SPOTLIGHT

• Music

  

  Dark side of K-pop: Leader of The East Light claims years of abuse

  Members of teenage K-pop boy band The East Light have suffered years of physical and verbal abuse and threats from a music director, the group’s leader Lee Seok-cheol told a press conference Friday. Lee, the 18-year-old band’s leader and drummer, fought back tears as he described abuse dating back to 2015. In a media report released Thursday, Lee had accused Media Line Entertainment Chairman Kim Chang-hwan of turning a blind eye to the abuse meted out to The East Light members by the resident pr

• Social affairs

  

  750,000 sign petition urging strong punishment for PC room murder

  More than 750,000 people have signed an online petition at Cheong Wa Dae to toughen punishment for the suspect of a high-profile murder case.The petition was first filed on Wednesday, and the figure of signatures topped 750,000 in just four days, becoming the most signed petition since the online platform launched in 2017.On Oct. 14, a 21-year-old part-time worker at a PC room in Seoul was murdered by a man who said the worker was “not polite” to him. The suspect is currently being held in polic

• Culture

  

  BTS to appear in videos promoting Seoul tourism overseas

  K-pop superstars BTS will present seven different tourist themes in Seoul in a series of videos to be released this week, the Seoul city government said Sunday.The videos, titled "My Seoul Playlist" and bearing the slogan "Live Seoul like I Do," will be released on TV, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and other media platforms, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. This image, provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Oct. 21, 2018, shows a still from a video promoting tourism in Se

• Social affairs

  

  Professor’s son enrolls in father’s courses, earns top grades

  A professor at a public university allowed his son to enroll in his classes and gave him top grades, and the son received multiple scholarships worth about 5.4 million won ($4,776) from the institution, a lawmaker has revealed.　According to Rep. Kim Hyun-ah of the main opposition Korea Liberty Party, the son, who had been enrolled in a different university, transferred to the Seoul National University of Science Technology, where his father is a faculty member, in 2014. 　SNUST is a public univer

LATEST NEWS

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  World News

  UK defense minister backs Trump move to exit nuclear pact

  LONDON - Britain's defense secretary says the U.K. stands "absolutely resolute'' with the United States as President Donald Trump announced he will pull out from a landmark arms control agreement with Russia.Gavin Williamson blamed Russia for endangering the arm control pact, agreed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in 1987, and called on the Kremlin to "get its house in order.'' Gavin Williamson (AP)Trump said he will exit the pact because Russia has violated it "for many years'' and it's p

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  Defense

  Washington proposed suspension of joint air drill:Seoul's defense ministry

  The suspension of a scheduled air drill between South Korean and US military forces was first proposed by the Pentagon, the Defense Ministry said Sunday, and added Seoul suggested adjusting the scope of the exercise rather than canceling it altogether. A senior official from the Ministry of National Defense told reporters that while Exercise Vigilant Ace, slated for December, would not go ahead, the South Korean military would proceed with its own unilateral exercises. The official said that Sec

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  World News

  17 dead in Taiwan rail accident: authorities

  YILAN, Taiwan - At least 17 people have died after a train derailed and flipped over in Taiwan Sunday, authorities said.The Taiwan Railways Administration confirmed the toll and said more than 70 people had also been injured in the accident in northeastern Yilan county.At least five carriages had flipped over and were lying on their side, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.Images from the site showed the high-speed Puyuma Express train completely derailed and lying zig-zagged across the t

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  Defense

  S. Korea to conduct solo air exercise in December

  Despite the possible suspension of the upcoming joint air defense exercise with the United States, South Korea will carry out its own air drill as scheduled in December, an official of the defense ministry here said Sunday.The annual Seoul-Washington air exercise, Vigilant Ace, which had been scheduled for December, is highly likely to be suspended this year to lend support for ongoing peace efforts involving North Korea, according to officials of the allies. The large-scale air exercise has bee

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  World News

  Spain set to have longest life expectancy in world

  　Life expectancy in 2040 is set to rise at least a little in all nations, but the rankings will change dramatically, with Spain taking the top spot while China and the United States trade places, researchers said.　With a projected average lifespan of nearly 85.8 years, Spain - formerly in fourth place - will dethrone Japan, which sits atop the rankings today with a lifespan of 83.7 years, and will drop to second place in 2040.　In a shift that will be seen by some to reflect a superpower changing

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  North Korea

  Moon’s Europe trip yields mixed results

  Hope of papal visit to North Korea raised, but little progress made on sanctions relief.

