SPOTLIGHT

• Film

  

  SIFF organizer connects local indie movie creators with distributors

  The organizer of the Seoul Independent Film Festival announced Friday that its two-day event “Next Link,” held Tuesday and Wednesday to connect indie movie creators with distributors, was a success. The event at the Eyelove Art Center in Gangnam, Seoul, was organized jointly with Indie Ground, an independent movie retail and distribution hub created by the Korean Film Council in August. Short and feature-length indie films had separate sessions during the event where the directors

• Television

  

  Paik Jong-won to star in Netflix original series ‘Paik’s Spirit’

  Online TV platform Netflix announced the making of a new project Friday titled “Paik’s Spirit,” featuring food researcher, businessman and entertainer Paik Jong-won. On the show, Paik will have a drink with guests in diverse fields who represent South Korea and will talk about their stories, as well as the stories behind the liquors they prefer. “Paik’s Spirit” will be Netflix’s first reality series introducing Korean drinks, food and culture. Paik wi

• People

  

  Two Koreans on ArtReview’s Power 100 list

  Two South Koreans made ArtReview’s Power 100 list this year: Kim Sun-jung, international curator and president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, and Lee Hyun-sook, chairwoman of the Kukje Gallery in Seoul. Kim ranked No. 72, up five places from No. 77 in 2019. Lee ranked No. 83, having fallen from No. 60 last year. The British art magazine offers an annual ranking of the most influential movers and shakers in contemporary art at the end of each year. ArtReview mentioned Kim’s di

• K-pop

  

  BTS tops Billboard's year-end Top Artists Duo/Group chart

  After a record-breaking 2020, BTS has ranked No. 1 on the Billboard's year-end Top Artists Duo/Group chart for the first time in its career, the US music publication reported. "BTS is the first non-US act to be the year's top duo/group since British/Irish boy band One Direction led in both 2015 and 2014," the Billboard reported Thursday (US time). It added that the band ranked No. 18 in the overall Top Artists chart. BTS ranked second place on the chart in 2017, 2018 and 2019, when T

LATEST NEWS

• Technology

  Korea to tighten grip on global internet giants amid service complaints

       A law revision set to take effect next week will tighten rules for data-hungry internet giants, such as Netflix Inc., amid growing calls for stable services.     Earlier this week, the Cabinet passed an amendment to the ordinance of the Telecommunication Business Act, stipulating that online content service providers are responsible for providing stable services to users.     The new rules set to take effect Dec. 10 apply to large online

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  Travel

  [Eye Plus] Kukkiwon, mecca of taekwondo

  Separated from the notorious car and foot traffic of the Gangnam neighborhood, Kukkiwon sits on a small hill in a calm area filled with trees. Kukkiwon, a traditional-looking building with white columns, has been the heart of the Korean martial art of taekwondo for the past half century.  The institution was established in November 1972 as the world headquarters of taekwondo. The same year, to celebrate its founding, it held the first-ever international competition. Since then, the orga

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  Culture

  [Weekender] Zero waste movement grows amid pandemic

  As pandemic exacerbates disposable waste pile-up, zero waste stores offer alternative

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  Food&Beverage

  [Diana’s Table] Persimmon citrus salad

  Persimmon is a fruit that signals the coming of winter in Korea. The name persimmon means “divine fruit” and it is commonly grown in East Asia, mostly China, Japan and Korea. The fruit matures late in the fall but can stay on the tree until winter. In fact, you may frequently see a bare persimmon tree with only its fruits on the branches. It can be eaten raw, dried, cooked or even frozen. When eaten fresh and ripe, it is sweet and mellow. It has a unique and slippery texture and i

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  Viewpoints

  [Digital Simplicity] Why Korean gamers prefer biggest World of Warcraft server

  Blizzard had prepared a lot for the Nov. 24 launch of Shadowlands, the eighth expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. But it didn’t see the strange mini boom coming in South Korea. Let’s lay out the basic facts before moving to the big question of why the expansion is now the talk of the town among middle-aged gamers here. Whenever Blizzard has put out a new episode for WoW, there has been a logjam in the company’s servers as m

