SPOTLIGHT

• Music

  

  Epic Games Korea denies gun powder use, wishes Seolhyun quick recovery

  Epic Games Korea, the host of Fortnite Korea Open 2018, confirmed in a statement Monday that gun powder had not been used during AOA’s performance at the event, after the group’s member Seolhyun left the stage in the middle of the performance because she felt faint. The company also wished Seolhyun a quick recovery.Seolhyun’s management agency FNC Entertainment had initially blamed the singer’s dizziness and retching on the heavy use of gunpowder. However, fans had criticized the agency for not

• More sports

  

  Kim Yuna to perform at ice skating show in Spain

  Kim Yuna will perform at an ice skating show in Spain, starting Friday.Representing Kim, All That Sports said Monday that Kim will star in “Revolution On Ice,” hosted by Spanish figure skater Javier Fernandez.Kim’s previous ice skating performance overseas was in 2012 in Shanghai, China. (Yonhap)“I am thrilled to perform at an ice show abroad after a long time,” Kim said. “It’s my first time (performing) to Spanish friends, so I will do my best.”Kim will donate her pay to UNICEF. She will perfor

• Arts&Design

  

  Photographer’s journey highlights beauty of Korean porcelains

  Photographer Koo Bohn-chang is holding a solo exhibition featuring his photographs of traditional Korean porcelains at the newly opened Kukje Gallery’s Busan branch located in a factory-turned-cultural center, F1936.“HA 05-1” by photographer Koo Bohn-chang (Courtesy of the artist)The photographer’s journey tracing the nation’s traditional porcelains spans some three decades. “One day, I came across with this picture of a Korean moon jar and a foreigner sitting right next to it. I wondered how su

• Music

  

  Sylvester Levay says ‘Elisabeth’ marked turning point for him

  Nearly two decades after winning the Grammy Award for “Fly, Robin, Fly,” composer Sylvester Levay was at a crossroads, about to venture into writing songs for musicals.“Writing music for (musical) ‘Elisabeth’ was around the time when I was peaking in Hollywood writing film music. I was torn between potential career choices when my wife pushed me forward. It was a turning point for me as a creator,” said Levay during an interview in Seoul on Thursday. The interview was in German, translated into

LATEST NEWS

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  North Korea

  N. Korean media touch on UN's move on its human rights abuses

  Just ahead of the United Nations' vote on a resolution against its human rights conditions, North Korea on Monday took note of Washington's failed attempt to discuss the issue at the international agency earlier this month.In a belated report, the communist nation's state news agency, KCNA, pointed out that the United States has sought to bring the issue to the UN Security Council (UNSC) every year since 2014. (KCNA-Reuters)"But its attempt went amiss this year," it said. "The US proposal for co

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  More sports

  Olympic short track champion gives tearful testimony against ex-coach in assault case

  South Korean Olympic short track champion Shim Suk-hee testified against her ex-coach in an assault case on Monday, saying she wanted the truth to come out and justice to be served.Shim fought back tears as she read from a note during an appeals trial of her former coach Cho Jae-beom at the Suwon District Court in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul.Cho received a 10-month prison term in September for physically assaulting Shim and three other skaters, but he appealed the decision. (Yonhap)Shim

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  Diplomatic Circuit

  US ambassador praises Washington-Seoul alliance at friendship gala

  Harry Harris, US ambassador to the Republic of Korea (KAFS)Several months ago in Seoul, US Ambassador Harry Harris had a chance to think about the alliance between his country and South Korea when a young college student asked him, “Ambassador, I hear you had a distinguished military career. Did you fight in the Korean War?”The envoy was born in 1956, some three years after the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. He told the student that it was his father who fought in the war.“This story illustrates

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  Diplomatic Circuit

  Arab economies’ diversification to unlock new wealth

  Arab countries are moving beyond the oil and gas industries to diversify and innovate their economies, and this is where the next wave of global cooperation in commerce and culture can happen, says Omani Ambassador Mohamed al-Harthy.“Most Arab countries, including the oil-and-gas-dependent Gulf Cooperation Council member states to which Oman belongs, lately launched a strategy of economic diversification, focusing on logistics, information communications technology, manufacturing and industry, h

