SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  Singer-artist Cho Young-nam found not guilty of painting fraud in appeals trial

  A Seoul appeals court cleared singer-artist Cho Young-nam of fraud charges Friday, citing a lack of evidence to prove his actions were illegal. A lower court had sentenced Cho to 10 months in prison suspended for two years for passing off paintings created by his assistants as his own works. Although he had directed the creation of the paintings, he had not notified buyers that assistants had painted the artworks.  Cho Young-nam (Yonhap)The Seoul High Court overturned the lower court’s ruling, s

• Music

  

  Anticipation heightens over BTS’ new teaser photos

  Just a week away from its much-anticipated return, BTS released teaser photos for its upcoming “Love Yourself: Answer” album. On Thursday night, the act’s agency Big Hit Entertainment revealed 16 promotional photos, divided into “L” and “F” versions, on its Twitter account. The group previously released teaser photos for the upcoming album in “S” and “E” versions, all of which combine to form the word “Self” from “Love Yourself.” BTS had also released four different sets of teaser for its “Her”

• Culture

  

  Young Koreans ride ‘ripples of love’ on mobile platforms

  From dating apps to mobile messaging, unique rules of romantic engagement emerge

• Social affairs

  

  Dog butchers nabbed for water pollution

  Operators of illegal dog slaughterhouses were caught discharging wastewater into a nearby construction site, as the city of Seoul continues its efforts to make the businesses close shop.The city government’s special enforcement division said Thursday they booked without detention three people who ran unregistered dog slaughtering facilities or illegally disposed of wastewater from their butcheries.Two of the three dog butchers channeled what was washed away from the slaughterhouses, including bl

LATEST NEWS

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  Finance

  S. Korea says Elliott's claim over Samsung merger groundless

  South Korea has denied a claim by US activist fund Elliott Associates that it gave discreet backing for a 2015 merger of two Samsung units and caused the firm to suffer losses from what it calls an unfair deal, a document from Seoul's justice ministry showed Friday. The Ministry of Justice released its official government response to the notice of arbitration lodged by Elliott in April. The two sides failed to settle the matter and they face an investor-state dispute through an international tri

• 

  World News

  Trump’s military parade delayed until at least 2019

  WASHINGTON  — The Defense Department says the Veterans Day military parade ordered up by President Donald Trump won’t happen in 2018.Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday that the military and the White House “have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.”The announcement came several hours after The Associated Press reported that the parade would cost about $92 million, according to US officials citing preliminary estimates more than three times the price first suggested by

• 

  World News

  US threatens more sanctions, keeping alive Turkish crisis

  ANKARA, Turkey  — Turkey and the United States exchanged new threats of sanctions Friday, keeping alive a diplomatic and financial crisis that is threatening the economic stability of the NATO country.Turkey’s lira fell once again after the trade minister, Ruhsar Pekcan, said Friday that her government would respond to any new trade duties, which US President Donald Trump threatened in an overnight tweet. A general view of Istanbul, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. Turkey’s finance chief tried to reassu

• 

  Industry

  Samsung Securities cancels bid for promissory notes business

  Samsung Securities Co. said Friday it voluntarily withdrew its application for the right to issue promissory notes following state penalties over its recent fat-finger chaos.The local brokerage firm has sought state approval since July last year for a license for the issuance of promissory notes in a bid to expand its business scope by taking on a role as an investment bank. Samsung Securities (Yonhap)In a regulatory filing, Samsung announced the decision of its revocation, which was made "in co

• 

  Social affairs

  South Korea hit by longest, most severe heat wave in 2018

  South Korea was gripped by the longest, most severe heat wave in its recorded history this year, breaking the record set in 1994, the state weather agency said Friday.Between June 1 and Aug. 16, the nationwide average temperature was 25.5 C, with a mean daily high of 30.7 C, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration, both of which were the highest since 1973, when the agency began to compile relevant data. (Yonhap)The unusually long heat wave was caused by high atmospheric pressure fr

