SPOTLIGHT

• Arts&Design

  

  Return to the past with modern twist at Seoul Design Festival

  “Newtro” has emerged as a trend in the fashion and design industries here. A combination of “new” and “retro,” the concept mixes trends of the past with fresh interpretations. And an ongoing event rides on that wave. The Seoul Design Festival taking place at the Coex Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul caters to those who want to swing back to the 1980s or 1990s, with a new, creative twist.  (Seoul Design Festival)The festival’s overall theme is “Young Retro: Design Reversing Back

• Travel

  

  'Cannabis Port’: Reddit user’s Seoul map shows districts in colorful English names

  A map of the South Korean capital showing the districts’ names in English is garnering attenetion across online communities.The post was uploaded to social aggregator Reddit by user nanain_melons in November, and has since been shared on websites like Bestiz and MLB Park.The map gave Mapo the English name “Cannabis Port,” as the word “Ma” can mean “cannabis” and “Po” can refer to ports. (Reddit user nanain_melons)Yongsan was written as “Dragon Mountain,” which on par with the actual meaning, as

• Social affairs

  

  Former sex slave for Japanese soldiers dies at 92

  A South Korean woman who was forced to work at a Japanese military brothel during World War II passed away at age 92, a Seoul-based civic group working for the rights of sex slavery victims said Friday.The woman, named Lee Gui-nyeo, died in the morning at a hospital in Yongin, a suburb of Seoul, according to the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.  Lee Gui-nyeo (Justice for the Comfort Women-Yonhap)Born in 1926, Lee was taken to China in

• Music

  

  Fans protest Indonesia’s ban on Blackpink ad featuring miniskirted bandmates

  Fans protest Indonesia’s ban on Blackpink ad featuring miniskirted bandmates By Hong Dam-young Blackpink has become a household name in Indonesia, but fans were astonished recently when the country slapped a ban on a television ad featuring the singers in miniskirts. On Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported that the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission had ordered 11 domestic TV stations to block the commercial on Tuesday, calling it indecent and saying it violated the Muslim country’s moral no

LATEST NEWS

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  Social affairs

  Moon says forced labor rulings mean no termination of individual rights for damages claims

  President Moon Jae-in said Friday that South Korea's landmark court rulings against Japan's wartime forced labor mean individual rights to damage claims are not terminated under a pact between the two countries."The court ruling does not deny the (1965) pact between South Korea and Japan on normalizing diplomatic ties," Moon said in a meeting with a delegation of Japanese lawmakers led by Fukushiro Nukaga. President Moon Jae-in (L) meeting with the group of Japanese lawmakers seeking to promote

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  North Korea

  Koreas to meet IOC in Feb. on joint Olympic bid

  South Korea and North Korea announced Friday they will meet with the International Olympic Committee early next year to discuss their joint Olympic bid.The two sides reached that agreement during the latest round of their sports talks at the joint liaison office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. South Korean Vice Sports Minister Roh Tae-kang and North Korean Vice Sports Minister Won Kil-u led the delegations. North Korean Vice Sports Minister Won Kil-u (L) and his South Korean counterp

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  Finance

  Korea, partners amend regional financial safety net

  South Korea, China, Japan and their partners in Southeast Asia amended a regional financial safety net on Friday in the latest move to better cope with possible financial crises.The agreement was reached in a meeting of finance and central bank deputies of South Korea, China, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The Ministry of Economy and Finance. (Yonhap)ASEAN comprises Brunei, C

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  Social affairs

  Govt., ruling party push for implementation of salary system for company taxi drivers

  Officials from the government and the ruling Democratic Party  decided Friday to push ahead with the full implementation of a salary system for drivers at taxi companies as part of measures to support the local taxi industry.The move is also seen as a way to deal with a backlash from taxi drivers that was sparked by the planned launch of a carpool service by IT giant Kakao Corp.  (Yonhap)On Thursday, Kakao, which earlier kicked off a pilot run of the service, postponed its official release, orig

