SPOTLIGHT

• Television

  

  Actress Ku Hye-sun, actor Ahn Jae-hyun may divorce

  Actress Ku Hye-sun and actor Ahn Jae-hyun could become yet another high-profile Korean couple whose marriage ends in divorce.On Sunday, the actress shared a post that hinted at the end of her marriage with Ahn. In the post that included a private message with Ahn, Ku wrote that she had lost faith in her husband. HB Entertainment, which represents both Ku and Ahn, announced Sunday that the two have agreed to start divorce proceedings.However, Ku has refuted the statement, saying she has not come

• Social affairs

  

  National Assembly staffers call for gender parity in Yeouido

  Women who work at the National Assembly are holding a monthlong campaign to promote gender equality within the legislative arm of the government.According to National Assembly Feminists, a feminist group composed of female National Assembly staffers, 38.2 percent of all staffers at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, were women as of Aug. 1.  While women made up 52.3 percent of interns and 63.3 percent of grade 9 staffers -- the lowest-ranked civil servants -- they accounted for only 8

• Social affairs

  

  Nearly 1,000 complaints filed about discolored tap water in Pohang

  Nearly 1,000 complaints have been filed in a week concerning suspicions of tap water contamination in Pohang, a port city in North Gyeongsang Province.Pohang City said Sunday that 925 complaints were lodged Aug. 10-16, reporting black or reddish tap water.The most number of complaints came from residents in Nam-gu, whose water is filtered at a plant in Yugang-ri, a neighborhood in the city’s southern district. According to the city government, North Gyeongsang Province’s public insti

• Technology

  

  Can LG smart fridge actually tweet?

  A tweet by a teenager living in Kentucky, the US, made LG Electronics’ smart refrigerator go viral globally this week, raising the question of whether the fridge could be used to tweet. A fan of singer Ariana Grande, named Dorothy, tweeted Aug. 8 that she was posting via LG’s smart fridge as her mother had taken away her smartphone. “I do not know if this is going to tweet. I am talking to my fridge, What the (explicit) my mom confiscated all of my electronics again,” rea

LATEST NEWS

• 

  World News

  Hong Kong protesters flood city streets in 'peaceful' march

  HONG KONG -- A sea of democracy activists flooded the streets of Hong Kong Sunday in a defiant show to the city's leaders that their movement still pulls wide public support, despite mounting violence and increasingly stark warnings from Beijing.Tens of thousands of protesters carrying umbrellas poured across the heart of Hong Kong island despite torrential rain, closing key roads and flouting a police order not to march from a park where they had gathered earlier for a rally.Ten weeks of demons

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  North Korea

  S. Korea undaunted by troubles in peace journey, minister says

  South Korea's unification minister on Sunday pledged to make unswerving efforts for inter-Korean peace despite "difficulties" two days after Pyongyang said it will never talk with Seoul again.The minister, Kim Yeon-chul, stressed that Seoul's initiative for a "peace economy" is aimed at bringing gains to both South and North Korea amid mutual security assurances. He was delivering a congratulatory message for a peace concert organized by the Korean Council for Reconciliation

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  Foreign Affairs

  S. Korea-ASEAN summit in Nov. to address free trade amid Japan's export curbs: Cheong Wa Dae

  South Korea plans to focus on seeking ways to bolster the free trade order during a November special group summit with Southeast Asian nations, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday, as Tokyo maintains its retaliatory export restrictions against Seoul.The office of President Moon Jae-in revealed the scheme in a press briefing on its preparations for the summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 100 days ahead of its opening. The two-day session is to begin on Nov. 25 in the southern cit

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  North Korea

  Late North Korean leader wanted US troops to stay in Korea even after unification

  The late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il supported the continued presence of US troops on the Korean Peninsula even after the eventual unification of the two Koreas, a veteran lawmaker said Sunday. Recalling the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000, Rep. Park Jie-won of the Alliance for Alternative Politics of Change and Hope said the late Kim, the father of current North Korean leader Jong-un, told then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung that the US forces should remain on the peninsula to m

