SPOTLIGHT

• Music

  

  BTS dominates overseas iTunes songs charts with Japanese version of 'Fake Love'

  The global K-pop group BTS has topped overseas iTunes Top Songs charts with a Japanese version of its hit song "Fake Love."The song with Japanese lyrics took the top post on the iTunes Top Songs charts of 38 regions, including Argentina, Chile, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Indonesia and Vietnam, on Tuesday. (Yonhap)The song was uploaded on online music services at 12 a.m., ahead of the release of the group's new Japanese album, which includes the song."Fake Love," the original Korean number

• Social affairs

  

  Man caught after spreading nude photos of himself taken at women’s university

  A man, who took indecent photos at a university campus and uploaded them on Twitter was caught Monday, police said. Police have requested an arrest warrant for him.The 28-year-old man is accused of spreading pornographic images and trespassing upon school property. He allegedly entered Dongduk Women’s University campus and took photos of himself naked in empty classrooms and hallways on Oct. 6, and spread the photos on Twitter.  (Yonhap)After the photos circulated on Twitter and anonymous commun

• Fashion

  

  2D illustrations breathe life into luxury fashion

  For fashion enthusiasts and luxury goods lovers, an exhibition of fashion illustrator Megan Hess’ work is soon to open in Seoul. The Australian illustrator is known across the world for her work with luxury fashion houses and celebrities. She became a big figure in the fashion scene after drawing the cover illustration for the “Sex and the City” book after the series became a hit.  Fashion illustrator Megan Hess speaks during a press event held Tuesday at The Seouliteum in eastern Seoul. (Yonhap

• Industry

  

  Choson Exchange founder stresses ASEAN as platform for entrepreneurship in NK

  The ASEAN countries, including Singapore, can be a neutral platform upon which to build entrepreneurship in North Korea and facilitate inter-Korean economic ties in a stable and consistent manner, the head of Choson Exchange said Tuesday.Speaking at The Korea Herald Biz Forum in Seoul, Geoffrey See, founder and CEO of the organization, said he hopes that Singapore and ASEAN can play a role in bringing about the gradual integration of both Koreas’ economies and with North Korea’s transition to a

LATEST NEWS

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  Foreign Policy

  Moon, French premier agree to boost bilateral ties, exchange

  South Korean President Moon Jae-in and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe agreed Tuesday to further expand their countries‘ bilateral ties, through a possible increase in the number of direct flights to and from the countries.Moon is on a four-day state visit that will end later in the day when he heads to Italy. He earlier held a bilateral summit with French President Emmanuel Macron.“While noting that our country’s introduction of France‘s express train (TGV) in the 1990s and other joint e

• North Korea

  N. Korea hands over S. Korean citizen held for illegal entry

  North Korea on Tuesday repatriated a 60-year-old South Korean man who was detained last month after Pyongyang claimed he entered the country illegally, Seoul’s unification ministry said.The man, identified only by his surname, Pyo, was sent to the South via the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone at around 4 p.m., the ministry said.“Related agencies are currently investigating him to discern how he entered the North,” the ministry said. “The government positively evaluates t

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  North Korea

  Two Koreas, U.N. Command discuss disarming Joint Security Area in DMZ

  The two Koreas and the United Nations Command (UNC) held their first trilateral consultations Tuesday on disarming the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the heavily fortified border area, Seoul‘s defense ministry said.The closed-door meeting took place at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from 10 a.m. through 1:15 p.m., it said.South and North Korea agreed to turn the JSA into a weapon-free zone under the military agreement signed by their defense chiefs during the Py

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  Foreign Policy

  Moon vows efforts to increase trade, cooperation with France

  South Korean President Moon Jae-in sought on Tuesday to assure French entrepreneurs that ongoing peace efforts with North Korea will create a greater opportunity for their investment and business on the Korean Peninsula.During his address to business leaders from the two countries in Paris, Moon also vowed efforts to boost bilateral economic cooperation especially in technology sectors and startup businesses.“For nearly 130 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countri

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  North Korea

  KEPCO chief says discussions on investment in N. Korea can begin after progress in Washington-Pyongyang talks