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  Automode

  Court rejects Audi Volkswagen Korea's demand for cancellation of fine

  A South Korean court on Friday ruled against a request of Volkswagen and its affiliate Audi that a hefty fine, imposed on the local unit of the German automakers two years ago for false advertisements on its fabricated emissions results, be canceled.The Seoul High Court ruled that there was no problem with the Fair Trade Commission's imposition of a record 37.3 billion won ($33 million) fine in 2016 on Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local unit of the German carmakers, for producing false advertiseme

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  Industry

  Sanofi starts remaining phase 3 clinical trials of Hanmi’s diabetes drug candidate

  South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Friday that Sanofi has signaled the start of two new phase 3 clinical studies of the Type 2 diabetes drug candidate efpeglenatide by officially listing the plans on ClinicalTrials.gov, a US-based clinical trials registry site.By doing so, Sanofi has officially executed all five of its planned phase 3 clinical trial agenda for efpeglenatide, which Hanmi licensed out to Sanofi in 2015, according to the Korean drugmaker.So far, Sanofi has been carrying out th

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  Politics

  Blue House reveals reform plans for inspection team

  The composition and name of Cheong Wa Dae’s special inspection team will be changed, and new measures will be introduced to enforce discipline and prevent misconduct, the presidential office announced Friday. The measures, announced by Senior Civil Affairs Secretary Cho Kuk, are in response to recent controversy surrounding the inspection team, including that concerning a team member who attempted to gain information on an ongoing police investigation. Members of the team are also alleged to hav

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  Industry

  Korea's defense industry's sales log 1st decrease last year

  Sales by the South Korean defense industry dropped 13.9 percent from a year ago to 12.76 trillion won (around $11.35 billion) last year, partly due to decreased exports and increased costs for research and development, an industry body said Friday.According to the Korea Defense Industry Association, an umbrella body of 93 defense-related companies, it marked the first time that the industry saw its sale fall since it began to compile related data in 1983.During the reported year, the industry's

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  Economy

  Govt. to create 55,000 healthcare services jobs by 2022

  South Korea's government aims to create 55,000 new jobs in the healthcare services sector by 2022 and the plan includes the hiring of 9,300 nurses to help upgrade quality of medical services, officials said Friday.The Presidential Committee on Job Creation finalized the new policy goal, saying demand for healthcare workers will steadily rise due to population aging and greater public attention to health. (Yonhap)The committee said the healthcare industry has a great deal of job creation potentia

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  Finance

  Korean banks' foreign-currency deposits soar in Nov.

  Foreign currency deposits at South Korean banks rose at the fastest pace in 12 months in November as people increased holdings of the weakening US dollar, central bank data showed Friday.The balance of foreign currency deposits held by local lenders reached $75.05 billion at the end of last month, up $6.94 billion from a month earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)The on-month gain marked the largest since November last year, when foreign savings rose $7.13 billion from th

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  For Taiwan, ‘status quo’ an increasingly delicate balancing act

  If you like betting on embattled underdogs, President Tsai Ing-wen is worth a look. She’s tempting the wrath of her powerful neighbor in mainland China by arguing that Taiwan must maintain its own open culture, democratic values and, yes, its sovereignty. Tsai is a petite woman, dressed in a plain black suit, who speaks the careful language of a Cornell-educated lawyer. But her low-key message of self-determination makes her something of a rebel in an Asia where China’s autocratic President Xi J

• Columnists

  

  The war on Huawei

  The arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is a dangerous move by US President Donald Trump’s administration in its intensifying conflict with China. If, as Mark Twain said, history often rhymes, our era increasingly recalls the period preceding 1914. As with Europe’s great powers back then, the United States, led by an administration intent on asserting America’s dominance over China, is pushing the world toward disaster.The context of the arrest matters enormously. The US requested that Canada arre

THE INVESTOR

• Retail & Consumer

  

  Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun likely to resign

  Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T’s fashion division, is likely to step down from her post in an annual year-end reshuffle scheduled for this week, according to news reports on Dec. 12.She is the second daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s sister.The Samsung C&T CEO is said to have notified the firm of her intention to resign and move on to focus on corporate social responsibility activities.In a recent board mee

• Startups & Investors

  