• 

  World

  EU urges S. Korea to ratify ILO conventions

  The European Union has urged South Korea to ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions to improve the nation's labor rights and working conditions, the labor ministry here said Monday.The European Commission formally asked the South Korean government to start consultations on labor issues under a dispute settlement mechanism in the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter in the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) implemented in 2011. It was EU's first FTA that include

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  Social affairs

  Jailed ex-President Lee sues MBC chief over news report on alleged

  Jailed former President Lee Myung-bak has filed a lawsuit against a major broadcast network and its chief over a recently aired investigative report on Lee's alleged offshore account and suspicious transactions, one of the program hosts said in a social media post on Monday.The lawsuit, seeking 350 million won ($309,270) in damages, was lodged with the Seoul Central District Court against MBC President Choi Seung-ho and two other journalists. The suit also demands the public broadcaster issue a

• 

  North Korea

  N. Korea railway not in good condition: inspection team

  The railroads along North Korea’s east coast are not in good condition, an official said Monday after returning home from a 10-day survey aimed at eventually reconnecting cross-border railways. The 28-member team of South Korean officials and railway experts crossed into South Korea on Monday afternoon by bus after conducting a joint inspection of the 800-kilometer rail links from Kumgangsan near the inter-Korean border to the Tumen River bordering Russia in the east, the Unification Ministry sa

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  Social affairs

  Government apologizes for Taean power plant tragedy, promises to prevent reoccurrence

  The government on Monday announced measures to prevent accidents at coal power plants in the country, six days after an accident at Taean power plant claimed the life of a subcontracted worker. Past accidents at power plants will also be reviewed.The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a joint briefing on Monday and apologized for the death of Kim Yong-kyun, a 24-year-old subcontracted worker at the Taean thermal power plant.On Tuesday, Kim was fo

• 

  Automode

  Hyundai Motor’s GBC construction to begin H1 2019

  Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fifth-largest automotive group, is slated to begin construction of its new headquarters, dubbed the Global Business Center, in southern Seoul in the first half of next year, with the government moving to clear regulatory hurdles for the project that had hit a snag for years.The development comes as part of government plans shared at the economy-related ministers’ meeting, led by President Moon Jae-in on Monday, on fostering economic growth in 2019 by encouraging

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  Music

  Jonghyun remembered in arts exhibition on 1st anniversary

  Dec. 18 marks the first anniversary of Jonghyun’s passing.On this day last year, boy group SHINee’s lead vocalist was found unresponsive at a studio apartment in Cheongdam-dong, a neighborhood in Seoul’s Gangnam district. He was rushed to the nearby Konkuk University Medical Center, but did not survive. Jonghyun (SHINee`s official Twitter @shinee)The 27-year-old star’s untimely passing was reported in major media outlets across the world, including the BBC, CNN, Forbes, the New York Times and th

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Germany still playing defense against EU, US

  An old joke among non-Americans is that they, too, deserve a vote in US presidential elections, given how central that office is to their lives. When Germany’s Christian Democratic Union met this month to select a new leader, Europeans probably felt the same way.Not only is the CDU Germany’s largest party; it is also the largest in the European Union. At its recent congress in Hamburg, the word “Europe” was uttered constantly, with most speakers declaring a sense of responsibility for what happe

• Columnists

  

  Trump’s anti-service economy

  In the 19th century, more than 70 percent of American workers were farmers. By 2017, that figure was under 2 percent. In 1970, about 32 percent of private employment was in goods-producing industries. By 2018, that figure was 13.5 percent. The dynamic sectors of the American economy are in services, though US President Donald Trump, with his fixation on old manufacturing industries, does not seem to have grasped that.Just as manufacturing companies comprised the most rapidly growing industries i

THE INVESTOR

• Samsung

  

  OLED display gains momentum in smartphone market

  OLED displays are rapidly gaining market share in the global smartphone industry, crossing the 60 percent threshold in the July-September period, according to a report on Dec. 17.The market share of OLEDs by revenue, which was 35 percent in the first quarter last year, has been increasing with major smartphone companies, including Apple and Huawei, competitively adopting the self-luminous displays for their flagship models.Sales of the entire smartphone display market in the third

• Blockchain

  

  Upbit becomes No. 3 crypto exchange in trade volume

  Upbit, the nation’s largest crypto exchange operated by Dunamu, has become the third-largest globally in terms of trade volume, according to the latest report of Blockchain Transparency Institute published on Dec. 13.BTI has published exchange rankings since August, with aims to offer more transparent, data-driven insights into the market. From this month, the rankings reflect transactions through mobile apps and API trade while excluding wash trading for more accurate calculation

