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Jul 7, 2020 Travel

Hantan River area listed as UNESCO Global Geopark

The Hantan River area near the inter-Korean border has been designated as a UNESCO Global Geopark, officials said Tuesday. The UN body made the decision to add the 1,165-square-kilometer area to the list during a meeting in Paris, according to the Gyeonggi provincial government. The designation raised the number of South Korean geoparks on the list to four, including the southern island of Jeju, Cheongsong in the southeast and Mount Mudeung in the southwest. "We will put special efforts

USFK expresses regrets over soldiers' unruly behavior at beach

The US Forces Korea on Tuesday expressed regrets over its soldiers' unruly behavior in the southeastern city of Busan on US Independence Day last week, vowing to fully cooperate with South Korean authorities' investigation and to take appropriate disciplinary action against those involved. The unidentified service members are accused of creating disturbances by setting off firecrackers at Haeundae Beach on Saturday night and even shooting some of them toward citizens in an apparent Fourth of J

Jul 7, 2020
Social affairs
S. Korea to provide US$4m in aid to 14 countries hit by locust swarms

South Korea decided Tuesday to provide US$4 million in humanitarian aid to 14 countries suffering from food crises due to desert locusts, the foreign ministry said. The assistance will be provided to Yemen, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya and other Southwest Asian and African countries via the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), according to the ministry. In East Africa alone, more than 25 million people are estimated to be in a food crisis. Of the total, 11 m

Jul 7, 2020
Foreign affairs
Citibank Korea launches AI chatbot consulting service

Citibank Korea said Tuesday it has launched an artificial intelligence-based chatbot consulting service to bolster its untact (contactless) digital customer service. According to the South Korean subsidiary of the New York-based bank, the service provides round-the-clock consulting for customers that need immediate consulting. It can be used after adding Citibank channel via messenger app KakaoTalk. The AI chatbot will help customers find the nearest Citibank branch and provide information

Jul 7, 2020
Money
Sports ministry to cooperate with legal authorities to root out abuse in athletics

The sports ministry vowed Tuesday to work closely with legal authorities to help eliminate abuse in athletics while reaffirming its commitment to zero tolerance against any misconduct. The announcement came in light of a snowballing abuse scandal in triathlon. Choi Suk-hyeon, a 22-year-old triathlete, took her own life late last month after enduring years of apparent physical and verbal abuse from her coaching staff and older teammates on her semi-pro club in Gyeongju, 370 kilometers southeast

Jul 7, 2020
Social affairs
Korean Air to sell off inflight service operations to Hahn & Co.

South Korea’s cash-strapped flag carrier Korean Air Lines said Tuesday it plans to sell its inflight meal catering and duty-free units to local private equity firm Hahn & Co. “As for the divestment of inflight catering services and duty-free operations, Korean Air has given Hahn & Co. the exclusive rights to negotiate,” it said in a disclosure after a board meeting at 4 p.m. “Korean Air will continue to discuss the details about the transaction with Hahn &

Jul 7, 2020
Money
Korea, Spain discuss cooperation in digital, green tech

South Korean and Spanish business experts discussed potential partnerships, especially in digital and green technologies, at a virtual conference on Tuesday. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry held the 21st Korea-Spain Economic Cooperation Committee meeting online in collaboration with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. The meeting comes after a phone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and King Felipe VI of Spain last month. It aims to serve as an opportunity to build momentum

Jul 7, 2020
Industry
LG Electronics’ Q2 earnings better than feared

LG Electronics on Tuesday announced its preliminary earnings for the second quarter of this year, beating forecasts by market watchers over concerns about sales falls during the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the earnings guidance, LG is expected to have posted 12.8 trillion won ($10.7 billion) in revenue and 493.1 billion won in operating profit for the April-June period. The figures were down 17.9 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. The second-quarter operating

Jul 7, 2020
Technology
NCSoft’s market cap soars, briefly entering top 10

NCSoft continued to perform strong at the stock market, briefly entering the top 10 market capitalization list on Monday, nudging top automaker Hyundai Motor. Hyundai Motor managed to recover its 10th place as of Tuesday, though the gap between NCSoft remained at 76.1 billion won ($63.6 million). NCSoft is the only South Korean game company to have breached the 20-trillion-won mark in market valuation. The game company’s market cap reached 21.8 trillion won at the closing bell on the

Jul 7, 2020
Industry
Culture Station Seoul 284 to unveil ‘New Discovery of Travel’ exhibition online

Culture Station Seoul 284 will unveil the “New Discovery of Travel” exhibition online on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Audiences can enjoy the online content during the “2020 Special Travel Week” which runs from July 1 through July 19 on Culture Station Seoul 284’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/seoul284official). The exhibition is themed around the question of “Why do we travel?” It was originally scheduled to run from June 23 to Aug. 8, but the opening wa

Jul 7, 2020
Arts&Design
WeWork Labs reinforces virtual startup acceleration programs

Coworking space giant WeWork said Tuesday that it plans to upgrade its online startup acceleration programs in a bid to support local firms that aim to expand overseas. WeWork Korea held online forums, workshops and conferences this year to connect venture capitalists and industry experts with fledgling startups via its WeWork Labs platform, which offers budding firms access to seasoned experts, investors and other peers through mentoring programs and networking events. WeWork began the Labs

Jul 7, 2020
Markets
Hyundai, SK chiefs discuss next-gen lithium-metal EV battery

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun on Tuesday met SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at SK Innovation’s electric vehicle battery plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, to discuss future partnerships and next-generation EV technologies including lithium-metal batteries. Current lithium-ion batteries consist of four key components: cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator. Lithium-metal batteries use metal instead of graphite for anodes, increasing energy density

Jul 7, 2020
Industry
State-led research institute launches AI education platform

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, a state-funded research body under the ICT Ministry, announced Tuesday that it has rolled out an educational program designed to nurture experts in artificial intelligence. The new educational program has been launched jointly by AWS and Nvidia’s regional offices, which provided assistance to develop the curriculum, according to ETRI. ETRI’s new curriculum includes platforms that allow students to get hands-on training i

Jul 7, 2020
Technology
[News Focus] Government, ruling party scramble to control real estate market

The government and ruling party are scrambling to roll out measures to curb real estate prices, faced with mounting criticism that the Moon Jae-in administration’s related polices have failed. On Tuesday, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s Rep. Kang Byung-won proposed an Income Tax Act revision outlining the toughest-yet measures to curb real estate speculation, which could see a capital gains tax rate as high as 90 percent imposed on certain transactions. The bill comes a d

Jul 7, 2020
Politics
Han Sung Motor extends unlimited engine oil service

Han Sung Motor, an official dealer of Mercedes-Benz in Korea, said Tuesday it has extended its promotion offering customers free and unlimited service for changing engine oil and oil filter by a month. Customers who purchase a new car from Han Sung Motor in July are still eligible for the free service. The promotion was initially held for the month of June, but will now be available at its 20 service centers across the country, even after the end of three-year guarantee period, the company sa

Jul 7, 2020
Industry

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