SPOTLIGHT

• World News

  

  Prince Harry and Meghan expecting their 1st child in spring

  CANBERRA, Australia -- Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, are expecting their first child in the spring, Kensington Palace said Monday.The announcement came hours after Harry and the former Meghan Markle arrived in Sydney at the start of a 16-day visit to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. Hundreds of people gathered to catch a glimpse of the couple after they landed.Their royal highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world sin

• Social affairs

  

  Policeman fired for uploading obscene picture online

  A South Korean police officer in his 30s has been fired for uploading obscene contents on his blog. (Yonhap)Incheon District Police Station said Monday that the 33-year-old officer has been dismissed on disciplinary grounds for the violation. The policeman was arrested in June after an online user discovered his blog post that included two pictures of his genitals and a review of an illegal massage shop. The user reported him to the state petitions agency. The owner of the illegal massage shop f

• Social affairs

  

  New labor minister burdened with challenges

  Lee Jae-gap, the newly appointed Minister of Employment and Labor, is taking on the new role as things are especially getting rough in the South Korean labor market. 　The country’s unemployment rate reached its highest level since 1999 last month, while the government allowance for jobless hit a record high. 　Prior to Lee’s appointment last month, the Moon Jae-in administration had been criticized by some for its purportedly pro-labor policies, including the latest minimum wage hike and reductio

• Music

  

  Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s “Ars Nova” provisionally marks its end

  Contemporary classical music fans should not miss the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s upcoming “Ars Nova” concerts in October as this year’s edition could be the last season of the 13-year-long music series. In a statement released Monday, the SPO announced that it would not hold the “Ars Nova Series” in 2019, largely due to the current absence of experts who are capable of leading the series at the orchestra.The Seoul-based orchestra is in the process of filling its new music director, artistic

LATEST NEWS

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  Fashion

  2D illustrations breathe life into luxury fashion

  For fashion enthusiasts and luxury goods lovers, an exhibition of fashion illustrator Megan Hess’ work is soon to open in Seoul. The Australian illustrator is known across the world for her work with luxury fashion houses and celebrities. She became a big figure in the fashion scene after drawing the cover illustration for the “Sex and the City” book after the series became a hit.  Fashion illustrator Megan Hess speaks during a press event held Tuesday at The Seouliteum in eastern Seoul. (Yonhap

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  Industry

  ASEAN official predicts bright future for partnerships with Korea

  Countries in region eager to pursue technology cooperation

• 

  Music

  BoA to drop ‘Woman’ next week

  K-pop star BoA is gearing up for a return to the music stage with her ninth full-length album “Woman.”“The veteran singer is getting prepared to return with her LP on Oct. 24,” said S.M. Entertainment, which represents BoA. “A day after the release of the 10-track album via local digital music platforms, the LP will be released in CD format.” (S.M. Entertainment)Eponymous track “Woman” is a dance pop tune with rhythmical base sounds that shines with BoA’s powerful vocals and dance performance th

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  Culture

  Changgyeong Palace to stay open at night starting next year

  Changgyeong Palace, one of the four main Korean palaces, will stay open till 9 p.m. all year round, starting next year, for those who love to enjoy its night views, the head of the government office that manages the palaces said Tuesday.The Cultural Heritage Administration has allowed nighttime sightseeing of two palaces located in central Seoul -- Gyeongbok and Changgyeong -- on a limited basis. This year, Changgyeong Palace will open for night tour programs for 70 days and admit only 3,500 vis

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  Industry

  Hyundai Motor's leverage to improve over next 12-18 months: Moody's

  Moody's Investors Service, a global credit rating agency, on Tuesday said it expected Hyundai Motor Group's financial leverage to improve over the next 18 months on increasing profitability.(Yonhap)The financial status of Hyundai and Kia, South Korea's two biggest carmakers, will improve gradually over the next one and a half years, helped by improving sales in China, higher utilization rates in their US plants and the launch of new models, Moody's said in a report. "This improvement will be dri

