SPOTLIGHT

• Music

  

  After feuding with feminists, San E takes aim at journalists

  The rapper warns of revenge rap as he claims journalists picked a fight with pen

• Social affairs

  

  Photographer Rotta denies sexual harassment allegations

  Photographer Choi Won-seok, widely known as “Rotta,” denied sexual harassment allegations at his first court hearing Monday.Rotta is charged of indecent assault for allegedly touching the abdomen, waist, thighs and genitals of a 21-year-old model during a photo shoot in June 2013.  Photographer Rotta (Rotta`s Instagram)During the trial Monday, Rotta’s lawyer acknowledged that the photographer did have physical contact with the model, but denied that it was without consent. The Public Prosecutor’

• Travel

  

  Korea Grand Sale to offer promotions, events for foreign visitors

  The Visit Korea Committee on Monday announced benefits and promotions for foreign tourists visiting Korea from Jan. 17 through Feb. 28, during the annual Korea Grand Sale.Under a theme of “Travel, Taste, Touch,” the event will offer promotions and benefits provided by 51,497 businesses.Participating firms include Jin Air and Jeju Air which will provide discount on inbound flights, Daemyung Resort, Ramada Encore Haeundae and Grand InterContinental for accommodations and food, and Paradise Casino

• Social affairs

  

  Water meters in Seoul freeze in cold weather

   The three-day cold spell that eased Monday caused 160 water meters to freeze and burst in Seoul, the local government said. According to the Office of Waterworks Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday, a total of 58 cases of frozen water meters had been reported over the weekend as of Monday morning. (Yonhap)Temperatures fell as low as minus 11 degrees Celsius on Friday and minus 11.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday, triggering a warning to be issued for freezing water meters.After temperatures ea

LATEST NEWS

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  Finance

  KRX lifts suspension of Samsung BioLogics stock trading

  The Korea Exchange, South Korea’s sole securities market operator, decided Monday to resume transactions of Samsung BioLogics shares, about a month after the company was slapped with a trading suspension on accusations of accounting misconduct. Following the decision, investors are allowed to trade Samsung BioLogics shares on the main bourse Kospi as per normal starting Tuesday. (Yonhap)The KRX said in a release that BioLogics’ improving profitability overshadows concerns about business continui

• 

  Science

  S. Korea cab driver burns himself to death in carpool protest

  A South Korean taxi driver burned himself to death on Monday in protest at an Uber-like ride-sharing service being introduced by the country's largest mobile chat app, reports said. (Yonhap)South Korean taxi drivers have angrily protested against the car-pooling service created by KakaoTalk, saying it would threaten their jobs and livelihoods. US giant Uber has only a minimal presence in the country, offering onlytaxi- and licensed-hire vehicle hailing after closing its main ride-sharing service

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  Industry

  POSCO Daewoo to conduct exploration drilling at Myanmar offshore well

  POSCO Daewoo Corp. said Monday that it will conduct exploration drilling at an offshore well in Myanmar.(Yonhap)The South Korean trading company said in a regulatory filing that it has secured the right to drill at the A-3 well in the first quarter of 2020. It said 105.3 billion won (US$93.3 million) will be invested into the project from January 2019 onwards.The company said that it has been carrying out detailed artificial earthquake wave evaluations of the area and concluded there is a good c

• 

  Technology

  KT to deduct up to 6-month phone bills for victims of network blackout

  South Korean mobile carrier KT announced Monday its plan to compensate those who suffered from a network blackout caused by a fire at its regional branch last month, including the exemption of telecom bills worth up to six months.In addition to its initial plan to shave off one-month bills for both landline and wireless service subscribers among the victims, which largely included small merchants in the Seodaemun District, northern Seoul, the operator decided to exempt fees worth up to six month

• 

  Music

  Rising stars Stray Kids arrive at 2018 MAMA

  Stray Kids have arrived at the red carpet of the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards.  Stray Kids hit the red carpet at 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards (Mnet) (Mnet)The nine-piece act ranked top in the poll for best new male artist, determined through preshow online voting by fans, which ran for about a month, from Nov. 1 to Sunday midnight. Stray Kids trumped the poll, earning close to half of total votes with 49.10 percent. The runner-up in the same category was Kim Dong-han, a contestant in the second

