SPOTLIGHT

• Film

  

  ‘Kingsman’ stars: Bespoke suits are tight, but always a treat

  Colin Firth, Taron Egerton and Mark Strong discuss second film in comedy-action series

• Culture

  

  7 out of 10 Korean stars putting off military duties

  Serving in the military is a duty that falls upon every able-bodied Korean male, but 73.9 percent of entertainers here have delayed enlistment, according to a local lawmaker.Of the 794 male entertainers due for enlistment, 587 have yet to enlist, according to a statement released by Rep. Kim Hack-yong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party Thursday.The percentage of those putting off enlistment among entertainers was far higher than those in other fields of work. The figure was 43.3 percent

• Politics

  

  First lady serves homemade dish to Korean-American elders

  First lady Kim Jung-sook treated Korean-American elders to lunch with homemade dishes during her visit to New York with President Moon Jae-in Wednesday. First lady kim Jung-sook visits the Korean American Senior Center of Flushing (Yonhap)According to the local media reports, Kim visited the Korean American Senior Center of Flushing, the senior center run by the Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, and set the table for the first-generation immigrants. For the event, Kim made kimc

• Social affairs

  

  Korean college plans to install gender-neutral restroom

  A South Korean university is planning to build a gender-neutral restroom, a single-stall facility for any gender. Sungkonghoe University, located in Seoul, said it would build a gender-neutral restroom. In Korea, such restrooms can only be found at some buildings for human rights organizations.  (Yonhap)Baek Seung-mok, president of the student council at the university, supported the gender-neutral restroom. He won the student council election in March after he revealed his sexual orientation. “

LATEST NEWS

• 

  North Korea

  Moon calls for UN role in North Korea crisis

  In debut UN speech, president reiterates dual approach toward Pyongyang of pressure and dialogue

• 

  Economy

  S. Korea, US trade chiefs hold first face-to-face meeting

  The top trade negotiators of South Korea and the United States held their first face-to-face meeting in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the future of the countries' free trade agreement (FTA), both sides said.The talks between South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer came as Washington seeks to amend the five-year-old deal known as KORUS. (Yonhap)"They discussed ways to move forward," a USTR spokesperson told Yonhap, noting the talks followed th

• 

  Social affairs

  Subway Line No. 2 may get 24-hour service: official

  Seoul Metro is considering operating its subway line No. 2 around the clock. Kim Tae-ho, managing director of Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation said it will run Subway Line No. 2 all night every Friday and Saturday during a test period.  (Yonhap)Subway Line No. 2 is the most used line in Seoul and connects the city’s key areas. There has been an increasing demand for late night service.By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)

• 

  Defense

  Army general arrested on bribery charges

  South Korea's military court issued a warrant for the arrest of Army Gen. Park Chan-ju accused of receiving bribes from a civilian firm seeking favors in a base-related project during his service as the commanding general of the 2nd Operational Command. (Yonhap)Park was removed from the commanding post last month amid fierce public criticism over his alleged abuse of power and human rights violations against "housekeeping soldiers," who were assigned to serve at his residence.ABMilitary prosecut

• 

  Industry

  Dongbu Group chief steps down over alleged sexual harassment

  Dongbu Group Chairman and CEO Kim Jun-ki resigned from his post on Thursday after being sued by his secretary for alleged sexual harassment two days prior.“Deeming that my personal problem should not burden the company, I resign from the chairman and CEO posts of Dongbu Group,” Kim said in a statement, apologizing to the members, investors, shareholders and customers of the firm.Kim is accused of sexually molesting a secretary, whose name was withheld, regularly between February and July this ye

• 

  Expat Living

  Expat musicians to show passion, love, volume at Zandari

  With Zandari Festa around the corner, several expat groups are gearing up to show their stuff at Korea’s biggest indie music showcase. Zandari, a three-day showcase festival across 10 venues in the Hongdae area of Seoul, will host 120 acts from across Korea and overseas this year.　Among them is Koncept, a US rapper relatively new to the local scene. With three albums under his belt, he was invited to play two shows here in November, but as word got around, he was asked to play more shows and sta

