SPOTLIGHT

• Music

  

  Tickets to BTS' first concert in US sell out

  Tickets for K-pop boy band BTS' first concert in a US stadium sold out as soon as sales began, the group's management agency said Saturday.The seven-member K-pop sensation will perform at New York City's Citi Field Stadium on Oct. 6 as part of its world tour of 16 countries, including Canada, Britain, Germany and France. The band will begin the tour with local concerts in Seoul slated for Aug. 25-26.BTS will become the first South Korean singers to hold a solo concert at the home ballpark of the

• Industry

  

  Jin Air to retain business license

  South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Friday that it had decided not to revoke the business license of Korean Air’s budget affiliate, Jin Air. The budget carrier came under fire in April for having a US citizen, Cho Hyun-min, on its board of directors. For security reasons, foreign nationals cannot serve as board members at Korean airlines under the nation’s aviation law. In April, it was revealed that Cho, the younger daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, had

• Social affairs

  

  Police investigate terror threat against presidential office on radical feminist site

  Police said Friday that they were investigating a terrorist threat against the presidential office posted on Womad, a radical feminist community site.Around 1:40 p.m., a user claimed to have planted an explosive device inside Cheong Wa Dae and said it would explode at 3 p.m. The post also included a picture of the purported device.(Screencaptured from Womad website)The police are currently investigating several other matters concerning Womad, including allegations that spycam pictures and footag

• 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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  Politics

  Government, party to hold emergency meeting on jobs

  Senior officials from the government and ruling party will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss measures to tackle the worsening employment situation, party officials said.The meeting, slated for 2 p.m., will involve officials from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, relevant ministries and the Democratic Party, they said.  Data showed Friday that the nation logged the lowest level of job addition in more than eight years in July, a blow to President Moon Jae-in, who pledged that jo

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  World News

  Annan's legacy of fighting for equality and rights lives on

  Kofi Annan left the United Nations far more committed than it had been to combating poverty, promoting equality and fighting for human rights _ and until his death Saturday he was speaking out strongly for nations working together to solve problems and worried about the rise of nationalism. As secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006, Annan saw as his greatest achievements the programs and policies he put in place to reduce inequality within and between countries, to combat infe

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  World News

  Ban offers condolences after Annan's death

  Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday mourned the death of Kofi Annan, the Nobel laureate and Ban's predecessor, saying that he will always be remembered.Annan -- who had led the United Nations from 1997 to 2006 -- was announced dead earlier in the day. He and the organization were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. "Annan will always be remembered and respected for his vision and courage to keep the principle and idea of the United Nations," Ban said in a press release.Ban fur

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  Politics

  S. Korean PM meets with senior N. Korean official in Jakarta

  South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon met with a senior North Korean official in Jakarta on Saturday just before the opening ceremony of the Asian Games.Lee encountered North Korean Deputy Prime Minister Ri Ryong-nam at around 6:20 p.m. at a trilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.South and North Korea marched together behind the Korean Unification Flag at the opening ceremony in Jakarta later in the day.The rival Koreas are scheduled to field joint teams in three sports -- wo

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  More sports

  Koreas march together at Asian Games' opening ceremony

  South and North Korea marched together at the opening ceremony of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on Saturday, marking the second time in six months that the two were united behind one flag at an international sporting competition.South Korean female basketball player Lim Yung-hui and North Korean football player Ju Kyong-chol together carried the Korean Unification Flag -- a blue Korean Peninsula again a white background -- during the Parade of Athletes at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Main Stadium.I

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  Golf

  Park has share of clubhouse lead at rain-hit Indy golf

  Park Sung-hyun took advantage of an early tee time to shoot her best round of 2018 on Friday and grab a share of the clubhouse lead during the LPGA Tour's Indy Championship.The South Korean fired a nine-under 63 on Friday to finish in a tie with Lizette Salas at 13-under 131 as they completed their second rounds before heavy rains caused a four-hour delay.The second round will resume early Saturday at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Yonhap)Park said her superb perfo

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  Baseball

  S. Korean baseball manager not taking any opponent lightly

  Despite his team's favorite status at the Asian Games baseball tournament in Indonesia, South Korean manager Sun Dong-yol said Saturday he won't take any opponent lightly.Sun gathered his 24-man team for the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games on Saturday, with the first practice scheduled for later in the day at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. The team is made up entirely of players from the Korea Baseball Organization, the top domestic league. (Yonhap)South Korea defeated Chinese Taipei in the finals of th

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  More sports

  S. Korean prime minister leaves for Indonesia for Asian Games

  South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon left for Indonesia Saturday to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, setting the stage for a possible meeting with a senior North Korean official. (Yonhap)South and North Korea are set to march together behind the Korean Unification Flag at the opening ceremony in Jakarta later in the day.The rival Koreas are scheduled to field joint teams in three sports -- women's basketball, rowing and canoeing -- in a sign of warming relations. The two Koreas

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  More sports

  Co-host city of Palembang could be promised land for S. Korea

  Palembang, a co-host city of the 2018 Asian Games along with Jakarta, could prove to be the promised land for South Korea, once the competition begins in earnest on Sunday.Located about 430 kilometers northwest of the Indonesia capital, Palembang will stage women's football, shooting, rowing, canoeing, bowling, tennis and soft tennis, among others. (EPA-Yonhap)While preliminary matches in football, basketball and handball have already been played prior to Saturday's opening ceremony due to sched

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  Industry

  Nuclear reactor shuts down for maintenance

  The operator of South Korea's nuclear power plants said Saturday that it has stopped operation of a nuclear reactor in the country's southwestern nuclear complex for scheduled maintenance Hanbit 1 (KHMP)The 950-megawatt "Hanbit 1" reactor stopped operating at 10:03 a.m. for routine inspections, the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. said.The reactor is located in Yeonggwang, about 350 kilometers southwest of Seoul. Three other reactors in Yeonggwang are also undergoing maintenance. (Yonhap)

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 teaser photos

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  Lee Ha-nee signs with US talent agency

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  Suzy gets a new look

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

• Culture

  

  Young Koreans ride ‘ripples of love’ on mobile platforms

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

• 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