SPOTLIGHT

• Industry

  

  Korean Air chairman accused of ‘excessive’ disciplinary action

  Embattled Korean Air Lines Chairman Cho Yang-ho is now under fire for ordering what some have viewed as “excessive” disciplinary action against cabin crew over a customer’s complaint. The complaint involving a chicken curry dish served during a flight follows Chairman Cho’s public apology for the latest “water rage” scandal involving one of his daughters Sunday, as he fired his two daughters Cho Hyun-ah and Cho Hyun-min from their senior executive posts for causing public uproar. Cho Hyun-min wa

• Film

  

  ‘Burning’ a different kind of mystery: director

  The film genre of mystery drama by definition places some of its elements under cover, and that was the tone the people behind “Burning” sought to achieve.“It’s a mysterious movie,” said Lee Chang-dong, master auteur of Korean cinema known best for his award-winning 2010 film “Poetry,” at the promotional press conference for the upcoming film. “We could categorize it under the mystery genre, but it’s not just about that. The mystery could be expanded to a mystery about the world that we live in,

• Industry

  

  Flight attendants on Jeju Air can now wear glasses, nail art

  Flight attendants on Jeju Air are officially permitted to wear glasses and nail art, the South Korean low cost carrier said Tuesday.Jeju Air said it recently revised the rules for its cabin crew so that cabin members are allowed to wear eyeglasses and are required to carry an additional pair or contact lenses, in case the glasses get broken.The rules also allow nail art of all colors and types, save large stones or crystal adornments, which may cause scratches. (Photo courtesy of Jeju Air-Yonhap

• Music

  

  Lovelyz returns as ‘healers’ in new album

  Having captured the K-pop world’s attention with its vivacious “Ah Choo” signature tune, K-pop girl group Lovelyz returned as musical “healers” in its new EP. Lovelyz’s fourth EP “Healing,” released Monday, is an extension of the group’s representative twinkling synths which has been seen in the act’s previous hits “Ah-Choo” and “Now, We.” The difference is that Lovelyz sprinkled a bit more of freshness in its new songs, as if trying to wash all the dust from one’s heart.  Lovelyz performs durin

LATEST NEWS

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  Economy

  Korea's consumer sentiment drops to 1-yr low in April

  South Korea's consumer confidence dropped for five months in a row to hit a one-year low in April due mainly to a possible US-China trade row and a strengthening local currency, a central bank poll showed Wednesday.The composite consumer sentiment index for this month stood at 107.1, down 1 point from the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea.The index has been on a steady decline since touching a seven-year high of 112 in November and has reached the lowest level since Ap

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  Technology

  Samsung launches highest-spec consumer-focused SSD products globally

  Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it is launching the third generation of its consumer solid-state drive lineup Samsung 970 PRO and EVO for the global market, which will set new standards for nonvolatile memory express SSD products. NVMe refers to an interface enabling high-speed data processing. Samsung first introduced NVMe products in 2015. The Samsung 970 PRO and EVO are designed to provide large-volume storage with the fastest computing power so far by adopting Samsung’s latest 64-layer V-NA

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  Music

  Hwang Chi-yeol returns as heart-stirring balladeer

  Hwang Chi-yeol, one of the best-known tear-jerking balladeers in K-pop history, has returned with an ever-deeper voice to deliver emotion in a new EP. Drenched in heart-melting strings and melodies, Hwang’s second EP, “Be Myself,” is led by “The Only Star,” a poignant ballad displaying the singer’s romantic side. Likening his lover to his only star, he wails, “I only think about you. ... Why does my heart beat?/Because you are my star,” in the syrupy song penned by the singer himself.  (Yonhap)“

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  North Korea

  Trump to N.Korea's Kim: 'Get rid of nukes'

  US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, ahead of an expected summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-un.Earlier, the US leader -- who spent the day in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron -- had described Kim as "very open" and "very honorable" -- his most positive comments yet about a man he once publicly belittled.But when pressed about what he hoped to gain from Pyongyang, the 71-year-old Republican president was blunt.US President Don

