SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  Korean rapper accused of ‘quasi-rape’

  Rapper Jeong Sang-su, a former participant of Mnet’s music survival program “Show Me the Money,” is being investigated by police on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman, Ilsan Seobu Police Station said Wednesday. The 34-year-old rapper is accused of allegedly raping a woman, who was “too drunk to consent” at the victim’s house at dawn Sunday. The victim claimed to be too heavily intoxicated at the time to realize she had been sexually assaulted. Ilsan Seobu Police Station sent the case over

• Music

  

  ‘High School Rapper’ muses on teenage life

  The once-controversial “High School Rapper” has wrapped its second season, after striving to deliver teenagers’ stories and messages.　The TV competition, the high school counterpart to “Show Me the Money” and “Unpretty Rapstar,” aired its season finale on April 13. The eight-part show ranked an average viewership rating of 1.5 percent, relatively high for a cable channel. Songs from the show are also currently ranking near the tops of local music charts. 　What set the second season apart from th

• Industry

  

  Seoul court rules in favor of LG for vacuum cleaner ad

  The Seoul Central District Court ruled Wednesday in favor of LG Electronics in a case regarding its cordless vacuum cleaner advertisement, denying UK home appliance maker Dyson’s claim that LG exaggerated a characteristic of its product.  A screenshot of LG Electronics’ advertisement for its cordless vacuum cleaner. (Youtube)“LG’s advertisement is considered to have cited test results conducted by objective means,” the court said, adding there is no evidence that LG had sought to mislead consume

• Social affairs

  

  Man found dead after being sucked into waste pipes

  A man in his 30s was found dead after being sucked into an automated vacuum collection system while during a routine check, Namyangju Fire Department said Tuesday. The 38-year-old man, surnamed Cho, fell into the pipe that leads to the underground AVAC system in a residential area of Byulnae, Gyeonggi Province, at 3:25 p.m. Tuesday. Despite a neighbor’s immediate call for help, dispatched fire authorities reportedly found Cho’s body 100 meters from the entrance of the pipe after a two-hour searc

LATEST NEWS

• 

  Soccer

  S. Korean football chief hoping inter-Korean summit can open door for more football exchanges

  South Korean football chief Chung Mong-gyu said Wednesday he hopes the upcoming inter-Korean summit can open door to greater football exchange with North Koreans. Chung, who leads the Korea Football Association, said he wants see inter-Korean football exchange growing after the South-North summit, which will take place on Friday on the south side of the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom. "We've yet to talk details in (football exchanges) with North Koreans," Chung told reporters at a speci

• 

  Soccer

  Nat'l football coach says S. Korea's World Cup preparations are on track

  outh Korea football coach Shin Tae-yong said Wednesday his team's preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup are on track.South Korea will meet Germany, Sweden and Mexico in Group F at the World Cup in Russia, which is only about 50 days away. Shin admitted that they're the underdogs but will not give up easily."Frankly, none of the teams are easy for us," Shin told reporters at an event at the Russian Embassy in Seoul. "But if we prepare hard, we can play a good game. We're currently trying to fi

• 

  Social affairs

  Police try to raid broadcaster after reporter booked for stealing tablet computer

  Police tried to raid broadcaster TV Chosun on Wednesday after one of its reporters was booked for stealing a tablet computer and a mobile phone from a publishing firm run by a blogger at the center of an opinion-rigging probe. The 48-year-old blogger, surnamed Kim but better known by his nickname "Druking", has been charged along with two other suspects for masterminding the massive illegal rigging of Internet comments.  Police officials are blocked by reporters of TV Chosun at the broadcaster's

• 

  Business

  Activist Elliott demands Hyundai Motor encourage cumulative voting

  U.S. activist fund Elliott Management has demanded Hyundai Motor Co. and its two affiliates remove a clause that makes it possible for the three firms to avoid a cumulative voting system to pick board members, an industry source said Wednesday. Elliott Management, which revealed earlier this month that it holds more than US$1 billion worth of stocks in the three key units of Hyundai Motor Group, has called for the South Korean auto conglomerate to adopt a holding company structure and do more fo

• 

  North Korea

  A unified Korea? Leaders bring contrasting visions to summit

  Unification is an idea that moves most Koreans, North and South, on an emotional level. For some, especially young people in the South, it may not be a burning issue. Details like the costs, the risks and what specifically both sides stand to gain are rarely given much thought by anyone who isn't an academic, politician or activist. But when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in meet on Friday, the prospect of unification, even if only in the abstract, will loom

• 

  North Korea

  ‘Trump should try to manage NK nuke, not resolve it’

  If US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un indeed hunker down for a historic summit on denuclearizing the North in May or June, the American commander in chief should lower his expectations and take a rational approach of “managing” the issue rather than try to resolve it at once, argued renowned policy wonk Michael Green. “I think Trump’s big mistake was that he said the problem can be resolved. I don’t think it can be resolved either through diplomacy or war,” Green said

• 

  North Korea

  Major statistics concerning inter-Korean talks at Panmunjeom

• 

  International

  Koreans respond to Toronto van attack

  　South Korean-born musician Sarah Yunji Moon was at home playing her flute in Saskatoon, Canada, when she first heard the tragic news on Monday -- that at least 10 died after a man drove a van into pedestrians near Yonge and Finch area in Toronto, a district widely considered as a mini Koreatown. 　The principal flutist at the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra used to live there during her high school years, as well as from 2014 to early this year. The area is also where her mother and brother still r

