SPOTLIGHT

• Music

  

  BTS' 'Fake Love' surpasses 400M YouTube views

  The music video of K-pop boy band BTS' global hit song "Fake Love" has achieved the milestone of getting 400 million YouTube views, their management agency said Sunday.The artistically charged "Fake Love" music video, released in May, achieved the feat Saturday afternoon, Big Hit Entertainment said.  (Yonhap)The song was the main track of the BTS album "Love Yourself: Tear," with which BTS rewrote K-pop history. The album landed atop the Billboard 200 chart about a week after its release, making

• Film

  

  ‘The Drug King’ has strong acting by Song, but not much more

  “The Drug King” is not a flop by any means. On the contrary, it is probably one of the better South Korean films of the year.But when you have masterful Song Kang-ho as the protagonist, plus the brilliance of Bae Doo-na, Jo Jung-suk, Lee Sung-min and so many other talented actors and let it all go to waste, that just doesn’t cut it.Woo Min-ho’s upcoming crime drama about a 1970s drug lord is funny, visually impressive and well-acted by the always-dependable Song, but it suffers from a weak story

• Music

  

  The Weeknd rocks Seoul with exhilarating, nonstop performance

  As part of the Hyundai Card Culture Project, The Weeknd held his first concert in Korea at Gocheok Skydome in Seoul on Saturday.Even before the show’s 7 p.m. start, the huge dome was already jam-packed with some 24,000 people waiting for the world’s leading R&B artist. Canadian R&B artist The Weeknd performs at Gocheok Skydome in Seoul on Saturday. (Hyundai Card)The Weeknd kicked off the concert with “Pray for Me” from blockbuster film “Black Panther.” Though it was the first among his performan

• Industry

  

  Innisfree lands in Melbourne

  South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific’s organic skin care brand Innisfree opened a new store in Melbourne, its third in Australia. The company’s third store in Australia makes its debut six months after the first, as local consumers show increasing interest in K-beauty and organic cosmetics, the company said.  (Innisfree)The new Innisfree store is located on the first floor of the Chadstone Shopping Centre, Australia’s largest shopping mall. The company said the store’s decor reflects Innis

LATEST NEWS

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  Film

  'Bohemian Rhapsody' reclaims box office throne with nearly 8 mln admissions

  "Bohemian Rhapsody" reclaimed the top spot on the weekend box office chart in its eighth weekend in South Korean theaters.The Queen biopic, which stars Rami Malek as legendary frontman Freddie Mercury, sold 553,807 tickets from Friday to Sunday, data from the Korean Film Council showed Monday. The film's cumulative audience reached 7.94 million. (20th Century FOX Korea)After debuting at No. 2, the movie first topped the chart in its fourth weekend. It fell to second place after the release of th

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  Economy

  Govt. policy for self-employed criticized for errors, missteps

  The South Korean economy has one of the highest portions of individuals running their own stores and shops, and they are getting pushed to the brink by a slumping economy and policy missteps, market watchers said Monday.Data from Statistics Korea put the number of self-employed people at some 5.63 million as of November this year, a number equal to 20.7 percent of all job holders. The figure is about double the 10 percent average in advanced nations.(Yonhap)According to a 2017 report from the Or

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  Diplomatic Circuit

  Korean PM vows to solidify trade and exchange with Algeria

  South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon vowed on Sunday that his country will further expand trade and exchanges with Algeria on the basis of a 12-year-old bilateral strategic partnership. Lee made the remarks after arriving in this northwestern African country on the first leg of his three-nation trip that will also take him to Tunisia and Morocco. South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon (L) holds talks with his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Ouyahia in Algiers on Dec. 16, 2018. (Yonhap)"I'm the fi

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  World News

  Child’s death highlights communication barriers on border

  Shortly before a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died in US custody, her father signed a form stating that his daughter was in good health. But it’s unclear how much the man understood on the form, which was written in English and read to him in Spanish by Border Patrol agents.The death of Jakelin Caal highlights the communication challenges along the US-Mexico border as agents come in contact with an increasing number of migrants who speak neither English nor Spanish. Elvira Choc, 59, Jakelin Amei R

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  Industry

  Regulator, SK Telecom team up to fight phone scams

  The financial watchdog said Monday it has signed a deal with SK Telecom Co., the nation's biggest wireless operator, to jointly develop an artificial intelligence platform to combat telephone scams. Under the deal, the Financial Supervisory Service will provide voices of phone scammers to SK Telecom, which develops algorithms that automatically analyze possible phone scams.  (Yonhap)SK Telecom is expected to announce details of the platform in the first half of next year, the FSS said. The FSS l

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  World News

  Explosion at Japan restaurant injures 42: police

  An explosion at a restaurant in northern Japan injured 42 people late Sunday, police said, with the blast reportedly causing surrounding buildings to collapse.Fires broke out following the incident in the northern city of Sapporo, Kyodo news agency said, and images from the scene showed large flames and plumes of smoke rising in the night air. Firefighters work at the scene after an explosion at a restaurant in Sapporo, in the northern Hokkaido prefecture on December 16, 2018 (AFP)A police offic

