SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  Complaints filed against CARE chief accused of killing rescued dogs

  Park So-youn, the head of CARE, is to hold a press conference Saturday

• Music

  

  A rare glimpse of the ‘factorylike’ K-pop idol training system

  The author of ‘Idol Trainees’ Sweat and Tears’ details the grueling process of becoming a K-pop star

• Social affairs

  

  Three jjimjilbang reject teens after Gangneung accident

  The story of a teenager who was refused entry at a jjimjilbang after 10 p.m. even with written parental consent has sparked discussion on the internet.The teen tweeted that the incident took place on Dec. 31 last year. By the Korean age system, the teen would turn 19 years old at midnight, one year short of the age that would not require parental consent. The teen is presumed to actually be 17 years old.  The inside of an unrelated jjimjilbang is seen in this file photo. (Yonhap)According to the

• Film

  

  Korean film ‘Underdog’ invited to Japanese animation festival

  In a first for a South Korean animated film, “Underdog” has been invited to compete in the Tokyo Anime Award Festival. “Underdog” is an animated film about homeless and abandoned dogs. In the film, a dog named Moongchi (voiced by Do Kyung-soo of the K-pop boy band EXO) is abandoned but goes on an adventure to find true freedom with other stray dogs.  (New Entertainment) (New Entertainment)The film opened the 22nd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in July, and went on to win the best

LATEST NEWS

• 

  North Korea

  Report: Secret talks between US, NK in Sweden

  COPENHAGEN -- Sweden’s news agency says a secret, high-level meeting between envoys from the United States and North Korea is being held in Stockholm.The TT news agency says US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun is meeting with Pyongyang’s Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.  (Yonhap)TT said Friday Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom is also participating.There was no immediate word from the Swedish government.Sweden has had diplomatic relations with Pyongyang since 1973 and i

• 

  Soccer

  Injured midfielder returns to full practice for S. Korea

  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- South Korea finally received some good news on the injury front at the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup on Friday, with the return of a key midfielder to practice.Ki Sung-yueng was a full participant in Friday’s practice at NAS Sports Complex in Dubai, where South Korea are gearing up for their round of 16 match against Bahrain next Tuesday. Ki Sung-yeung (Yonhap)Ki, the savvy field general for the Taekguk Warriors, had been sidelined for 11 days with a hamst

• 

  North Korea

  S. Korea’s nuclear envoy may visit Sweden for talks with N. Korea: source

  South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy appears to be on his way to Sweden for a possible meeting with a senior North Korean official, a diplomatic source said Friday.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, seems to have left for Stockholm, where a government-civilian security forum, often called Track 1.5 session, is to take place, the source added. Lee Do-hoon (Yonhap)North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui earlier headed to the Swedish capital fr

• 

  Social affairs

  Cause of KT building fire remains a mystery despite two months of probe

  The cause of a calamitous fire that engulfed a Seoul switching station of telecom giant KT Corp. two months ago remains elusive despite intensive investigations by police, forensic experts and firefighters, a police report said Friday.The report released by Rep. Kim Young-ho of the ruling Democratic Party said that the Seoul Seodaemun Police Station has so far been unsuccessful in determining the cause of the fire that occurred at KT‘s Ahyeon switching station in western Seoul on Nov. 24 last ye

• 

  Finance

  Credit card firms bet on digital switchover, big data for survival

  Card operators blame commission fee cuts for this year’s dismal profit projections

• 

  Social affairs

  Agriculture Ministry to strengthen penalties for animal abuse

  Animal abusers will soon face up to three years in prison, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Friday.As the number of animal owners increased to some 10 million in 2017, the ministry said, animal abuse and homeless animal populations have gone up too. The number of homeless animals stood at 102,000 in 2017, as compared with 20,000 fewer in 2015.The ministry had previously broadened the definition of animal abuse to include selling stray animals, capturing animals

• 

  Finance

  Seoul shares up for 4th day on US-China trade optimism

  South Korean stocks rose for the fourth consecutive trading session Friday as predictions of progress in the US-China trade dispute lifted investor sentiment, analysts said. The local currency firmed against the greenback.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index scored 17.22 points, or 0.82 percent, to finish at 2,124.28. Trading volume was moderate at 449.28 million shares worth 5.2 trillion won ($4.6 billion), with gainers easily beating losers 622 to 208. (Yonhap)The index moved up in

• 

  Industry

  S. Korea’s shipbuilding sector shows signs of recovery

  Hyundai Heavy, DSME log lump sum orders this week

• 

  Defense

  S. Korea's Marine chief to visit Okinawa for alliance talks with US next week

  South Korea's Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Jun Jin-goo will visit Okinawa, Japan, next week for talks with top US military officials over cooperation in strengthening the bilateral alliance, his office said Friday.At the invitation of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, Jun will embark on a six-day trip on Monday to attend a high-level meeting of the allies' Combined Marine Component Command and meet separately with senior US military leaders. (Yonhap)"During his visit, the allies will discu

• 

  Social affairs

  Judo federation permanently bans ex-coach facing sexual assault allegations

  The national judo federation said Friday it has issued a lifetime ban on a former high school accused of sexually assaulting his former athlete.An official with the Korea Judo Association said the decision was reached Tuesday, a day after former high school judoka Shin Yu-yong accused the coach of sexually assaulting her for four years in multiple media interviews. (Yonhap)The coach, a married man whose identity has been withheld, denied the sexual assault allegations and said instead he was rom

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Trump has squandered opportunity his populist campaign offered

  US President Donald Trump is giving an unintentional gift to the burgeoning field of Democratic presidential candidates: He is teaching them how they can win.Trump’s failure as president is that he hasn’t forged a governing party that can unite the country, pass legislation and address America’s problems. He has succeeded in creating an insurgency that has toppled the traditional Republican establishment and intimidated Republican Party members of Congress into stunned, appalled silence. But wit

• Columnists

  

  Why not scrap faulty campaign pledges?