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  Social affairs

  How teen feminism is changing school uniforms in South Korea

  　When Jeong Ji-eun was in her high school, in the early 2000s, one of her close friends pierced her tongue. The friend, who had hated having to wear her school uniform all the time -- she especially found the stiff fabric of her blouse unbearable --, wore a red-color tongue ring, which almost looked like a candy in her mouth. “That’s what I first thought, too -- that she was having her candy,” Jeong, now a 32-year-old professional in Seoul, told The Korea Herald. “Until it was caught by our teac

• 

  Columnists

  Putin lives in a world without rules

  It’s chilling when the leader of a nuclear power describes a potential nuclear conflict in terms one might expect from a suicide bomber. But the intellectual foundations of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest geopolitical utterances are even more unsettling: Putin’s policy wonks assume that the world can’t hope for reasonable coordinated action to prevent catastrophic war.Putin told a session of the Valdai Club, set up as a forum for Russian foreign-policy intellectuals to share their view

• Columnists

  How Peru’s caretaker-president turned into a star

  Peruvians have never been easy on their leaders. For the land that elected Alberto Fujimori and then watched him dismantle democracy, assail human rights and flee the country before returning in irons, maybe that’s for the best.So when a low-profile vice president (Peru’s government has two) who doubled as ambassador to Canada was thrust into the top job in March, following President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s resignation via the sprawling Odebrecht graft scandal, Peruvians weren’t holding their br

• Columnists

  Circus of shame rolls into town as Indonesia weeps over earthquake

   The timing could not have been worse. While the majority of people in Indonesia had barely recovered from the horror of another massive earthquake and rescue workers were still digging through the rubble looking for survivors, people were sidetracked by a spectacle of shame that would live in infamy.It’s one of those moments when politics rears its ugly head and we are once again reminded that politicians will do the worst things imaginable to score political points.Political activist Ratna Sar

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Putin lives in a world without rules

  It’s chilling when the leader of a nuclear power describes a potential nuclear conflict in terms one might expect from a suicide bomber. But the intellectual foundations of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest geopolitical utterances are even more unsettling: Putin’s policy wonks assume that the world can’t hope for reasonable coordinated action to prevent catastrophic war.Putin told a session of the Valdai Club, set up as a forum for Russian foreign-policy intellectuals to share their view

• Columnists

  

  If Mattis goes, Trump will miss him

  It took nearly two years, but President Donald Trump has finally said something unflattering about Secretary of Defense James Mattis. Rumors of the president’s unhappiness with Mattis date back several months, yet only last weekend did Trump himself express any, telling “60 Minutes” that he thinks the retired four-star Marine general “is sort of a Democrat.”In another era, when retired generals gravitated toward the center, being called a Democrat by a Republican president would be worth its wei

THE INVESTOR

• Startups & Investors

  

  [INTERVIEW] Banksalad out to tackle info asymmetry

  Among the flurry of new credit cards hitting the market every year, many consumers face difficulties in picking one that fits their spending style. Carefully reading the terms and conditions is one way, but not everyone has the time nor understand the full-scope of contents printed in tiny fonts on thin-papered pamphlets. This kind of information asymmetry -- between card issuers and users -- is what led Korean fintech startup Rainist to roll out its financial product recommendati

• Retail & Consumer

  

