Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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[Herald Interview] Lee Jung-jae returns as invincible fighter
Model-turned-actor Lee Jung-jae has worked in TV and film for many years. Lee instantly became a household name when he starred in the 1994 campus TV drama “Feelings.” In 1995, his impressive supporting role as a silent, devoted bodyguard in the sensational TV drama “Sandglass” turned him into a national heartthrob. Boosted by his success on the small screen, his 1999 film “City of the Rising Sun,” with costar Jung Woo-sung ― who has become one of Lee’s best friends ― earned him a best actor awa
FilmNov. 26, 2014
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[Herald Interview] OECD calls for regional nuclear safety approach
Despite persistent territorial and historical tension, Northeast Asia needs to formulate a joint scheme to promote nuclear safety which will help preclude future disasters and boost practical cooperation, chief of the OECD’s atomic energy agency said Tuesday. William Magwood, director-general of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD, stressed the growing need to jointly address safety issues in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima debacle in Japan, such as by cultivating a safety culture. William Mag
Foreign AffairsNov. 25, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Actor committed to helping refugees
Albeit powerless and hapless far away from his homeland Bhutan, the young boy could not give up his dream of becoming an actor like Jung Woo-sung since watching his 2004 film “A Moment to Remember.”As the boy re-enacted a perilous cross-border journey on a makeshift stage alongside his peers at the Beldangi refugee camp in Nepal, the 41-year-old South Korean actor Jung was shaken by the young refugees’ purity and unity even while lacking basic needs. The encounter took place during Jung’s first
Foreign AffairsNov. 23, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Finnish P.M. uncovers Finland-Korea connection
Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb visited Korea last week to invigorate bilateral ties in a broad range of areas, from winter sports to green technology. The Finnish delegation attended a summit, forum and exhibition from Nov. 19-22, facilitating trade and investment in arctic development, energy infrastructure, shipbuilding, security and education.A welcome reception for select diplomats, businessmen and journalists was held at the Finnish Embassy in Seoul, last Wednesday.The 46-year-old w
Foreign AffairsNov. 23, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Korean rich should pay more tax: ADB
An economist from the Asia Development Bank urged Korea to consider levying more taxes on the rich to create a more balanced wealth distribution. “Korea, which was considered a success story in generating growth with equity in the 1970s and 1980s, has seen rising income inequality in recent years,” said Juzhong Zhuang, a deputy chief economist at the Asian Development Bank, in an interview with The Korea Herald. The latest OECD data showed Korea’s Gini coefficient ― a scale with zero being perfe
Nov. 23, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Finnair to halve carbon emissions by 2050
Finnair, the flagship carrier of Finland, on Thursday said it will go carbon neutral by 2020 and halve its carbon emissions by 2050.In an aggressive attempt to make its operations greener, the company is set to use more planes that are fuel-efficient or run on bio-fuels, said Kati Ihamaki, vice president of the sustainable development unit at the Helsinki-based airliner, during a recent interview with The Korea Herald. “Because we are a flight company, every drop of fuel we save is directly link
IndustryNov. 23, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Kia Motors pins hopes on luxury sedan sales
LOS ANGELES ― Kia Motors’ U.S. sales chief Wednesday expressed confidence in selling the carmaker’s first luxury sedan, the K900, despite its lukewarm sales over the past year since its debut. “There is a market for the $60,000 Kia car in the U.S.,” said Michael Sprague, executive vice president of sales and marketing of Kia Motors America, at the carmaker’s exhibition booth at the LA Auto Show. “There is a niche market for people who don’t want traditional German and American luxury cars and ar
MobilityNov. 23, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Dressing up a tradition in new clothes
When Kim Sung-nyo began her three-year term as artistic director of the state-run National Changgeuk Company of Korea in March 2012, she had two things in mind. First was to lure younger and livelier audiences to changgeuk, Korean traditional opera based on pansori, a type of folk narrative. The second was to introduce diverse new forms and styles in changgeuk shows in an effort to transform it from an overlooked genre to the heart of the performing arts scene in Korea. “I was shocked when repor
CultureNov. 23, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Blueside aims to take games mobile
BUSAN ― Blueside, a South Korean game company, said that its next strategic move would be developing games for mobile devices next year after the anticipated release of “Kingdom Under Fire 2” for Sony PlayStation 4 and PCs.Lee Sang-youn, CEO and producer of Blueside, said that the company ultimately seeks to make games that can be played on multiple platforms such as consoles, PCs and mobiles.Given its strength in developing games for consoles and PCs, the company has the capability to create “u
TechnologyNov. 21, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Proficient process to get linguistic edge
Living in the land of the oft-touted “English fever,” Koreans are no strangers to working hard to achieve their academic goals. They try a number of techniques ranging from eating pages off English dictionaries ― a ritual that supposedly helps you “digest” the words you memorized ― to combing book stores for the “perfect vocabulary list.”But relying on rote memorization can only get you so far. Studying English as a foreign language requires a more proficient process, which is made possible by w
Social AffairsNov. 20, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Virtuix aims to change landscape of virtual reality