• 

  Film

  Youn Yuh-jung wins Best Supporting Actress at Sunset Circle Awards

  Veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung won the award for best supporting actress at the Sunset Circle Awards on Tuesday for her role in “Minari,” by director Lee Isaac Chung. The 73-year-old actress won over other nominees, Amanda Seyfried of “Mank,” Amy Adams of “Hillbilly Elegy,” Zazie Beetz of “Nine Days” and Oliva Colman of “The Father.” As many of them are thought to be in the running for 2021 Oscar nominations, Youn’s win raises hope

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  Culture

  [Photo News] Snow whitens Hallasan

  The grandeur of Baengnokdam Crater Lake of Hallasan dazzles with snow as winter sets in. The winterscape of the mountain stands out vividly, as snow on the branches shines in the clear sky.  The snowfield of the scenery may be appreciated throughout the snowy season of winter. (Photos: Ko Won-sang - Yonhap) By Lee Jae-Eun (leeje16@heraldcorp.com)

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  Markets

  Seoul shares likely to move in tight range next week

      South Korean stocks are likely to move in a tight range next week after a continued rally this week as investors take a breather.     Despite a surge in new daily COVID-19 cases, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at an all-time high of 2,633.45 points Friday, up 3.72 percent from a week ago.     The KOSPI exceed the 2,700-point mark for the first time Friday on extended foreign buying, buoyed by vaccine hopes and expectations

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  Social affairs

  Coronavirus cases in military exceed 400 as 6 new cases reported

      Coronavirus infections in the South Korean military exceeded 400 Saturday, as six more cases were reported amid a continued cluster transmission at barracks.     Three soldiers at an Army boot camp in the border county of Yeoncheon tested positive while being quarantined, bringing the number of total patients there to 80, according to the defense ministry.     One Army officer and a Marine at the Sangmudae Artillery School in the southwestern co

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  Retail

  Japan's Uniqlo to close main outlet in S. Korea amid pandemic

       Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo will close its outlet in Seoul's popular shopping district next month, after a sharp fall in sales stemming from the new coronavirus outbreak and a trade dispute between Seoul and Tokyo.     Uniqlo said on its website recently in Korean that its global flagship store in Myeongdong, central Seoul, will stop operating Jan. 31. The outlet is the second biggest in the world after one in New York.     &nbs

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Viewpoints

  

  Why Korean gamers prefer biggest World of Warcraft server

  Blizzard had prepared a lot for the Nov. 24 launch of Shadowlands, the eighth expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. But it didn’t see the strange mini boom coming in South Korea. Let’s lay out the basic facts before moving to the big question of why the expansion is now the talk of the town among middle-aged gamers here. Whenever Blizzard has put out a new episode for WoW, there has been a logjam in the company’s servers as m

• Viewpoints

  

  Biden’s foreign policy and South Korea

  In his first month as US president-elect, Joe Biden has made steady progress in preparing to take office in January. His first round of high-profile appointments focused on foreign policy and national security. The appointments are respected foreign-policy establishment figures, mostly from the Obama years, who support traditional alliances and US engagement in world affairs. To understand Biden’s interest in foreign policy, we need to go back to Biden‘s high school and college yea

THE INVESTOR

• Finance

  

  Mirae Asset wins lawsuit over $5.8b US hotel deal

  Mirae Asset Global Investments, one of South Korea’s largest asset management firms, said on Dec. 1 that it won a US court case against Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group over legal disputes involving a $5.8 billion deal to acquire luxury hotels. 　The Delaware Court of Chancery rejected Anbang’s demand of Mirae Asset to pay off the rest of the deal, and ordered the Chinese insurer to return $580 million it received from the South Korean company as a deposit of the deal, with int

• Industrials

  

