SK chief, partner ordered to pay W2b to estranged wife

A Seoul court on Thursday ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and his live-in partner to pay 2 billion won ($1.50 million) in alimony to his estranged wife and the director of Art Center Nabi, Roh Soh-yeong. The Seoul Family Court ordered in a lawsuit seeking damage, filed by Roh against Chey’s partner Kim Hee-young, who is serving as the chair of T&C Foundation, that the defendant should jointly pay 2 billion won to the plaintiff along with the SK chief. “Based on the submitt

IndustryAug. 22, 2024

They went for the gold, They're now ads' golden ticket

This year's Olympics may be over, but star players continue to appear on TV -- through advertisements. Convenience store chain GS25 launched "Shin Yu-bin's Snack Time" on Wednesday in collaboration with the table tennis player. Shin's viral on-camera moments at the Paris Games famously showed her snacking. OB Beer, an official sponsor of the Paris Olympics, has selected fencing champion Oh Sang-uk, who won gold in both the individual and team saber events, to promote its

TelevisionAug. 21, 2024

[Herald Interview] Traveling to ‘see the human side of North Korea’

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- When British traveler Zoe Stephens, 30, decided to tour North Korea for the first time in 2017, she didn’t think she would be doing it for a living. “I went to North Korea as a tourist first, pretty much the same way as everyone else. I realized it’s nothing like what the media says,” she told The Korea Herald. She said “the real North Korea” took her by surprise and charmed her. “So I decided that I wanted to start doing tours to show

North KoreaAug. 20, 2024

[Out of the Shadows] War on drugs comes to Korean campuses

A 30-something graduate student at KAIST, South Korea's top science-specialized university, was recently arrested by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office for distributing and using drugs within a social fraternity he created in 2021 which included members from 13 other elite universities. Three other university students were also apprehended, and two others were indicted without physical detention for breaching the Narcotics Control Act. Eight other students who took drugs b

Social AffairsAug. 19, 2024

Police launch investigation into Mercedes-Benz EV fire

Police have launched an investigation into a massive fire caused by a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle at an underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Incheon on Aug. 1, while reviewing criminal charges against the management staff at the complex, officials said Sunday. According to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, they recently interviewed the first witness and the owner of the vehicle involved in the incident. The Mercedes owner reported that the vehicle had undergone routine mai

Social AffairsAug. 18, 2024

[LLG] AI a tool, not a threat, says 31-year-old AI filmmaker

How might AI alter filmmaking? Young South Korean filmmaker Kwon Han-sl has shown the impact could be massive. The 31-year-old spent five days last summer working with over six AI tools to create a three-minute horror film. It was a personal experiment in which he handled every aspect himself, from writing the screenplay to using AI tools and producing the entire film. But the result ended up better than he thought. “One More Pumpkin” garnered international acclaim, winning both th

Hashtag KoreaAug. 17, 2024

Korea sees panic selling in used EVs

A mass sell-off of EVs has begun in South Korea, following a fire involving a Mercedes-Benz EV in Incheon that destroyed more than 140 cars and sparked proposals to restrict EVs' access to underground parking lots. Since the fire on Aug. 1, the market has been flooded with used EVs. K Car, Korea’s second-largest used car trading platform, reported an 184 percent increase in used EV listings in the first week of August compared to the final week of July. The Mercedes-Benz EQE series, w

MobilityAug. 16, 2024

Seoul condemns Yasukuni visit as an 'anachronistic act'

South Korea's Foreign Ministry on Thursday strongly condemned the Japanese defense minister's tribute at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which Seoul views as glorifying Japan's militaristic past, calling it an "anachronistic act" and unfathomable behavior. Defense Minister Minoru Kihara's visit to the shrine in Tokyo occurred on the same day Korea commemorated its liberation from Japan’s illegal colonial rule, which lasted from 1910 to 1945. "Our gover

Foreign AffairsAug. 15, 2024

'Foundation Day' controversy resurfaces

The controversy over Korea's national day has resurfaced in the past week, after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration appointed a conservative professor accused of supporting a political movement that wants the country’s founding to be recognized as happening in 1948, instead of liberation in 1945. Kim Hyoung-suk, who took office as the new director of the Independence Hall of Korea earlier this month, has been accused by the liberal bloc and some descendants of Korean independence fighte

Social AffairsAug. 14, 2024

COVID-19 cases to peak by late August: KDCA

The number of COVID-19 cases is expected to reach its peak by the end of this month, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, vowing to expand its COVID-19 response team and implement stricter antivirus measures. As of the first week of August, the agency said up to 861 cases have been recorded at 220 major medical institutions around the country, a sixfold increase compared to the number of cases from July. “The surge could peak around the end of August, as contacts among peo