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  Politics

  First ladies of South Korea and France walk arm in arm

  South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook and her French counterpart Brigitte Macron put on a display of friendship Monday as they locked arms together during a tour around the Louvre Museum.Kim, who accompanied President Moon Jae-in on a state visit to France, spent nearly an hour and a half at the museum, enjoying famous artwork including the original paintings of “Mona Lisa” and “Portrait of Louis XIV” with Macron. (Yonhap)The first ladies of the two countries met for a second time following the

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  Social affairs

  Man caught after spreading nude photos of himself taken at women’s university

  A man, who took indecent photos at a university campus and uploaded them on Twitter was caught Monday, police said. Police have requested an arrest warrant for him.The 28-year-old man is accused of spreading pornographic images and trespassing upon school property. He allegedly entered Dongduk Women’s University campus and took photos of himself naked in empty classrooms and hallways on Oct. 6, and spread the photos on Twitter.  (Yonhap)After the photos circulated on Twitter and anonymous commun

• 

  Industry

  Nuclear safety commission OKs restart of Kori No. 2 nuclear reactor

  South Korea's nuclear safety commission on Tuesday approved the restart of a nuclear reactor that was shut down six months ago.The 650-megawatt Kori No. 2 reactor in the southern port city of Busan went offline on April 17 for routine inspections. (Yonhap)The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said it has repaired two cracks on the outer surfaces of an auxiliary building and another building that houses the nuclear fuel.The Kori No. 2 reactor is expected to operate at full capacity on Friday

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  Defense

  No change in Korea's defense commitment to NLL: military

  South Korea's military said Tuesday it remains firmly committed to the defense of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border with North Korea.The two Koreas have long disputed the demarcation of their Yellow Sea border, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce.The South has maintained the NLL, while the North has drawn its own "security line" further south, leading to some deadly naval skirmishes.In April, the leaders of the two sides agreed to turn the tense area into a

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  Finance

  Financial firms urged to consider environment, society: regulator

  The head of the financial watchdog on Tuesday called on financial firms to think about environmental and social issues in their investment decisions. Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Yoon Suk-heun made the remarks at a conference to discuss ways for Seoul to become a city of sustainable finance. Sustainable finance is a new watchword for investors that integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment decisions. (Yonhap)Yoon said the South Korean government is playing

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Western spy agencies strike back

  One of the most satisfying moments in any spy thriller is when the bad guy -- the black hat operative who has been killing and tormenting his adversaries -- does something dumb and gets caught. That’s essentially what’s been happening recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pet spy agency, the GRU. What’s fascinating about the GRU revelations is that they seem to reflect an aggressive pushback after several years in which Putin (chiefly through the GRU) launched recklessly aggressive co

• Columnists

  

  How to become a global citizen?

  These days the term “Global Citizen” has become a popular catch-phrase in Korea, particularly among the so-called “internationalized people.” Why has this term become so popular or even “sexy”? The trend reminds me of a speech I delivered at the International Management Institute of the Federation of Korean Industries on April 6, 2000. The title was “How to Become a Global Person.” Strictly speaking, the term “global person” is more appropriate than the term “global citizen,” because global citi

THE INVESTOR

• Finance

  

  Bank ownership rules eased for Kakao, Naver

  Korea’s financial authorities on Oct. 16 announced a set of revisions to the current ownership law of internet-only banks, paving the way for select big tech firms like Kakao and Naver to own a full-fledged bank from next year. Under the current regulations on separation of financial and commercial capital, a non-financial company with more than 10 trillion won (US$8.60 billion) assets is banned from owning more than 10 percent stake in a financial company. The revision will eleva

• Blockchain

  

