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Aespa, Ateez lead MMAs lineup, as BTS, Blackpink earn nominations
The Melon Music Awards will expand to a two-day event for the first time this year, bringing together established K-pop stars and rising acts while introducing a new award based on music streaming activity across South Korea, China and Japan. Melon, South Korea's largest music streaming platform, operated by Kakao Entertainment, will hold the 18th edition of the awards at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 14 and 15. Voting for the Top 10 award, recognizing 10 of the year's most popular artis
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Winner's Mino to return to military after guilty verdict
Winner's Song Min-ho, better known as Mino, will receive notification to resume his military service, the Military Manpower Administration said Friday. An MMA official said the decision followed the finalization of a ruling against Song earlier this month. The agency will review the exact duration of his remaining service and determine where he will be assigned. Song was accused of repeatedly failing to report for duty while serving as a social service agent at a facility in Mapo-gu, Seoul, from
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Fire-hit Bucheon factory stored flammables without sprinklers on-site
Flammable liquids stored at a Bucheon factory may have helped a fire spread rapidly Friday, fire authorities said. Eight people were injured, including six firefighters. The factory had no record of a permit to handle hazardous materials, though investigators have yet to determine whether the substances found there required one. Bucheon Fire Station said it found about 100 containers, each with a capacity of 20 liters, holding petroleum products and other Class IV hazardous materials. Their comb
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Clear fall weather to give way to heavy rain Sunday
Clear autumn weather will continue through Saturday before heavy rain hits South Korea on Sunday, with up to 80 millimeters expected in parts of the country, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Friday. Saturday temperatures will range from 7 to 16 degrees Celsius in the morning and 21 to 27 degrees during the day, above the seasonal averages. Inland areas could see temperature swings of around 15 degrees. Rain will begin early Sunday in parts of the Seoul metropolitan area be
Oct. 16, 2026 -
‘Mother’ star Kim Hye-ja goes back in time
Remember the nameless old lady lost in a mad, trancelike dance against the sunset in Bong Joon-ho's "Mother"? The taut 2009 thriller was one of Bong's earliest masterpieces, way before "Parasite" made him a name the whole world knew. And holding it all together was a tour de force performance from Kim Hye-ja as a widow hell-bent on clearing her intellectually disabled son's name. At home, Kim has been the nation's favorite TV mom for generations. K-drama fans might recognize her from "The Light
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Lee pushes to enshrine pro-democracy movements in Constitution
President Lee Jae Myung on Friday renewed his call for an amendment to recognize South Korea's historic pro-democracy movements in the Constitution's preamble, urging the National Assembly to begin discussions on reform as the country commemorated the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Buma uprising. Lee made the remarks during a ceremony at Busan City Hall marking the uprising, which saw students and citizens in Busan and nearby Masan rise up against the authoritarian rule of then President Park Chun
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Authentic Korean design is having a moment: designers
Authentic Korean design is having a moment, but it is time to take the next step, according to the five creative leaders at a conference held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Thursday. What may seem like familiar scenery in Seoul could become a fresh source of inspiration for designers, reaching global audiences through city planning, merchandise, marketing and sales products. "Try getting in a kayak and paddle to the center of the Han River. Once you get there, Seoul looks like a complete
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Korean regulators face scrutiny as stock market volatility persists
As South Korea's stock market continues to swing sharply between steep losses and strong gains, questions are mounting over the effectiveness of financial authorities' response. The Kospi, which plunged more than 7 percent on Thursday, edged up around 1 percent in early trading Friday. The benchmark index closed at 5,668.05, up 2.05 percent from the previous session, after opening at 5,653.99, up 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, the Kosdaq surged as much as 5 percent intraday, triggering a buy-side sidec
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Korean banks plan security spending increases after data breaches
South Korea's biggest banks are preparing to boost security spending following a wave of data breaches, with Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank reversing course after cutting this year's budgets by double digits. The attacks exposed customer information through systems used by employees and loan agents, as even banks that had increased their security budgets suffered breaches. Shinhan earmarked 40.59 billion won ($30.4 million) for information security this year, the least among the five major lenders
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Seoul stocks rebound over 2% on eased chip rout, Fed bets
Seoul stocks rebounded by more than 2 percent Friday to snap their seven-day losing streak on an eased chip rout and bets on the Federal Reserve's rate hikes. The Korean won was trading higher against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed up 113.83 points, or 2.05 percent, to 5,668.05, after rising as high as 5,809.94. Investors went bargain hunting for large-cap tech shares, particularly the country's top chip makers, which tumbled over 10 percent the previous se
Oct. 16, 2026 -
One year on, HD Hyundai chair drives mergers, US shipbuilding push
HD Hyundai Chair Chung Ki-sun is set to mark his first year as the helm of the South Korean industrial conglomerate on Saturday, having overseen major mergers, expanded US shipbuilding partnerships and accelerated investment in new growth businesses. The 44-year old chair, a third-generation member of Hyundai’s founding family, succeeded longtime leader Kwon Oh-gap on Oct. 17, 2025. Kwon became honorary chairman the same day. Chung's appointment came 16 years after he joined Hyundai Heavy Indust
Oct. 16, 2026 -
95% of life-sentence parolees had murder-related convictions
About 95 percent of prisoners serving life sentences who were paroled in South Korea over the past decade had been convicted of murder-related offenses, Justice Ministry data obtained by Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea showed. The figures come amid renewed debate over life imprisonment without parole. Current law allows those sentenced to life imprisonment to be considered for parole after 20 years, but authorities do not separately track reoffending among those releas
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Deported Thai man returns to Korea under new name, gets suspended sentence
A Thai man who changed his name to evade a permanent ban on entering South Korea has received a suspended prison sentence, a court said Friday. The Busan District Court sentenced the man, in his 40s, to one year in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the Immigration Act. He had been deported in April for overstaying his permitted period of stay and permanently barred from reentering Korea. About three months later, he changed his name, obtained a passport under the new name and retu
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Seoul seeks way out of N. Korean POW dispute with Ukraine as apology standoff persists
South Korea is seeking a diplomatic way out of a dispute over Kyiv's unilateral disclosure of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul, even as the two sides remain at odds over South Korea's demand for a formal apology. The diplomatic standoff has entered a new phase following Ukraine's characterization of the controversy as a closed matter and South Korea's decision to recall its ambassador to Kyiv for consultations, raising questions about what concessions could pave the way
Oct. 16, 2026 -
Partner conflicts can endanger families and others, study finds
Conflicts between spouses or romantic partners can escalate into deliberate attacks on family members and others outside the relationship, a study found. At least 157 victims outside intimate relationships were identified in the study, which examined 80 selected court cases involving attacks committed between 1973 and 2021. Of them, 144 were killed and 13 survived attacks involving attempted homicide, serious assault, confinement and sexual violence. In 51 cases, or 63.8 percent, perpetrators at
Oct. 16, 2026