SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  ‘Isu station’ assault case triggers online gender war in South Korea

  A recent assault case involving three men and two women at a bar near Isu Subway Station in Seoul -- better known as the “Isu Station assault” case -- has triggered an unexpected gender war online, after the women said they were attacked by men for their feminist choices, while others accused them of fabricating the account.　　More than 350,000 Koreans signed an online petition asking for the presidential office to punish the three men after one of the two women claimed online that she and her si

• Music

  

  Drunken Tiger's new song featuring RM tops US iTunes' hip-hop chart

  South Korean hip-hop icon Drunken Tiger's new song featuring BTS leader RM debuted at No. 1 on the US iTunes' hip-hop chart, its agency said Friday."Timeless" from Drunken Tiger's 10th full-length album topped the hip-hop/rap songs chart, the K-pop chart and the music video chart of the US iTunes upon its release, according to Feel Ghood Music. The piece also ranked high on the main pop chart while topping iTunes' song charts of 26 countries, including Sweden, Egypt, Romania, Israel, Finland, Sa

• More sports

  

  Teen figure skater becomes 1st Korean female since Kim Yu-na to win Grand Prix medal

  South Korean teenage figure skater Lim Eun-soo has won her first senior Grand Prix medal to join exclusive company.The 15-year-old grabbed bronze at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow on Saturday (local time), with a combined 185.67 points from her short program and free skating. (Yonhap)This was the fifth and penultimate leg of the International Skating Union Grand Prix of Figure Skating season. Lim is the first South Korean woman since Kim Yu-na, in 2009, to reach the podium at a senior Grand Prix e

• Social affairs

  

  Middle-school students arrested in classmate’s death

  The police said on Saturday that one of four middle-school students arrested in the death of a classmate Friday had worn the victim’s jacket at the time of the arrest and throughout the police investigation. Four teenage boys were booked on charges of causing death from bodily injuries after the other boy fell from the roof of a 15-story apartment building on Tuesday afternoon. The Incheon Yeonsu Police Station confirmed that the jacket one of the suspects wore to court on Friday belonged to the

LATEST NEWS

• 

  Soccer

  Midfielder leaves nat'l team with injury

  BRISBANE, Australia -- Veteran midfielder Koo Ja-cheol will leave the South Korean national team due to an injury suffered during a match in Australia, officials said Sunday.Koo injured his lower back and right hip during South Korea's 1-1 draw with Australia in Brisbane on Saturday. And instead of playing South Korea's next match against Uzbekistan on Tuesday, Koo will return to his Bundesliga club, FC Augsburg, for precautionary reasons, team officials said. South Korean national team midfield

• 

  Industry

  KOEN supports young Pakistani patient with cleft lip, palate

  Korea South-East Power Co. has donated 18 million won ($16,000) to a young patient from Pakistan with a cleft lip and palate as the first beneficiary of its medical social contribution service, the company said Sunday. The firm helped with the surgery expenses while paying a visit to the 7-month-old patient at the Dental Hospital of Gangneung-Wonju National University.The donation was part of the KOEN Miso-Dream project jointly launched with the Seoul Medical Service Foundation in April this yea

• 

  North Korea

  Seoul, Washington to launch working group on N. Korea this week: sources

  South Korea and the United States are expected to launch a new consultative body to coordinate their efforts on denuclearization of North Korea this week, diplomatic sources here said Sunday.They said Seoul and Washington have agreed in principle to hold the first meeting of the bilateral "working group" during an upcoming visit to the US capital by Lee Do-hoon, Seoul's top nuclear envoy. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs (left), and US special r

• 

  Foreign Policy

  Moon calls for ‘inclusive growth’ among APEC states

  President Moon Jae returns after five-day trip to Southeast Asia and summits with regional leaders

• 

  World News

  Korean American narrowly defeated in US Congress election

  LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON -- Republican candidate Young Kim, who was expected to become the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress, has been defeated by Democratic rival Gil Cisneros in California's 39th district, a report said Saturday.The South Korea-born politician took the lead in initial vote counting in the Nov. 6 election. But she lost to Cisneros by 1.6 percentage point as of 8:00 p.m. after mail-in ballots were counted, according to the Associated Press.  Republican candidate for