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  Social affairs

  ‘You will get killed again in your next life,’ says murder suspect

  A suspect in the murder of a man whose dismembered body parts were found in Han River claimed the victim “started it” during an arrest warrant hearing held Sunday afternoon, a day after he had turned himself in to police.The suspect, a 39-year-old motel employee, said the victim “punched (him), and talked down to (him) first” before the press gathered at the Uijeongbu District Court in Gyeonggi Province, where the warrant hearing was held.Coming out of the 20-minute heari

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  Business

  Korean card spending on Japanese goods halves in a month

  　South Koreans’ credit card spending on Japanese products has halved over the past month amid an escalating trade row between the two countries, government data showed.　Many Korean consumers began boycotting Japanese products and tourism in early July, when Japan restricted exports of key materials to Korea. A Japanese Cabinet decision early this month to exclude Korea from Japan’s list of trusted trading partners has fueled anti-Japan sentiment.　In a report submitted to Rep. Lee Tae

• 

  Industry

  Korea keen on investment in ocean cruise harbors

  SEJONG -- South Korea has five international cruise terminals -- two in Jeju, one in Busan, one in Sokcho and one in Incheon.With the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries focusing on the development of cruise tourism, its plan to open a new Jeju Port, aimed at handling a greater number of inbound cruise tourists, has been approved by the Cabinet.The endorsed budget for the third ocean cruise terminal on Jeju Island -- with the capacity to manage 4.7 million tourists per year -- is set at 2.8 trillio

• 

  Viewpoints

  Beware ‘moral hazard’ in Hong Kong

  Watching videos of Chinese protesters singing the US national anthem in the streets of Hong Kong, or hearing the tear-jerking chorus of “Les Miserables” during a sit-in at the Hong Kong airport, only someone with a heart of stone wouldn’t want to assist these brave people who are fighting for their freedom. But beware. The problem is that easy gestures of support could get these Chinese freedom fighters killed. It’s a problem that insurance companies call “moral haz

• 

  Viewpoints

  Trump isn’t crazy to want to buy Greenland

  Former Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called US President Donald Trump’s reported idea of buying Greenland, a self-governed Danish territory, an out-of-season April Fools’ Day joke. Trump’s idea may be outlandish -- and impossible -- but that doesn’t mean there’s no benefit in thinking about reviving the market in sovereign territories, which once made America great. Besides acquiring Louisiana from France, Florida from Spain, Alaska from Russia and much

• Editorial

  Pie in the sky

  NK fires missiles, ridicules Moon a day after Liberation Day address; rhetoric of ‘peace economy’ empty

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Viewpoints

  

  Beware ‘moral hazard’ in Hong Kong

  Watching videos of Chinese protesters singing the US national anthem in the streets of Hong Kong, or hearing the tear-jerking chorus of “Les Miserables” during a sit-in at the Hong Kong airport, only someone with a heart of stone wouldn’t want to assist these brave people who are fighting for their freedom. But beware. The problem is that easy gestures of support could get these Chinese freedom fighters killed. It’s a problem that insurance companies call “moral haz

• Viewpoints

  

  Trump isn’t crazy to want to buy Greenland

  Former Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called US President Donald Trump’s reported idea of buying Greenland, a self-governed Danish territory, an out-of-season April Fools’ Day joke. Trump’s idea may be outlandish -- and impossible -- but that doesn’t mean there’s no benefit in thinking about reviving the market in sovereign territories, which once made America great. Besides acquiring Louisiana from France, Florida from Spain, Alaska from Russia and much

THE INVESTOR

• Startups & Investors

  

  Raising the bar of ethical farming, startup offers ‘disruptive’ agritech

  ULikeKorea set to enter Australia, UAE with bio capsule system for livestockULikeKorea is a livestock health care startup that has introduced a first-of-its-kind bio capsule designed to lodge inside a cow’s first stomach and stay there to monitor the animal’s food and drug intake, real-time core body temperature and breeding cycle for quality meat production.The company became one of the eight winning candidates in the third SoftBank Innovation Program that took place in June, 2018,

• Samsung

  