  Yanolja partners with Irish hostel operator for global expansion

  Yanolja, an accommodation booking app operator, said on Dec. 14 that it has inked a partnership with Ireland-based Hostel World as part of its efforts to enter more overseas markets.Hostel World is one of the largest operators in Europe, running 36,000 hostels and guesthouses in 170 nations. The latest partnership is aimed at offering affordable accommodations in the region for Yanolja subscribers, and increasing the firm’s global presence, according to the Korean startup. Yanolja

• Automobiles

  

  KDB to complete lifeline injection to GM Korea

  State-run Korea Development Bank said on Dec. 13 it will complete injecting US$750 million into the financially troubled Korean unit of General Motors later this month, ending a controversy over the spin off of its research unit. The policy bank, second-largest shareholder of GM Korea, and the US carmaker had signed a deal in May to provide a rescue package for the local loss-making unit. Under the agreement, GM agreed to provide an additional US$3.6 billion in fresh loans to keep

• Mobile & Internet

  

  Lawmaker calls for extended probe of Google

  Following the raid by Korea’s tax agency on the local unit of US tech giant Google on Dec. 12, as part of its efforts to investigate tax evasion charges linked to the firm’s video streaming service YouTube, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea has insisted that the investigations should be extended to its headquarters in Mountain View, California.“Most of Google’s sales generated in Korea are considered as part of the headquarters’ revenue in the US, not the local

K-POP HERALD

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  Irene becomes face of Hite Jinro

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  EXO puts on impromptu dance performance

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  UP10TION lightens up the mood

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Music

  

  ‘I learned how to love my fate’: Sohee of Elris

• 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’

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Time stops at way stations

  For South Koreans living in a country where the old is compulsively replaced with the new, finding a place that no longer serves its original purpose but has maintained its true form is a venture. Still, there are unexpected nooks in and near bustling Seoul where time seems to go very slow, allowing you to quietly evoke past memories. These are way stations.Way stations are relatively small train stations, set apart by the absence of a stationmaster and the lack of passengers. As time went by, n

VIDEO

• Social affairs

  

  Boiling water from pipeline rupture kills 1, injures dozens

• 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

FEATURES

• Industry

  

  Sanofi starts remaining phase 3 clinical trials of Hanmi’s diabetes drug candidate

  South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Friday that Sanofi has signaled the start of two new phase 3 clinical studies of the Type 2 diabetes drug candidate efpeglenatide by officially listing the plans on ClinicalTrials.gov, a US-based clinical trials registry site.By doing so, Sanofi has officially executed all five of its planned phase 3 clinical trial agenda for efpeglenatide, which Hanmi licensed out to Sanofi in 2015, according to the Korean drugmaker.So far, Sanofi has been carrying out th

• Social affairs

  

  Moon to enter midterm year amid economic, social polarization

  SEJONG -- President Moon Jae-in has finished the first 19 months of his 60-month tenure and will enter his third administrative year in two weeks.About 70 to 80 percent of South Koreans supported his administrative affairs last year. But Moon’s current approval rating has fallen to a record low, staying under 50 percent, according to polls conducted in recent weeks. Surveys by Realmeter, Gallup Korea and R&Search showed approval ratings of 49.5 percent, 49 percent and 47.9 percent, respectively,

• Economy

  

  Korea’s 3rd phase of new towns: Remedy or repetition?

  SEJONG -- The average unit price of an old apartment complex built 31 years ago in Seocho-gu, Seoul, jumped to 1.64 billion won ($1.46 million) in November 2018 from 1.13 billion won in November 2016.The price increased 45 percent in only two years. Other apartment complexes in the district in southern Seoul and neighboring wards also saw their prices surge in the period.Although there have been signs of prices declining after reportedly peaking last summer, many households still appear skeptica

• Technology

  

  Samsung to be reshaped centering on AI, auto parts and 5G

  Samsung Electronics’ year-end organizational restructuring focuses on three new businesses: artificial intelligence, vehicle components and the fifth-generation network, according to the industry on Wednesday.The tech conglomerate has worked on realigning current business divisions and units, and transfers of positions, all of which are to be completed by Thursday. While maintaining the current three divisions -- device solutions, IT and mobile communications, and consumer electronics -- each di