SPOTLIGHT

• World News

  

  Kim and Trump lookalikes draw the crowds in Hanoi

  Cars stopped and tourists gawked at what appeared to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wanderingthe streets of Hanoi.Days before the second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Vietnam's capital, a Kim impersonator appeared on Friday at the Metropole Hotel, a back-up location for the meeting.Howard X, an Australian, has been cashing in his resemblance to North Korea's leader, especially with the haircut, as he engages with the outside world. US President Donald Trump impersonator Ru

• Theater

  

  ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ from NT Live to screen at National Theater of Korea

  The National Theater of Korea will hold screenings of Benedict Andrews’ production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and James Macdonald’s reinterpretation of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Edward Albee, from March 14 -24 at Daloreum Theater. The National Theater of Korea’s upcoming screenings of the two theater masterpieces are imports from National Theatre Live, the Royal National Theater’s program launched in 2009 to broadcast live performances of British theater works and

• Social affairs

  

  Student hospitalized after Grand Canyon fall to return home

  Park Joon-hyuk, a 25-year-old university student who was hospitalized after a fall at the Grand Canyon National Park in the US, will return to Korea on Friday afternoon with the help of citizens and aviation company authorities. 　Park boarded Korean Air KE006A on Thursday at 11:40 a.m., US time, at the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. His flight is scheduled to arrive at Incheon around 5:39 p.m. The flight was originally scheduled to arrive early Friday morning, but heavy snow in Las Ve

• Music

  

  BTS launches online archive 'Armypedia' to reach out to fans

  Global K-pop phenomenon BTS has launched an online archive, inspired by its dedicated fans around the world, where their fans, known as Army, can get together to record memories from the band's six-year career, the band's management agency said Friday."Armypedia" at www.armypedia.net has gone online and will officially go into operation starting on Monday to gather together BTS fans to collectively record memorable moments of the six years since BTS' debut on June 13, 2013, according to Big Hit

LATEST NEWS

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  North Korea

  Inter-Korean forestry cooperation could make progress 'faster': PM

  South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Friday that inter-Korean cooperation in the forestry sector could make progress faster than any other joint economic project.He made the remarks while visiting a farming association corporation in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province."As North Korea needs to produce food and reforest its territory at the same time, the fruit trees that we have improved could play a useful role," Lee said. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon looks around a food processing factory

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  Industry

  NCSoft developing voice command function for mobile games

  NCSoft introduced three future technologies Friday at a media event in Gangnam, Seoul, saying it intends to unveil them by the end of this year. The company’s artificial intelligence center is currently developing hands-free voice command technology, a master server to unite all 160 servers of “LineageM,” and an “unconnected play” function that will allow game characters to remain active and keep developing even when players are offline. Media event for “LineageM” took place in Seoul on Friday.

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  World Business

  VietJet to sign major Boeing deal during Trump-Kim summit: sources

  Fast-growing Vietnamese budgetairline VietJet Aviation JSC is expected to sign amajor jet deal with Boeing Co on the sidelines of nextweek's Trump-Kim summit, according to sources familiar with the matter.US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will hold their second summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Feb 27-28.Holding a signing ceremony during Trump's visit would help emphasize strengthening economic and military ties between the United States and Vietnam. Boeing

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  Social affairs

  US missionaries speak out against controversial Gwangju Uprising comments

  US missionaries who lived in Gwangju through the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980 sent a letter to National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang on Friday, referring to controversial remarks from far-right figures as “blatantly false.”“It was not an organized movement -- it was an illicit assault upon our city of 800,000 people by military forces under the control of Chun Doo-Hwan. … Believe us, we know what happened in Gwangju -- we were eye-witnesses, and we recorded what we saw and experienc

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  North Korea

  N. Korean, US envoys hold additional talks on summit agenda

  Senior North Korean and US envoys held hourslong talks in Hanoi on Friday as part of home-stretch preparations for another summit between the leaders of the Korean War foes.The negotiations on the summit agenda came as Washington said that freezing all of Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction programs and delivery systems will be a priority at the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump, slated for Feb. 27-28.Kim Hyok-chol, Pyongyang's special represent

