the total pledges with 5,000 won per share, only 30 billion won for the convertible securities purchase w

• Industrials

  

  Unlikely alliance: Workers from rival airlines protest scandal-hit ownership families

  They have been rivals for decades, but unionized workers from South Korea’s two largest airlines,Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, found themselves seeking the same goal over the weekend -- seeing their chairmen resign.　Chanting a slogan against the power abuse of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho and Asiana Airlines Chairman Park Sam-koo, employees of the two airlines held a joint rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae on July 14 evening.　The joint rally, the first of its kind officially or

K-POP HERALD

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  LAPD looking into threat against Jimin

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  Jennie, Jisoo to reveal childhood photos

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  How to make coconut cream on budget

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Industry

  

  Hong Kong lures investment in AI, robotics

• Technology

  

  Travel startup embraces chatbot to offer intelligent budget options

• Social affairs

  

  Romanian nun helps Jeju’s Yemeni asylum seekers, migrant families

• North Korea

  

  ‘For NK refugees, learning English is about finding their voice’

PHOTO NEWS

• Social affairs

  

  Beat the summer heat at the beach

  As the scorching weather continued over the weekend, people flocked to beaches in Korea to enjoy summer. The Korea Meteorological Administration has issued heat wave warnings in most regions of the country, as of 2 p.m., with temperatures hovering around 30 to 37 degrees Celsius on Sunday. About 250,000 beachgoers visited Haeundae Beach on Saturday, while a total of 520,000 people going to other beaches in Busan, including Gwanganli Beach and Dadaepo Beach. The combined number nearly dou

VIDEO

• Food

  

  Chicken bathing in hot soup, samgyetang

• Technology

  

  Google finally brings Android Auto to Korea with Kakao, Hyundai Motor

• Industry

  

  Samsung heir leaves for India with two missions

• Food

  

  Ugly fish’s spicy twist, aguijjim

FEATURES

• North Korea

  

  S. Korean pro-unification civic group to visit N. Korea

  South Korea said Thursday it will allow the country’s major pro-unification civic group, chaired by a son of late President Kim Dae-jung, to visit North Korea next week to discuss with its North Korean counterpart cross-border cooperation and exchange. Five members of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation including Kim Hong-gul, head of the group, will visit Pyongyang from Monday to Thursday, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Unification.  Kim Hong-gul, head of

• Music

  

  5 best K-pop summer tunes that will make you nostalgic

  (Screencaptured from YouTube)If this summer is too hot and humid for you, it’s time to for you to freshen your summer playlist. Sistar’s “Touch My Body” and Girls’ Generation’s “Party” may be longtime favorite K-pop summer songs, but let’s go back several years to when K-pop sounded refreshing and remained faithful to its classic seasonal tunes. Here are the five best throwbacks that may evoke nostalgia. 1. Dancing Out – Super Junior (2006)Released in 2006 as part of SMTown’s studio album, the s

• Arts&Design

  

  What is behind the ideological curtain?

  Exhibition sheds light on now-shut Kaesong industrial park

• Defense

  

  S. Korea has no plans for arms reduction, for now: defense chief

  South Korea has no plans to discuss arms reduction with North Korea until the country has made progress on denuclearization, Seoul’s defense minister said Thursday, placing priority on building trust amid persistent doubt over Pyongyang’s denuclearization pledge.During a meeting with reporters, Defense Minister Song Young-moo said confidence-building measures will begin with basic processes -- such as reconnecting military communication lines and disarming the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zon