S. Korea’s soft power strategy extends to visa program to draw global talent

Global streaming service Netflix has confirmed the casting for its original series “Goodbye Earth,” Thursday. Actors Yoo Ah-in, Ahn Eun-jin, Kim Yoon-hye and Jeon Seong-woo will star in Netflix’s new apocalypse movie, according to the company. “Goodbye Earth” revolves around the stories of individuals who are left with only 200 days to live before an asteroid hits Earth. The series is a highly anticipated project. It is director Kim Jin-min’s third Netflix

Korea’s IT giant Kakao said Thursday it will ban CEOs and executives representing its subsidiaries from selling company shares shortly after their market debuts in an apparent move to quell public criticism over their management ethics.　 According to Kakao’s Corporate Alignment Center, the new control tower that oversees Kakao affiliates, CEOs and executives will be prohibited from exercising stock options within two years and one year after the listing day, respectively. In partic

The KBS Symphony Orchestra appointed renowned South Korean conductor Chung Myung-whun as its first-ever conductor laureate, according to the orchestra on Thursdsay. Chung’s tenure began this month. Conductor laureate is an honorary position given to a conductor who has international repuation or contributed to the development of the orchestra. This is the first the KBS Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1956, has awarded the title. The news came days after Chung saved the orchestra&rsquo

Discrimination against women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and racial and ethnic minorities is pervasive in South Korea, a new report from the Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. The annual 32rd World Report 2022 highlights the human rights situation in nearly all of the 100 countries where the international organization works. Though South Korea has been described as an “established democracy that largely respects civil, political, economic, social, and cultural right

Sanctions imposition could indicate Washington’s policy adjustment, analysts say

The K-pop music industry saw a surge in accumulated album sales last year despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to top-tier artists such as BTS, EXO and aespa. According to a year-end report from the South Korean music chart tracker Gaon Chart on Wednesday, the nation’s top 400 albums sold 57.09 million copies in and out of the country in 2021, up by 36.9 percent from the previous year’s 41.71 million. After exceeding the 20 million mark for the first time in 2018, the

A South Korean passenger jet carrying dozens of citizens departed Thursday from a Kazakh airport to return home, eight days after it got grounded in the Central Asian nation gripped by political turmoil. The Asiana Airlines Inc. flight took off from Almaty International Airport at 1:13 p.m. (local time), carrying 43 South Koreans and four Kazakh nationals, an official at Seoul's foreign ministry said. The plane had been stranded in Kazakhstan since it landed there on Jan. 5, when protesters to

South Korea said Thursday the US push for additional UN sanctions on North Korea appears intended to drum up a unified response from the international community to Pyongyang's recent provocations. Washington appears to want to expand sanctions under existing UN Security Council resolutions rather than to adopt new resolutions, according to Choi Young-sam, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was referring to a public message by the US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield t

Their complete exit hinges on success of high-end push

The South Korean government said on Thursday it will standardize automotive data and promote intelligent manufacturing by carmakers and parts makers as part of efforts to support digital transformation of the auto industry. The aim is to turn 1,200 automotive component makers into future car companies by 2030, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement. The ministry said it will secure eight petabytes of automotive data, which is more than 10 times what is currently in stor

Seoul Foreign School announced Thursday that Andre Jin Coquillard has been named Alumnus of the Year for his athletic achievement. The award is the highest honor the school grants on its alumni, who presented excellence in their chosen field of endeavor and outstanding service to the community or profession, as well as devotion to SFS. For Coquillard, the school thought highly of his efforts in South Korea’s national rugby team. In 2021, Andre represented South Korea in men’s ru

Ahn raises suspicion about Lee Jae-myung could be behind recent deaths of key figures in corruption scandals

South Korea’s top steel maker Posco said Thursday that it will be working with the Indian conglomerate Adani Group to build a reduced-emissions integrated steel mill in India and carry out other projects to reduce carbon emissions. The firm said the two are currently reviewing the western state of Gujarat as the potential site for the new steel mill, with an estimated investment worth about $5 billion. “Under the latest deal, Posco’s strength in steel making technology and