Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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[Herald Interview] ‘U.S. may not need Japan’s consent to deploy forces to Korea’
The U.S. may not need Japan’s consent to deploy its forces from Japan to the Korean Peninsula in case of a contingency, a Japanese scholar said, noting that Washington has never sought Tokyo’s agreement for a troop dispatch overseas.The issue emerged as another source of diplomatic friction after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last July that Washington is required to secure “Tokyo’s understanding” should it want to send its marines to handle a peninsular crisis.Speculation has since bee
Foreign AffairsMay 19, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Javer discusses life directions, choices through ‘Freak Out'
Swedish director Carl Javer took home top honors at this year’s Green Film Festival in Seoul, held May 7-14, for his documentary “Freak Out.”“It’s an untold true story about how five young kids in their twenties grew up in the first consumer society,” Javer told The Korea Herald in a sit-down in Seoul on May 13. “Their reaction was to leave it, and to say they wanted something else. They revolted against a society that didn’t fulfill their needs.”“Freak Out” director Carl Javer. (Green Film Fest
FilmMay 19, 2015
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[Herald Interview] The making of a hero
On the stage of the Blue Square Theater in Seoul’s Itaewon, Chung Sung-hwa exudes the certain aura of a martyr. Standing tall in the spotlight, the actor sings with a deep and rich voice about the lofty ideals of pan-Asian peace to which he is about to sacrifice his life. At least to those loudly applauding in the audience, Chung seems like the reincarnation of Ahn Jung-geun, a real-life Korean hero who assassinated Hirobumi Ito, a four-time prime minister of Japan and a key figure behind the co
PerformanceMay 19, 2015
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[Herald Interview] The art and science of translation
On each desk are two copies of a text, one in Korean and the other in English. A handful of students ― some Korean, some international ― pore over each word, comparing and searching. A heated discussion ensues on the English translation of the Korean word “gap gap ha da,” as some favor “suffocating,” while others, “tedious.” A conclusion is difficult to reach, since the word could mean either of the two, or both, or even neither, depending on the context.Thus goes a typical class at the Literatu
PeopleMay 18, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Expedia seeks to change Korean vacation perceptions
Koreans take the fewest vacations in the world, according to a survey by Expedia, the world’s largest online travel company.They go on a vacation for about eight days a year, well below the world average of 20 days. The French take about 30 days of vacation.The company’s 2014 survey showed that this was mostly because of the negative perception of vacation by Korean bosses, and their tight work schedule.Faced with Korea’s longstanding rigid labor policy, Expedia seeks to change this by increasin
TravelMay 18, 2015
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[Herald Interview] ‘Indian P.M.’s visit aims to cement Korea partnership’
With evolving business ties and increasingly similar strategic perspectives on world affairs, South Korea is one of the most important Asian partners for India, according to India’s ambassador to Seoul, Vikram Doraiswami.In an interview with The Korea Herald last week, the envoy noted that elevating India’s partnership with Korea was a crucial “prerequisite” to ensure the success of New Delhi’s “Act East” policy ― a core foreign policy initiative to deepen the country’s engagement with East Asia
Foreign AffairsMay 17, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Agency calls for health care support for North Korea
When Lee Soo-ku, president of the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare, visited a dental facility in North Korea for the first time in the early 2000s, he was almost speechless. “There was literally nothing except a few very basic instruments,” he said. “There was a mouth mirror and an extractor. That’s about it.”Lee, who is also a practicing dentist, has been serving as the head of the KOFIH since 2012. His organization is the only South Korean public agency that provides health care s
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Jang Hyun-seung hopes to show new side through solo debut
When onstage as a member of Beast or half of the duo Trouble Maker, Jang Hyun-seung exudes charisma and sex appeal. But offstage, at a group interview on Monday at a cafe in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, Jang was soft-spoken and shy as he talked about his first solo EP, “MY.”“I wanted to come without any makeup, but I was afraid you’d think I didn’t really care about the interview,” he said as he sat down in a red flannel shirt and torn jeans, running a hand through his hair.According to Jang, he wante
PerformanceMay 12, 2015
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[Herald Interview] True devotion in ‘With or Without You’
Choi Mag-gi and Kim Chun-hee are two old ladies living together in Yeongdeok-gun, North Gyeongsang Province. Their relationship is difficult to explain at first. After Mag-gi lost her two sons to a typhoon and measles, respectively, she and her husband brought in Chun-hee, who has a slight mental impairment, to live with them and to bear them a son. Although Mag-gi’s husband died decades ago, the two women ― the wife and the concubine ― still live together and look after each other.They are the
FilmMay 11, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Pushing emotional extremes with a story of urban hell
