SPOTLIGHT

• Film

  

  ‘Yesterday,’ an unimpressive, but lovely film

  For those who have someone they hold dear, how would it feel to fall in love with the same person for the first time, once again? That mixture of excitement and nervousness, followed by a rush of joy after realizing that you have stumbled upon something truly special?Director Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday,” a film about a world where the Beatles never happened, depicts that wonderful moment of the world falling in love with their astonishing music for the first time, through a feel-

• World News

  

  Mall brawls and street fights as Hong Kong polarisation deepens

  HONG KONG (AFP) -- Fights erupted in Hong Kong on Saturday with political rivals trading blows in a mall and Beijing supporters using Chinese flags to assault opponents on a street, deepening the city's polarisation after months of pro-democracy protests.The once-stable international hub has been convulsed by weeks of huge, sometimes violent rallies calling for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.The movement is the biggest challenge to China's rule since the city was hand

• Soccer

  

  Son at the double as Spurs thump Crystal Palace

  LONDON (AFP) -- Tottenham emphatically allayed concerns about their ability to break down teams at home with a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday.Spurs had laboured in their previous home matches this season, having to come from behind to beat newly promoted Aston Villa and then falling to a 1-0 defeat against Newcastle.Tottenham fans may have feared another frustrating afternoon against London rivals Palace.Roy Hodgson's side arrived lying fourth in the league table and boasting the be

• World News

  

  Solid gold toilet stolen from Winston Churchill's birthplace

  LONDON (AP) -- A unique solid gold toilet that was part of an art exhibit was stolen early Saturday from the magnificent home in England where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born.The toilet, valued at roughly 1 million pounds ($1.25 million), was the work of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It had been installed only two days earlier at Blenheim Palace, west of London, after previously being shown to appreciative audiences at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Police said the toil

LATEST NEWS

• 

  Industry

  Korean drug firms eye growth in South America

  Korean pharmaceutical companies are making inroads into Central and South America, betting on steady growth of markets in the region. Samsung Bioepis, Celltrion Healthcare, Boryung Pharmaceutical, CJ HealthCare and Hanmi Pharmaceutical all announced in the first half of 2019 that they would begin or expand commercialization of flagship drugs overseas.Samsung Bioepis, the novel bio drug development arm of Samsung BioLogics, said Tuesday that it has begun sales of its autoimmune disease treatment

• 

  World News

  Seoul now world’s 9th safest city

  　South Korea’s capital Seoul has ranked as the world’s ninth safest city, according to a recent report.　Tokyo took the No. 1 spot in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s ranking for the third time running, while Singapore and Osaka maintained their respective footholds in second and third. 　The index ranks 60 cities across five continents, examining digital, health, infrastructure and personal security factors to assess overall urban safety. (Bloomberg)

• 

  Viewpoints

  Trump’s North Korean appeasement

  Having met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un three times -- all to great fanfare -- US President Donald Trump may still believe denuclearization is underway in the Hermit Kingdom. If so, he is probably the only one who does, given North Korea’s frequent missile tests and upgrades to its weapons. It is anyone’s guess what the Trump administration’s North Korea policy will look like in a year, but for now, both sides seem to have what they want. Trump has wrangled a loose stal

• 

  Viewpoints

  Concern over 2020 election makes Trump increasingly unhinged

  As the US Congress reconvenes this week after a six-week recess, the administration is mired in controversies, almost all of them set off by President Donald Trump. Trump’s behavior has been at its most peculiar since he took office, undoubtedly partly owing to panic over the 2020 election. He has more reason than most incumbent presidents to wish for reelection, as he is still facing several lawsuits. 　Perhaps the greatest political danger to Trump lies in the growing evidence that he has

• Editorial

  No encouraging signs

  On-year job additions in August detached from actual employment conditions

• 

  Technology

  Samsung heir flies to Saudi to check on metro project

  Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman and heir apparent of Samsung Electronics, flew to Saudi Arabia on Saturday to check on Samsung C&T’s infrastructure project in the Middle Eastern country’s capital, Riyadh, the company said Sunday. The de facto leader of South Korea’s biggest conglomerate visited the construction site for the Riyadh Metro project, in which its construction arm is a participant. The project, slated for completion by 2020, will involve the construction of six subwa

• 

  Industry

  SKT-Ericsson test of standalone 5G network succeeds

  SK Telecom and its Swedish partner Ericsson said Sunday they have successfully conducted a joint test of the 5G standalone network, opening the way for faster network services and better data management efficiency.Standalone (SA) is a method that is two times faster than the previous 5G non-standalone (NSA) method, which uses 5G connection side by side with the lower-grade Long Term Evolution network.  SK Telecom announced it has become the first Korean telecom company to achieve pure SA 5G

• 

  Economy

  Household-income polarization worsens in 2 years

  SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in administration has continued to push for “income-led” growth by raising the minimum wage and scaling back the workweek. This was aimed at boosting consumption by raising the disposable income of low-income households. This in turn was meant to boost growth in the overall economy.But drastic hikes in the minimum wage had side effects, as small and midsized businesses took a conservative stance toward hiring due to higher labor costs, which have been linked to

• 

  Social affairs

  Cho scandal reignites debate on college admissions system

  Government looks to change college admissions system amid public anger over Cho Kuk family’s alleged exploitation of the complex system to get ahead

• 

  Industry

  Korean companies expand presence on Dow Jones indices

  South Korea’s leading businesses are increasing their presence on Dow Jones indices, indicating improvement in the sustainability of companies from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, according to the firms on Sunday. SK Telecom, the country’s biggest mobile carrier, said it has been included on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the 12th consecutive year. The telecom giant’s record marks the longest period on the index among Korean businesses and the first among Asi

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Viewpoints

  

