Big Hit posts estimated record sales in Q2

Big Hit Entertainment, the label-management agency of K-pop giants BTS, announced on August 14 that its estimated sales revenue during the first half of 2020 reached a record 294 billion won (US$244.8 million) on the back of strong album sales and paid online concert revenues. 　 　In a biannual corporate briefing held on YouTube, the company added that its estimated operating profit during the January-June period reached 49.7 billion won. Big Hit said the numbers were subject to an audit before c

MSCI index adds 3 Korean biotech stocks

Morgan Stanley Capital International announced on August 13 it has added three South Korean biotechnology stocks to its MSCI Korea Index. 　This comes as the technology prowess of the companies has come under the limelight during the novel coronavirus outbreak and subsequently drove up their stock price. 　 　Alteogen, Seegene and Shin Poong Pharma have been added to the index, replacing Daewoo Engineering & Construction, Helixmith and Hyundai Department Store. 　Seegene is Korea’s le

Netmarble Q2 net more than doubles on new games

Netmarble Games, South Korea‘s No. 1 mobile game developer and publisher, said on August 12 that its net income more than doubled in the second quarter from a year earlier on the back of the popularity of its new games. Net income came to 85.2 billion won (US$71.9 million) during the April-June period, compared with 38 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. The game publisher posted 81.7 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, up from 33.2 bi

Hyundai, Aptive unveil name of autonomous driving venture

Hyundai Motor Group announced on August 12 that its autonomous driving joint venture with Aptive has been named Motional. 　The automaker had announced a joint venture in March with Aptive -- a self-driving technology company -- as it seeks to develop and commercialize its autonomous technology for vehicles. 　According to Hyundai, Motional is a combination of words “motion” and “emotional,” to indicate mobility centered on safety and human values.  　

UN expert questions political decision behind NGO audits

Special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea says Seoul’s argument for audits of defectors’ organizations is ‘unsatisfactory,’ UN mulling making a formal ‘communication’ on the issue

‘Beethoven made it happen’

Pianist Son Yeol-eum looks back on MPyC experience

How to declutter home and simplify life

Professional organizer Yoon Sun-hyun shares tricks to keeping tidy home

Treasure aims high, sets sights on rookie of the year award

The treasure chest is finally wide open and YG Entertainment’s brand new rookie act, Treasure, is poised to make a splash both in and out of South Korea. Looking fairly nervous, the 12-piece boy band -- the label’s first debut since Blackpink four years ago -- attended its first-ever media interview in Seoul on Monday. After hustling for name tags and making jittery eye contact with each other, the singers broke the tense silence by saying how they felt about their long-awaited deb

How major South Korean airlines made profits during pandemic

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines post Q2 earnings surprise

HMM St. Petersburg ready for record haul

  GEOJE, South Gyeongsang Province -- HMM St. Petersburg is the world’s largest container ship, capable of carrying 24,000, 20-foot container boxes at once. The vessel is about 400 meters long, 61 meters wide and 33.2 meters high, and the deck is about 400 meters. HMM St. Petersburg is the last 24,000 TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent units, vessel of 12 super-large ships built as part of South Korea’s five-year plan to rebuild the country’s shipping industry. Sev

Why are Korean doctors striking?

Row between doctors, government escalates amid pandemic

Gyeonggi Province outstrips ‘Seoul plus Busan’ in population

1 in 4 Koreans reside in Gyeonggi; Will Korea split province?