SPOTLIGHT

• 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

• Culture

  

  Koreas to resume Manwoldae dig around next week

  South and North Korea are presumed to resume the joint excavation of an ancient palace site in North Korea as early as next week, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.The joint dig of Manwoldae, where the remains of the royal palace of the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392) once stood, has been considered both a symbolic and substantial step for the two Koreas to reconcile their differing views on Korean history.Officials said North Korean scholars told their South Korean counterpart

LATEST NEWS

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  Economy

  S. Korea inks $600 mln investment deals with European firms: trade ministry

  South Korea has clinched new investment deals totaling $600 million with firms in European Union countries, achieving the annual target for foreign direct investment, Seoul’s trade ministry said Monday.  The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it secured the new deals with four EU-based companies at the investment roundtable it held in Paris. It came on the sidelines of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s four-day state visit to France that ends Tuesday. (Yonhap)Moon is currently on a t

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  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

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  Soccer

  Football head coach hints at lineup changes in friendly vs. Panama

  CHEONAN, South Korea -- South Korea football coach Paulo Bento on Monday hinted at making lineup changes for an upcoming friendly match against Panama. South Korea, 55th in the latest FIFA rankings, will face 70th-ranked Panama, at Cheonan Stadium in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on Tuesday. The two sides are meeting for the first time.  (Yonhap)Since he took the helm in August, Bento has been sticking to a 4-2-3-1 setup and has used the same back four comprised of Lee Yong, Jang Hyun-soo

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  Industry

  ASEAN becomes center stage for Korean retail, beauty and entertainment biz

  With Southeast Asia becoming the center stage for South Korean businesses in expanding their global presence, retail conglomerates like Lotte, Shinsegae and CJ have been successfully tapping into the markets.Lotte Group has focused its investments on its retail arm Lotte Shopping’s entrance to the Indonesian market. According to the company, the Indonesia market accounts for 17 percent of total sales earned from overseas Lotte Group businesses.Lotte Mart’s Batam outlet in Indonesia (Lotte Shoppi

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  Finance

  ‘New Southern Policy’ encourages financial companies to look to Southeast Asia

  For South Korean financial companies looking out for new growth momentum, the “New Southern Policy” -- the key foreign economic policy of the Moon Jae-in administration -- came as a timely opportunity to create synergy with the fast-growing Southeast Asian market.The overseas net profit of domestic financial companies last year totaled $934 million, up 42 percent from a year earlier and exceeding 1 trillion won in Korean currency for the first time, the Financial Supervisory Service data showed

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  Social affairs

  Day care usage way below government 40% target: data

  　The proportion of children using national and public kindergartens and child care centers is expected to remain far short of 40 percent, the government's target, official data showed. 　President Moon Jae-in earlier set a goal to expand government support for parents with young children, vowing to more than triple the proportion of infants and toddlers looked after by publicly run centers within his term in office.　As part of the effort, the government increased the number of centers by 373 in 2

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  Social affairs

  Family of three found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning at campsite

  A family of three was found dead at a campsite in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Sunday night. (Yonhap)According to local authorities, the bodies of an 84-year-old man and his two sons, both in their 50s, were discovered inside a parked caravan. All the doors and windows were shut tight and byproducts from burned coal were found in the kitchen sink.The authorities said the three had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, and that they were investigating to determine whether it was an accident

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  Diplomatic Circuit

  Team Australia bicycles Korea for charity

  Members of the Australian Embassy, led by Ambassador James Choi, and the Australian community here took part in a challenging 375-kilometer cycling journey in Korea for three days to promote diversity and multiculturalism.The team of 15 Australian and Korean riders started their campaign at the Unification Observatory in Goseong-gun, Gangwon Province, on Oct. 6. They traveled southward along the east coast to the city of Gangneung on the first day, rode over the mountain range of Baekdudaegan th

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  Diplomatic Circuit

  Latin American films expose rich emotions, imaginations

  A poster for the Latin American Film Festival (KOFA)The Latin American Film Festival will be held in Seoul from Tuesday to Sunday for its fourth straight year, showcasing films that unveil the desires and concerns of contemporary Central and South Americans. The embassies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay will each present a movie that highlights its own culture, society and history, including internatio

• 

  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

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

• 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 Galaxy Note 10 to beat Apple’s iPhone XS in screen size

  A phablet was once mocked for its oversized screen. However, it is now on a hot streak as most top global smartphone makers, including Apple, are competitively rolling out large-screen smartphones to attract new customers.Samsung Electronics, which first introduced the phablet -- portmanteau of a phone and a tablet -- in 2011, is preparing to outrun its rivals with the largest-ever Galaxy Note model later next year, according to news reports on Oct. 15.The Korean tech giant inform

• Mobile & Internet

  

  SKT, Samsung complete first 5G call

  SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics announced on Oct. 15 that they have completed a joint project to make the first 5G call in Korea, kicking it up a notch in the race to commercialize the next-generation service.Completing the first call is a step to test whether data transactions can be done without a hitch before commercialization.Their first 5G call, utilizing the new 3GPP 5G radio standards and 3.5GHz spectrum, was made at SKT’s laboratory in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province.The com

• Retail & Consumer

  

  CJ CGV’s Vietnam unit to slow down IPO process

  CJ CGV Vietnam Holdings has decided to delay its plans to be listed on the main KOSPI bourse, according to industry sources on Oct. 15.The firm had originally planned to start the demand forecast for listing on Oct. 18-19, but has delayed it to Nov. 1-2. It has also moved its subscription period, which was set to happen on Oct. 24-25, to Nov. 7-8. The firm, a special vehicle based in the British Virgin Islands, currently operates the largest multiplex chain in Vietnam through its

K-POP HERALD

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  Sechs Kies charms Seoul despite trouble

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  BTS performs in Paris

• 

  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