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  Finance

  Fintech app Banksalad sees no. of monthly active users triple to 1.5m

  Banksalad, South Korea’s leading mobile app for personal finance management, said Friday that the number of its monthly active users had reached 1.5 million, marking a threefold increase from its average for last year.Founded in 2012 by local startup Rainist, Banksalad pools a user’s financial information from different banks and finance companies into a single platform. This consolidates data for bank accounts, investments, savings bonds and more. Kim Tae-hoon, co-founder and chief executive of

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  Social affairs

  Korea denounces Japan's annual ceremony on Dokdo islets

  The South Korean government condemned Japan on Friday for its continued sovereignty claim over Dokdo, a pair of rocky islets in the East Sea, again demonstrated in an official event.The Japanese prefecture of Shimane held the Takeshima Day event earlier in the day aimed at publicizing Japan's territorial claim to Dokdo, which Seoul has effectively controlled for a long time. Dokdo (Yonhap)A senior Japanese government official attended the ceremony, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.In a stat

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  Industry

  Kepco reports first operating loss in six years

  State-run electric utility company Korea Electric Power Corporation reported an operating loss in 2018 for the first time in six years, due mainly to rising fuel prices and the cost of buying power from its affiliates. Kepco posted an operating loss of 208 billion won ($184 million) last year, down from an operating profit of 4.9 trillion won the previous year, according to its regulatory filing on Friday. It reported sales of 60.6 trillion won, up from 59.8 trillion won last year. Last year, fu

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  North Korea

  Seoul's top nuclear envoy due in Hanoi for summit-related consultations

  South Korea's chief nuclear envoy headed to Hanoi on Friday for consultations on next week's summit between North Korea and the United States.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, plans to meet with Stephen Biegun, Washington's envoy for Pyongyang, there to discuss a negotiation strategy, a government source said. Lee Do-hoon (Yonhap)Biegun is leading the working-level bargaining with North Korea on the agenda items of the two-day talks between lead

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  Foreign Policy

  Korea, India agree to strengthen defense cooperation, economic ties

  South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed Friday to strengthen military ties and defense industry cooperation between the two countries.During their summit in Seoul, the leaders also agreed to complete the two nations' negotiations to upgrade their bilateral free trade pact at an early date, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. (Yonhap)Modi arrived in Seoul on Thursday for a two-day state visit.His trip reciprocated Moon's state visit to Ind

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Why US and China can’t make a deal

  Optimism that the US and China can reach a trade deal is rising, with another round of intensive negotiations in Washington this week. What buoyant investors are ignoring, however, is that the talks have become a test of strength between the world’s two great powers -- or, more accurately, a test of how accurate each nation’s sense of its own strength is.　The inconvenient fact is that neither country possesses the power to impose its will on the other. The US is not on its own capable of compell

• Columnists

  

  Gwangju deniers damage democracy

  In Gwangju for the first time a few years ago, I walked down Geumnanro, the site of violent clashes between Gwangju locals and troops enforcing martial law on May 18, 1980. Events were being held on the broad avenue closed off to traffic for the day -- a play, a concert and a samulnori performance to name but a few, all commemorating the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. There were few people in attendance, but that didn’t seem to matter. These were people remembering the massacre in whic

THE INVESTOR

• Deals

  

  Netmarble, Kakao, global PEFs bid for Nexon takeover

  Kakao, Netmarble Games and a couple of leading private equity funds participated in a preliminary bid for Korea’s largest game developer, Nexon, industry sources said Feb. 22. From the beginning, the deal -- estimated to be worth between 10 trillion won (US$8.88 billion) and 13 trillion won -- was expected to draw offers from global PEFs and substantial foreign companies like Tencent and Disney. But at the last minute, some such as Affinity Equity Partners, KKR and The Carlyle Group withdrew, wh

• Startups & Investors

  