A young mother with an autistic child is chased by a loan shark who demands that she pay off her husband’s gambling debt. She is beautiful and doting; her husband is well-meaning but plagued by his addiction; the loan shark is ruthless and psychotic. “Coin Locker,” which made its world premiere in the Korean Competition section of this year’s Jeonju International Film Festival, is a parade of cliches and extremes. That was what director Kim Tae-kyung intended. “I began with the thought that toda
FilmMay 11, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Candy Crush game creator eyes Korea for growth
King Digital Entertainment, the British creator of the massively-popular Candy Crush franchise, is betting big on the Korean market to repeat its success story in Asia. The company recently launched Candy Crush Soda, the sequel to Candy Crush Saga, one of the most successful digital games in the world, to lure Korean gamers. Its star-studded TV commercials in particular are garnering attention as they feature a slew of Korean celebrities, including ballerina Kang Soo-jin and baduk master Cho Hun
TechnologyMay 6, 2015
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[Herald Interview] ‘Diversity helps improve education’
At the student lounge of Nyenrode Business Universiteit in the Netherlands, students of different nationalities, appearance and accents are often seen together, pitching their opinions as they participate in an animated debate about the latest class they attended.This scene is familiar in many universities across the Netherlands, representing one of the Dutch’s biggest strengths in education, said Han Dommers, head of the education promotion department at EP-Nuffic, which works for international
Social AffairsMay 4, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Bringing Christianity, Islam closer together
Kim Ah-young, director of the Center for Islamic Studies, often finds herself in the middle of a tug-of-war between Christianity and Islam.As a devout and open-minded Christian who seeks deeper understanding of Islam, her action is sometimes branded as “dovish” by hawkish Christians. Muslims don’t always find her stance convincing and trustworthy either, given centuries of hostility between the two religious groups.But her mission is clear ― to bring the two religions closer together through mut
PeopleMay 4, 2015
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[Herald Interview] ‘Be tenacious, commit, execute’
Lee Seung-hun’s career story is filled with failures. But when he looks back and adds all those failures up, Lee said, it equals success.He is now living his dream, working as a creature technical director at the world’s biggest special effects movie company, ILM, with his family in San Francisco. “Star Wars” producer George Lucas founded ILM, which is currently part of the Walt Disney Company.“Be tenacious, commit and execute. It’s really hard, but that’s the best advice I can give to the young
PeopleMay 4, 2015
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[Herald Interview] ‘Pyroprocessing not answer to spent fuel problem’
Though the recent revision to an atomic energy pact with the U.S. allows South Korea’s study of pyroprocessing, the nascent technology will likely increase electricity costs while failing to reduce the stockpile of spent fuel here, a leading nuclear scientist has said. Under the amendment, Seoul secured Washington’s consent to carry out electroreduction, the first stage of pyroprocessing, which Korean experts have touted as a possible solution to deal with its mountain of used fuel rods. The tec
Foreign AffairsMay 3, 2015
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[Herald Interview] ‘Korea is ready for McLarens’
Buying a McLaren vehicle is buying “technology and craftsmanship,” according to David Mclntyre, the newly appointed Asia-Pacific director of the British supercar maker.The “small” U.K.-based supercar maker is finally making inroads in the Korean market, having launched its first showroom in southern Seoul on Wednesday. McIntyre has long experience in Korea’s high-end auto import market. Until recently he headed the local branch of Jaguar Land Rover, and the brands saw massive sales rises under h
IndustryMay 3, 2015
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[Herald Interview] MapleStory ― 12 years old and still growing
Koo Kyo-seong has a lot on his mind these days.Whether riding his skateboard during lunch hour or sitting at his office desk surrounded by animated figurines, all Koo thinks about is how to make “MapleStory” more visually engaging and entertaining.As the chief concept artist for MapleStory, Nexon Korea’s fantasy adventure multiplayer online role-playing game, he is faced with the heavy burden of making the company’s all-time favorite PC game sustainable in this rapidly-changing mobile environmen
CultureMay 3, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Finance clearing institute seeks to reform corporate payment system
In such a conglomerate-dominated Korean economy, small and medium-sized subcontractors and ventures cannot thrive without a healthy business-to-business payment system. Without one, the Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis doomed countless SMEs to bankruptcy.“Most unfair practices in business come from inappropriate payment systems,” said Rha Moon-soo, president and chief executive of the Korea Electronic Finance Clearing Institute, in an interview with The Korea Herald last we
April 30, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Korea to defend rice market in TPP talks
Korea’s top agriculture policymaker has emphasized that the government would not further open its rice market, even when the nation participates in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership to establish a free trade zone among Pacific Rim countries. “Our government is firmly set on excluding rice from the TPP’s list of tariff concession,” said Lee Dong-phil, minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs.“As regards to joining the TPP, our government’s position is that we will do so after carefull
April 27, 2015