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  Social affairs

  Justice Ministry to reinvestigate sex crime charge against former vice justice minister

  Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui is likely to be reinvestigated on sex crime charges, of which he had been cleared in 2013, as the Justice Ministry views the previous decision as an apparent misjudgment. A special independent panel at the Ministry of Justice looking into past rulings recommended Tuesday a probe into Kim’s case in which he was accused of multiple charges, including rape, bribery and narcotics use. The committee, which was established by the Moon Jae-in administration in De

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  North Korea

  Two Koreas decide not to hold additional high-level talks on summit preparation

  The two Koreas decided Tuesday not to hold additional bilateral high-level talks to prepare for the historic cross-border summit slated for later this week, a Seoul official said.The official said that, should there be a need for additional consultations to prepare for the April 27 summit, the two sides could hold discussions when Pyongyang's advance team comes for a rehearsal at the summit venue in the border truce village of Panmunjom on Wednesday. A North Korean village seen from Paju, Gyeong

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  North Korea

  S. Korea's foreign ministry condemns deadly attack in Kabul

  South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned the recent suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul that killed dozens of people.The blast occurred at a voter registration center on Sunday (local time), reportedly leaving nearly 60 people dead and many others wounded. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for it. Family members and relatives attend the funeral of the victim of the deadly attack at a public cemetery near Kabul, Afghanistan on April

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  More sports

  Swimmer Park Tae-hwan returns home from Australian camp for nat'l team trials

  Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan returned home from his Australian training camp on Tuesday to compete for a spot on the national team.Park spent the past three months training in Sydney. He's back home for the national trials that start Friday in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul.The trials, Park's first competition of the season, will determine who will represent the country at the Aug. 18-Sept. 2 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.Park is scheduled to enter freestyle

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  North Korea

  Abe hints at possibility of Tokyo-Pyongyang talks

  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday hinted that his country could engage North Korea in dialogue should the inter-Korean and US-North Korea summits be successful. The comments came in Abe’s telephone conversation with President Moon Jae-in, Cheong Wa Dae said. “Success of the inter-Korean summit will only lead to the success of the US-North Korea summit that will follow but contribute to the normalization of relations between Japan and North Korea, and provide the opportunity to fundam

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  Music

  ‘High School Rapper’ shows thoughts of Korean teens

  Mnet’s “High School Rapper 2” succeeded in showing what teenagers think and worry about, delivering their messages on life. The seasonal survival audition show, a high school counterpart of hit hip-hop competition shows “Show Me the Money” and “Unpretty Rapstar,” aired its season finale on April 13. The 8-part show ranked an average viewership rating of 1.5 percent, relatively high for a cable channel. Songs from the show are currently ranking on top of local music charts.  Lee Byung-jae, Kim Ha

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Cultural differences: enlightening and embarrassing

  Cultural differences are always intriguing and fascinating. Of course, as humans we all tend to feel similar emotions in similar situations. Nevertheless, we often perceive things differently due to cultural differences. That is why cultural understanding is crucial in this rapidly globalizing world. Sometime, even professors learn from their students due to cultural differences. When I taught at Brigham Young University two decades ago, I assigned the Korean short story “Kapitan Lee” to my Amer

• Columnists

  

  Managing expectations for the upcoming summits

  This Friday President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet for the first time. Expectations are running high that the summit will start a process that leads to peace and eventual reunification of the divided people. These high expectations come after years of tension that escalated sharply in 2017 after a series of North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Expectations are also running high that the proposed meeting between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump w

THE INVESTOR

• Automobiles

  

  'Hyundai, rethink the holding company'

  Elliott Management, the US activist fund run by billionaire Paul Singer, is pressing a proxy battle with Hyundai Motor Group, saying the Korean auto giant’s recent restructuring plans lack both business logic and benefits for minority shareholders.Early this month, Hyundai announced it would spin off module manufacturing and after-sales business of Hyundai Mobis, the car parts supplier, to merge them with Hyundai Glovis, the logistics unit, as part of efforts to streamline cross-s