  WeWork Korea to open 18th location in Seoul in July

  Office-sharing platform company WeWork announced on Feb. 22 that it would open its 18th shared office in Seoul in July. The new location in Seolleung in southern Seoul, which will occupy the entire 20th floor of a building in the district, can accommodate up to 2,700 members — the second largest in size in Korea after WeWork Euljiro in northern Seoul, which can house up to 2,800 members.The building in Seolleung district that WeWork Korea will use for its 18th location.With the opening of the ne

• Industrials

  

  SK hynix moves to clear red tape for chip cluster

  SK hynix is taking steps to overcome the red tape for creating the world’s biggest semiconductor cluster in the Yongin area of Gyeonggi ProvinceOn Feb. 22, the Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry said it plans to ask the Land Ministry to ease the regulations that restrict factory building in the wider Seoul area by next month. If approved, it would mark the first occasion that the Moon Jae-in administration has relaxed such rules. 　The reports come a day after the world’s No. 2 chipmaker said it

• Samsung

  

  Analysts split on whether Samsung Galaxy Fold can be a game changer

  Samsung Electronics’ first foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold impressed some, but naysayers are saying that the phone may not be as big a game changer as Apple’s first iPhone. Meritz Securities, in particular, dished out one of the harshest reviews on the foldable phone by saying the newly unveiled product is far from perfect.  Samsung Electronics mobile chief Koh Dong-jin introduces the firm's first foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold during the launch event held on Feb. 20 (local time) in San Fracisc

K-POP HERALD

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  ‘Save Me,’ Episode 7, recap

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  ‘BTS’ spirit cannot be duplicated’

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  50 facts about V of BTS

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Music

  

  Nobody can imitate our powerfulness: Monsta X

• Economy

  

  SK Innovation’s participation to bring better understanding of EV in US city

• Industry

  

  ‘4th industrial revolution’ technologies now crucial for customs clearance

• Foreign Policy

  

  Peace treaty for Korean Peninsula should be on agenda for Trump-Kim summit, peace activist says

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Traditional Korean culture alive at King’s Street

  It’s easy to spot beautiful palaces when you walk around Seoul, a city that blends modern and traditional Korean cultures. Changdeokgung, a royal palace built in 1405, is among them. Donhwanum is the main gate of Changdeokgung, the second royal palace built in 1405. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)The palace Changdeokgung viewed from above. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Visitors clad in traditional Korean hanbok take pictures in front of Donhwamun. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)The main gate

VIDEO

• Automode

  

  Hyundai Motor chief makes video debut on Nexo

• Industry

  

  Netmarble eyes growing business in Thailand

• Social affairs

  

  Contract worker’s funeral held two months after death

• Television

  

  Lee Na-young, Lee Jong-suk to show romance in publishing industry in new rom-com

FEATURES

• Food

  

  Hide and Seek, new, not-quite-underground bakery-deli

  Baked goods, sandwiches and salads at Darling Kitchen offshoot

• Finance

  

  US’ decision on Bitcoin ETF to set mood for Korea‘s cryptocurrency market

  The bearish global cryptocurrency market has prompted investors to turn their attention to “safer” bitcoin exchange-traded funds. But South Korean institutions have kept a tight leash on the whole cryptocurrency industry, instead observing the US’ steps for the time being.“The US has been the front-runner on the cryptocurrency market and related derivatives, and there are strong voices supporting the launch of bitcoin ETFs within the market -- which is why we are observing the progress and respo

• Industry

  

  Iranian firm likely to seize assets of Korean firms amid dispute

  An Iranian business group is seeking to seize the overseas assets of Korean firms after winning a suit against the South Korean government in an investor-state dispute case, according to the financial regulator Wednesday.Enterkhab, owned by Iran’s Mohammad Reza Dayyani, recently got international court approval at Rotterdam, the Netherland, to seize assets of Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, KEB Hana Bank and others, according to officials.The compensation dispute between the Iranian company

• Defense

  

  Military changing to embrace diversity

  Negative attitudes remain to be tackled