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  Technology

  OLED accounts for 60 pct of world's market for smartphone displays: IHS Markit

  Organic light-emitting diode panels accounted for more than 60 percent of the world's market for smartphone displays in the third quarter of 2018, data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by industry tracker IHS Markit, the global market for smartphone displays came to US$10.7 billion in the July-September period, with OLED panels taking up 61.1 percent, or $6.6 billion. (Yonhap)The proportion of OLED panels rose sharply from the 35 percent posted in the first quarter of 2017, the data

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  Industry

  Concrete voids found in two UAE reactors: ENEC

  Two nuclear reactors under construction in the United Arab Emirates were found to have voids in their concrete walls and have been undergoing repairs, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation has said. The Korea Electric Power Corporation, which is in charge of the construction of four reactors at the Barakah nuclear power plant, verified the presence of voids in Units 2 and 3 that were then confirmed by the plant operator, the ENEC said on its website on Dec. 5.  (Yonhap)The state-run nuclear op

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  Social affairs

  Govt. to change rule for easier pension sharing after divorce

  The welfare ministry said Monday it is reviewing a regulatory change that would allow divorcees to claim part of the national pension received by their ex-spouses after just one year of marriage.Eligibility for pension sharing currently comes with a number of prerequisites, including minimum five years in marriage and that the subscribed spouse live to the required recipient age of 60 to 65. The ex-spouse also needs to have subscribed to the pension for at least 10 years. (Yonhap)Ministry offici

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  Finance

  Govt. to expand loan programs to include people with worst credit scores

  The government plans to offer loans to people with the lowest credit ratings as a way to save them having to borrow from loan sharks, officials said Monday.Financial authorities operate a number of loan programs for people with bad credit scores, lending them money at a maximum 10.5 percent annual interest rate. Because the rate is fixed, however, those with the worst credit ratings at the bottom and who needed to be charged higher interest, were left out of the programs.Financial regulators and

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  Chinese money has American universities in a bind

  The arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Canada at the request of the US has further ramped up the tension and rancor between Washington and Beijing. It is also forcing a reckoning about the role of Chinese money in America.Members of the Twitterverse have begun to point out that certain US think tanks have accepted money from Huawei, which the US government considers to be linked to China’s intelligence apparatus. Yet they are not the only academic and research instituti

• 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

THE INVESTOR

• Bio & Medicine

  

  Delisting of pharma firm sparks debate on market fairness

  The Korean market operator’s decision to delist a local pharmaceuticals company is raising questions about the fairness in authorities’ action against firms accused of accounting errors, with investors comparing the case to that of Samsung BioLogics. A panel led by the Korea Exchange, the nation’s sole market operator, suggested Dec. 14 the removal of Kyung Nam Pharm, a Seoul-headquartered pharmaceutical company, from the second-tier Kosdaq market, putting the fate of the company

• 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

• Samsung

  

  Samsung, LG to showcase 5G phones at MWC

  Korean smartphone makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are planning to unveil their first fifth-generation network-enabled smartphones at the biggest mobile industry tradeshow in Barcelona in February, aiming to launch the phones in March upon commercialization of wireless 5G services, according to industry sources on Dec. 16.Industry observers are paying attention to the Mobile World Congress 2019 that opens in Barcelona in late February in order to witness the new phone

• Retail & Consumer

  

  Innisfree lands in Melbourne

  South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific’s organic skincare brand Innisfree opened a new store in Melbourne, the third of its kind in Australia. It comes six months after the company has opened the first store in Australia, amid local consumers’ increasing interest toward the K-beauty and organic cosmetics, the company said. The new Innisfree store is located on the first floor at Australia’s the largest shopping mall Chadstone Shopping Centre. The company said the store is decor

K-POP HERALD

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  EXO returns with ‘Love Shot’

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  Mamamoo warns against mean comments

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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

• Music

  

  BTS wins big at 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong

  BTS took home what is regarded as the highest honors of the evening on the third and final night of the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong: artist and album of the year. BTS delivers a thank-you speech at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong (CJ ENM) BTS after winning `Album of the Year` at 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong (CJ ENM) BTS delivers a thank-you speech at the 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong (CJ ENM) Leader RM speaks on behalf of the group at MAMA in Hong Kong on Friday (CJ ENM)“Love Your

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

• Finance

  

  Delisting of pharma firm sparks debate on market fairness

  The South Korean market operator’s decision to delist a local pharmaceuticals company is raising questions about the fairness in authorities’ action against firms accused of accounting errors, with investors comparing the case to that of Samsung BioLogics. A panel led by the Korea Exchange, the nation’s sole market operator, suggested Friday the removal of Kyung Nam Pharm, a Seoul-headquartered pharmaceutical company, from the second-tier Kosdaq market, putting the fate of the company in the han

• Technology

  

  Samsung, LG to showcase 5G phones at MWC

  South Korean smartphone makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are planning to unveil their first fifth-generation network-enabled smartphones at the biggest mobile industry tradeshow in Barcelona in February, aiming to launch the phones in March upon commercialization of wireless 5G services, according to industry sources Sunday. Industry observers are paying attention to the Mobile World Congress 2019 that opens in Barcelona in late February in order to witness the new phones of the fir

• 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,