• Automobiles

  

  GM must stay in Korea for at least 10 years: KDB

  The Korean government is pulling out all stops to make sure an eat-and-run situation with GM Korea is avoided. State-run Korea Development Bank -- the second-largest shareholder of the carmaker -- has informed GM that it must stay in Korea for at least 10 years in order for it to pitch in for the restructuring expenses.(From left) GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem, GM Executive Vice President Barry Engle and Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party pose after announcing their ten

• Samsung

  

  Focus on root of all problems: Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong

  Samsung Group Vice Chairman and de facto leader Lee Jae-yong has emphasized taking a long-term approach to address a range of fundamental problems facing the conglomerate.The vice chairman, who overlooks more than 60 affiliates and subsidiaries, told top brass at a recent meeting that Samsung needs to focus on rooting out problems instead of resorting to stopgap measures, according to Korea Economic Daily on April 23. Related:'Samsung reports contain crucial national technologies'

• LG

  

  LG set to acquire automotive light maker ZKW for W1.6tr

  LG Electronics is in final talks to acquire Austrian automotive light maker ZKW Group for about 1.6 trillion won (US$1.5 billion), its largest-ever purchase, according to industry sources on April 23. The two firms have been negotiating for almost two years and are likely to sign a deal later this month.  BMW i8 hybrid uses ZKW's premium LED headlights.ZKW produces lights, electric systems and electronic modules for vehicles, including LED-based high-intensity headlights. Last yea

K-POP HERALD

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  Crush releases birthday EP

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  Lee Sung-kyung in ‘Girl Cops’

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  Wanna One wanna be boyfriend

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Culture

  

  Artists duo fascinated by nomadism of island

• Industry

  

  Kayak targets Korea’s travel market with one-stop solution

• Music

  

  Woogie sets new trend by going off-trend

• Culture

  

  A transformation from model to shaman

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Back to the Joseon era

  While time machines are the stuff of movies and fairy tales, it is possible to get a taste of what life was like in the Joseon era (1392-1910) at the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, this spring.The living history museum is holding the “Welcome to Joseon” festival until June 24, under the pitch “Would you time travel to Joseon Dynasty with us?” vThe Korean Folk Village, which was once most commonly associated with school field trips, found a new lease of life in 2013 when it sta

VIDEO

• Culture

  

  Take a break with ‘Space-out Competition’

• Food

  

  Future food source evokes nostalgia for old days

• Food

  

  Diversity of Korean seaweed rice roll ‘gimbap’

• Culture

  

  Barbershop offers a cultural space for gentlemen

FEATURES

• Technology

  

  Nexon targets blind spots in games with big data, AI

  With AI tech, Nexon strives to better understand, optimize users’ gaming experience

• Social affairs

  

  Seoul neighborhoods become green energy leader

  Seoul pushes to increase number of energy self-sufficient villages, promotes renewable energy

• Automode

  

  SK E&C expands globally as advanced developer

  SK Engineering & Construction is strengthening its position as a leading global developer on a series of successful contracts overseas, with the latest one from Kazakhstan, the company said Tuesday.Amid intensifying competition in the market, SK Engineering & Construction is gradually transferring its business from the traditional engineering, procurement, and construction-centered to taking on an advanced role as a developer for sustainable growth and higher profitability.Since the early 2000s,

• Industry

  

  IFEZ unveils plans to make Songdo world-class bio industry hub

  With hopes of becoming a global bio center on par with those in San Francisco and Singapore, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority unveiled its plans to expand a bio cluster in Songdo to attract global biopharmaceuticals.  Incheon Free Economic Zone Commissioner Kim Jin-yong speaks at the Global Bio Hub Symposium held at the Songdo Convensia in Incheon on April 11. (IFEZ)Kim Jin-yong, commissioner of IFEZ said during a Global Bio Hub Symposium held earlier this month that IFEZ will make use o