By Manuela V. Ferro 　 By Akihiko Nishio ----------------------------------------------------------------- A document in the World Bank’s archives tells a story of modest beginnings: In 1962, representatives of South Korea and the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries, signed a Development Credit Agreement for a railroad project “to meet growing traffic needs, to improve its operating efficiency and to decreas

An inexperienced police officer ran from a crime scene, leaving two victims alone with a knife-wielding attacker. Was this a dereliction of duty?

Victims of the bloody crackdown on a 1980 democracy uprising voiced frustrations Tuesday, as their efforts to bring former President Chun Doo-hwan to justice came to a sudden halt with his death earlier in the day. Chun, an Army general-turned strongman, died at his home in western Seoul at age 90 after suffering from chronic illnesses, leaving behind a dark legacy of seizing power in a 1979 military coup and ruthlessly cracking down on the civil uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju the

BMW said Tuesday it will strengthen its electric vehicle lineup in South Korea to meet growing demand for environment friendly vehicles. This week, BMW added the all-electric iX flagship SUV and the iX3 midsized SUV to its existing EV lineup composed of the pure electric i3 subcompact car and the plug-in hybrid i8 sedan. "The company will continue to beef up its EV lineup by adding electrified models to each segment to satisfy customers' demands," BMW Korea said in a statement. BM

The climate crisis is one that the world must respond to quickly and in a concerted manner, Italian Ambassador Federico Failla said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Thursday, emphasizing food sustainability ahead of the sixth World Week of Italian Cuisine, which runs Nov. 22-28. Failla said the week’s theme is food sustainability from a traditional perspective of Italian cuisine, because food culture is deeply rooted in tradition. The World Week of Italian Cuisine is an initiativ

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to sell smaller-than-planned state bonds for next month in a bid to help stabilize the bond market and improve fiscal soundness. To that end, the finance ministry plans to use excess tax revenue of 2.5 trillion won ($2.1 billion) for the shortfall of the planned sale of Treasurys. This means the ministry will issue state bonds that are around 2.5 trillion won less than its planned sale for next month. The government sold Treasurys worth 164 trillion won in th

An absolute majority of bond mavens in South Korea predict the country's central bank to raise its key interest for November in an effort to curb rising inflation and household debt, a poll showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 100 bond experts by the Korea Financial Investment Association, 90 of the respondents forecast the Bank of Korea (BOK) to jack up its policy rate at a rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday. The number of experts expecting a rate increase was up from 13 percent r

A first shipment of urea is set to arrive in South Korea from China later Tuesday, which is expected to help address a supply crunch of urea solution, a key fluid needed in diesel cars to cut emissions. A ship carrying 300 tons of urea will arrive in the southeastern city of Ulsan around 9 p.m. Tuesday after leaving from the Chinese eastern city of Tianjin on Saturday, officials said. The government said it plans to accelerate necessary procedures to enable the urea to be used to produce urea

More than 1 in 6 South Korean married women suffered a career break this year as they quit their jobs due to child rearing and getting married, data showed Tuesday. The number of women aged 15-54 who have stopped working after marriage reached 1.45 million in April, down 3.8 percent, or 57,000, from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Such women accounted for 17.4 percent of the total 8.32 million married women, down from 17.6 percent a year earlier. The 2021 tally

North Korea has opened a nationwide computer programming competition aimed at cultivating talents to lead the country's information and technology development, a propaganda outlet said Tuesday. A semifinal for the competition, organized by the Kimchaek University of Technology, took place between Nov. 5-15, with the final match slated to kick off Friday for an 11-day run, according to DPRK Today. In an interview with it, the university's vice president said around 1,240 participants, ranging

The South Korean fantasy horror "Hellbound" has regained the global No. 1 position on Netflix's popular TV show rankings. According to data released by streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol on Monday (US time), "Hellbound" rose one notch to top the list of the most-watched Netflix TV shows, replacing the former No. 1 "Arcane," an animated series based on the online battle game "League of Legends." The Korean-language show debuted No. 1 on the day after its

The Seoul city government will co-host a virtual international conference with UN-Habitat next week to explore ways to protect heritage sites in large cities, officials said Tuesday. The webinar, titled "Heritage and Metropolis," will bring together city and heritage management experts from more than 30 cities in 15 nations for two days of discussions on Dec. 1 and 2, city officials said. Other participating cities include Shanghai, Milano, Delhi, Istanbul and New York. On the firs

After BTS won the artist of the year, considered the top honor, at the American Music Awards (AMAs), beating out big names like Ariana Grande, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, all eyes are now on the South Korean group's next challenge -- the Grammy Awards. Will a gramophone-shaped trophy be an added jewel for the K-pop megastar who has bagged two of the three largest music awards in the United States this year? BTS won artist of the year, favorite pop duo or group and favor

Temperatures fell by over 10 degrees to below zero in many parts of the country Tuesday morning, with snow falling in many regions as well, the state weather agency said. The mercury had dropped to minus 3.7 C in Seoul as of 7:30 a.m., the lowest this fall, and below minus 5 C in the northern part of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital and mountainous areas of the northeastern Gangwon Province, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Morning lows dipped below ze