Jeon Jong-seo has attracted attention for her character’s frank comments about sex in romantic comedy “Nothing Serious,” but for her the role was all about the director’s wit. Jeon plays Ham Ja-young, a 29-year-old single woman who often talks about her sex life with her friends and even makes sexual jokes to Park Woo-ri, a man she just met on a dating app.  “I think quirky and honest lines are director Jung Ga-young’s style. If I didn’t like t

The rate of COVID-19 infection among those aged 18 and under has surpassed that of adults, according to government data. Amid the increasing number of new coronavirus infections among young people, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae asked parents to get their children vaccinated. The minister’s request came as concerns over children’s infections have mounted, particularly after the government allowed all schools across the country to resume full-time in-person classes this month. Yo

An appellate court on Friday reversed a local court’s ruling of life imprisonment for an adoptive mother who murdered her toddler daughter, to a sentence of 35 years in prison, citing lack of proof for “such a heavy sentence.” The court upheld the lower court’s ruling of a five-year prison sentence for the adoptive father, holding him responsible for child abuse in the highly publicized case. The Seoul High Court admitted that the mother, surnamed Jang, is guilty of m

A day after South Korea’s central bank chief strongly hinted at another rate hike within the first quarter of 2022 following its decision to raise its base rate by 25 basis point to 1 percent, analysts on Friday projected the expected move to come as early as January. The BOK’s monetary policy board on Thursday carried out its second pandemic-era rate hike amid growing inflationary pressure and snowballing household debt. BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol in a press briefing explained that the

The South Korean government has decided to postpone announcing an emergency COVID-19 response plan until Monday, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Friday. The minister’s announcement followed a government meeting on Thursday, where health authorities discussed the possibility of reintroducing toughened measures to contain the resurgence of the coronavirus. They, however, failed to come to a conclusion and have delayed the announcement. On Friday, the country reported 3,901 new COVID

John D. Michaels and Daniel C. Kennedy faced harsh criticism after appearing on the Netflix global sensation “Squid Game” as two of the VIPs. They addressed that criticism during a recent interview with The Korea Herald. Critics said the foreign actors’ performances were over the top and did not fit the tone of the series. Although they are aware of the criticism, Michaels and Kennedy said they would not do it much differently even if they had the chance. They al

Seoul says prior consultation has proceeded amicably under the Biden admin, unlike recent years

Expats’ overseas vaccine records not recognized here

The total amount of land foreigners held as of June this year rose 1.3 percent, compared to December last year, to 256.7 square kilometers. That is equivalent to 0.2 percent of South Korea’s entire land area, according to the Land Ministry on Friday. The total value was 31.6 trillion won ($26.5 billion). Foreign ownership spiked in 2014 and 2015, jumping 6 percent and 9.6 percent on-year respectively, but the annual increase has remained between 1 and 3 percent since then. US nationals

SEJONG -- Banpo-dong, Seoul, is likely to see the average trading price of homes exceed 100 million won ($83,800) per “pyeong” in the coming months. Apgujeong-dong, Seoul is poised to follow suit. In the nation, a pyeong is a basic unit used for real estate prices, equal to 3.3 square meters. These two districts in the capital’s Gangnam-gu, located just south of Han River, are the priciest in South Korea. According to Naver.com and KB Kookmin Bank, Banpo-dong’s home pr

President Moon Jae-in on Friday appointed two deputy directors of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the presidential office said. Moon appointed Park Sun-won, head of the NIS's planning and coordination office, as the first deputy director, while choosing Chun Se-young, senior official at the NIS's counter-espionage team, as the second deputy director. The first deputy director is tasked with gleaning intelligence on North Korea and overseas affairs, while the second deputy director is

Banks' average interest rate on mortgage loans rose to the highest level in about three years, central bank data showed Friday, as the government has tightened lending rules to rein in soaring household debt. According to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK), banks' mortgage loan rate averaged 3.26 percent in October, up 0.25 percentage point from a month earlier. This marked the highest since November 2018, when the corresponding rate was 3.28 percent. Banks' unsecured loan rate also rose 0.4

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea National Oil to offer the state-run oil company financial support worth about 1.1 trillion won ($1 billion). KNOC, established in 1979 after the energy crisis in the 1970s to oversee oil storage businesses for the country, will use the fund to invest in overseas oil exploration and production, while working to find new energy sources like wind power, the company said. “We expect to cre