As the prolonged pandemic has continued to take a toll on people’s mental health, Koreans are increasingly turning to different sound genres to unwind. In Korea, Kokkiri and Mabo are two apps that are looking to tap into the market for ambient music. The apps have themes describing the user’s state of mind -- from anxiety, depression to anger and sleeplessness. There are subcategories of meditation sounds and auditory training sessions. To allow the users to keep track of the pla

The so-called "Nth room prevention law" is facing growing criticism from the public, with critics accusing the measure of censorship and violation of free speech. A legislative revision to the Telecommunications Business Act went into effect Friday, requiring internet platforms with yearly sales of 1 billion won ($848,800) or those with more than 100,000 daily users to engage in removing illegal content from their servers. The revision was nicknamed the Nth room prevention law after

Australia signs $720m weapons deal, first major deal with Asian country

SK Group, South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate, said Monday it signed a deal with the Vietnamese government to boost cooperation in eco-friendly businesses, such as areas related to carbon emission cuts, hydrogen and digital technologies. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won signed the memorandum of understanding during a meeting with top Vietnamese government officials in Seoul, including Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai and Parliament Speaker Vuong Dinh-hue, SK said. Under the MOU, the two sides wi

Outages in the government's digital vaccine authentication system have been reported in large numbers Monday, causing inconveniences around lunch time on the first day of the nation's vaccine pass enforcement. Reports of inability to access COOV, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's smartphone application which offers vaccine certifications in QR codes, began appearing in various online communities at around 11:40 a.m. Authentications of QR codes in other popular services, such as

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong stressed the partnership with Washington, but remained apart on key sticking points with Tokyo, in a brief meeting with his US and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the Group of Seven session in the UK.   　 Chung joined the in-person gathering of G-7 foreign and development ministers meeting in Liverpool, England, over the weekend, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. South Korea was invited as a guest -- along with Australia, India, South

Labor board system bill heavily criticized while Lee Jae-myung calls for action

Shares of robotics tech firms surged Monday following news reports that Samsung Electronics is setting up a new team solely dedicated to the robotics business, one of the frequently-cited new growth engines for the Korean tech giant. Yujin Robot, one of the first-generation robotics companies here with more than 30 years of history, saw a 30 percent jump in its stock price and was trading at 4,150 won ($3.52) as of 2 p.m., as investors cheered for its business potential with Samsung, the natio

　A fifth of people aged 15 to 29 in South Korea were not in employment, education or training (NEET), a report has shown, which would mark the third-highest level among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 　The estimated number of NEET youth in South Korea is nearly 1.59 million, according to a report by Chung Jae-hyun, head of the youth policy research and development division at the Korea Employment Information Service. 　They include about 778,000 who are se

Samsung Electronics said Monday its Bespoke water purifier, whose trade name is RWPaxy1bcde(z), has been certified by NSF International, a US-based product testing and certification organization, for removing microplastics from water – an industry first globally. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic, less than 5 micrometers in length, that are extremely difficult to detect. They are known to cause harmful effects to human body, including cell death and allergic reactions. NSF Intern

Moon says China’s efforts are need to resume dialogue with North

Police will consider disclosing the identities of not only distributors of sexually exploitative materials but also their buyers as part of efforts to clamp down on digital sex crimes, officials said Monday. The National Police Agency said it began discussing the matter in an interagency meeting with the government's policy coordination office, the interior ministry, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), the country's censorship body and others. "To curb online sex crimes,

Discourse with Kim Chong-whi, the Former Senior Presidential Secretary for Foreign and Security Affairs under Roh Tae-woo government

South Korea needs to "steadily adjust" high levels of leverage maintained to prop up the pandemic-hit economy as excessive indebtedness could result in financial instability and reduce future policy room, a central bank report showed Monday. Rising household debt, in particular, has been cited as a major economic risk factor and the government has been tightening rules on lending amid worries that the financial imbalances caused by increased debt in the private sector could put a damp