  SK sets up hydrogen business group

  SK Group is poised to make a big bet on the rising hydrogen market, seeing the fuel as a next-generation eco-friendly energy source. 　SK Holdings said on Dec. 1 that it established a hydrogen business promotion group, an organization dedicated to the hydrogen project consisting of about 20 experts from related companies such as SK Innovation and SK E&S. 　The holding firm said it has been reviewing the feasibility of the hydrogen project and establishing strategies since early this year. I

• Mobile & Internet

  

  Naver Cloud, GS Global join hands for overseas market

  Naver Cloud and GS Global will collaborate on their overseas services, the companies said on Dec. 1. 　The new alliance with GS Global gives Naver Cloud a channel to liaise with large-scale corporate clients in target countries, while GS Global will gain an opportunity to expand into the information technology business, they said. 　“Naver Cloud has the most global region services among cloud platforms developed by Korean firms,” said Park Won-ki, CEO of Naver Cloud. 　“It h

• The Boardroom

  

  Korean Air to sell Incheon yacht marina

  Korean Air Lines is inching closer to selling its yacht marina operation in Incheon to a new Korean buyer for roughly 130 billion won ($117 million). 　The investor group of Consus Asset Management and Mirae Asset Daewoo said on Nov. 30 it has signed a memorandum of understanding as a preferred bidder to buy 100 percent stake in Wangsan Leisure Development, operator of Wangsan Marina, which is wholly controlled by the nation’s No. 1 flag carrier.　 　Wangsan Marina was built in 2016. Par

K-POP

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  BTS tops Billboard's year-end Top Artists Duo/Group chart

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  Back with new album, GOT7 feels more responsible for music

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  BLACKPINK to hold first livestream concert this month

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Social affairs

  

  From former epicenter to zero cases, Daegu vows lessons won’t go unlearned

• Industry

  

  ‘Forestry crucial for healthy, sustainable future of humanity’

• Retail

  

  Pernod Ricard brings RTD craze to Korea

• Arts&Design

  

  Dansaekhwa master Ha Chong-hyun makes best of adversity

PHOTO NEWS

• Technology

  

  LG Electronics brings robot to convenience stores

   LG Electronics announced Monday that the company had started a trial using the robot at GS Retail’s convenience stores inside LG Science Park in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. The delivery robot, CLOi, will collect ordered items and deliver them to customers after autonomously riding on elevators inside the building. CLOi is capable of carrying items weighing up to 15 kilograms. The robot delivery service is expected to be introduced at hotels, hospitals, offices and airports in the future, acc

VIDEO

• Education

  

  The one day that brings Korea to a standstill: Suneung

• Culture

  

  Offbeat products fizz with upsurge in popularity in Korea

• Culture

  

  Art expressed through glass, light and color

• Culture

  

  Gliding down the facades of Seoul’s royal grounds

FEATURES

• Industry

  

  Smilegate’s Magical Atelier, adorable but overly exclusive to target users

  Just like how the idea of magic rails against common knowledge, Magical Atelier appears to defy the odds, being an unconventional game that transgresses the basic laws of typical Korean mobile games. For busy commuters, mobile games are supposed to be simple and easy to play. Also, they must include elements that can trigger competition among as many users as possible to guarantee profitability. Magical Atelier, developed by Smilegate, meets neither of the two criteria. Released in South K

• Social affairs

  

  2020 to mark 1st year of population decline

  The historic peak could be 51.851 million in Nov. 2019

• Markets

  

  Kospi rises 10th-sharpest among G-20 bourses in November

  Buoyed by foreign investors’ buying, Kospi again hits all-time closing high of 2,675.90

• K-pop

  

  BTS rewrites Billboard history with 'Life Goes On'

  It was not the first time that sensational K-pop boy band BTS had seen its name at the top of US music publication Billboard’s main singles chart, but this time it was different. Billboard on Monday announced via social media that “Life Goes On,” the lead track of the band’s latest album, “Be,” debuted at No. 1 on this week’s Hot 100, the coveted singles chart, becoming the first song sung predominantly in Korean to top the chart in its 62-year history