Two-time Olympic short track speed skating champion Shim Suk-hee was slapped with a two-month ban for disparaging coaches and teammates Tuesday, a decision that, barring a successful appeal, will keep her out of the Beijing Winter Games in February. The Korea Skating Union held a disciplinary meeting Tuesday at its Seoul headquarters to hand down the punishment on Shim, who denigrated members of the South Korean team in expletive-laden text exchanges with a national team coach during the 2018 P

South Korea on Tuesday voiced concerns as the operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant filed for approval for its plan to release radioactive water into the sea. The Seoul government held an emergency vice-ministerial meeting after Tokyo Electric Power Co. submitted an application for the planned release to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority. "We express serious concerns as Japan is proceeding with its plan to unilaterally release the contaminated water into the sea d

Aegyo is a key element of K-pop idols’ popularity

   Jeongyeon of Twice will be absent from the band’s upcoming concerts in Seoul, announced label JYP Entertainment late Monday. 　 Citing health reasons, the firm said that after discussing the issue with her bandmates, she has decided not to participate in the two-day concerts slated to be held Dec. 25-26. 　 It will be the third time Jeongyeon has taken a break from performing. The idol suspended activities two times before, in October last year and in August this year due to he

QR codes shared and sold, while some merchants reject system for ‘survival’

Shin ji-ye, a 31-year-old feminist with liberal political inclinations, made headlines Monday as she crossed party lines and joined the campaign of Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential nominee of the conservative People Power Party. The young politician ran as a Seoul mayor candidate for Green Party Korea in 2018, finishing fourth in the race with over 80,000 votes. Her campaign gained support from feminists and progressives as one of the first candidates in the country’s political history to