  During the 2017 presidential election following the exit of Park Geun-hye, candidate Moon Jae-in promised the relocation of the presidential office to the central Seoul location of Gwanghwamun from its secluded present position. A year and seven months after he won the election, President Moon scrapped the plan.His campaigners said Cheong Wa Dae was too big and its area too wide to serve as an effective workplace for the chief executive of the state. Compared to the White House in Washington, El

THE INVESTOR

• Deals

  

  Woori Financial poised for M&A binge

  Woori Financial Group wrote several pages of Korea’s financial history when it became the first banking group in the country to have a holding company structure. The process, however, wasn’t done voluntarily, as it was created by putting together five commercial banks that had to be injected with government funds in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The modern day structure was the result of a whole bunch of sell-offs by state-owned Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., t

• Samsung

  

  Pearl Abyss works on mobile game for Samsung’s foldable smartphone

  Korean game publisherPearl Abyss will likely roll out a specially tailored version of its hit MMORPG “Black Desert,” for Samsung Electronics’ upcoming foldable smartphone, according to sources on Jan. 18.The release schedule of the game has not been confirmed yet, but it could coincide with the launch of the long-awaited foldable phone in February. According to a source quoted by Korean news outlet Asia Today, half of the screen can be used when playing the mobile game, while the

• Bio & Medicine

  

  Court rules in favor of Celltrion’s Truxima biosimilar

  Korea’s leading biosimilar firm Celltrion announced on Jan. 18 that it has won a lawsuit over invalidating Samsung Biogen’s patent on Rituxan, a blockbuster drug for treating non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The court’s decision upholds the legitimacy of the previous ruling of the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board, which also ordered the nullification of the patent.The lawsuit was filed because under the current law biosimilar makers must invalidate the patent of the original dr

• Automobiles

  

  Seoul picks SKT to test autonomous cars using 5G tech

  Seoul City has chosen top mobile carrier SK Telecom as the main operator of its pilot project to test autonomous cars using 5G technology, according to sources on Jan 18. “The project will offer companies urban sites to intensively develop their technologies on real roads. SKT was selected as the eligible operator after evaluation by experts,” an official from the local government told The Investor.  (Seoul Metropolitan City)SKT will build smart infrastructure equipped with roadsi

K-POP HERALD

• 

  Why girl group have short lives

• 

  Watch Chani dance to ‘Sky Castle’ song

• 

  Winner kicks off US tour in Seattle

HERALD INTERVIEW

• People

  

  Englishmen in Seoul, London and all over YouTube

• Automode

  

  Audi Volkswagen steps up to support Korea’s Industry 4.0 drive

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  Imagining a bona fide global Korea

• People

  

  Life beyond the lens

PHOTO NEWS

• Industry

  

  An afternoon in a hanok

  North European and classic American styles have prevailed among interior design fanatics in South Korea in recent years.But before the invasion of Western culture, it was mostly wooden furniture -- made from either maple or paulownia -- that was favored by aristocrats in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Korea Furniture Museum in Seongbuk-dong, northern Seoul, invites visitors to take a break -- and perhaps, travel back in time -- inside hanok, or traditional Korean houses, where more than 2,500

VIDEO

• Music

  

  WJSN sings about complications of love in ‘La La Love’

• Television

  

  GOT7’s ‘Real Thai’ offers adventure, authentic side of Thailand

• Industry

  

  How Imvely became South Korean women’s fashion and beauty icon

• Music

  

  D-Crunch hopes to spread own stories around the world

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  Thunderbird at forefront of nurturing global leaders in Industry 4.0

  Thunderbird School of Global Management opens office in Seoul

• Social affairs

  

  16-years on, Lotto still generates disputes, complaints

  SEJONG -- South Korea’s biggest lottery “Lotto 6/45” has entered its 17th year, with more than 5,600 citizens netting the weekly jackpot since 2002.The jackpots ranged from 40.7 billion won ($36.4 million) to 405 million won – before tax of 22 percent for winnings up to 300 million won and 33 percent for any additional winnings above that. The average pre-tax prize over the past 16 years was 2.02 billion won per winner. (Korea Herald)The Finance Ministry allowed the Internet sales of Lotto ticke

• Social affairs

  

  ‘Korea may have to import surgeons in the future’

  Poor working conditions and unclear future make them unattractive to aspiring doctors

• Industry

  

  Dawn delivery takes retail industry by storm

  In recent years, South Korea’s door-to-door delivery service has evolved to allow customers to expect their parcels the very next day, or within 2 to 3 days at maximum. While much of this dynamic still stands, e-commerce companies and retail giants have rolled out a “dawn delivery” service, striving to cut down delivery times even further. Dawn delivery allows orders to be placed as late as midnight with deliveries guaranteed to arrive by 7 a.m. the next day. Daily necessities and perishable fre