SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  Lawmaker’s son booked for refusing field sobriety test after car crash

  The son of lawmaker Rep. Chang Je-won was booked by police for refusing a field sobriety test after a car accident occurred in southern Seoul on Saturday. Chang Yong-jun, 21, was involved in a car crash at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday. According to police, the son of the three-term conservative lawmaker headbutt a police officer who requested Chang take a field test to see if he was driving under the influence. The car crash reportedly caused no injuries. Chang, who is a rapper that performs un

• Music

  

  Lisa's 'Lalisa' tops global YouTube music chart

  The debut solo release “Lalisa” from K-pop girl group Blackpink member Lisa was ranked No. 1 on global YouTube music charts in its first week, the singer‘s agency YG Entertainment said Sunday. “Lalisa” was the highest-ranked song on YouTube‘s music chart for the week starting Sept. 10 -- its release date -- with 216 million views, pushing out “Raattan Lambiyan” by Tankshik Bagchi, Jubin Nautiyal & Asees Kaur from the top spot. Its music vide

• Culture

  

  Timeline Index lists Jikji as oldest printed book with metal types on civic group‘s campaign

  Not-for-profit civic organization Voluntary Agency Network of Korea said Sunday its campaign to petition a website to recognize Jikji Simche Yojeol as the oldest book with movable metal type in the world has borne fruit. Timeline Index, a Netherlands-based project to collect and disclose information about historic assets, has recently recognized the Buddhist doctrinal book as the oldest book printed using movable metal type, upon VANK’s request for correction, according to VANK. Printed

• Retail

  

  Will cosmetic refills take off in Korea?

  Beauty products often come in extravagant packaging -- only to later end up in a landfill after a single use. Statistics show only 10 percent of cosmetics packaging is recyclable, due to the complex designs, colors and multilayer structures. Faced with growing criticism for its contribution to the global waste problem and in a bid to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers, cosmetics companies are turning to refilling stations where consumers can bring empty bottles and buy what they

LATEST NEWS

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  K-pop

  [Herald Interview] Yang Yo-seob hopes to shape his musical experiences with wider taste

  Singer-turned-soloist aims to open new chapter in music career by tailoring wider musical taste, collaborating with voices of A-listers

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  Travel

  [Photo News] Blooming buckwheat flowers in Bongpyeong

  Unlike other flowers that bloom in spring, the buckwheat flower blooms in September. Bongpyeong-myeon in Gangwon Province is well-known for the buckwheat flower. Inspired by breathtaking views of fields covered by a carpet of buckwheat flowers, Korean novelist Lee Hyo-seok who lived in the area wrote the bestselling novel “When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom.” Before the outbreak of COVID-19, Bongpyeong held a buckwheat flower festival each year in commemoration of the author. Althoug

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  Foreign affairs

  Moon to meet Pfizer CEO in New York

  President Moon Jae-in will hold a meeting with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourlar in New York on Tuesday, during his five-day trip to the US for the UN General Assembly, Cheong Wa Dae said. During the meeting, the president is expected to express his gratitude toward the US vaccine maker’s COVID-19 vaccine supply and ask support for future partnership. Moon has held a series of meetings with leaders of global vaccine makers, including Moderna, AstraZeneca and Curevac, in recent months as part of

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  Social affairs

  From vaccination reminders to relief aid info: Virtual assistant helps over 12m residents

  GoodPy has provided 162 million notifications to help Korea’s vaccination drive: ministry

• 

  North Korea

  N. Korea downplays S. Korea’s SLBM test

  North Korea said Monday that the submarine-launched ballistic missile South Korea test-fired last week was primitive and not a threat. Pyongyang is seen as trying to discredit Seoul’s missile capabilities because South Korea is the first non-nuclear state to have tested an SLBM. Previously, SLBMs had been developed by only six countries: China, France, India, Russia, the UK and the US. “South Korea’s SLBM will not be effective in war. No strategic or tactical value there,&rdq

• 

  Social affairs

  2.2 magnitude quake hits southwestern South Korea, no damage reported

  A 2.2 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern South Korea early Monday, but no damage was reported, the weather agency said. The quake hit some 20 kilometers northeast of Boseong County in South Jeolla Province, some 395 kilometers from Seoul, at 6:58 a.m. from a depth of 8 km, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). The epicenter was located at a latitude of 34.88 degrees north and a longitude of 127.25 degrees east. The maximum seismic intensity scale was 3, which means

• Social affairs

  New cases slightly over 1,600; concerns grow over further spread after Chuseok holiday

  South Korea's daily coronavirus cases fell to around 1,600 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but concerns have grown further over a surge in infections after the Chuseok holiday amid the fast spread of the virus in the greater Seoul area, officials said. The country reported an additional 1,605 COVID-19 cases, including 1,577 local infections, raising the total caseload to 287,536, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It was the second straight day

• 

  World News

  [Photo News] ‘Fashion’s biggest night out’

  Met Gala, also known as the “fashion’s biggest night out”, is an iconic event in the fashion industry. After the cancelation last year due to the coronavirus crisis, the annual gala was postponed from May to September as virus infections showed no signs of slowing down. The Met Gala was first held by Vogue in 1948 to fundraise for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Under the theme of “American Fashion,” the hottest movie stars, models, and numerous inf

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  Social affairs

  [Photo News] Children make ‘songpyeon’ for Chuseok

  “Songpyeon” are traditional Korean rice cakes that are usually made at home and eaten with family before Chuseok. The Namdo Local Food Museum in Gwangju hosted a songpyeon-making experience Sept. 14 for the upcoming Chuseok holiday. Children from a day care center within Gwangju’s Buk-gu Office participated along with their teachers. 