  Samsung Display CEO confirms QD-OLED plan

  While Samsung Display, an affiliate of Samsung Electronics, is moving to cut its production of liquid crystal display panels, the company is making significant efforts to commercialize quantum dot organic light-emitting diode panels, according to the industry on Sunday. Samsung Display CEO Lee Dong-hoon told The Korea Herald, “The company is preparing” to launch QD-OLED panels in the near future.  However, Lee declined to reveal when he would make an official announcement o

• Mobile & Internet

  

  KT launches epidemic prevention app in Ghana

  Korean telecom company KT said Aug.18 it has launched a mobile application to help prevent epidemics in Ghana, Africa. Called the Global Epidemic Prevention Platform, the app allows users to access information on epidemic diseases. It supports three functions: GEPP Public, GEPP Clinic and GEPP Gov.GEPP Public alerts people who enter an epidemic region of the potential dangers. GEPP Clinic receives real-time notifications from people who have experienced an epidemic breakout and displays loc

• Economy

  

  Signs of global recession haunt S. Korean economy

  A shadow of global recession looms over key economies as major markets have been dealing with some of their worst days in recent weeks. This is sparking concerns that chances of recession may also be growing on home turf, in South Korea. Last week, the yields on US 10-year Treasurys fell below two-year yields for the first time since 2007 – a phenomenon known as an inverted yield curve. Investors and experts alike are regarding such trend with wariness -- every recession in the last 60 yea

K-POP HERALD

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  Review: Enjoying Monsta X’s LA concert at home in Seoul

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  Interview: ‘Chameleonlike’ Jinu of Winner sometimes obsesses over things

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  Review: BTS’ ‘Bring The Soul’ delves into blood, sweat and tears of stardom

HERALD INTERVIEW

• People

  

  Four generations of family carry on Jeju’s brewing legacy

• Fashion

  

  Park Seung-gun still pushing the envelope

• Music

  

  Percussion is more than beats and rhythms

• Social affairs

  

  Donggubat CEO strives for social well-being along with revenue growth

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Japanese colonial history in Korea at a glance

  On Thursday, a national holiday marking Korea’s independence from Japanese colonial rule on Aug. 15, 1945, the Museum of Japanese Colonial History in Korea was very crowded with visitors wanting to better understand the history of the two neighboring countries amid a deepening diplomatic and trade rift. The two-story museum, which sits in a small alley in Yongsan, central Seoul, opened in August last year through donations from the public, civic groups and academics. It exhibits the h

VIDEO

• Foreign Affairs

  

  Views of South Koreans on boycotting Japanese products

• Food&Beverage

  

  Behind South Korea’s ‘fatcaron’ sensation

• Food&Beverage

  

  Behind jewelry shops, pairing pork, kimchi and oysters in Jongno

• Food&Beverage

  

  Tender, sweet spareribs at Seongsu-dong

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  Single-person households on the rise in S. Korea

  Seoul, South Jeolla top 1-member household portion

• Social affairs

  

  More than 10,000 centenarians reside in Seoul metropolitan area

  SEJONG -- The population of South Korea increased by less than 1.2 percent over the past five years from 51.25 million in July 2014 to 51.84 million in July 2019, amid the record-low birthrates.According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of Koreans increased by only 595,000 over the five-year period. This indicates a growth of less than 10,000 a month on average.Apart from the rapid reduction of newborns and those aged under 15, the working population aged between 15 and 64 has

• Economy

  

  Korea faces retreat from GDP, export powerhouses

  SEJONG -- South Korea is one of the few developing countries whose economy expanded sufficiently over the past decades to compete with advanced nations in Europe.Korea achieved the world’s 10th-largest gross domestic product in 2005. It was 28th in 1980, ranked behind Indonesia (21st), Iran (20th) and Saudi Arabia (14th).As exports in sectors such as semiconductors and automobiles greatly contributed to its GDP, there have been predictions that the nation could consistently become one of t

• Politics

  

  Moon’s approval ratings slide in Seoul, Sejong: poll

  Large portion of Koreans in 20s drop support for president over last year