SPOTLIGHT

• Music

  

  MoonMoon dropped from agency over spycam charge

  A local entertainment agency on Friday terminated its contract with singer-songwriter MoonMoon after it was revealed he was convicted of a spycam crime.  MoonMoon (Yonhap)The official statement released by MoonMoon‘s former agency, House of Music, came right after a local news report revealed the previous charge against the singer. According to the local news report, MoonMoon was charged for secretly filming in a public bathroom in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in August 2016. He was then sentenced to a tw

• Social affairs

  

  Fish factory in West Coast busted for 14 unauthorized Thai workers

  Fourteen undocumented foreign workers from Thailand and the executive who hired them at a fish factory were arrested for allegedly seeking illegal employment and violating immigration laws, respectively, marine police said Friday. The Boryeong Marine Police Agency said they raided the fish factory in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, following a tip-off of suspected “illegal hiring of unauthorized migrant workers.”Authorities reportedly confirmed that the 14 Thai nationals all had entered th

• Television

  

  Courtroom series with strong personalities fill small screen

  "Forensic” (MBC)Legal drama series with unique characters and storylines are taking up TV airtime from Mondays to Saturdays. Courtroom series have always been popular here, as viewers love sophisticated, complex conflicts. But lately more productions in the genre are sprouting up, especially after tvN scored a hit with “Stranger” last year. The legal drama, a suspense-thriller, was a success, with many anticipating a second season.Since then, there have been a number of legal dramas with additio

• Music

  

  Black Pink’s return in June confirmed by YG head

  (YG Entertainment)Black Pink, a popular K-pop group under YG Entertainment, is gearing up for the release of its first EP in June. The surprise announcement was made by the agency’s head Yang Hyun-suk, who took to Instagram on Friday to provide more information about YG artists, including Black Pink, Big Bang and Katie Kim, the winner of “K-Pop Star 4.”Answering a fan’s question about Black Pink’s upcoming album, he wrote, “Black Pink, YG’s one and only girl band, had such a long hiatus. The ban

LATEST NEWS

• 

  Politics

  Trump says Kim summit could still go ahead June 12

  WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump announced Friday that a landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could still take place on June 12 as originally planned, in the second about-face in as many days."It could even be the 12th. We're talking to them now," Trump said at the  White House. "They very much want to do it. We'd like to do it. We'll see what happens."A day earlier, Trump announced in a letter to Kim that he was calling off the summit in Singapore, blaming "open hostility"

• 

  North Korea

  Trump calls N. Korea's statement 'warm' and 'productive'

  U.S. President Donald Trump called North Korea's response to his cancellation of the June 12 Singapore summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-un "warm" and "productive." Donald Trump twitterHe wrote on his Twitter account on Friday night (Seoul Time), "Very good news to receive the warm and productive statement from North Korea. We will soon see where it will lead, hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. Only time (and talent) will tell!"Earlier in the day, North Korea said it was

• 

  North Korea

  N. Korea cancels joint taekwondo demonstration in Vatican

  A planned demonstration of the Korean martial art taekwondo by a joint Korean team has been unilaterally canceled by the North, according to sources Friday.  North Korean Taekwondo team. YonhapThe International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), an international organization led by the North, notified the South Korean-led World Taekwondo (WT) of the cancellation on Thursday.In the brief letter, the North Korean taekwondo federation reportedly cited the Max Thunder military exercise between South Korea

• 

  Politics

  S. Korea seeks to encourage direct communication between Trump, Kim

  South Korea will continue with efforts to improve ties with North Korea and induce direct communication between the leaders of the United States and North Korea so as to put their scrapped talks back on track, Seoul officials said Friday.President Moon Jae-in's top security advisor Chung Eui-yong hosted a National Security Council (NSC) standing meeting, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump canceled his planned summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-un."NSC members agreed that it is import

• 

  Travel

  Out of South Africa, reminiscing the indelible Eden

  South Africa is a “rainbow nation,” where diverse people, cultures, languages and religions exist in harmony. It is also a land of magnificent wildlife, landscapes and vegetation, also a hotbed of thriving urban culture, music, festivity, food and wine.

• 

  Columnists

  Trump can win by walking away from Korea talks

  President Donald Trump finally did it. On Thursday he pulled the plug on next month’s big summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. In sadness, but not anger, Trump said Kim’s insults were too much for now. That said, he left the door open for a future meeting. Why did Kim get cold feet and resume that anti-US rhetoric?North Korean apparatus tell us that their dear leader is skittish about negotiations after Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, suggested the “Libya model” for ridd

• Columnists

  Trump’s auto misfire will do nothing for Detroit

  The latest salvo in President Donald Trump’s trade war promises to do more damage than good to an already anxious American auto industry.　Trump on Wednesday ordered the US Commerce Department to probe whether auto imports threaten national security under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act -- the same executive power he used to apply tariffs on steel and aluminum earlier this year.　The president’s latest idea risks unwinding a global supply chain that powers sales of almost 20 million cars a

• Editorial

  Door not closed yet

  Accepting demands for complete denuclearization is only way to summit

• 

  Social affairs

  Two Hanjin affiliates raided over owner family's suspected tax evasion, slush fund

  Prosecutors on Friday raided two affiliates of Hanjin Group, a South Korean conglomerate embroiled in a scandal involving its controlling family, over allegations that they played a role in amassing illegal secret funds for the owner family and helped them evade taxes.Investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office searched two trading companies with ties to Hanjin to confiscate evidence. They also raided a local supplier of Korean Air Lines Co., Hanjin's key unit, and the res