  Kim Jong-gap, the CEO of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (Yonhap)Kim Jong-gap, the CEO of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), said Tuesday that earnest discussions on investment in North Korea can come after progress in talks between the United States and North Korea.Kim made the remarks during a parliamentary audit, apparently referring to ongoing negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang over the latter‘s denuclearization in return for a security guarantee from the f

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  Foreign Affairs

  Moon attends ceremonial French reception at Hotel de Ville

  South Korean President Moon Jae-in received a warm welcome on Tuesday in a traditional ceremony afforded to foreign leaders making a state visit to Paris.The ceremonial event was held at the Hotel de Ville, the building housing the local administration of Paris.“The welcome reception at Paris city hall is part of a program for Moon‘s state visit that the French side prepared, and was held in the Salle des Fetes (Room of Celebration) at the city hall and attended by some 300 officials and residen

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  Industry

  Beware fallacy of hasty generalization in ASEAN investment

  When addressing Southeast Asian states as “ASEAN,” foreign investors are often inclined to overlook the individual economic, legal and cultural differences of each country, according to a legal expert. “Cultural disparity is a frequent challenge for foreign investors who seek to affiliate themselves with an unknown business environment,” Jeong Cheol, a lawyer at Jipyong LLC, said at The Korea Herald Biz Forum.“It may thus be a critical error to presume that the business experience and insight in

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  Industry

  S. Korea holds forte in ASEAN partnership

  Economic power minus hegemonic ambition makes Seoul attractive long-term partner for ASEAN

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  Foreign Affairs

  Korean electoral branch's ODA projects linked to criminal activities: lawmaker

  South Korea’s National Election Commission is deeply involved with a Korean nongovernmental organization’s alleged criminal activities linked to its past foreign aid projects of installing election automation equipment in developing democracies overseas, including Fiji and Ecuador, a lawmaker revealed during the parliamentary inspection of the electoral branch on Tuesday. 　The revelation comes just about three weeks after the NEC’s former secretary-general Kim Dai-nyeon abruptly resigned as the

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  Social affairs

  Man booked over dispute with noisy neighbors

  A man in Incheon was booked without detention on Tuesday over allegations that he had damaged property by firing shots with an air rifle in the hallway of an apartment building. He fired the shots to retaliate against his “noisy” neighbors, according to police.The man is alleged to have fired some 20 shots late at night on the 20th floor of the building. (Yonhap)The police report said the accused man was stressed because of noise caused by his upstairs neighbors late at night. He told the police

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  The importance of being moderate

  When I studied at the State University of New York at Buffalo 40 years ago, my dissertation director, Leslie Fielder, taught me to always stay in the middle, avoiding both extremes. He used to tell me, “In a polarized society, it is not easy to stay in the middle because you will be criticized by both extremes. But that is what an intellectual should do.”When I studied at Columbia later, my academic adviser, Edward Said, also enlightened me, saying, “Although I am a Left intellectual, I am neith

• Columnists

  

  Better late than never

  We were hoping that 2018 was an aberration. That countries were just reacting emotionally. That things would return to normal come next year. Sadly, those hopes were just hopes and recent reports confirm what many of us suspected and still dread: Global trade will not exit the “protectionist” orbit anytime soon, and China-US trade relations will continue on a collision course. To a country struggling to overcome an economic slowdown, with red lights flashing on major indicators, nothing could be

THE INVESTOR

• Finance

  

  Bank ownership rules eased for Kakao, Naver

  Korea’s financial authorities on Oct. 16 announced a set of revisions to the current ownership law of internet-only banks, paving the way for select big tech firms like Kakao and Naver to own a full-fledged bank from next year. Under the current regulations on separation of financial and commercial capital, a non-financial company with more than 10 trillion won (US$8.60 billion) assets is banned from owning more than 10 percent stake in a financial company. The revision will eleva

• Retail & Consumer

  

  SKINFOOD to close outlets in E-mart, E-Land Retail

  SKINFOOD has decided to shut down its outlets at major hypermarket chains in Korea, industry sources said on Oct. 16.Although SKINFOOD declined to confirm the news, it has reportedly called for emergency meetings with hypermarket chain operators, including E-mart and E-Land Retail, to discuss the closure of its stores.“We have agreed with SKINFOOD to close down its 22 outlets at our stores in November,” an E-Land Retail spokesperson told The Investor. However, an E-mart official s

