Herald Interview In series
A series of in-depth interviews.
#Interview
# In-depth
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Herald Interview In series
A series of in-depth interviews.
Would you like to subscribe?
Can Korea's retail investors power lasting market re-rating?
Korea's retail investors, long viewed as short-term traders in a property-obsessed economy, are emerging as a central force in the country's stock market rally. The question now is whether that money can become a stable base for a broader re-rating of Korean equities, or remain a source of volatility that keeps foreign investors cautious. Shim Jong-min, deputy head of Korea research at CLSA Securities, said the flow of household money into equities appears to be more than a simple chase for shor
July 1, 2026 - 11:49:30
Punishment alone cannot stop violence against women
South Korea has repeatedly tightened laws in response to stalking murders, digital sex crimes and intimate partner killings. But global experts say the country’s next challenge is focusing not only on how to punish violence against women, but how to prevent it. That requires treating violence against women as a systemic problem that demands long-term prevention across government, according to Melissa Alvarado, program specialist on Ending Violence against Women at UN Women’s Regional Office for
June 29, 2026 - 15:34:22
When sound meets light: Yang In-mo and Kimchi and Chips
When the GS Arts Center approached digital art duo Kimchi and Chips last year with a proposal to collaborate with a classical violinist, the artists were hesitant. The timeline was tight, but the heavier weight was the prospect of fusing two art forms so different in texture. That unease lifted, the duo says, the moment it first sat down with violinist Yang In-mo. "We had no idea where the journey of this collaboration would end up," the duo said in a recent email interview, "but talking with Ya
June 29, 2026 - 13:47:23
How did EBS science show reach Netflix's top 10?
For years, South Korea’s public Educational Broadcasting System has struggled to rival the massive budgets of global streaming originals and star-driven mainstream variety hits. The education-focused network may have finally secured its crossover hit with "The Last Humanity," a science-infused survival reality series filmed on location at the famed Biosphere 2. Constructed in Arizona in 1991 as the world’s largest closed ecological experiment to test self-sustaining space colonies, the facility
June 28, 2026 - 17:16:31
BYD doubles down on Korea with first PHEV
BYD has unveiled the Sealion 6 DM-i, its first plug-in hybrid vehicle for Korea, betting that the vehicle type can bridge the sharp divide in the Korean market between fully electric vehicles and conventional hybrids. According to Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD’s Asia-Pacific auto sales division, the company’s PHEV technology delivers an “essentially all-electric driving experience,” offering EV-like refinement while easing consumers’ widespread concerns over the limited driving range of p
June 28, 2026 - 15:00:00
Why Korea’s chip-heavy stock market isn’t overheating
The South Korean benchmark Kospi's more-than 50 percent exposure to the country's top two chipmakers SK hynix and Samsung Electronics is not excessive when viewed against the sector's robust earnings outlook, according to Park Yeon-ju, head of research at Mirae Asset Securities. "This is not a case of a fundamentally flawed market dynamic. On the contrary, earnings of the two chipmakers have improved so dramatically that valuations still do not fully capture the extent of the fundamental gains,"
June 28, 2026 - 14:34:35
Can't Be Blue rejects indie label
Asked to name the hottest rookie band in South Korea's indie scene today, many music fans point to Can't Be Blue. But the five-member group does not necessarily see itself as an indie band. "We don't really think of ourselves as indie," lead singer Lee Do-hun told The Korea Herald in an interview Monday. "Whether it's our sound or the way we work, we've always had the mindset of a pop band." That philosophy has helped fuel the band's rapid rise. Just over two years after debuting in June 2024, C
June 24, 2026 - 15:34:32
Korea's AI treasure is its factory data: Siemens top executive
