SPOTLIGHT

• Film

  

  Kim Joo-hyuk’s energetic performance to be a factor in ‘Believer’

  It has been half a year since Kim Joo-hyuk passed away in a car crash, but the Korean actor’s character acting has left a lasting impression via his filmography.“Believer,” directed by Lee Hae-young, is a crime action film that will give the audience one of the last -- and supposedly the most impressive -- glimpse of his talents.“He is the most heated character, and it is impossible to know what his boiling point is. He makes the others nervous as he is impossible to predict,” said director Lee

• Food

  

  Future food source evokes nostalgia for old days

  Taking a spring stroll along riverside parks, passersby might be startled by a steaming pot of brownish worms. Called “beondegi,“ the wormlike creatures are boiled silkworm pupae. While the insects are considered a possible future food source, Koreans have been eating silkworm pupae for half a century. Beondegi was a common street food in the late 20th century.  Beondegi (The Korea Herald / Lim Jeong-yeo)During the country‘s rapid industrialization, Korea’s textile industry boomed and people nee

• Social affairs

  

  Reading online comments may mislead one’s perception: study

  Amid the ongoing online rigging scandal involving ex-members of the ruling Democratic Party, a study has shown that readers’ comments on news portals can heavily influence one’s perception of an individual or current affairs -- regardless of whether they have any logic or substance.　　Three ex-members of the ruling party, all currently in custody, are accused of using a computer program that artificially ramps up the number of clicks on “agree” -- South Korea’s dominant search engine Naver’s equi

• Social affairs

  

  Gender bias rampant in Korean TV entertainment shows: study

  Korean television entertainment shows are still replete with gender stereotypes and even comical portrayals of sexual violence, according to a recent study.The Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education said on Thursday that monitoring of the 33 most watched TV entertainment shows aired in the first seven days of March found 56 cases of gender bias. This was eight times the number of cases in which content promoted gender equality over the same period, and nearly triple the 19

LATEST NEWS

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  Soccer

  Korean pro football adopts rule on fine dust

  South Korea's pro football governing body on Friday approved a rule on fine dust to protect the players and fans from bad air quality.The K League said its board members approved a rule that allow match officials to cancel matches when fine dust advisories are issued. According to the rule, if fine dust advisories are issued in between three hours prior to the match starting time and the match end time, the match commissioner can call off or postpone the match.In South Korea, a fine dust warning

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  Economy

  S. Korea, China resume joint committee on economic cooperation after 2-yr hiatus

  BEIJING -- While holding their first meeting on economic cooperation in two years on Friday, senior officials of South Korea and China reaffirmed their commitment to close bilateral cooperation on economic affairs.At the 22nd joint South Korea-China economic committee meeting in Beijing, Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who represented the South Korean side, expressed optimism over deepening economic ties with China."I have high hopes for this meeting since it is being held at this critical time

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  Social affairs

  State auditor directly orders probe into allegations involving senior official, USKI

  The chief of the state audit agency has directly ordered an investigation into allegations that a senior agency official used her status and that of her husband to demand that a US think tank accept her as a visiting scholar, an official said Friday.Choe Jae-hyeong, head of the Board of Audit and Inspection, issued the instruction after an opposition lawmaker raised the allegations Thursday and made public an email that the senior official, surnamed Jang, sent to the US-Korea Institute of Johns

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  Social affairs

  Appeals court clears ex-Seoul prosecution chief of violating anti-graft law

  A Seoul appellate court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling that found Lee Young-ryeol, a former chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, not guilty of corruption.The Seoul High Court handed down the decision on Lee, 60, who was indicted for violating the anti-graft law, which mainly bans exchanges of gifts between public officials and those with ties to them.He was accused of giving free meals and money to his subordinates during a dinner early last year. He provided each of t

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  Music

  Super Junior to hold 4-nation tour in Latin America

  K-pop group Super Junior will kick off a four-nation tour in Latin America this week, its agency said Friday.The South Korean boy band will launch the tour in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday (local time), according to S.M. Entertainment. The group will later head to Lima, Peru, and Santiago, Chile for shows on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Super Junior will cap off the regional tour in Mexico City in Mexico next Friday. (S.M. Entertainment)The series of shows is the band's first tour in th