• 

  Food&Beverage

  S. Korean coffee imports expected to fall this year

  　South Korea is expected to import less coffee this year for the first time in six years, as demand for the beverage has been hit by sluggish economic growth, according to market watchers here. 　In the January-October period, total imports of coffee stood at 121,019 tons, down 1,031 tons from a year earlier. This is the first on-year decrease since 2012.　Asia’s fourth-largest economy imported 82,446 tons of coffee in the same period in 2012. 

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  Diplomatic Circuit

  Sweden, Korea unveil logo for 60th bilateral anniversary in 2019

  The Swedish Embassy in Seoul and Korean Embassy in Stockholm jointly announced the winner of the Sweden-Korea 60 Years Logo Design Competition last week. The honor went to Jo A-ra, who works as an editorial designer at a company in Korea, out of 200 entrants. Her design will be used at promotional events and on items for next year’s 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomacy.“I really like the playfulness of the logo. It represents key features of the Sweden-Korea relationship: innovation and frien

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  Diplomatic Circuit

  Hungarian envoy discovers forgotten connection from yesteryear

  A photo shows Korean participants at the Second World Festival of Youth and Students in Budapest, Hungary, in 1949. Dancer Kim Baek-bong is second from right. (Hungarian Embassy/Fortepan)Hungarian Ambassador to Korea Mozes Csoma on Friday brought back to life a forgotten page of history connecting Hungary and a prewar Korean Peninsula. At the Arko Arts Theater in Seoul, he presented an archival photo he discovered to Kim Baek-bong, a 92-year-old woman who took part in the Second World Festival o

• 

  Diplomatic Circuit

  Spain celebrates 40th anniversary of constitution

  By Spanish Ambassador to Korea Juan Ignacio Morro The people of Spain recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Spanish constitution that was approved in a national referendum and ratified on Dec. 6, 1978. Since the historic day, the supreme law has united all Spanish citizens, and launched Spain’s journey as an open, modern and inclusive country.Over the last four decades, Spain has established itself as a democratic state based on the rule of law. We have deeply committed ourselves to th

• 

  Economy

  Korea, India to hold talks on upgrading trade pact

  South Korea and India will hold negotiations to upgrade their existing bilateral trade pact to lower barriers between the two nations, the government here said Monday.The two nations implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in January 2010 and have held six rounds of talks to push for further market liberalization.  South Korea and India held their fifth round of talks in Seoul on May 30, 2018, on improvements to their bilateral trade deal, the Comprehensive Economic Partners

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Information war led to murder

  When Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, he didn’t know he was walking into a killing zone. He had become the prime target in a 21st century information war -- one that involved hacking, kidnapping and ultimately murder -- waged by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his courtiers against dissenters.How did a battle of ideas, triggered by Khashoggi’s outspoken journalism for the Washington Post, become so deadly? That’s the riddle at the center of the column

• Columnists

  

  Resolving Taiwan’s policy toward China long overdue

  No one likes dealing with a difficult situation. But now is the time to get things done for Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, which will hold a by-election on Jan. 6 to replace its chairperson, President Tsai Ing-wen, following the party’s crushing defeat in the Nov. 24 local government elections. The date was decided on Wednesday at a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee, but the question of whether Taiwan should maintain its policy toward China before the next presidential e

THE INVESTOR

• Startups & Investors

  

  Berkeley Center’s Adam Sterling on future of VCs, startup ecosystem

  Silicon Valley offers various myths on the success stories of startups and venture capitals.For instance, there is the story of a graffiti artist who painted the wall of Facebook’s first office. He received stocks of Facebook instead of cash which is now worth millions of dollars.And this might be one of the distinctions between the ecosystems in Silicon Valley and Korea, according to Adam Sterling, executive director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business. Sterling brought a

• Samsung

  