South Korea is uniquely positioned in shaping the future of artificial intelligence, owing to its robust manufacturing sectors and the vast amounts of data generated by its factories, according to a top executive at Siemens. “The treasure we are sitting on as industrial countries is industrial data,” Cedrik Neike, member of the managing board at Siemens and CEO of Digital Industries, said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Tuesday in Seoul, referring to manufacturing powerhouses such as Ko
June 24, 2026 - 15:05:11
Heo Nam-jun's breakout moment: How 'My Royal Nemesis' changed everything
For years, Heo Nam-jun was a familiar face in supporting roles. Now, he finds himself at the center of one of Korea's streaming hits. The actor recently wrapped "My Royal Nemesis," a fantasy romantic comedy that climbed to No. 2 on Netflix's weekly non-English TV chart during the June 8-14 tracking period. Heo stars as Cha Se-gye, a chaebol heir whose cool exterior begins to crack after he meets a Joseon-era woman, played by Lim Ji-yeon, who has inexplicably time-slipped into modern-day Seoul. S
June 22, 2026 - 07:00:00
Korea's US stock boom is only getting started: Toss strategist
South Korean investors have emerged as an increasingly influential force in US equities, boosting their holdings of American stocks to nearly $200 billion and becoming some of the world's most aggressive buyers of leading artificial intelligence companies. Yet despite their growing presence on Wall Street, the country's investors are still in the early stages of investing in US equities, according to Lee Young-gon, head of research at Toss Securities. "Korean retail investors have only been inve
June 21, 2026 - 14:18:10
Don't call Shin Min-a a rom-com queen
There is hardly anything about "The Eyes," the upcoming Korean remake of Spain's 2011 chiller "Julia's Eyes," that will catch you off guard. The twists can be seen from a mile off, while the last act serves up no shortage of histrionics and knock-down, drag-out brawls. There's so much you can see coming — which is ironic, given that this is a movie about a woman who cannot see much of anything. What blindsides you is how much the lead, Shin Min-a, has to offer. Pulling double duty as twin sister
June 18, 2026 - 14:47:16
Kim Jae-joong, between many worlds
"When you sign onto a cross-border project like this, that's bait you can't resist," Kim Jae-joong says of "The Shrine: Whispers of the Evil Spirit." "I figured something would come out of it that you couldn't get any other way." The man across the table at a cafe in central Seoul on Tuesday has been a fixture of the Korean entertainment landscape for so long, it's easy to forget how many lives he's lived inside it. He broke through in 2003 with TVXQ, broke away to form JYJ, then went solo acros
June 17, 2026 - 15:05:06
Park Ji-hoon isn't worried about hitting pause with military enlistment
The first half of 2026 marked a distinct shift in scale for Park Ji-hoon. Coming off his performance as the tragic young king Danjong in the historical epic "The King’s Warden" — which broke box-office records to become the second-highest-grossing Korean film of all time — the actor has found himself at the center of Korea's entertainment landscape. But rather than cash in on that momentum with another heavy dramatic vehicle, Park made a creative pivot with his follow-up project. In the comedy s
June 16, 2026 - 14:15:44
Tencent Cloud sees Korea as benchmark for AI, gaming
Tencent Cloud is stepping up its push in South Korea, betting on the country's strengths in gaming, media and enterprise technology as local companies increasingly use artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure to expand overseas. "Korea is one of the benchmark markets for Tencent Cloud in Asia-Pacific," Nucky Fang, general manager of Tencent Cloud International, told The Korea Herald in Seoul on Monday. "I see it less as one side serving a role for the other and more as a partnership wher
June 16, 2026 - 11:45:09
Kim Moo-yul asks what 'true education' really means
When a social media post from retired wrestling star John Cena unexpectedly crossed paths with the success of Netflix's "Teach You a Lesson," actor Kim Moo-yul found himself unsure how to respond. The moment stemmed from a viral online joke comparing Kim to Cena, a resemblance that gained traction as the series soared in popularity. The joke reached a new peak on June 10, when Cena shared a photo of Kim on his Instagram account. "I spent a long time wondering whether I should post something and
June 15, 2026 - 15:08:34
