The star-studded presenter lineup of musicians, actors, dancers and comedians for the upcoming “2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards was unveiled Tuesday. Singer-actors Rain, Uhm Jung-hwa, Choi Soo-young, Super Junior’s Choi Si-won and singer Tiffany Young were confirmed as presenters. Lachica’s Gabee and Prowdmon’s Monika, who appeared on the hit TV program “Street Woman Fighter,” will also appear as presenters. Comedian and rapper Haha, actors Song Joong-ki, Ahn B

South Korea’s Office of National Security will establish a new technology and cybersecurity role to take charge of strengthening innovative research capabilities and coordination among related ministries, officials said Tuesday. The launch of the new position, Secretary to the President for Emerging and Critical Technologies and Cybersecurity, comes amid an intensifying global technology competition and a growing need for protecting core technologies such as artificial intelligence and qu

Experts say meeting is to reinforce Kim's control over military

The South Korean government has again raised concern about Japan’s plans to treat radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant and release it into the sea, saying Tokyo has only looked at the short-term impact on the marine environment. 　 Korean officials and experts voiced their concerns to their Japanese counterparts at a special virtual session held last Friday, in regard to a draft report released by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., the state-run operator of the wrecked p

South Korea’s Woori Bank opened its first representative office in Budapest, Hungary, after financial authorities there last week granted the license to operate, the firm said Tuesday. Woori said it plans to finance both Korean businesses that have entered the market and Hungarian businesses through the new office. Hungary has grown as a key destination for Korean businesses seeking to launch electric vehicle battery plants or auto parts manufacturing factories in recent years. Woori&r

South Korean authorities are speeding up an inoculation plan for students as schools across the nation saw a significant spike in COVID-19 infections after returning to full-scale, in-person classes. From Nov. 29 to Sunday -- the second week since schools have fully reopened -- 1,450 students in Seoul tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a report from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education released Tuesday. The cases marked a 33 percent increase from the 1,090 infected studen

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Tuesday unveiled a guideline on a revised law requiring Netflix and other tech giants to improve their online service quality. Last December, South Korea passed a law revision holding online content service providers accountable if they fail to maintain stable services amid growing complaints against streaming giants Netflix and Google after their services experienced a number of outages. The revised law, informally dubbed the "Netflix law" in the c

A music studio tailored for online immersive performances opened in Seoul on Tuesday, aimed at reviving the pandemic-hit music industry and supporting digital content productions by local small and medium-sized agencies and musicians. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Creative Content Agency launched KOCCA Music Studio after remodeling the Olympic Park K-Art hall, located in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The new venue is tailored for online K-pop concerts, video productions and even vi

South Korea will be able to import around 120,000 tons of urea per year from Indonesia over the next three years, a move expected to help prevent a supply crunch of the key industry material here, Seoul's industry ministry said Tuesday. The agreement was made as Seoul's Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook and Indonesia's State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) meant to boost bilateral cooperation in the urea supply earlier in the day. South Korea h

Some 2.63 million jobs have disappeared in the last year, while only 710,000 new jobs have been added, government data showed Tuesday. According to Statistics Korea, over 2 million jobs have been destroyed due to companies downsizing their workforce or shutting down businesses due to the pandemic.  In the same period, some 710,000 jobs were created. More than half, or 53.5 percent, of them were for people aged 60 or above, followed by those in their 50s and 40s with 3.2 percent and 1.6

Controversy surrounding resignation of Cho draws parallel with stigmatization in Netflix drama ‘Hellbound’

Choi Yoon-ho, the chief financial officer of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics widely known to be close to its de facto leader Lee Jae-yong, was named Tuesday as the new chief executive officer of Samsung SDI, a Samsung affiliate dedicated to manufacturing batteries and display panel parts. The 58-year-old currently heads Samsung Electronics’ corporate management office, which encompasses its corporate finance, corporate strategy, human resources, corporate communications, globa

Change announced after embassies unite to support foreign residents inoculated overseas

South Korean information technology service firm LG CNS said Tuesday that it had launched a virtual office service by teaming up with Japanese firm oVice, a move to capitalize on metaverse technology to address demand for pandemic-friendly remote work environments. LG CNS will play a role in migrating corporate clients’ work environment online, allowing the clients’ employees to do everyday tasks such as exchanging emails and receiving notifications or checking schedules. Employees