While made-for-television political satires have had little success in Korea, “The Blue House Family” is ready to take a jab at the genre early next year. It so happens that 2022 is a presidential election year in Korea, and Astory, the production company behind the 10-episode sitcom, is betting that content related to politics will grab viewers’ attention. 　 “Politics and comedy go well together. Many comedians and content creators view the political scenes as a treasu

South Korean commercial real estate services startup Rsquare said Monday it has raised $72 million in series C funding from private equity firm STIC Investments. The proceeds will be used to enhance its property technology that powers its real estate services, strengthen its foothold in the Vietnamese market with a new business launched in June, expand its presence in other Southeast Asian countries including Singapore and Indonesia and hire new talents. STIC Investments is the sole investor

The ratio of South Korea’s household debt in comparison to its economy has become the highest among major economies, a report showed Monday, sparking concerns over its impact on an already sluggish consumption and the nation’s fiscal soundness. Asia’s fourth-largest economy was the only country that saw its household debt exceeding its gross domestic product among the 37 countries reviewed by the US-based Institute of International Finance. Debt grew at one of the fastest pace

US conductor Elias Peter Brown won the top prize at the first KSO International Conducting Competition organized by the Korean Symphony Orchestra. Brown, 26, clinched the win with his performance of Debussy’s “La Mer” (The Sea), L. 109, CD. 111 at the finals of the competition held Sunday at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul. A graduate of Yale University and the Royal Academy of Music in England, he won third place at the Khachaturian International Conducting Competit

Fried chicken and beer -- known locally as “chimaek” -- is a food pair beloved by many Koreans.    In a new development in South Korean chimaek scene, major chicken brands are coming up with their own beer brands, in order to give this popular food combo a special appeal.  KFC confirmed Monday to The Korea Herald that it was preparing to launch its own craft beer.  The US fried chicken franchise has formed a partnership with independent brewery Kabrew, and

Both the leader and the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) met with a veteran politician Monday and publicly asked for his help in the 2022 presidential campaign. The request was made by PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok and presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl during a book event for Kim Chong-in, a former five-term lawmaker credited with steering both the ruling and opposition parties to key election victories as their interim chief. Kim is reportedly being conside

President Moon Jae-in on Monday sent a pot of orchids to the main opposition People Power Party's presidential candidate, Yoon Seok-youl, to congratulate him on his nomination and pledged to remain politically neutral during the presidential race, a lawmaker said. Lee Cheol-hee, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, paid a visit to Yoon to deliver the orchids with a message from Moon that he hopes Yoon will stay healthy during the election campaign. In response, Yoon sent his g

South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion’s Truxima, the first biosimilar of Roche’s blockbuster cancer drug Rituxan (rituximab), has a market share close to 50 percent in major European countries, the company said Monday. According to Celltrion Healthcare, which is in charge of Celltrion’s overseas business, the combined market share of Truxima in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain reached 46 percent as of the second quarter this year. The five countries account for

South Korea is poised to welcome a series of listings of real estate investment trusts by the end of this year, with their underlying assets increasingly diversifying, filings showed Monday. A REIT refers to a vehicle designed to offer dividend returns to its investors through incomes from securitized real estate assets, largely perceived as a risk-averse strategy. Seeing stronger investor demand for public REIT stocks this year, Korea will move onward to welcome at least three new REITs bef

South Korea said Monday local firms have inked deals to import urea solution from other countries, including Malaysia and Mexico, a move expected to help ease a supply shortage of the key fluid needed in diesel cars to cut emissions. Three Korean firms have signed contracts to import a combined 1.28 million liters of urea solution from Malaysia, Mexico and Australia, according to the government. South Korea needs 600,000 liters of the solution for diesel cars per day. A fourth South Korean fir

The South Korean stock market closed just shy of the 3,000-point mark Monday after a bullish session, led by strong foreign and institutional buying. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 30.72 points, or 1.03 percent, to close at 2,999.52 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 631 million shares worth some 11.2 trillion won ($9.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 626 to 238. Foreigners bought a net 397 billion w

South Korean game companies with new business plans to develop games using nonfungible tokens saw their share prices surge Monday, despite concerns over the market being overheated without actual plans laid out to materialize such a big agenda, experts said Monday. Nonfungible tokens refer to the digital counterparts of real-world assets, largely visual art or music, that guarantee ownership through the blockchain technology. Game developers enjoying a sudden spike in stock prices have announ

South Korean students at Seoul International School on Nov. 6 hosted a flea market to raise funds for young and teenage North Korean defectors suffering from economic hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. High school students at the school community club the Peace by Piece, which has continued its activities to support North Korean teen defectors for five years, held the flea market fundraising event in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. The flea market was co-organized by SIS and the Youth Forum of North

Fractional share trading of overseas stocks is expected to be in full swing by the end of the year, according to the Korea Securities Depository on Monday. The KSD said it has completed a system that supports fractional share trading for 20 brokerages after it was designated by the Financial Services Commission, the country’s financial regulator, as an innovative financial service in a sandbox program last week. In a fractional transaction, when an investor orders to buy less than one