• 

  Industry

  Korea's mid-sized cosmetics firms report weak earnings in Q3

  South Korea's mid-sized cosmetics companies suffered losses in the third quarter of this year as they strived to reform their business structures in the face of tough competition at home, industry sources said Sunday.Able C&C, which operates budget cosmetics brand Missha, swung to the red in the July-September period, posting a net loss of 9.4 billion won ($8.3 million), it said. Its sales dropped 12.1 percent to 73.1 billion won and operating income swung to loss of 13.2 billion won.  (Yonhap)T

• 

  Industry

  Recent changes in accounting and audit practices in Korea

  On the Bar is a regular column written by attorneys at Yoon & Yang LLC on various laws and regulations that affect running a business in Korea. The content provided here is general legal information. -- Ed.The Act on External Audit of Stock Companies has undergone numerous amendments since its enactment in 1981.The latest amendment, which took effect on Nov. 1 this year, contains the most sweeping reform measures affecting all stakeholders in the accounting industry -- companies, auditors and re

• 

  Soccer

  Korea knocked out of group stage at FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

  South Korea have been eliminated in the group stage at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Uruguay, following their second straight loss.South Korea were blanked by Canada 2-0 in their Group D match at Estadio Charrua in Montevideo on Saturday (local time), and fell to last place in the group that also includes Spain and Colombia. (Yonhap)South Korea lost the opener to Spain 4-0 last Wednesday. But regardless of their result against Colombia on the coming Wednesday, South Korea will not grab one

• 

  Industry

  Conglomerates' spending on business assets jumps 10.9%

  Affiliates and subsidiaries of South Korea’s top 30 conglomerates spent a combined 64.9 trillion won ($57.3 billion) on acquiring business assets, such as facilities and projects for research and development, in the first three quarters of this year, data showed Sunday.  (Yonhap)The conglomerates’ volume of capital expenditure -- spending on tangible assets -- and operating expenses -- of intangible assets -- combined rose 10.9 percent compared to the first three quarters in 2017, according to d

• 

  North Korea

  Two Koreas to celebrate anniversary of suspended joint tour program

  The two Koreas are set to hold an event Sunday to mark the 20th anniversary of the long-suspended joint tourism program at the North's scenic Mount Kumgang.Some 130 South Koreans and 80 North Koreans will attend the first celebratory event for four years on the eastern coast resort for two days. It is co-organized by Hyundai Group, which operated the tour project, and the North's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.   Kumgang Mountain (Yonhap)Among South Korean participants are about 30 Hyundai o

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Columnists

  

  The world is adapting to the reality of Donald Trump as president

  One of the assumptions that economists sometimes use to frame their models is to specify that some variables will be held constant, a concept that’s expressed with the Latin phrase “ceteris paribus.” We often make the same mistake in politics and foreign policy. We concentrate on our own domestic issues and assume that the rest of the world will remain fixed while we sort them out. We’ll get back to you later, in 2021, say. But the world moves on. It’s dynamic, not static: Erratic changes in one

• Columnists

  

  Tussle with China in Mekong basin

  Countries in the Mekong basin, notably those located in the lower part of the river -- Asia’s seventh longest -- are in need of a collective strategy to secure their future, given China’s control of the upstream part and ongoing changes in global geopolitics.The 4,909-kilometer river runs from Tibet in China through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. But only its lower portion is regulated by an international agreement and an organization.The lower part is popularly known as Mekong w

THE INVESTOR

• Retail & Consumer

  

  Local PEF emerges as 2nd largest shareholder of Hanjin KAL

  Local private equity fund KGCI has become the second-largest shareholder of Hanjin KAL, operator of the country’s largest airline Korean Air, seen as a challenge to the management of the troubled firm. KGCI announced on Nov. 15 it has acquired 5,322,666 shares or 9 percent stake in Hanjin KAL for 24,557 won (US$21.47) apiece through its subsidiary Grace Holdings. It has become the second-largest stakeholder after Chairman Cho Yang-ho and people close to him who own 28.95 percent s

• Startups & Investors

  

  The Investor’s Choice 2018 to crown top startups on Nov. 28

  The Investor’s Choice 2018, an awards ceremony focused on promising startups hosted by The Korea Herald’s investment news platform The Investor, will be held on Nov. 28.The one-day event aims to celebrate startups that have demonstrated the highest level of innovation this year and seeks to encourage open discussions about startups that are breaking new ground here. The ceremony will kick off with opening remarks by Herald Corp. Chairman Jungwook Hong. Fleur Pellerin, co-founder a