• Blockchain

  

  Chinese crypto exchange BTCC to launch service in Korea

  BTCC, China’s first cryptocurrency exchange, formerly known as BTC China, is launching services in Korea on Oct. 31. BTCC, founded in 2011, was one of the largest exchanges in the world by trading volume before the Chinese government’s crackdown on cryptocurrency trading and initial coin offerings. It closed its Chinese operations in September last year and relaunched services in Hong Kong in January. Its Korean office will be helmed by Lee Jae-beom, with the beta service starting

• Blockchain

  

  Bithumb’s new chief hints at Hong Kong launch

  Bithumb, the nation’s largest crypto exchange, is expected to ramp up efforts for global expansion following last week’s surprise ownership change. Its new chairman Kim Byung-gun, founder of BK Medical Group that operates plastic surgery clinics in Asia, on Oct. 13 hinted that the first destination will be Hong Kong. “We plan to open crypto exchanges in some 10 countries around the world,” Kim, a renowned plastic surgeon, told in an interview with Maeil Economic Daily. “Hong Kong

K-POP HERALD

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  Singer-turned-baker Cho Min-ah is 'ill'

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  BoA to drop ‘Woman’ next week

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  BT21’s ‘adorable’ Halloween party

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  Costa Rica, South Korea kindred spirits in sustainability: first lady

• Automode

  

  Dream Gream offers taste of real art world, broadens aspirants’ horizons

• Music

  

  BTS fever ‘revolutionizing’ existing structure

• Foreign Policy

  

  ‘Barriers to international adoption should be eliminated’

PHOTO NEWS

• Industry

  

  Korea Herald Biz Forum: ASEAN and New Asia

  To spotlight the significance of South Korea-ASEAN relations, The Korea Herald hosted the “The Korea Herald Biz Forum: ASEAN and New Asia” at Shilla Hotel in Seoul for four hours on Tuesday morning.More than 200 prospective investors, diplomats, and business executives from Korea and the 10 ASEAN nations attended the forum to increase the strength of their partnerships. The forum started with Deputy Secretary-General Aladdin D. Rillo’s presentation on the overview of the ASEAN economy. The follo

VIDEO

• 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

• Culture

  

  Aged barbers’ trimming skills impress young customers

FEATURES

• Industry

  

  ASEAN diplomats foresee greater economic collaboration with Korea

  Amid South Korea’s increasing pivot toward the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, foreign diplomats from the region expressed confidence in deeper and diversified bilateral economic ties at a business forum organized by The Korea Herald on Tuesday.At “The Korea Herald Biz Forum: ASEAN and New Asia” in Seoul, envoys from the 10 member countries introduced investment opportunities from their home turfs, including the latest policies, free trade agreements, special economic zones, incentives a

• Social affairs

  

  New labor minister burdened with challenges

  Lee Jae-gap, the newly appointed Minister of Employment and Labor, is taking on the new role as things are especially getting rough in the South Korean labor market. 　The country’s unemployment rate reached its highest level since 1999 last month, while the government allowance for jobless hit a record high. 　Prior to Lee’s appointment last month, the Moon Jae-in administration had been criticized by some for its purportedly pro-labor policies, including the latest minimum wage hike and reductio

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  ‘Decarbonization must be hastened via energy transition’

  “The energy transition should be looked at not only from an economic standpoint, but also a technological standpoint, because some 40 to 50 percent of decarbonization can be achieved by increasing energy efficiency.”

• Industry

  

  SK Biopharmaceuticals builds AI-powered drug development platform

  SK Biopharmaceuticals, the new drug development unit of South Korea’s telecom-to-energy conglomerate SK Group, said Monday it had finished developing an artificially intelligent drug development and design platform that is expected to speed up its new drug discovery efforts.　The AI platform was built by studying the vast amount of research on central nervous system disorders and developing optimized algorithms in partnership with SK Holdings C&C and its AI platform Aibril. AI-supported drug deve