SPOTLIGHT

• Technology

  

  73% of mobile gamers not bothered by in-app ads: report

  By Sohn Ji-young

  A majority of those who play free mobile games turned out to be indifferent to in-app adds in the form of banners or videos, considering the benefits earned in exchange of watching them, according to an industry report.Around 73 percent of gamers are happy with the ad-funded model of mobile app games, according to the “Mobile Games Research 2017” report from London-based market research firm 2VC, commissioned by the Facebook Audience Network.The report was based on more than 6,000 online intervi

• Industry

  

  Alleged Samsung Galaxy S7 explosion causes severe burns

  By Kim Min-joo

  A Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone, a model previously offered in exchange for the recalled Galaxy Note 7, caught fire while charging, a Korean phone owner claims. The 20-year-old user said Wednesday that her Galaxy S7 smartphone she had left charging in the room caught fire at around 3 a.m. on Aug. 14.Sparks from the fire burned the floor and furniture in her bedroom, as well as her hands, resulting in severe blisters. (Yonhap)The user clarified she has been using Samsung’s official charger and the

• Culture

  

  New cultural heritage chief vows ‘attitude overhaul’

  By Yoon Min-sik

  Kim Jong-jin, the recently-named head of Cultural Heritage Administration, emphasized the importance of preserving cultural heritage and vowed changes in the CHA employees‘ attitude in achieving the goals of the organization.Kim who has been with CHA since 2001, however, stopped short of suggesting specific plans for revamping the system that has been criticized for lacking expertise, resulting in such fiascos as the recent “fake royal seal” controversy. Kim Jong-jin, head of Cultural Heritage A

• Social affairs

  

  Teacher-pupil sex incident leads to misguided witch hunt

  By Lim Jeong-yeo

  Personal data about unrelated teachers leaked online following sex case of female teacher, 12-year-old student

LATEST NEWS

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  Defense

  Seoul says not considering redeployment of US nuclear weapons to Korea

  South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Friday dismissed the possibility of deploying US nuclear weapons to South Korea to deter North Korea's armed provocations."We have never thought we should redeploy US nuclear assets," a ranking Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters on condition of anonymity.South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo was reported Thursday to have hinted at the possibility in a meeting with his US counterpart James Mattis in Washington. South Korea`s Defense Min

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  Economy

  Seoul asks Beijing to lift trade restrictions over missile row: trade ministry

  South Korea has asked China to remove economic sanctions imposed on South Korea due to the diplomatic row over the deployment of a US missile defense system here, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Friday.China has been retaliating economically against South Korea since early this year over the stationing of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.South Korea says the missile defense system is not aimed at China but is to combat North Korea's missile and nuclear threats. Chin

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  Finance

  Credit card firms urged to cut costs, offer new payment services

  South Korea's top financial regulator on Friday urged credit card firms to cut marketing spending and provide safer and more convenient payment services. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remark at a meeting with top executives of credit card companies as the industry has been under pressure over competition with online payment services and a cut in credit card processing fees for small merchants. Choi said credit card firms "need to revamp their high-cost sys

• 

  미분류

  Defusing the gender diversity time bomb

  Management in Korea is a regular column written by the members of Egon Zhender Seoul touching on various aspects of Korean enterprises and business leaders and offering management tips.-- Ed.The persistent gender imbalance among Korea’s business leaders is well known. According to one recent study, only 2.4 percent of the executives of publicly listed Korean companies are women, compared with 12.4 percent for the Asia-Pacific region. And in Egon Zehnder’s 2016 Global Board Diversity Analysis, on

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  Politics

  Ahn urges Moon to seek stronger sanctions on N. Korea rather than begging for dialogue

  The newly elected head of the minor opposition People's Party slammed the government of President Moon Jae-in for "begging" for dialogue with North Korea, saying now is not the time for talks, but to work closely with the United States to push for stronger sanctions.In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Ahn Cheol-soo also expressed clear opposition to the idea of redeploying tactical US nuclear weapons back to South Korea, saying the move would amount to acknowledging the North's nuclear prog

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  Industry

  Duty-free shops deal with lean times with cuts in manpower, outlets, operating hours