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  Social affairs

  Number of farmers, fishermen continues to fall in S. Korea

  SEJONG -- The number of South Koreans in the agrofisheries sector is continuing to decrease amid a rapid aging and urbanization trend in the country, government data showed Friday.Households engaging in the farming business totaled 1.04 million last year, down 2.5 percent from 1.07 million tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The number of farmers also dropped 3 percent on-year to 2.42 million.(Yonhap)In the fishing sector, the number of families fell 0.4 percen

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  North Korea

  S. Korean, Japanese nuclear envoys to discuss NK issue

  The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and Japan will meet early next week to discuss cooperation on North Korea and its nuclear issue, a foreign ministry official said Friday.Lee Do-hoon, South Korea's top nuclear negotiator, will hold the meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Kenji Kanasugi, in Seoul on Monday, according to the official. The meeting comes after the leaders of the United States and Japan met this week and exchanged views on the North's nuclear issue.  File photo of South Korea`

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  Industry

  State-run lender pledges W800b to shipping industry

  The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) on Friday promised 800 billion won ($753.29 million) in loans and guarantees to the local shipping industry this year as the government acts on a five-year restructuring plan.Eun Sang-soo, chairman of the state-run lender, met with the heads of shipping companies and shipowners over details of the revamp plan announced April 5, in which the government would place orders for 200 vessels over the next three years to help the industry survive the slu

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  Economy

  S. Korea expects slower export growth in April

  South Korea will take proactive measures to boost exports to maintain growth momentum despite rising protectionist policies by major trading partners and uncertainties in the global financial market, the government said Friday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expected export growth to slow this month due to sluggish demand for ships, vehicle and auto parts. "The export outlook is not favorable for April due to protectionist measures in major trading partners, the strengthening local cu

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  Automode

  Hyundai Motor affiliates to add more overseas engineers

  Hyundai Motor Group's three major affiliates are looking overseas to hire from a pool of international talent as the South Korean conglomerate moves to strengthen its engineering workforce, the conglomerate said Friday.The three affiliates are Hyundai Motor Co., Hyundai Mobis Co. and Hyundai Steel Co. Hyundai Mobis is the country's biggest auto parts manufacturer and focuses on developing future vehicle technologies.  (Hyundai Motor)The world's fifth-biggest automaking group plans to hold the 8t

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Why China won’t yield to Trump

  Last month, US President Donald Trump enacted steel and aluminum tariffs aimed squarely at China. On April 2, China retaliated with tariffs on 128 American products. Trump then announced 25 percent tariffs on another 1,300 Chinese products, representing some $50 billion of exports. In response, China threatened 25 percent tariffs on 106 US exports (including soybeans, cars, and airplanes), to go into effect whenever the US tariffs do.Yes, if these measures go into effect, it will amount to a tra

• Columnists

  

  North Korea Talks: Here’s What a Pragmatist Could Hope For

  It’s been confirmed that CIA Director Mike Pompeo held direct talks with Kim Jong-un in North Korea, and negotiations between Kim and President Donald Trump really do seem in the offing, so we need to ask how such negotiations might actually succeed.　There are indeed reasons to be optimistic, but not because I see high odds of striking a workable deal with the North Korean totalitarian regime to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Instead, the best realistic scenarios would have the North Korean lead

THE INVESTOR

• Industrials

  

  How Korean Air's Cho family smuggled their stuff: sources

  As Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-min is facing a public backlash for the so-called “water rage” incident, fresh allegations cropped up on April 20 that the family used to frequently smuggle personal goods into the country.According to sources, the family members abused their status as an airliner operator to smuggle in all kinds of goods including clothes in bulk and furniture. They were brought in under the code name “KIP,” which is short for Korean Air VIP. “The goods were brought

• Industrials

  

