The Seoul city government on Wednesday announced a digital culture city project centered on creating digital media artworks throughout the capital. The city government declared this year as the first year of the "Digital Emotional Culture City" project and unveiled 10 cultural policy tasks. Under the project, the Gwanghwamun Square area in central Seoul will be transformed into a huge media art stage and Nodeul Island, an uninhabited artificial island in the Han River, and other waterf

Marketing essential to shaping a candidate’s public image

South Korea's total fertility rate hit a record low last year as the number of childbirths continued to fall, data showed Wednesday, underlining the country's bleak demographic situation. The country's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- came to 0.81 last year, down from 0.84 the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest since 1970 when the statistics agency began compiling related data. Last year marked the fourth stra

Candidates pledge to establish overseas Korean office; improve election system

K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment finds itself embroiled in controversy for alleged plagiarism of an Ateez music video and the boy band’s concept for its own rookie girl group’s debut. On Tuesday, the company's new girl group NMIXX entered the K-pop fray with the single “Ad Mare.” But just a day since the debut, the septet is making headlines for accusations of plagiarism: The band’s titular “O.O” has come under fire for copying boy band Ateez's music

South Korea's overseas financial assets reached an all-time high last year on the back of increased stock investments and investment returns, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's external financial assets came to $2.16 trillion as of end-December, up $198.2 billion from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The net international investment position also hit a record high of $637.9 billion at the end of December, up from $466.1 billion the previo

Yeonjun and Taehyun, members of K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT), took part in US pop singer Salem Ilese’s new single “PS5” as featured artists, according to Big Hit Music Wednesday. “PS5” is a love song that deals with choosing between playing a game and spending time with a lover, produced by famous DJ Alan Walker. In the song, the two TXT members rhythmically sing, “(Let me play the game) two more minutes, I’ll get a trophy.” “P

The World Car Awards has chosen Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai Motor Group's executive vice president for design and chief creative officer, as the 2022 World Car Person of the Year, the group said Wednesday. Donckerwolke, a Belgian native, was chosen for playing a leading role in designing a number of highly innovative new models, including the Hyundai IONIQ 5, Genesis GV60 SUV and Kia EV6, according to a Hyundai Motor spokesman. The former Lamborghini and Bentley designer was named head of the Hyun

Four-time Korean Series champion manager Ryu Joong-il was named the new skipper for the national baseball team at this year's Asian Games on Wednesday. The Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) said Ryu, 59, will lead the squad at the Sept. 10-25 Asian Games taking place in Hangzhou, China. His appointment will be finalized at a KBSA board meeting sometime in March. Ryu managed the Samsung Lions to four consecutive Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) titles from 2011 to 2014. His last KBO man

There will be little time for rest for the weary South Korea medalists and other participating athletes from the recently concluded Beijing Winter Olympics, with an annual national winter sports competition starting Friday. The 103rd edition of the National Winter Sports Festival will run from Friday to Monday at multiple locations across the country. This year's event will start only five days after the end of Beijing 2022, where South Korea grabbed two gold medals, five silver medals and two b

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed deep concerns over Japan's move to have a mine linked to the forced labor of Koreans listed as a world heritage site in a meeting with UNESCO chief in Paris on Tuesday (local time), the foreign ministry said. Chung held a 40-minute meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris, where he is visiting for the Indo Pacific Ministerial Forum 2022. Tokyo announced its bid to have the Sado mine listed as a UNESCO world heritage site

South Korea said Wednesday the Ukraine crisis has had limited impacts on the domestic economy, but it will remain vigilant against the possibility that a deterioration of the situation could disrupt energy supplies and increase market volatility. Tensions over Ukraine have been escalating as Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. US and European leaders announced sanctions against Russian banks and officials, viewi

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday that there is no reason to feel fear over the soaring number of COVID-19 cases, as South Korea reported more than 170,000 new cases on Wednesday.Kim made the remark during a COVID-19 response meeting, stressing that the fatality rate and the number of critical patients are being managed stably, as the country reported 171,452 new virus cases, up more than 70,000 from a day earlier. "Although we should not ease our vigilance and execution of antivir