• 

  Social affairs

  Car valet services become essential in downtown Seoul

  As a valet driver, Kim Sung-jin, 54, follows two rules that he set for himself -- always smile at his customers and park their cars right. “When you leave your key with me, you expect one thing and one thing only: that you don’t have to drive an extra hundred meters searching for a parking spot,” said Kim, who has worked 11 years for a local Pyongyang naengmyeon restaurant in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.“Nothing gets on customers’ nerves more than inadequate spaces for parking,” Kim said. “People can drop

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Trump can win by walking away from Korea talks

  President Donald Trump finally did it. On Thursday he pulled the plug on next month’s big summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. In sadness, but not anger, Trump said Kim’s insults were too much for now. That said, he left the door open for a future meeting. Why did Kim get cold feet and resume that anti-US rhetoric?North Korean apparatus tell us that their dear leader is skittish about negotiations after Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, suggested the “Libya model” for ridd

• Columnists

  

  China couldn’t keep growing like mad forever

  China, not the US, is the world’s largest economy. Though the US is still tops when measured at market-exchange rates, China is about 20 percent larger after adjusting for the lower cost of goods and services there. The latter metric is what really counts, both in terms of standards of living and, probably, in terms of military purchasing power.　With four times as many people as the US, it makes sense that China would eventually have a larger economy; it’s unlikely that any industrialized countr

THE INVESTOR

• Politics & North Korea

  

  N. Korea-related stocks dip after Washington pulls out of summit talks

  President Trump’s change of heart drives down value of stocks related to inter-Korean exchanges

• Second Opinion

  

  Why birth order is a big deal at LG

  Five years ago, the British royal family changed its rule of succession so that a princess is not overtaken in the line by a younger brother. Three-year-old Princess Charlotte, daughter of Kate Middleton and Prince William, is the first to benefit from the rule as she remains fourth in line to the throne despite her younger brother’s birth last month.At Korean conglomerates, it’s not uncommon to see the sons -- usually the eldest son -- take over the empire. There are very few exc

• Finance

  

  JB Financial’s Phnom Penh Commercial Bank expands on upbeat earnings

  Phnom Penh Commercial Bank is fast gaining a footing in the burgeoning Cambodian banking market, with its earnings soaring since it was acquired by Korea’s JB Financial Group two years ago. JB, along with Seoul-based Apro Financial Group, acquired the then struggling Cambodian bank in August 2016. JB’s two units Jeonbuk Bank and JB Woori Capital hold 50 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Up until the second quarter of 2016, the bank was suffering from a net loss of US$1.3 milli

• Mobile & Internet

  

  Line becomes largest shareholder of Taiwan’s iPass

  Line, a mobile messenger firm owned by Korean portal operator Naver, has acquired a major stake in Taiwan-based mobile payment firm iPass in its latest efforts to extend its e-payment services, industry sources said on May 25. Line Biz+Taiwan, the operator of LINE Pay in Taiwan, bought a 29.82 percent stake in iPass for 12.4 billion won (US$11.50 million), becoming the largest shareholder. The second largest shareholder is Taiwan’s Kaohsiung MRT which holds 11.40 percent.  iPass i

K-POP HERALD

• 

  Black Pink’s return in June confirmed

• 

  Drama companies consider #MeToo clauses

• 

  Jeon So-mi shows wild side in Jeep fashion

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Film

  

  ‘Cakemaker’ an indie cinema hit

• Finance

  

  Gopax seeks to win back public trust in cryptocurrency

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  ‘Korea should commiserate with Palestinian suffering for its peace, justice’

• Foreign Policy

  

  ‘Accepting migrants is in national interest’: IOM chief

PHOTO NEWS

• Travel

  

  Chinese tourists back in Myeong-dong

  The streets of Myeong-dong are once again bustling with Chinese tourists, thanks to a thaw in relations between Seoul and Beijing.Myeong-dong, a shopping district in central Seoul, is one of the most popular tourist spots in Korea. Just walking down the streets is enough to see that it is a foreigner-friendly zone, as you will be stopped by sales staff calling out in different languages. (Photographed by Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)The number of Chinese tourists had been falling due to icy re

VIDEO

• Food

  

  Spring greens bring nature to table

• North Korea

  

  S. Korean reporters in NK to cover dismantling of nuclear test site

• Culture

  

  Koreans flock to temples to celebrate Buddha’s Birthday

• Food

  

  Feeling every bit of pollack roe, altang

FEATURES

• Finance

  

  Stock market faces limited impact from canceled summit

  Stocks related to inter-Korean businesses suffer, markets likely to experience volatilities next week, experts say

• Technology

  

  SKT joins state-run project to develop autonomous public transportation system

  SK Telecom said Friday it will participate in a government-led research project to develop an autonomous public transportation system. The mobile operator said it will take part in the project led by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Infrastructure with an aim to develop a public transportation system based on self-driving technologies by 2021. Other participants of the project include Hyundai Motor Company and Seoul National University. The 35.9 billion won ($33.2 million) project aims to dev

• Technology

  

  Masters of colors and sound behind meticulous tuning of LG OLED TV

  Engineers examine more than 1,000 factors for color perfection, and hundreds of sound effects for three-dimensional sound

• Technology

  

  Blockchain x healthcare: Korean startups out to build decentralized healthcare big data platforms

  Blockchain, a distributed ledger system, is viewed as a revolutionary technology with applicative value across diverse sectors. But the big question has always been: where and how can blockchain be used to bring about practical changes?　A handful of South Korea’s startups have set their eyes on healthcare data management -- creating a new blockchain-based healthcare data platform where health records can be safely stored and actively traded among stakeholders.The platform would be self-operation