  Trump’s North Korean appeasement

  Having met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un three times -- all to great fanfare -- US President Donald Trump may still believe denuclearization is underway in the Hermit Kingdom. If so, he is probably the only one who does, given North Korea’s frequent missile tests and upgrades to its weapons. It is anyone’s guess what the Trump administration’s North Korea policy will look like in a year, but for now, both sides seem to have what they want. Trump has wrangled a loose stal

• Viewpoints

  

  Concern over 2020 election makes Trump increasingly unhinged

  As the US Congress reconvenes this week after a six-week recess, the administration is mired in controversies, almost all of them set off by President Donald Trump. Trump’s behavior has been at its most peculiar since he took office, undoubtedly partly owing to panic over the 2020 election. He has more reason than most incumbent presidents to wish for reelection, as he is still facing several lawsuits. 　Perhaps the greatest political danger to Trump lies in the growing evidence that he has

THE INVESTOR

• Stocks & Bonds

  

  S. Korean companies expand presence on Dow Jones indices

  South Korea’s leading businesses are increasing their presence on Dow Jones indices, indicating improvement in the sustainability of companies from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, according to the firms on Sept. 15.  SK Telecom, the country’s biggest mobile carrier, said it has been included on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the 12th consecutive year. The telecom giant’s record marks the longest period on the index among Korean businesses and the first a

• Bio & Medicine

  

  Korean drug firms eye growth in South America

  Korean pharmaceutical companies are making inroads into the Central and South American markets, betting on their steady growth. Samsung Bioepis, Celltrion Healthcare, Boryung Pharmaceutical, CJ HealthCare and Hanmi Pharmaceutical all announced in the first half of 2019 that they would begin or expand commercialization of flagship drugs overseas.Samsung Bioepis, the novel bio drug development arm of Samsung BioLogics, said Tuesday that it has begun sales of its autoimmune disease treatment Brenzy

• Economy

  

  Korea’s tax burden to grow next year

  South Korea’s tax burden per capita will stand at an estimated 7.5 million won ($6,277.94) next year, slightly up from this year, and is poised to grow through 2023, according to data released by the government Sunday. The data comes amid growing concerns about a heavy tax burden, despite the government’s expansionist fiscal operations, including efforts to change the tax system. The tax burden per capita, which stood at an estimated 7.4 million won this year, will increase by n

• Economy

  

  South Korea set to exclude Japan from whitelist this week

  South Korea is set to exclude Japan from its export control whitelist this week in response to Tokyo’s earlier decision to remove Seoul as a preferred trading partner and impose tighter controls on exports of high-tech materials that Korean tech firms need, officials said Sept. 15. Since the Aug. 12 announcement by Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo that Korea would drop Japan as a preferred trading partner, the ministry has completed the necessary administrative steps, such as soliciting opini

K-POP HERALD

• 

  Music fans flock to stream K-pop classics

• 

  #Sunmipop: 7 Songs to celebrate the best of Sunmi

• 

  BTS’ vacation playlist

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Industry

  

  New Busan-Jinhae FEZ chief seeks paradigm shift

• Industry

  

  Orsted sees market potential in Korean offshore wind power

• People

  

  ‘The city of Seoul belongs to us’

• Foreign Affairs

  

  Seoul’s efforts to root out sexual violence in conflict zones compelling: OECD DAC chair

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Where tradition lives on

  The approaching Chuseok holiday is a time of the year that Koreans press pause in their busy day-to-day life and appreciate traditional values of their family, communities and the nation as a whole. Many families visit palaces and famous historic sites during the holiday, usually after performing ancestral rites in the morning of Chuseok, which this year falls on Friday. One of the popular destinations is Namsangol Hanok Village in central Seoul, a traditional village that shows what life was du

VIDEO

• Food&Beverage

  

  Trendy treats on offer at Seoul Dessert Fair 2019

• Industry

  

  How far are we from printing hearts for transplant?

• Foreign Affairs

  

  Views of South Koreans on boycotting Japanese products

• Food&Beverage

  

  Behind South Korea’s ‘fatcaron’ sensation

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  Koreans 5 years older, on average, than a decade ago

  SEJONG -- South Korea has become one of several countries undergoing rapid demographic changes that could dent the nation’s competitiveness in the mid- to long term. With fewer babies being born, senior citizens make up a growing proportion of the Korean population and the average age has climbed over the past decade.According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the average age reached 42.4 years as of August, as compared with 41.9 a year earlier.The average ages for men and women were

• Politics

  

  Support-rating gap between rival parties narrows

  SEJONG -- The 2020 general election for South Korea’s next National Assembly is coming in about 200 days.A core issue is whether the ruling Democratic Party of Korea will continue to secure its dominance in support ratings over the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.The Democratic Party has yet to yield its leading position in approval ratings among the people since President Moon-Jae-in took office in May 2017.But symptoms of situation change have emerged over the past few months amid sa

• Economy

  

  Korea marks 20th anniversary of FTA talks across globe

  SEJONG -- It has been two decades since South Korea took its first steps into the free trade market, seeking bilateral deals with major world economies in hopes of enjoying tariff benefits.Since launching negotiations toward a free trade agreement with its first partner, Chile, in 1999, Korea has put 15 FTAs in place with three continental trade blocs (that involve 42 countries collectively) and 12 countries.The three trade blocs are the 28-member European Union, the 10-member Associat

• Politics

  

  Moon to pass halfway point with challenges at home and abroad

  SEJONG -- President Moon Jae-in will pass the halfway point in November, finishing the first 30 months of his 60-month term.The Moon administration launched in May 2017, several months after a political scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil swept the nation and ignited public fury.The people pinned great hopes on Moon, who stressed justice and fairness in his inaugural speech.Moon’s approval ratings hovered around 70-80 percent during the first y