Despite being hailed as a game changer in the world of tech, head-mounted virtual reality displays are still short of delivering a fully immersive experience for users because the technology is still too static and doesn’t require active physical movement.The Omni VR treadmill is out to change this. Virtuix, the U.S. startup that created the Omni, says it is certain to provide a wholly different experience ― one in which virtual reality can be a true reality. “We want to take virtual reality bey
TechnologyNov. 19, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Bringing heaven down to earth
For pop-opera singer Lim Hyung-joo, 2014 has had some unexpected turns. At the start of the year, the 28-year-old musician had high hopes for his fifth full-length album, “Finally,” which came out at the end of 2013.Those hopes were crushed when the ferry Sewol sank on April 16. The country’s entire cultural scene came to a virtual standstill, as the nation mourned the loss of over 300 lives, mostly of them teenagers, in the tragic accident. Then, suddenly a song from his 2008 EP “My Hero” toppe
PerformanceNov. 19, 2014
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[Herald Interview] U.N. body calls for transparency standards in investment arbitration
As arbitration remains a key solution to investment disputes, new U.N. rules on transparency in investor-state settlements will reinforce the benefits of existing treaties, public visibility to proceedings and efficiency of domestic legislation, UNCITRAL’s chief said. The convention on transparency in treaty-based investor-state arbitration would provide access to settlement procedures, documents and hearings that were kept secret in the past. The upgraded rules took effect in April and awaits a
Foreign AffairsNov. 18, 2014
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[Herald Interview] ‘Korea, Japan more reliable than China’
South Korea and Japan have attained high rating scores from French trade insurance company COFACE, which ranks as one of the world’s top three credit insurers. China, on the other hand, may be downgraded due to the lack of legal protection for foreign companies and the Chinese companies’ unreliable payment process.“Korea is rated as A2, which is the second-highest grade, and this assessment is likely to last for a while,” said COFACE’s chief economic Yves Zlotowski in an interview with The Korea
Nov. 16, 2014
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[Herald Interview] ‘Korea to step up investment in green technology’
Environmental protection is often associated with long-term visions and carefully designed projects. As with other industries, however, governments and agencies around the world are newly discovering the importance of speed in the worldwide competition to develop green technologies.The stakes could not be higher. The eco-friendly market is developing at a rapid pace, spurred by a slew of innovative technologies amid intensifying competition around the world. A revolutionary technological breakth
Social AffairsNov. 13, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Creator touts real bond between horses and riders
Normand Latourelle, the producer and creator of “Cavalia,” describes his show as an ode to the millennia-old relationship between horses and human. “‘Cavalia’ is not a circus. It’s not a horse show. It is a show about horses and the bond between horses and human,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald inside one of the tents that make up the White Big Top, a makeshift structure specially designed for the Canadian touring production. “The horses are not forced to do this. There is a genui
CultureNov. 13, 2014
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[Herald Interview] ‘Samsung to be biggest beneficiary of Bitcoin market’
DAEJEON ― A leading Bitcoin organization founder said Samsung Electronics, a chipmaking powerhouse, will likely benefit the most as the global market for the digital currency Bitcoin grows further down the road. “At least half a billion U.S. dollars, up from $10 million two years ago, will be spent on purchasing Bitcoin mining systems (built using highly efficient chips) worldwide next year or in 18 months,” said Peter Vessenes, chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, a U.S. organization committed t
TechnologyNov. 12, 2014
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[Herald Interview] Daejeon education chief aims to foster global citizens with creativity
From an elementary school teacher to president of Hanbat National University, Seol Dong-ho has spent over 40 years as a teacher. As Daejeon’s education chief, Seol said he seeks to transform the city’s education system.“What I am focusing on is to prepare students to become dignified members of the global society with creativity and model personalities,” he told The Korea Herald. “For this purpose, (Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education) is planning to develop a model that links the entire ed
Social AffairsNov. 11, 2014
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[Herald Interview] ‘I will give my all to Africa’
With retirement weighing heavily on her mind, Kim Chung-ja, a mezzo-soprano and music professor of Korea National University of Arts, took a sabbatical from work in 2005. She spent a few months traveling Europe, then a couple of months more in the U.S., but still had no clue as to what her post-retirement life would be like, despite reaching 60. Then a short trip to Africa changed it all. “I believe it was God’s calling,” she said in an interview in Seoul last month, describing a series of event
CultureNov. 9, 2014
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[Herald Interview] More than a language exchange program
Back in the late 1980s, a group of Japanese volunteers visited Korea as part of a small-scale exchange program between the two countries.During their visit to the Independence Hall of Korea, a Korean history museum, some of them broke down after confronting Japan’s atrocities during World War II.“They told me they did not realize Japan had done such terrible things here. It’s something that they rarely learned at school,” said Shin Chung-ha, the founding president of YFU International Korea, a l
Social AffairsNov. 6, 2014