• 

  Industry

  Korea, US agree to cooperate on nuclear reactor exports

  Representatives of South Korea and the United States agreed to seek nuclear reactor exports at high level bilateral talks in Washington on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.At the second meeting of the High Level Bilateral Commission, the two sides agreed to check the progress of a joint survey on the world’s nuclear reactor market and seek ways to export nuclear reactors to a third country. (Herald DB)Led by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and US Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillet

• 

  Culture

  National Folk Museum of Korea to bring ‘mobile museums’ to Asian Games

  The National Folk Museum of Korea will operate mobile museums at the 18th Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang 2018, which run from Aug. 18 through Sept. 2.Also called “Korean culture boxes,“ mobile museums contain various traditional items from Korea and are being deployed in an effort to promote the nation’s traditional folk culture. Altogether, they will display 153 items representing 88 categories. "Sarangbang" box (NFMK) "Anbang" box (NFMK) "Hanbok" box (NFMK)After the games, the mobile museums wi

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  Social affairs

  Governor awaits decision on arrest warrant in opinion-rigging scandal

  The court is expected to deliver its decision on issuing an arrest warrant for South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo later on Friday or early Saturday in connection with an online opinion-rigging scandal. Kim, who is suspected of orchestrating opinion rigging in favor of then-presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in, was transferred to a detention facility in the southwestern suburb of Seoul, after attending a hearing on his arrest warrant that lasted about two hours. Kim Kyung-soo (Yonhap)

• 

  Industry

  Asiana to cut back on flights to prevent delays

  South Korean airliner Asiana Airlines said Friday that it would reduce the number of flights destined for certain European and US cities beginning in October, in response to instructions from the Transport Ministry to address the problem of delayed flights. The country’s No. 2 full-service carrier said it would operate only 75 flights per week to six cities in the US and six cities in Europe as of October. The current number of flights to each city is 82. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and

• 

  Automode

  Number of new jobs lowest in 8 years

  The number of new jobs in July was the lowest in eight years, despite job creation being a priority of the Moon Jae-in administration, data showed Friday.(Yonhap)According to Statistics Korea, the number of newly added jobs last month increased 5,000 from the same month last year, marking the smallest gain on-year since January 2010 when the nation was suffering from the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis.The number of unemployed remained around 1 million for the seventh consecutive m

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Erdogan makes some worrying friends

  Relations between the US and Turkey have been deteriorating almost as fast as the Turkish lira. In a speech on the Black Sea coast Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the ultimate dig against an ally: He threatened to switch teams.　“Before it is too late, Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives,” he told the crowd. If the “disrespect” continues, his government will seek “

• Columnists

  

  Worst lawlessness reigns in Street of Justice

  The new Seoul Eastern Detention House, or “Dongbu Guchiso,” is located on Jeongui-ro, or “Justice Street,” in Munjeong-dong. Across the street are the Seoul Eastern District Court and Seoul Eastern Prosecutors’ Office adjoining each other. Opened a little over a year ago, Dongbu Guchiso has become the judgment grounds of old power, as it accommodates many “celebrities” from the administrations of presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye who are being prosecuted under the Moon Jae-in government

THE INVESTOR

• Retail & Consumer

  

  Sulbing’s plans to takeoff overseas face strong headwinds

  Korean dessert cafe franchise Sulbing has some ambitious plans for this year. “We’re aiming to open 40 stores by the year-end,” the firm said in a statement on Aug. 8 as it announced its first outlet in Cambodia. “We are confident of attracting global customers with our know-how for making Korean desserts.”On the opening day in Cambodia, its outlet attracted over 300 local customers, according to the company. Sulbing also operates in seven other countries outside of Korea, includi

• Stocks & Bonds

  

  SM, JYP, YG shares jump on Q2 earnings

  K-pop powerhouses SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment enjoyed a sharp rise in their share price on better-than-expected earnings results combined with upbeat analyst forecasts. On Aug. 16, shares of JYP -- home to entertainers like Twice, 2PM and Suzy -- surged 8.21 percent to close at 25,700 won (US$22.79). Big Bang’s label YG rose 7.05 percent to 37,100 won, while SM enjoyed a 6.3 percent increase to 43,800 won Earlier this week, the labels announced their s

• Bio & Medicine

  