Social AffairsAug. 13, 2024

Ministry begins probe into badminton body

  The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday it is kicking off an inspection of the Badminton Korea Association, following claims of irregularities made by Olympic gold medalist An Se-young. Immediately after she won the gold in the women's singles event in Paris, An suggested that the national team "did not take her injury seriously." Her comment sparked suspicion that she had been forced to play through an injury that had been ailing her since last year. She also al

More SportsAug. 12, 2024

Conservatives split over Yoon potentially clearing key liberal to run

Conservatives are divided over reports President Yoon Suk Yeol may fully restore the political rights of once-prominent liberal politician Kim Kyung-soo, allowing him to run for public office. Kim, a key ally of former Democratic Party of Korea President Moon Jae-in, was already pardoned last December from serving the remaining five months of his two-year jail term. In 2021, he was sentenced to two years in jail in the Supreme Court for trying to sway voters online by manipulating comments on ne

PoliticsAug. 11, 2024

Underdog Kim Yu-jin beats odds to climb to top of taekwondo world in Paris

Of the four members of the South Korean taekwondo team competing in the Paris Olympics, Kim Yu-jin was probably the one least expected to bring home the gold medal. Her Olympic Kyorugi Ranking as of June, which was used for seeding of the Paris event, was No. 24 in the women's -57-kilogram class, far below her teammates Seo Geon-woo, Lee Da-bin, and gold medalist Park Tae-jun -- each ranked No.4, No.4, and No.5 in their respective classes. But Kim used her long 183-centimeter frame to h

More SportsAug. 9, 2024

Is S. Korea neglecting children's call to abolish 'no-kids zones'?

The South Korean government has turned a blind eye towards a joint request by a group of a hundred children and teens here calling for the elimination of restaurants and cafes banning the entrance of children, a local news report revealed Thursday. A joint resolution calling for the riddance of so-called "no-kids zones," drafted last year by a hundred students aged 10 to 17 from across the country -- elected by their peers to represent them at a government-organized 20th National Child

Social AffairsAug. 8, 2024

Walz is VP America deserves, Harris says

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Kamala Harris introduced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the nation at a raucous rally Tuesday in battleground Pennsylvania that was aimed at building momentum for the newly minted Democratic presidential ticket in the sprint toward Election Day. “He’s the kind of person who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big. ... That’s the kind of vice president America deserves,” Harris said while standing with Walz in Philadelphia. T

World NewsAug. 7, 2024

Yoon advised to veto bills over broadcast governance

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday advised President Yoon Suk Yeol to strike down four bills sponsored by the main opposition that are designed to curtail Yoon's influence over the boardroom reshuffle of South Korea's public broadcasters or their highest direct authorities. This comes as the latest in a prolonged tit-for-tat in South Korea's political landscape, where Yoon's political opponents continue to ram bills -- including ones similar to those already vetoed -- thr

PoliticsAug. 6, 2024

US says Mideast military moves aimed at deescalating

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The US is deploying additional military might in the Middle East as a defensive measure with a goal of deescalating tensions in the region, a White House official said on Sunday. Regional tensions have increased following the assassination on Wednesday of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tehran a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Both groups are back

World NewsAug. 5, 2024

From cold shoulder to selfie together, two Koreas' encounter at Olympics

During the women's vault at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, South Korean artistic gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong approached North Korea's An Chang-ok to congratulate her performance. But as Yeo rose from her seat, An walked right past her to embrace her coach. An did not comment on this matter, and Yeo said she missed the timing to embrace An despite wanting to shake hands. It was among the few encounters between the two Koreas at the Summer Games in the French capital, where both sides share

More SportsAug. 4, 2024

[Weekender] Loconomy: Food makers flock to locally sourced ingredients

Food items made with locally sourced ingredients have emerged among food companies in Korea. This approach, which aligns with those companies’ corporate social responsibility efforts, supports economic growth in rural areas and offers unique experiences for consumers, collectively known as "loconomy." On July 11, McDonald’s Korea launched the Jinju Pepper Cream Cheese Burger and Jinju Pepper Cream Cheese Muffin, both using peppers produced in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Provinc

weekenderAug. 3, 2024

Harris formally secures Democratic presidential nomination

WASHINGTON --US Vice President Kamala Harris has officially earned the necessary number of delegate votes in a virtual voting process to become the Democratic Party's standard-bearer for the Nov. 5 presidential election, the party's national committee chief said Friday. Just a day after online voting kicked off, Harris, the only party candidate, received more than a majority of votes from delegates to become the nation's first woman-of-color presidential nominee as she has been

World NewsAug. 3, 2024