Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea, has odds of below 50:50 for winning in the election next March. This forecast is based on the results of recent opinion polls in which nearly 60 percent of respondents expressed desire for a change of power. A crucial variable is whether the opposition community will be able to produce a single candidate to take on the 57-year-old governor of Gyeonggi Province. Lee and the Democratic Party still ha

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled the Bespoke edition of its Galaxy Z Flip3, offering as many as 49 new color choices for the clamshell-type foldable smartphone. Samsung presented the new edition on its YouTube channel at 11 p.m. at an event called Galaxy Unpacked, Part 2. The frames come in two colors, black and silver, and customers can choose from five Bespoke colors for the front and rear of the device: blue, yellow, pink, white and black. A total of 49 new combinations are a

Prosecutors on Wednesday continued their questionings into a corruption-laden urban development scandal engulfing South Korean politics, summoning the four key suspects of the high profile case again all on the same day for possible cross-examinations. Prosecutors are looking into suspicions over how a previously unheard-of asset management firm, Hwacheon Daeyu, and its seven affiliates reaped astronomical profits from a 2015 project to develop the Daejang-dong district in Seongnam, south of Se

South Korea’s finance minister once again downplayed the possibility of delaying taxation on cryptocurrency earnings, while emphasizing that his ministry is gearing up to carry out its plan as scheduled. Hong Nam-ki, the minister of Finance and Economy, made such remarks during an Assembly hearing on Wednesday when asked about the preparedness of taxation infrastructure on crypto assets. Hong’s remarks came one day after a lawmaker revealed a survey result in which three crypto e

The military will seek to appeal a recent court ruling in favor of a deceased transgender soldier who had filed a suit over its decision to discharge her against her will, a defense ministry official said Wednesday. In a landmark ruling earlier this month, the Daejeon District Court judged it was unfair for the military to discharge Byun Hee-soo, formerly a staff sergeant in her 20s, over her gender reassignment surgery in 2019. Byun underwent the surgery in Thailand in 2019, two years after v

Actor Kim Seon-ho is to step down from the KBS variety show “2 Days & 1 Night” and a film titled “2 O’Clock Date” (unofficial translation). Though Kim and his agency, Salt Entertainment, issued official apologies Wednesday morning regarding a controversy surrounding his personal life -- allegations emerged that he pressured an ex-girlfriend to have an abortion -- producers are announcing Kim’s withdrawal from ongoing and scheduled productions. Public br