Lisa of Blackpink surprised fans by unveiling her upcoming solo single onstage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sunday. She hit the stage at Central Park to headline the charity event with Post Malone and Doja Cat, performing her solo repertoire from "Lalisa" and "Money" to "Rockstar" and "New Woman." Also included in the list was “Moonlit Floor,” which will be rolled out Oct. 4, sampling Sixpence None the Richer’s 1997 hit

South Korean portal giant Naver announced Monday it will buy back and cancel shares worth 400 billion won ($306 million) by the end of the year to boost its declining stock value. The latest measure will be separate from the ongoing shareholder return policy the company introduced in 2023, spanning three years. “From Oct. 2 to Dec. 28, we will repurchase about 2,347,500 shares which accounts for 1.5 percent of the total issued shares, and cancel them by Dec. 31," Naver said. "Giv

South Korean IT giant Kakao will unveil its new artificial intelligence service Kanana at the upcoming developers conference next month, the company said Monday. Holding the annual event dubbed "if kakaoAI 2024" from Oct. 22-24, the company will also announce its AI partnership with Nvidia, the leading graphic processor unit maker, Kakao said. On the first day of the event, Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a will deliver a keynote speech on Kakao's AI road map and Chief AI Officer Lee Sang-ho

The Seoul city government will hold an international forum on its Stepping Stone Income welfare initiative at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on Oct. 7, marking the program's third-year run. Under the theme, “Solutions for Alleviating Poverty and Income Disparity,” the city government said its forum would bring together experts in economics, social welfare and sociology to discuss the city’s income support system and its results. The city’s Stepping Stone Income, or Didimdol

A grandiose version of Giacomo Puccini’s opera "Turandot" is coming to Korea this October. Originally introduced by the late Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, this version was first staged at the historic Arena di Verona in 2010 and has since become a hallmark of grandeur in the opera world. “Korean audiences will be left speechless and moved by Zeffirelli’s original 'Turandot,’ which has set a benchmark in the history of opera,” said stage direct

Known as a Buddhist spiritual leader, Ven. Seongpa has combined Buddhist practice with artistic creation, with his art as both the process and the result. Seongpa has unveiled some 120 works created over the past decades at the exhibition entitled “Seongpa Seonye – COSMOS,” which opened at the Seoul Arts Center last week. While his art encompasses a wide range range of genres, from calligraphy and ceramics to painting and sculpture, the exhibition focuses on lacquer works. Lacq

Seoul shares fell by more than 2 percent Monday as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the releases of key economic data in the United States later this week. The local currency ended at a 9-month high against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 2.13 percent, or 56.51 points, to 2,593.27. Trading volume was moderate at 352.4 million shares worth 10.5 trillion won ($8.03 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 708 to 181. Institutions and foreign inv

BEIRUT -- Israel hit a Beirut apartment block on Monday, killing three members of a Palestinian armed group in its first strike on the city center since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza nearly one year ago. Israel has turned its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in recent days, carrying out attacks on Iran's regional allies. Strikes on Hezbollah targets killed the Iran-backed group's leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday. Monday's drone attack targeted a "flat belonging to Jamaa Islamiya,&

A doctor of traditional Korean medicine recently failed to overturn the suspension of his medical license for reusing disposable multineedles. The Seoul Administrative Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by the doctor, who sought to reverse the Health Ministry’s decision to suspend his license, according to media reports Monday. The doctor had his license suspended for one month by the ministry after it was discovered that he had reused sterilized disposable multineedles on 11 patients betwe

Hyundai can tap into GM's political heft while offering hybrid, EV tech in return

South Korean drug maker Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Monday that more than 88 percent of its patents registered over the past five years in the country have been for new drugs, reflecting the firm’s efforts to enhance its competitiveness in both domestic and global markets through the development of advanced pharmaceuticals. According to data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Daewoong registered nine domestic patents from 2020 to September 2024. Of these, eight are related to the