  Past comes back to haunt Korean Air’s Cho family

  As public backlash builds over the misconduct of Korean Air's Cho, some of their past deeds are coming back to haunt them. News reports are now shedding light on events dating back to 2015 when the Fair Trade Commission zeroed in on Hanjin Group’s affiliate Cyber Sky for being too reliant on inter-subsidiary sales. The government steps in when more than 80 percent of a conglomerate unit’s sales come from other affiliates. Cyber Sky nonlisted shares were consecutively sold off to K

• Industrials

  

  Police raid Korean Air

  Police raided the headquarters of Korean Air on April 19 as part of a probe into allegations that its senior executive Cho Hyun-min assaulted an advertising company official at a business meeting. Six officials from the Seoul Gangseo Police Station searched the main office of Korea’s flagship airline to secure evidence. The authorities also impounded the two smartphones used by Cho and two others belonging to other Korean Air executives who were at the meeting.RELATED:Cho Hyun-min

• Automobiles

  

  Clock ticking fast for GM Korea

  GM Korea’s management held talks with the labor union on April 19 for the 10th time, a day ahead of the deadline for reaching an agreement on restructuring plans. The remaining thorny issues are how to deal with employees at the soon-to-be-shutdown Gunsan plant, and what kind of plans the company will offer, such as assigning new car models, to foster GM Korea’s future growth. The management is calling on the union to agree to assigning 680 more employees at Gunsan to accept eithe

K-POP HERALD

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  AOA to return in 1st half this year

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  Park Bo-gum, Suzy consider new drama

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  NCT 127 looks back on ‘Touch’

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Industry

  

  Kayak targets Korea’s travel market with one-stop solution

• Music

  

  Woogie sets new trend by going off-trend

• Culture

  

  A transformation from model to shaman

• Finance

  

  Banksalad relieves financial information overload

PHOTO NEWS

• Social affairs

  

  Coming inter-Korean summit draws foreign interest

  A crowd of foreign visitors were spotted Wednesday at the historical site of Imjingak in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, ahead of the two Koreas’ summit scheduled for April 27.Imjingak is the 20,000-square-meter area about 50 kilometers northwest from Seoul. In vicinity of the border with the North, Imjingak represents the grief of the 1950-53 Korean War that tore the country in half. In 1972, cultural spaces were prepared in the area to honor those who had lost their hometowns due to the division of t

VIDEO

• Film

  

  'Avengers' cast excited over ‘Infinity Wars’

• Food

  

  Diversity of Korean seaweed rice roll ‘gimbap’

• Culture

  

  Barbershop offers a cultural space for gentlemen

• Fashion

  

  77 student models strut down catwalk ‘cherry blossom way’

FEATURES

• Health

  

  Smoking cafes no longer oasis for ostracized smokers

  Local coffee shops to enforce smoking ban with upcoming revision to smoking law in Korea

• Industry

  

  Competition heats up in growth of health, beauty stores

  When South Korean versions of drugstores were first introduced here in the 2000s, it took time for people locally to grasp what they actually were.They sold makeup, over-the-counter medicine and even snacks, a product lineup that at first seemed random, with items people were used to buying separately in specialty stores -- pharmacies, department stores and convenience stores.It took little time for the concept of health and beauty stores, or H&B, to become common among consumers here, boosted b

• Automode

  

  Hyundai overtakes BMW in Europe, Kia sales also grow

  The number of cars South Korean auto giants Hyundai and Kia sold in Europe grew last month despite declining auto sales in the region, data showed Thursday.According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, the number of newly registered cars in March fell 5.3 percent on-year, falling for the first time since 2014. Hyundai Motor, meanwhile, sold a total of 60,663 units, a 3.6 percent increase from the same month last year. Its sister company Kia Motors sold 56,725 units, a 4.8 perce

• Technology

  

  Raonsecure aims for US operation momentum with RSA presentation

  Raonsecure, a biometric technology solution provider to financial firms in South Korea, offered a theater presentation at RSA Conference 2018 in San Francisco, California, highlighting the “momentum for overseas business in America,” the company said Thursday. Raonsecure‘s presentation was made on Wednesday along with some 30 companies at the conference. Raonsecure was the only Korean company to be invited by US company Intel to give presentation.  (Raonsecure)The 30-minute session involved an o