  Chinese crypto exchange BTCC to launch service in Korea

  BTCC, China’s first cryptocurrency exchange, formerly known as BTC China, is launching services in Korea on Oct. 31. BTCC, founded in 2011, was one of the largest exchanges in the world by trading volume before the Chinese government’s crackdown on cryptocurrency trading and initial coin offerings. It closed its Chinese operations in September last year and relaunched services in Hong Kong in January. Its Korean office will be helmed by Lee Jae-beom, with the beta service starting

• Blockchain

  

  Bithumb’s new chief hints at Hong Kong launch

  Bithumb, the nation’s largest crypto exchange, is expected to ramp up efforts for global expansion following last week’s surprise ownership change. Its new chairman Kim Byung-gun, founder of BK Medical Group that operates plastic surgery clinics in Asia, on Oct. 13 hinted that the first destination will be Hong Kong. “We plan to open crypto exchanges in some 10 countries around the world,” Kim, a renowned plastic surgeon, told in an interview with Maeil Economic Daily. “Hong Kong

• Samsung

  

  Samsung announces new automotive chip brands

  Samsung Electronics said on Oct. 16 that it has launched two new brands for automotive semiconductors -- Exynos Auto and ISOCELL Auto -- in a bid to reinforce its competitiveness in the market.The newly launched brands originate from the two existing semiconductor brands, Exynos -- a mobile semiconductor brand first launched in 2011 -- and ISOCELL, an image sensor chip brand first introduced in 2017.“Samsung’s new automotive brand solutions bring our market-proven technologies to

K-POP HERALD

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  Sechs Kies charms Seoul despite trouble

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  BTS performs in Paris

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  Shinhwa wows Taipei

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Automode

  

  Dream Gream offers taste of real art world, broadens aspirants’ horizons

• Music

  

  BTS fever ‘revolutionizing’ existing structure

• Foreign Policy

  

  ‘Barriers to international adoption should be eliminated’

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  UK trade minister calls for increased access to Korean services market

PHOTO NEWS

• Music

  

  BTS in Paris

  (Yonhap)BTS met South Korean President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook during the band’s visit to Paris for a concert celebrating the friendship between Korea and France.The group posted pictures on Twitter of its members with Moon and his wife at the Korea-France Friendship Concert at theater Le 13eme Art on Sunday.(Yonhap)In photos released by the Blue House, Moon looked proud as the group powered through the hit-packed set, including “DNA” and “Idol,” before an audience of 400, inclu

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

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  ‘Decarbonization must be hastened via energy transition’

  “The energy transition should be looked at not only from an economic standpoint, but also a technological standpoint, because some 40 to 50 percent of decarbonization can be achieved by increasing energy efficiency.”

• Industry

  

  SK Biopharmaceuticals builds AI-powered drug development platform

  SK Biopharmaceuticals, the new drug development unit of South Korea’s telecom-to-energy conglomerate SK Group, said Monday it had finished developing an artificially intelligent drug development and design platform that is expected to speed up its new drug discovery efforts.　The AI platform was built by studying the vast amount of research on central nervous system disorders and developing optimized algorithms in partnership with SK Holdings C&C and its AI platform Aibril. AI-supported drug deve

• Technology

  

  How to check what Facebook hackers accessed in your account

  NEW YORK (AP) -- Could hackers have been able to see the last person you cyberstalked, or that party photo you were tagged in? According to Facebook, the unfortunate answer is “yes.”On Friday, the social network said fewer users were affected in a security breach it disclosed two weeks ago than originally estimated -- nearly 30 million, down from 50 million. In additional good news, the company said hackers weren‘t able to access more sensitive information like your password or financial informa

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  Philippine culture celebrated at migrants’ festival

  Philippine Ambassador Raul S. Hernandez speaks at the Migrants Arirang Multicultural Festival in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, from Oct. 5-7. (Philippines Department of Tourism-Korea)The Migrants Arirang Multicultural Festival -- Korea’s largest celebration for foreign residents -- was held in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, from Oct. 5-7, feting Korea’s multiculturalism through art, dance, music and food. This year’s event featured the Philippines as the main host, with numerous Fil