  Samsung to hold biannual conference for global execs

  Samsung Electronics will hold a global strategic conference with executives from its overseas offices in Korea next week, according to the tech giant on Dec. 10.The top executives from each of the three main business divisions -- device solutions, IT & mobile communications and consumer electronics -- will gather at various offices, including in Suwon, to review the performance of existing operations and discuss measures to respond to potential risks and find new growth engines.Re

• Retail & Consumer

  

  E-mart acquires Good Food Holdings for US$275m

  E-mart, Korea’s largest discount chain operated by Shinsegae, announced on Dec. 7 that it will acquire US food retailer Good Food Holdings for US$275 million.The US-based firm owns three food retailing brands -- Bristol Farms, Lazy Acres and Metropolitan Market-- with 24 stores in locations including Los Angeles and Seattle. Its sales last year reached around 670 billion won (US$5.95 million). The Korean company said the all the 3,100 employees and executives will be retained with

• Startups & Investors

  

  Toss lands US$80m investment to become Korea’s first fintech unicorn

  Viva Republica, operator of popular mobile payment app Toss, on Dec. 10 announced it has raised US$80 million funds, catapulting the Seoul-based fintech startup to a unicorn status with US$1.2 billion valuation. The latest round was led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Capital that are making their first investments in Korea with this deal. Existing investors, including Altos Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Goodwater Capital, KTB Networ

K-POP HERALD

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  BTS’ team sweeps awards at 2018 MAMA

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  Stray Kids win best new artist at 2018 MAMA

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  Onew bids farewell before enlistment

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Industry

  

  ‘Automation won’t reduce jobs but workers need to be protected in digital era’

• Industry

  

  Korea is attractive market despite regulations: AmCham CEO

• Industry

  

  ‘Regulators should refrain from excessive market intervention’

• Social affairs

  

  Foreign cultural diplomat team Hangeul promotes Korea

PHOTO NEWS

• Music

  

  Rising stars Stray Kids arrive at 2018 MAMA

  Stray Kids have arrived at the red carpet of the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards.  Stray Kids hit the red carpet at 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards (Mnet) (Mnet)The nine-piece act ranked top in the poll for best new male artist, determined through preshow online voting by fans, which ran for about a month, from Nov. 1 to Sunday midnight. Stray Kids trumped the poll, earning close to half of total votes with 49.10 percent. The runner-up in the same category was Kim Dong-han, a contestant in the second

VIDEO

• Technology

  

  Startups, VCs gather in Seoul to celebrate The Investor’s Choice

• Music

  

  Sohee says angles are most important in ‘Hurry Up’ dance

• North Korea

  

  N. Korea destroys 10 DMZ guard posts

• Television

  

  ‘Encounter’ marks Song Hye-kyo’s return to TV drama

FEATURES

• Industry

  

  Air carriers face criticisms over air mileage system

  Government forecasts up to 10 billion won worth of air miles to expire on Jan. 1

• Technology

  

  LG Display partners with NHK for 8K broadcasting of 2020 Tokyo Olympics

  LG Display, the world’s biggest organic light-emitting diode panel maker, said Friday it is working with Japan’s national public broadcasting company NHK to broadcast the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with 8K picture quality. The partnership is a part of LG’s OLED business plan for the Japanese TV market, where there is high demand for high picture quality. To promote OLED panels in Japan, the company participated in the 28th Finetech Japan forum held in Tokyo on Thursday.  LGD advisor Yeo Sang-deok speak

• Social affairs

  

  McDonald’s customer hurls food at employee in viral video

  A video showing a McDonald’s customer hurling a paper bag with food at an employee has quickly spread online, sparking public outrage.It has been less than a month since a clip showing a McDonald’s customer throwing food at a drive-thru employee went viral.The video shows a man arguing with an employee and throwing a paper bag containing food, hitting the employee directly in the face. The man reportedly complained that his food came out late, but had not seen the screen that showed customers’ o

• Travel

  

  Rediscovering eastern China

  From history, culinary treats to greenery, Jiangsu province has much to offer