  SKINFOOD put under court receivership

  A local court on Oct. 19 decided to place Korean cosmetics maker SKINFOOD under court receivership.The ruling came after SKINFOOD filed for court receivership on Oct. 8 due to huge accumulated losses as it lacked liquidity to pay back around 2.9 billion won (US$2.55 million) loan from Industrial Bank of Korea.After the court’s decision was announced, SKINFOOD said it would consult with its creditors to appoint a chief risk officer to normalize its business as soon as possible. “We

• Mobile & Internet

  

  Battle between taxis, car-sharing services reaches turning point

  On the same day thousands of taxi drivers in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province went on strike to protest Kakao’s planned launch of an Uber-like carpool service, Korea’s long-frustrated ride-sharing startups enjoyed unusual popularity. ‘The demand for PoolUs increased by 50 percent from a day ago and jumped by 150 percent during the morning rush hour,” CEO of car-sharing app Socar Lee Jae-woong said on Oct. 18. PoolUs, which used to be the largest ride-sharing app, is an affi

• Bio & Medicine

  

  FSC to review Samsung BioLogics’ accounting fraud case on Oct. 31

  Korea’s top financial regulator said on Oct. 19 it will hold a meeting later this month to decide on penalizing Samsung BioLogics for alleged accounting fraud. The Securities & Futures Commission under the Financial Service Commission will review the case on Oct. 31 involving the contract drug manufacturer’s change of accounting methods for its stake in Samsung Bioepis. It had invited suspicions of using the new standards to inflate Samsung Biologics’ 2015 earnings ahead of its in

K-POP HERALD

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  3 notable collaborations this autumn

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  BTS to promote Seoul tourism overseas

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  Why V of BTS cried during Paris visit

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Music

  

  Unmasked by a mask

• Education

  

  Toronto education leads way in ‘Second Machine Age’

• Music

  

  Jung Eun-ji says she sings to comfort herself

• Finance

  

  Former forensic technician creates new biometric standard

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Street styles we noticed at 2019 S/S Seoul Fashion Week

  The shows are amazing at the 2019 S/S Hera Seoul Fashion Week, but the fun spills out to the streets. Brightly dyed hair was a visible trend at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on Friday, alongside see-through blouses, neon tops and transparent plastic bags.Oversized jackets, baggy pants, leopard print and fashionable eyewear also drew attention.  (Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald) (Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald) (Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald) (Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald) (Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea He

VIDEO

• Music

  

  K-pop ads taking over Seoul subway

• Social affairs

  

  Sunfull Internet Peace Prize goes to Japanese anti-hate speech network, online activist

• Automode

  

  Adding an artful touch to CSR: Han Sung Motor focuses on coloring Seoul, nurturing young artists

• Automode

  

  Car from the future: Nexo excels but faces hydrogen indifference

FEATURES

• North Korea

  

  Pompeo’s remarks on next meeting with NK official fuel speculation

  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent remarks, indicating that he hopes to meet with his North Korean counterpart “in the next week and a half or so,” without revealing details, is fueling speculation about the details of this potential meeting. “We’re working on finding dates and times and places that will work for each of the two leaders,” Pompeo told the Voice of America on Friday. “I’m very hopeful we’ll have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself a

• Automode

  

  Hyundai’s i30 N sales accelerate in Europe

  Hyundai Motor’s high performance vehicle i30 N set a new monthly sales record in Europe last month, the company said Sunday.The carmaker sold a total of 907 units in September, further raising the sales performance of the vehicle, which debuted last year. The figure takes the total for this year to 4,678, surpassing its annual goal of 2,800.  i30 Fastback N (Hyundai Motor)Of all i30 vehicles sold in Europe, 15 percent were the high performance version of the hatchback, it added. The company is e

• Food

  

  Latest list of Michelin stars in Seoul released

  Mingles and Alla Prima join 2-star realm

• Industry

  

  Toward stronger partnership between Korea and Southeast Asia

  Government, business leaders discuss ways to strengthen Korea-ASEAN ties at The Korea Herald Biz Forum