• Samsung

  

  Samsung companies lost combined 56 trillion won in market cap

  Korea's No. 1 conglomerate, Samsung, saw its market capitalization fall nearly 12 percent this year due to losses in tech and bio shares, a corporate tracker said on Nov. 18The combined market value of its 16 listed companies came to 418.33 trillion won (US$369.5 billion) as of Nov. 14, compared to 475. 12 trillion won in the end of last year, down 11.95 percent, according to FnGuide.Samsung Electronics, the largest firm in terms of market capitalization, dropped 13.94 percent to

• Startups & Investors

  

  China sees bright spot in AI-driven wealth management

  Artificial intelligence has become a buzzword in China in recent years, with the country heavily investing money and talent into the technology. Among AI’s wide array of applications, fintech experts view the technology that gives human-like abilities to machines could have the greatest impact in changing China’s wealth management industry that is still at the nascent stage.  Xiaolan Guan, executive president of Hundsun Technologies; Yihan Fang, CEO of Yirendai; Matthew Chen, Grou

K-POP HERALD

• 

  Big Bang’s Seungri issues apology

• 

  Winner wins with first concert in Indonesia

• 

  Watch Jennie’s ‘Solo’ full choreography

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Industry

  

  TMON envisions creating ‘online malling’ experience

• Foreign Policy

  

  ASEAN important for Korea’s peace as well as prosperity: ambassador

• Diplomatic Circuit

  

  Tapping Korean experience to tackle world’s development challenges

• Technology

  

  Meet 'Faker': Korean League of Legends talent extraordinaire

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Comic characters revitalize old neighborhood

  Seongnae-dong in Gangdong District of Seoul was run-down and quiet, a neighborhood occupied mostly by the elderly. But with Kang Full, a popular webtoon artist who has been living in the area since he was 2 years old, the old town has turned into a lively and vivid one with his comic characters. Created in 2013, the Kang Full Cartoon Alley in Seongnae-dong is full of his artworks featuring popular characters and images from his comics. Artists and students from Sungsu High School’s art club join

VIDEO

• Technology

  

  Meet 'Faker': Korean League of Legends talent extraordinaire

• Television

  

  K-pop stars rock red carpet looks at 2018 MGA

• Music

  

  BTS on red carpet at 2018 MGA

• Social affairs

  

  Modernized hanbok setting trend, reinterpreting tradition

FEATURES

• Technology

  

  First ‘Fortnite’ esports competition in Korea to take place next month

  The inaugural esports competition for the globally popular survival shooting game “Fortnite Battle Royale” will take place in South Korea next month, bringing a new addition to the country’s active competitive gaming landscape. 　Epic Games, the US-based video game company behind “Fortnite,” plans to hold “Fortnite Korea Open 2018” on Dec. 15 at Korea University’s Hwajung Gymnasium. Players will compete for a 1 billion won ($885,000) donation to charity, according to the company.“The event marks

• Defense

  

  Govt. considers 36 months in correctional facilities for alternative service

  The South Korean government is seeking to require 36 months of work in correctional facilities from those seeking alternative to military service, after the country’s top court recognized conscientious objection as a valid reason for rejecting mandatory military service. 　While the Ministry of National Defense and the conscription agency have yet to finalize plans for an alternative service program, they said their preferred option is to involve conscientious objectors serving at correctional fa

• Industry

  

  Market remains split over Samsung BioLogics’ trading suspension

  The stock trading suspension of Samsung BioLogics starting Thursday seemed to wrap up a chapter in the yearslong brawl over alleged accounting fraud, apparently with the defeat of the biotech company.Market observers, however, remained divided on the impact that the case may have on the domestic stock market and the biopharmaceutical industry. Some optimistically suggested that the sanction may act as a turning point for the Samsung Group affiliate to end the prolonged uncertainty factor.The dow

• Technology

  

  Samsung hosts first AI forum in Beijing

  In an effort to expand its presence in the Chinese market, Samsung Electronics hosted its first forum on artificial intelligence in Beijing on Thursday, presenting its newest technology solutions to tech leaders. The first such forum by Samsung drew around 500 officials from the country’s leading tech firms, such as Baidu, Xiaomi and Hikvision. Samsung’s choice of venue also drew attention, as China is intensifying competition with the US in attracting and fostering AI startups.Choi Cheol, execu