• Finance

  

  JB Financial, CIMB Niaga join hands for open banking platform

  JB Financial Group said on Dec. 14 it has signed a strategic partnership with CIMB Niaga, the Indonesian commercial bank and unit of Malaysian banking giant CIMB Group, to introduce its open banking platform in Indonesia. JB Financial is taking the lead as the first Korean banking group to export its own open banking platform, unlike other banks that usually enter overseas markets after acquiring local banking licenses.  Executives of JB Financial Group and CIMB Niaga pose after s

• Retail & Consumer

  

  Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun likely to resign

  Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T’s fashion division, is likely to step down from her post in an annual year-end reshuffle scheduled for this week, according to news reports on Dec. 12.She is the second daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s sister.The Samsung C&T CEO is said to have notified the firm of her intention to resign and move on to focus on corporate social responsibility activities.In a recent board mee

K-POP HERALD

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  IU’s ‘Palette’ gets 100m YouTube views

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  Koo Hye-sun for Korea-Myanmar film fair

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  Jonghyun's 1st anniversary arts exhibition

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Fashion

  

  ‘I do not paint to be an artist, but to make clothes’

• Music

  

  ‘I learned how to love my fate’: Sohee of Elris

• Industry

  

  ‘Automation won’t reduce jobs but workers need to be protected in digital era’

• Industry

  

  Korea is attractive market despite regulations: AmCham CEO

PHOTO NEWS

• Music

  

  BTS wins big at 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong

  BTS took home what is regarded as the highest honors of the evening on the third and final night of the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong: artist and album of the year. BTS delivers a thank-you speech at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong (CJ ENM) BTS after winning `Album of the Year` at 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong (CJ ENM) BTS delivers a thank-you speech at the 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong (CJ ENM) Leader RM speaks on behalf of the group at MAMA in Hong Kong on Friday (CJ ENM)“Love Your

VIDEO

• Social affairs

  

  Boiling water from pipeline rupture kills 1, injures dozens

• Technology

  

  Startups, VCs gather in Seoul to celebrate The Investor’s Choice

• Music

  

  Sohee says angles are most important in ‘Hurry Up’ dance

• North Korea

  

  N. Korea destroys 10 DMZ guard posts

FEATURES

• Arts&Design

  

  Celebrate holidays with panache at museums, galleries

  It is that time of the year. “All I Want for Christmas” plays seemingly on repeat and Santa decorations are in every window. The year has almost come to an end. For those tired of the same old alcohol-infused yearend gatherings, museums and galleries are offering a more cultured alternative to celebrating the year that was.Why not grab a beer next to Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain?” An 8-meter tall “Bearbrick” -- the collectible Japanese toy -- might give you a hug. Or just bring some art home by pu

• Social affairs

  

  3 in 10 self-employed self-halt or close in 2018: report

  SEJONG – More than 1 in 10 South Koreans, or 5.7 million among the population of 51.6 million, are engaging in self-employment. The proportion of self-employed is 20.3 percent among the 28 million economically active, which indicates people with jobs plus job seekers.And the ratio of self-employed among total employed excluding job seekers posted 25.4 percent at the end of 2017, according to data from Statistics Korea. The percentage is quite high compared to the European Union, at 15.8 percent,

• Technology

  

  KT’s choice of Huawei for financial industry networks sparks fresh concerns

  The expansion of Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei into South Korea’s financial sector is drawing mixed views, industry sources said Monday. KT, the No. 2 player in the telecom industry, has selected Huawei’s equipment, including its multiservice switching platform, for upgrades of landline network connections for financial institutions. Major clients include Koscom and Nonghyup. Koscom is an IT solution provider owned by the Korea Exchange, which serves public financial institutions and bu

• Finance

  

  Short-term bond yield inches closer to base rate

  South Korea’s short-term sovereign bond yield has hovered just above the base rate, due to lingering market impact from the government’s plan to repurchase bonds before maturity and market uncertainties at home and abroad.The three-year sovereign bond yield came to 1.795 percent at the Monday session’s close, showed data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. On Friday, the bond yield recorded its lowest figure since September 2017 at 1.781 percent.The bond yield moves inversely with b