``Charlotte Bronte: A Fiery Heart‘‘ By Claire HarmanAlfred A. Knopf (480 pages, $30)Two hundred years after her birth, Charlotte Bronte‘s rage over social expectations for women and thwarted ambitions are as relevant as ever, and a new biography by Claire Harman makes the ``Jane Eyre’‘ author fresh and relatable to readers who might only think of the Brontes as figures long buried in tragic myth.Bronte and her sisters Emily and Anne published their poems and novels -- including ``Wuthering Heigh

Culture March 3, 2016

Sculptors Kim Seo-kyung and Kim Eun-sung have been making statues of teenage girls that symbolize Korean young women forced to work as Japanese military sex slaves, euphemistically called “comfort women,” since 2011. They have made 30 statues so far, with more in the making. The bronze sculptures are exhibited at memorial parks, museums and on the streets of Korea, the U.S. and Canada.This month, six variations of the “Statue of a Girl of Peace” are on view at a gallery in Seoul where the artist

Culture March 3, 2016

E-mart on Wednesday launched a private brand inspired by the artistes of SM Entertainment, one of Korea’s most influential showbiz agencies. E-mart, which is run by the Shinsegae Group, is the country’s largest discount store chain. The “SM X E-mart” collection comprises of 14 food items endorsed by SM Entertainment’s artistes. This includes jjamppong, which is spicy noodle soup, and jjajangmyeon, which are noodles in black soy bean sauce, endorsed by EXO. There are popcorn items endorsed by Sup

Industry March 3, 2016

South Korean e-commerce operator Coupang is expected to log mounting operating losses for 2015 due to hefty investments in the firm’s logistics capacity, industry sources said Thursday. Coupang is expected to log over 400 billion won ($326.9 million) in operating losses when it files its 2015 audit report in mid-April due to rising costs in building new logistics centers and hiring new staff, according to the sources.Coupang’s sales were estimated to have jumped more than fourfold last year from

Technology March 3, 2016

The city of Seoul approved a plan by Hotel Shilla to build a traditional-style accommodation in central Seoul after rejecting previous attempts, officials said Thursday.The Seoul Metropolitan Government reached an understanding on Wednesday to endorse the plan to erect a hotel built in the hanok-style within the compound of the luxury hotel's vast grounds in Jangchung-dong. Hotel Shilla is an affiliate of South Korea's biggest conglomerate Samsung Group. Hanok refers to traditional Korean tiled

Industry March 3, 2016

Internet banking transactions in South Korea surged to a record high last year with the daily amount of money transferred through internet banking services breaching 40 trillion won ($32.79 billion) for the first time in history, central bank data showed Thursday.The number of daily transactions processed via Internet and mobile phones came to an average 78.02 million in 2015, spiking 17.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The amount of money proc

March 3, 2016

The rise in loans extended to South Korea's local firms slowed in the fourth quarter with borrowings by those in the manufacturing and construction sectors shrinking from three months earlier, central bank data showed Thursday.Corporate lending by banks and non-bank financial institutions came to 943.3 trillion won (US$771 billion) at the end of 2015, up 11.2 trillion won, or 1.2 percent, from three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The increase compared

March 3, 2016

The chief of South Korea's financial regulator on Thursday vowed tough measures against any sales of the new individual savings account (ISA) without informing consumers of its risks amid rising concerns over possible losses from the much-hyped product.Starting March 14, local banks and brokerage houses will introduce the ISA, where customers can manage a wide range of financial products such as funds and stock investment accounts by signing up with a single institution. The new banking platform

March 3, 2016

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday downgraded the credit-rating outlook of China to "negative" from "stable," citing rising government debts, declining foreign-currency reserves and uncertainty about Beijing's reform drive. Weakening trade and manufacturing have fueled concerns about the Chinese economy, which has been struggling with stock market routs and mounting local government debt."China's foreign exchange reserves have fallen markedly over the last 18 months, to US$3.2 trillion in Ja

World Business March 2, 2016

Korea's industrial output fell for three months in a row in January due to a slump in the electronics and automaking sectors amid faltering outbound shipments, a government report showed Wednesday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries dropped 1.9 percent last month from a year earlier, contracting for the third consecutive month, according to the report by Statistics Korea. Compared with a month earlier, industrial output also retreated 1.8 percent.Production in

March 2, 2016

Samsung Electronics Co. dominated the global TV market for the 10th consecutive year in 2015, data showed Tuesday, on the back of the strong performance of its high-end models.Samsung took up 27.5 percent of the global TV market in terms of sales and 21 percent in shipments last year, the data compiled by industry tracker IHS showed, continuing its robust performance since 2006.In 2006, Samsung Electronics took up 14.2 percent of global TV sales, indicating that the company's profitability in th

Technology March 1, 2016

South Korea has closed the economic gap with Japan as its per capita gross domestic product has neared the level of its neighbor, mainly due to the currency exchange rate in 2015, a report showed Tuesday. Korea’s per capita GDP was estimated to stand at $27,226 in 2015, which reaches 84 percent of Japan’s $32,432, according to a report by Hyundai Research Institute.This is the first time that the gap in per capita GDP between the two countries comes below 20 percent since the International Monet

Business March 1, 2016