  South Korea's duty-free shops are struggling to cope with lean times caused by a drop in Chinese tourists and a corresponding decline in sales by reducing the number of employees, outlets and operating hours, industry sources said Friday.The number of Chinese tourists have dropped for five straight months after Beijing protested the deployment of a US anti-missile system here in March. Chinese visitors accounted for nearly half of 17 million foreigners visiting the country last year.The reductio

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  Technology

  LG Electronics promote AI solutions at IFA

  LG Electronics Inc. on Friday said it promoted its latest achievements in the field of artificial intelligence technology at this year's Berlin consumer electronics trade show, introducing its vision to home appliances and smartphones.The South Korean tech giant said at Internationale Funkausstellung that it plans to apply the AI technology to more products and services, and expand its partnerships with Amazon.com and Google Inc. to expand the ecosystem.In detail, LG Electronics demonstrated how

• 

  North Korea

  NK condemns US for sending strategic assets over Korea

  North Korea on Thursday condemned the United States for sending its strategic bombers and stealth jets to Korea in response to its latest launch of a missile which flew over Japan, calling the move a "rash" act.Four F-35B stealth jets and two B-1B strategic bombers from the US trained with South Korea's F-15K fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, the final day of the 11-day Seoul-Washington joint military drills."The wild military acts of the enemies are nothing but the rash act of

• 

  Soccer

  Iran football coach asks for Son Heung-min's jersey after World Cup qualifier vs. S. Korea

  For the first time in his 36-year football career, Iran's national team boss Carlos Queiroz has done something that he wouldn't normally do: ask for a player's jersey.Queiroz, who has been leading Iran since 2011, said Thursday that he got a jersey of Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean attacker Son Heung-min after his side collected a scoreless draw at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul. Son played full time and produced a couple of dangerous moments, though he failed to score a goal."For the first

• 

  Finance

  Banks' loan delinquency rate edges up in July

  The delinquency rate of South Korean banks' won-denominated loans edged up in July, due to a slight rise in people who could not pay off their debts, government data showed Friday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.48 percent at the end of July, up 0.05 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.Compared to a year ago, however, the rate was down 0.3 percentage point, it said.  (Yonhap)"In July, newly delinquent loa

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Viewpoints

  

  China’s car sector needs a shakeup

  By Bloomberg

  China’s SUV specialist Great Wall Motor Co. may, in the end, never get its hands on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Jeep division. But expect more and more Chinese automakers to seek out foreign acquisitions. The Chinese government has long dreamed of creating a globally competitive car industry, and having Chinese automakers purchase established companies and brands would seem one obvious way to accomplish its goal.Unless the government rethinks its own industrial policies, however, the strategy

• Viewpoints

  

  Korea’s ‘Look South Policy’

  By Korea Herald

  Two weeks after his inauguration, President Moon Jae-in unprecedentedly sent a special envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He also announced that his government would bring its relations with ASEAN up to the level of the four major powers -- the US, China, Japan and Russia. While such efforts are on the rise, we may still ask, what is exactly the Korean government’s vision and strategy toward ASEAN?　Pursuing mutual and sustainable prosperity, increasing people-to-people exchange

THE INVESTOR

• Mobile & Internet

  

  Apple plans to launch 6-inch screen iPhone next year

   Apple has started the development of a 6-inch OLED iPhone with aims to launch the largest-ever screen iPhone next year, industry sources said on Aug. 31.The largest iPhone available now is a 5.5-inch LCD model. Sources said Apple plans to launch two OLED iPhones next year -- a 5.85-inch and 6.46-inch models. The 5.58-inch is the same size screen of the upcoming iPhone 8 this year. Apple has started development work with Samsung Display, the sole OLED supplier, and other parts makers ea

• Samsung

  

  Samsung Galaxy S9 likely to debut in Jan.