• 

  Defense

  US-based artillery unit comes to South Korea for firing drill

  The United States military on Thursday deployed an artillery unit to South Korea and conducted a live-fire exercise, showcasing the ability to rapidly deploy its units in the event of contingency on the Korean Peninsula. According to the 8th Army in Seoul, its components and the US-based 18th Field Artillery Brigade conducted the joint training in Daecheon, South Chungcheong Province. The artillery brigade departed on Wednesday from its base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.Titled as “Emergency Dep

• 

  Social affairs

  9 in 10 Koreans say anti-corruption law effective

  Nearly a year after the implementation of an anti-corruption law, 9 in 10 Koreans said the law was effective, a recent survey showed, despite an ongoing debate on whether to raise price ceilings, as the law bans those subject to it from receiving meals and gifts exceeding designated prices.A flower shop owner looks at the empty store. YonhapAccording to a survey conducted last month by professor Lim Dong-kyun from University of Seoul, 89.5 percent of some 1,202 respondents said that the new law

• 

  World

  Ring of Fire

  　The Ring of Fire is a 40,000-kilometer horseshoe-shaped area of intense volcanic and seismic activity that follows the edges of the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire includes 75 percent of the world‘s active volcanoes and is also responsible for 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes.　The Ring of Fire is an arc of mountains, volcanoes and oceanic trenches that stretch from New Zealand northward along the eastern edge of Asia, then east across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and south along the west

• 

  Social affairs

  3 in 10 divorces happen after 20 years of marriage

  Three out of 10 divorced couples in South Korea last year were married for at least 20 years, setting a new record in “gray divorces,” a judicial yearbook showed Wednesday. According to 2017 Judicial Yearbook released by the Supreme Court, 32,594 couples got a divorce after living together for more than 20 years, accounting for 30.4 percent of all the divorces last year. The proportion of divorces accounted for by couples who have lived together for more than 20 years has been gradually increasi

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Trump’s welcome flirtation with the UN

  When you discount the rhetorical overkill, the most surprising thing about Donald Trump’s address to the United Nations Tuesday was how conventional it was. He supported human rights and democracy; he opposed rogue regimes; he espoused a global community of strong, sovereign nations. Pretty shocking stuff.Because he’s Trump, the zingers got the headlines: He repeated his childish, snarky (but sort of funny) playground denunciation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. “Rocket Man is on a suicide m

• Columnists

  

  Naval blockade is best option to cut off North Korea

  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is fixated on obtaining a serious nuclear arsenal, and continues to thumb his nose at the US and other world powers. The latest round of United Nations Security Council sanctions approved on Sept. 11 are not going to change that. But one aspect of them -- new measures to interdict ships breaking trade embargoes against Pyongyang -- could be baby steps toward much stronger sanctions enforcement.The new resolution gives the US and other countries the power to inspec

THE INVESTOR

• Mobile & Internet

  

  UberShare makes global debut in Korea

  Sharing economy pioneer Uber Technologies on Sept. 21 announced the global debut of its carpooling service UberShare in Seoul. The service allows users to share rides only during specific hours on weekdays for work, unlike its regular carpooling service UberPool that is available in other countries. This is in accordance with local transport laws, which allow use of private vehicles for commercial purposes only during peak hours to ease traffic congestion. “We are very excited to

• Mobile & Internet

  

  [Q&A] Kakao CEO vows to push AI, content biz

  Although Kakao rules the Korean market with its immensely popular messenger app KakaoTalk, penetrating the global markets has remained a far-fetched dream.The firm’s past efforts to increase its footing in Japan and Indonesia came to a naught due mainly to bigger competitors like Google, Facebook and Naver.Kakao CEO Rim Ji-hoon, who took office in October 2015, said in a media interview on Sept. 20 that the mobile messenger and web portal operator will try to put more focus on wha