  FSS announces tougher disclosure rules for biotech stocks

  The Financial Supervisory Service on Aug. 17 announced strengthened disclosure requirements for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies starting with their third-quarter earnings reports. The aim is to help investors obtain a more accurate picture of their business. “The purpose of these measures are to make them present detailed information in their disclosure reports in a systematic manner after we found that many pharma and biotech companies aren’t properly disclosing the un

• Industrials

  

  Gov’t decides not to cancel Jin Air license

  The government said on Aug. 17 that it has decided not to revoke Jin Air’s license, ending weeks of business uncertainty for the budget affiliate of Korean Air Lines over its illegal appointment of a foreign national to its board of directors.Under the aviation law, only Koreans can be registered as a director of an airline. The company, however, appointed Cho Hyun-min, an American citizen and the younger daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, to serve as a board member of J

K-POP HERALD

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  Higher anticipation over BTS’ new teasers

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  Jennie, Jisoo with pets ‘everywhere’

• 

  Irene wants to pay back for all the love

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Music

  

  ‘We will keep evolving, regardless of our age,’ says Super Junior D&E

• Social affairs

  

  Legislation Minister makes reducing discrimination her mission

• Finance

  

  Balancehero urges govt. to support firms targeting India entry

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  ‘Reformed Georgia: pearl of South Caucasus after 2008 war’: Georgian Foreign Minister

PHOTO NEWS

• Travel

  

  DMZ Peace Park: wildlife paradise at the Cold War’s last frontier

   After the Korean War ended with an armistice agreement in 1953, two Koreas declared a 4-kilometer-wide Demilitarized Zone along the demarcation line that separated them, to prevent accidental skirmishes. Since the DMZ has been off-limits for more than 60 years, the area has become home to many endangered species, including red-crowned cranes. The border town of Cheorwon in Gangwon Province opened the DMZ Peace Park, an ecotourism park in the southern part of the heavily-fortified region, in 201

VIDEO

• Music

  

  MXM returns with self-produced album ‘More Than Ever’

• Food

  

  Fish in water? Sliced fish in chilled broth

• Television

  

  Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin talk about remote-acting in ‘The Negotiation’

• Food

  

  Snake-like creature writhes, squirms on grill

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  After plastic-cup ban in cafes, some Koreans are ‘fed up’ with the new rule

  Han Ji-young, a professional in her 30s, was almost late for work last week. As she does every morning, she visited her go-to cafe to grab coffee on the way to her office in southern Seoul. The queue was unusually long that day, she said, partly because of the hot weather. When she finally got her coffee, after minutes of waiting, she realized the beverage was served in a glass mug, not the plastic cup that she usually gets for take-out drinks.　“It turns out, one of the staff members at the cafe

• Finance

  

  Samsung Electronics pulls along H1 growth in Kospi earnings

  South Korea’s listed companies experienced lackluster earnings in the second quarter despite on-year growth in the first half of the year largely driven by Samsung Electronics, data showed Thursday. (Yonhap)The combined first-half operating profit of 641 companies trading on the Kospi, including Samsung Electronics, jumped 18.6 percent on-year, while combined net profit surged 7.6 percent. However, if the data excludes Samsung Electronics, the figures significantly slid. The combined operating p

• Technology

  

  SKT adopts Xilinx’s neural processing unit to boost AI

  SK Telecom, South Korea’s biggest mobile carrier, has deployed US chipmaker Xilinx’s neural processing units to accelerate its artificial intelligence processing speed and performance by fivefold, the two companies announced Thursday. Known as FPGAs or field-programmable gate arrays, the integrated circuits based on latest deep learning techniques are now deployed at the mobile carrier’s data center and are running its automatic speech-recognition application to accelerate AI speaker NUGU. SKT s

• Travel

  

  Changwon, Miryang readies for guests ahead of ISSF championship

  Cities in South Gyeongsang Province offer mysteriously icy creeks, seafood, temples and shooting ranges The eyes of the sports world will be on Korea later in the month, this time in the southern and hottest place in the country, as the city of Changwon will host the International Shooting Sport Federation World Championship from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15.With outsiders expected to visit the region -- including 12 athletes and 10 officials from North Korea -- Changwon and the neighboring city of Mirya