• 

  Fashion

  Graffiti on fashion

  Fashion laden with a youthful culture of graffiti was showcased at the second Seoul 365 Fashion Show on Wednesday at Seoullo 7017, Jung-gu. The Seoul 365 Fashion Show links Korean fashion with Seoul City’s iconic locations where foot traffic can give more exposure to the fashion show. This show’s dominating concept was graffiti, a form of art that often represents youth culture and spirit. Graffiti-inspired apparels by designer man.G were put up on stage accompanied on the sides by colorful draw

• 

  Social affairs

  Ex-prosecutor in 'Me Too' case indicted without detention

  Prosecutors said Wednesday they have indicted a former senior prosecutor without physical detention for unfairly disadvantaging his female junior colleague for raising sexual misconduct allegations against him.The special prosecution team in charge of the case said it charged Ahn Tae-geun with abuse of power.He has been under investigation since early this year after Seo Ji-hyeon, a district attorney, made a revelation via a television interview that Ahn groped her during a funeral dinner in 201

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Internet leviathan serves as hotbed for political virus

  Living in the 21st century we owe a lot to the geniuses and entrepreneurs who have played a part in the development of the computer technology and mobile communications. Everyone breathing in the contemporary world saves a lot of time, energy and money in obtaining information and data that he or she needs for everyday life -- far more than actually needed.　Our family is well familiar with the time-worn story of the young father spending agonizing weeks waiting for a letter from his wife after w

• Columnists

  

  Don’t let up on North Korea now

  The administration of US President Donald Trump may or may not be right in thinking that its “maximum pressure” campaign has brought North Korea to the bargaining table. What’s certain is that there remain cracks in that campaign. To sustain pressure on the Pyongyang regime and give the US leverage in upcoming talks between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, they need to be plugged.　Certainly, the Trump administration deserves credit for coordinating the harshest set of sanctions ever le

THE INVESTOR

• Automobiles

  

  Why Capital Group’s Hyundai stake isn’t a big deal

  Hyundai Motor says, ‘it’s nothing to be afraid of’

• Finance

  

  IBK buys second Indonesian bank

  Government-run Industrial Bank of Korea will acquire stake in a second Indonesian bank, Bank Mitraniaga, as it seeks to set up operations in the country this year, the company said on April 25. Korea’s sixth-largest bank in terms of assets will acquire a 71.7 percent stake in the Jakarta-based bank with 13 branches from Willy Yonathan, president commissioner at Bank Mitraniaga. The deal is subject to Indonesian authorities’ approval.  IBK CEO Kim Do-jin“IBK Indonesia could be laun

• Automobiles

  

  SsangYong Motor’s Rexton Sports output to rise by 10,000 units

  SsangYong Motor said on April 24 said that it expects production of its Rexton Sports vehicles to rise by 10,00 units a year with the new shift system it has implemented. “We’ve changed our working schedule for the first time,” plant production manager Song Seung-gi told reporters at SsangYong Motor’s factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Plant production manager Song Seung-giThe change was mainly designed to meet the high demand for Rexton Sports model, which was launched in

• Automobiles

  

  GM must stay in Korea for at least 10 years: KDB

  The Korean government is pulling out all stops to make sure an eat-and-run situation with GM Korea is avoided. State-run Korea Development Bank -- the second-largest shareholder of the carmaker -- has informed GM that it must stay in Korea for at least 10 years in order for it to pitch in for the restructuring expenses.(From left) GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem, GM Executive Vice President Barry Engle and Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party pose after announcing their ten

K-POP HERALD

• 

  BTS to perform new track at Billboard

• 

  ‘Mistresses’ to show anxieties of women

• 

  Wanna One wanna be boyfriend

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  ‘Korea wise to embrace ASEAN’s unity-in-diversity mentality’

• Culture

  

  Artists duo fascinated by nomadism of island

• Industry

  

  Kayak targets Korea’s travel market with one-stop solution

• Music

  

  Woogie sets new trend by going off-trend

PHOTO NEWS

• Fashion

  

  Graffiti on fashion

  Fashion laden with a youthful culture of graffiti was showcased at the second Seoul 365 Fashion Show on Wednesday at Seoullo 7017, Jung-gu. The Seoul 365 Fashion Show links Korean fashion with Seoul City’s iconic locations where foot traffic can give more exposure to the fashion show. This show’s dominating concept was graffiti, a form of art that often represents youth culture and spirit. Graffiti-inspired apparels by designer man.G were put up on stage accompanied on the sides by colorful draw

VIDEO

• Culture

  

  Take a break with ‘Space-out Competition’

• Food

  

  Future food source evokes nostalgia for old days

• Food

  

  Diversity of Korean seaweed rice roll ‘gimbap’

• Culture

  

  Barbershop offers a cultural space for gentlemen

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  Real change on campus elusive despite #MeToo movement

  Students notice only superficial differences in behavior and attitude after sexual misconduct scandals

• Politics

  

  Minor parties call for efforts to revise Constitution

  Three minor opposition parties on Wednesday called on the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and main opposition Liberty Korea Party to revive efforts to amend the Constitution. The rival parties failed to reach an agreement on revising the law on national referendums in time to put the constitutional amendment to a public vote alongside local elections in June.President Moon Jae-in criticized the National Assembly on Tuesday for failing to make the referendum possible in June, and for not even on

• Book Review

  

  Forgetting is bliss, but not always

  Author of ‘White Chrysanthemum’ talks about debut novel on victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery

• Technology

  

  Nexon Korea CEO denies rumors of Bitstamp acquisition

  Nexon Korea CEO Lee Jung-hun on Wednesday denied rumors that the company is considering the acquisition of Bitstamp, the world’s oldest surviving bitcoin exchange.　“Nexon Korea does not have anything to do with a Bitstamp acquisition,” Lee said during a press conference held at the Nexon Korea headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. “We do not have any plans to link cryptocurrencies with our game business,” he said, adding that this does not mean Nexon is ruling out the use of bloc