• Bio & Medicine

  

  Analysts upbeat on Celltrion’s US market expansion

  Analysts here are positive that Celltrion’s biosimilar Inflectra will expand its footing in the US as its marketing partner Pfizer is taking on original drug maker Johnson & Johnson. Pfizer filed a suit against J&J on Sept. 20, claiming the rival’s contracts with health insurers for blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade is anti-competitive and the move keeps its copy version Inflectra out from insurance coverage. Inflectra, a biosimilar version of Remicade developed by Ce

• Deals

  

  Germany’s Delivery Hero acquires FoodFly

   Germany's Delivery Hero that owns Korea's top delivery apps Yogiyo and Baedaltong said on Sept. 20 it has acquired another major delivery app FoodFly. RGP Korea, the Korean arm of the Berlin-based firm, purchased the entire stake in FoodFly from Fast Track Asia, a local venture capital firm. The buying price was not revealed.  Delivery Hero founded Yogiyo, the second-largest delivery app, in 2012 and acquired Baedaltong, the third-largest, in 2014. Currently, the No. 1 is Baedal M

K-POP HERALD

• 

  F.T. Island to hold 10th anniversary event

• 

  'Kingsman' suits are tight, but always a treat

• 

  ‘Love Yourself’ mirrors past, future of BTS

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Industry

  

  Suprema seeks opportunity in mobile fingerprint scanner

• Finance

  

  Hacker-turned-CEO brings digital currency offline

• Industry

  

  ‘Samsung wants to bring idea of Silicon Valley project to Korea’

• Film

  

  Empathy without exploitation

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Cosmos in full bloom

  Visitors take in the view of a cosmos field in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday prior to the local festival’s opening. A yearly celebration of the season’s blooms, “Guri Cosmos Festival 2017” will take place for a three-day run from Friday.By Park Hyun-koo (phko@heraldcorp.com)

VIDEO

• Defense

  

  Seoul carries out missile drill targeting NK’s nuclear sites

• Social affairs

  

  Cheonan-Nonsan Expressway collision results in 11 casualties

• Social affairs

  

  Extended Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway unveiled

• People

  

  Meet Korean Billy, the internet sensation of 2017

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  Korean colleges alert about ‘spy cam’ on campus

  The recent rise in the number of “spy cam” cases on campus is pushing colleges to come up with measures to protect students and make sure their policies keep up with the reality of campus life.According to The Herald Business on Thursday, a growing number of universities, including top-rated Seoul National University, are grappling with the reports of spy cams on campus.(Yonhap)At College of Natural Sciences building in Seoul National University last month, a male student was reportedly caught i

• Social affairs

  

  3 in 10 divorces happen after 20 years of marriage

  Three out of 10 divorced couples in South Korea last year were married for at least 20 years, setting a new record in “gray divorces,” a judicial yearbook showed Wednesday. According to 2017 Judicial Yearbook released by the Supreme Court, 32,594 couples got a divorce after living together for more than 20 years, accounting for 30.4 percent of all the divorces last year. The proportion of divorces accounted for by couples who have lived together for more than 20 years has been gradually increasi

• Technology

  

  LG takes pride in camera of V30 smartphone

  Industry’s first F1.6 glass-added dual camera to empower V30

• Automode

  

  Hyundai Motor Genesis G70 sees brisk sales start

  Hyundai Motor has received a total of 2,100 orders for its newly launched Genesis G70 sports sedan in the first day of sales on Wednesday, the company said Thursday.This is around 42 percent of this year’s sales target of 5,000 units, and threefold the average monthly sales of other European rivals last year in premium vehicle market. Hyundai Motor's Genesis G70 (Hyundai Motor)Following the launch, Hyundai Motor aims to sell 15,000 units next year here in Korea.Hyundai Motor as well plans to lau