  Samsung Electronics’ next flagship smartphone Galaxy S9 is highly likely to debut earlier than usual, possibly in January, The Bell reported on Aug. 31. The report said Samsung Display’s OLED panel shipments will start in November, two months in advance of the current S8 whose display shipments started in January this year before the phone’s unveiling in March. Galaxy S8Display panels are usually shipped earlier than other parts such as camera modules and cases. After the panel sh

• Automobiles

  

  Court orders Kia to pay W420b on union's ordinary wage claim

  A local court ruled bonuses and lunch allowances paid to workers at Kia Motors as part of “ordinary wages” on Aug. 31, ordering the nation’s second-largest carmaker to pay 422.3 billion won ($375.5 million) as compensation.The Seoul Central District Court was partially upholding the demand by workers from Kia Motors, the nation’s second-largest automaker, who had claimed 1.09 trillion won in compensation. However, the court ordered that they be paid around one-third of the amount.

• Retail & Consumer

  

  Launch of world’s first VR shopping mall in jeopardy

  The government’s plan to open the world’s first virtual reality shopping mall during the Korea Sale Festa -- local equivalent of Black Friday -- is in jeopardy due to technical difficulties, the Chosun Biz reported on Aug. 31. The VR system was unable to overcome technical problems as it keeps shutting down whenever the Active X program, which is responsible for its security and financial functions, was used to make a transaction. The government had invested about 450 million won

K-POP HERALD

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  EXO listed in Guinness World Records

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  ‘Legend of Blue Sea’ cleared of plagiarism

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  Park Bo-gum in tug of war with girlfriend

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Culture

  

  BBC journalist Francine Stock talks about Korean films’ richness, complexity and honesty

• Industry

  

  ‘Smartphone OLED will face oversupply by 2020’

• Industry

  

  ‘Korea needs stronger botulinum toxin regulations’

• 미분류

  

  Planning for smart, sustainable future with Singapore

PHOTO NEWS

• 미분류

  

  Signs of fall in the sky in Seoul

  By Park Hyun-koo

  Cool breeze and a clear sky signaled the arrival of fall in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday. Daytime temperature dropped to an average of 18 degrees Celsius nationwide, creating an optimal weather for outdoor activities. A dry spell is anticipated in the following weeks. Photographed by Park Hyun-koo (phko@heraldcorp.com)

VIDEO

• People

  

  Meet Korean Billy, the internet sensation of 2017

• Culture

  

  Slimy ‘liquid monsters’ captivate Korean adults

• Industry

  

  Beauty meets IT for customized experience

• Technology

  

  A tattoo that is painless, removable and safe

FEATURES

• Film

  

  Korean film's depiction of brutally abused women -- Is it too much?

  By Rumy Doo

  Recent thriller “V.I.P.” at center of a whirlwind debate about artistic expression, gender sensitivity

• North Korea

  

  South Korea to upgrade Kaesong guidelines amid UNSC sanctions

  By Jung Min-kyung

  South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Thursday it will launch a research project that aims to overhaul and upgrade the operational guidelines of the now-suspended Kaesong Industrial Complex. “It is necessary to draw an expansive management plan of the Kaesong industrial complex by improving its operational guidelines, to prepare for a progress in the inter-Korean relationship,” a Unification Ministry official said Thursday. North Korean workers at Kaesong Industrial Complex. (Yonhap)The joint

• Social affairs

  

  ‘Excrement School’ changes name to protect students from ridicule

  By Lim Jeong-yeo

  An elementary school named “Daebyun,” whose sound in Korean can make one think about “feces,” is changing its name to “Yongam,” the school said Thursday. The school had been named after the area of Gijang County in Busan where it is located. Most of the residents in this area are alumni of this elementary school. Yongam refers to the name of the village which had been used a century earlier.  A sign by Daebyun students reads, "We want to have a good school name" (Instagram @mey_moon)For decades

• Industry

  

  Ikea Goyang to open on Oct. 19

  By Won Ho-jung

  Ikea Korea‘s second store in Korea will open in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on Oct. 19, the company said on Tuesday. Ikea Korea Country Retail Manager Andre Schmidtgall gives a press presentation at Bread Comma Café in Seoul on Tuesday. (Ikea)“We had heard from customers that they wanted us to come closer to them, and that sometimes our (existing) store is too crowded,” Ikea Korea Country Retail Manager Andre Schmidtgall told reporters at the Bread Comma Cafe in Seoul.According to Schmidtgall, the