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  Science

  Spring flowers bloom earlier, ice freezes later than before: report

  Korea Meteorological Administration releases new seasonal observation data from 1991 to 2020

GRAPHIC NEWS

OPINION

• Viewpoints

  

  Getting together, finally

  When I heard a friend who is a few years older say that she missed the chaos of the kitchen before “jesa,” or ancestral rite, I was incredulous. She described how the women of her family would line the kitchen floor with layers of old newspaper to prevent the cooking oil from splattering and set up an electric griddle on top of it. “I miss the sound of sizzling jeon and the smell of cooking oil that wafted through the house,” she said. The kitchen countertop was not lar

• Viewpoints

  

  COVID-19 becoming just another virus

  In the days before COVID-19, I’d often get frustrated by the response that doctors would give when I turned up at their clinics with some infection or other: “It’s just a virus,” they’d say. As someone who’s long been fascinated by the detective work that goes into tracing the origins and history of infections, the answer always seemed too perfunctory. Which virus was it? Where and when did this strain emerge? How many other people were getting infected wit

THE INVESTOR

• Market Now

  

  [MARKET EYE] Hyundai Motor’s succession plan a headache to Hyundai Card

  Should Hyundai Card leave Hyundai Motor, card issuer likely to face increased debt financing costs, experts say

• Market Now

  

  KB-Shinhan green fund to finance renewable energy project in Sweden

  　A green fund jointly invested in by two South Korean banking giants -- KB and Shinhan -- will partly finance a renewable energy project in Sweden, officials said on September 16. 　The financial holding firms invested a combined 80 billion won ($68.4 million) in the Global Green Energy Partnership Fund set up in April last year. 　Korea Midland Power, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Sprott Korea Investment also joined the fund designed to facilitate development of renewable energy across t

• Market Now

  

  Cyworld, Hancom form strategic partnership

  Cyworld, the once-popular social networking service, signed a strategic partnership with Hancom, an office suite software developer in South Korea, according to both companies on Sept. 15. The partnership comes as Cyworld gears up to jump into the market with its metaverse-powered service Cyworld Z. The metaverse refers to a virtual world in which individuals can interact as avatars through different kinds of virtual technology such as augmented reality and virtual reality. The partnership ta

• Market Now

  

  S. Korea’s tax chief seeks cooperation with Denmark, Hungary

  South Korea’s tax chief met his counterparts in Denmark and Hungary to strengthen cooperation with the European agencies and discuss the future of electronic tax administration systems in the post-pandemic era, officials said Sept. 15. National Tax Service Commissioner Kim Dae-ji held a bilateral meeting with Merete Agergaard, chief of the Danish tax agency in Copenhagen, and a separate meeting in Budapest with his Hungarian counterpart, Vagujhelyi Ferenc, during his trip earlier this mon

K-POP

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  Yang Yo-seob hopes to shape his musical experiences with wider taste

• 

  NCT 127 gifts fans a boxful of joy with ‘Sticker’

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  NCT127 poised to show another side with 3rd LP

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Technology

  

  Design at heart of Samsung’s evolution to better satisfy consumers: exec

• esports

  

  T1 Teddy ready to compete at Worlds 2021

• Industry

  

  Carving out a place for Korea in new global trade order

• Industry

  

  Homegrown rocket may be ticket to join new space order

PHOTO NEWS

• Social affairs

  

  Preparation of Apples for Chuseok

  Ripe apples are picked by a worker at an apple orchard in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. On Thursday, workers carefully examine and select the season’s apples. Employees organize the apples and group them into similar sizes and shapes. Apples that have been sorted out are put into crates, all ready to be shipped out for the Chuseok holiday.

VIDEO

• Music

  

  Conductor seeks new stage with video games

• Music

  

  'The stage is to die for'

• Food&Beverage

  

  Korean paella chef competes in world tournament with ‘Samgye-paella’

• Culture

  

  Documenting Korean history, culture for future generations

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  Almost 70% of Korea is at least partly vaccinated against COVID-19 -- now what?

  South Korea is close to reaching its goal of having 70 percent of the population vaccinated with a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before Saturday, when this year’s Chuseok holiday begins. So what does this mean for the country’s pandemic response going forward? Lee Ki-il, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s deputy minister for health care policy, told Friday’s televised news briefing that Korea was close to hitting “a significant milestone in the vaccination

• Social affairs

  

  Four-member households continue to dwindle in Korea

  Proportion of ‘typical-sized’ families declines to under 15% in a decade

• Culture

  

  New types of digital archives on the rise to help broaden public access

  More sophisticated solutions needed to improve user interface and enhance accuracy in building digital archive platforms

• Social affairs

  

  Tally for discouraged workers up 50,000 on-year

  Korea 27th of 33 OECD members in employment for people aged 25-54