Officials at financial regulators increasingly moving to crypto exchanges almost without restrictions

One of the oldest US banks is joining a slew of foreign financial institutions that have lost interest in Asia’s fourth-largest economy

Health and beauty store chain CJ Olive Young plans to go beyond brick-and-mortar retail and transform itself into an “omnichannel platform” that connects e-commerce with offline retail, ahead of its plans to go public next year. “No one inside the company defines Olive Young as a health and beauty store. We see our brand as an omnichannel platform,” Olive Young CEO Koo Chang-geun said at a press event at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Friday. The renewed push to

The South Korean economy is expected to expand 2.8 percent on-year in 2022, slower than this year's projected 3.9 percent growth, amid weaker private consumption and global demand, a local think tank said Sunday. The projection by the LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI) is lower than that by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of 3.3 percent and the 3.0 percent estimate by both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Bank of Korea. "The export-led gro

Moon to visit for four days and hold summit, meet with business leaders to discuss mineral supply chain cooperation

Deputy Trade Minister Jeong Dae-jin plans to visit Washington this week for talks on supply chains of key materials and steel tariff issues, the trade ministry said Sunday. During the three-day visit starting on Monday, Jeong will have a series of meetings with officials of the White House, the Commerce Department, the US Trade Representative office, Congress and major think tanks to boost cooperation on a range of bilateral trade and industry issues, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industr

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said Sunday he will seek to revise a law designed to filter out illegally filmed content from major internet platforms amid criticism the measure amounts to censorship. A revision to the Telecommunications Business Act and a related law went into effect on Friday, requiring large internet platforms with annual sales of 1 billion won or the number of daily users 100,000 or more to remove illegal content from their servers. The revision was ma

BTS ruled the night at 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards on Saturday even without attending, as the K-pop megastars nabbed a total of nine trophies, including four grand prizes. The event, held at CJ ENM Content Studio in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, was conducted in person for the first time in two years since the COVID-19 outbreak. After making history at the American Music Awards last month as the first Asian act to grab the top honor, BTS extended their winning streak, taking home all four main p

The South Korean baseball club Lotte Giants hired former major league backstop Gerald Laird as their new catching coach on Sunday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team said Laird, 42, will be replacing Hank Conger, who recently joined the Minnesota Twins as first base and catching coach following two seasons with the Giants. Laird played 13 seasons in the majors for five franchises, including six years with the Texas Rangers. He won his first and only World Series ring with the St. Louis

The British-Belgian teen pilot Zara Rutherford has made a stop in South Korea during her bid to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. The 19-year-old landed at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul Saturday afternoon, after flying in from Vladivostok, Russia, in her ultralight plane Shark. She began her 51,000-kilometer journey in August from Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport in western Belgium and has since covered Britain, Greenland, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Cana

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 7,000 for the second consecutive day Sunday, but critical cases hit an all-time high again, deepening concerns over medical capacity amid the continued spread of the new omicron variant. The country added 6,689 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 517,271, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily infections soared to a record high of 7,174 cases on Wednesday and remained above 7,000 for the follo

A rusty railroad abandoned in Seoul brings back old memories and warm nostalgia.  Hang-dong Railroad, located in Guro-gu, Seoul, is a 4.5-kilometer track drenched with a vintage atmosphere, with traces of train stations and destination signs left here and there.  Lined with deep greenery and green barley, the 62-year-old railway is now one of the most beloved places for Seoulites to go and reflect. Beside Hang-dong Railroad, there is the Pureun Arboretum, Seoul’s first arboret

‘Old’ image and lackluster pledges keep younger voters at bay

Dried persimmons are considered a representative Korean traditional snack, one that was long favored by royalty. Because of an arduous cultivation process, dried persimmons were only available to people of high class.  People from Haman, North Gyeongsang Province, take deep pride in their dried persimmons, which are extremely chewy and sweet. The texture and sweetness are achieved by drying them in the clean wind at the apex of Yeohangsan, which stands approximately 770 meters above sea l

　Olaf Scholz became the ninth Chancellor of Germany on Wednesday, ending the era of Angela Merkel. Among the 707 lawmakers of the German parliament Bundestag who participated in the voting, Scholz earned 395 votes, indicating the first political transition of Germany in 16 years. 　Although Merkel was a center-right wing politician from the Christian Democratic Union while Scholz is a center-left wing politician of the Social Democrat Party, they have shown profound mutual respect. Scholz prais