Pohang Steelers reached the semifinals of the top Asian club football tournament with a 3-0 victory over Nagoya Grampus on Sunday. Lim Sang-hyub grabbed a brace and Lee Seung-mo added another for Pohang's convincing win in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul. This will be Pohang's first trip to the final four at the AFC competition since 2009, which is the last time they won the tournam

A key figure at the center of an escalating land development corruption scandal was to arrive in South Korea this week for questioning over his suspected role in bribing influential figures in exchange for business favors. Attorney Nam Wook left Los Angeles on Sunday and was to arrive in South Korea early Monday to face a probe by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office over allegations that he was involved in illegal lobbying over the course of the 2015 development project in Seongnam, s

South Korea inked a travel bubble agreement with Singapore on Oct. 8, the country’s second following a similar deal with Saipan. The deal is to allow those who are vaccinated to travel freely without the need for quarantine starting on Nov. 15. Their COVID-19 vaccination certificates will also be mutually recognized. While travelers from both sides have expectations for going on sightseeing tours like they had before the pandemic hit in early 2020, Noh Hyung Rae, 36, a lawyer at a private

Best known for her installation series, Lee’s first gallery exhibition in Seoul in six years showcases new painting series completed this year

The 13th Seoul International Music Festival will be held from Oct. 23 to 30 with the theme “Amusement Park.” The festival will take place across Seoul, including the Seoul Arts Center and the Lotte Concert Hall. During the press conference held on Wednesday in Gangnam, SIMF artistic director Ryu Jae-joon explained that the theme of the festival was decided when the pandemic just broke out last year. “We selected our theme last year, thinking that things would be back to no

Korean pianist Lee Hyuk, 21, is among the12 finalists of the 18th Chopin International Piano Competition, taking place in Warsaw, Poland. The Chopin Competition, organized by the Polish Chopin Institute, had its first edition in 1927. Previous winners of the prestigious competition for musicians include big names in classical music, such as Martha Argerich and Krystian Zimerman. In 2015, pianist Cho Seong-jin rose became the first Korean winner of the competition and rose to stardom. The co

As South Korea’s benchmark Kospi plunged below 3,000 points last week for the first time in nearly seven months, the daily volume of forced selling of stocks by local brokerages reached a 14-year high. The daily average amount of forced liquidations marked 26.5 billion won ($22.4 million) from Oct. 1 to Thursday, according to data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association. It marked the highest level since April 2007, when the daily average volume came to 29 billion won. The

The word “metaverse,” a portmanteau of the prefix “meta” (meaning beyond) and “universe,” is typically used to refer to a communal and interactive cyberspace where content, commerce and networking exist with increasing permeability with the real world. With new technical capability and accelerated cultural shift to online due to the COVID-19 crisis, the metaverse is creating innovation that transcends time and space in all areas of industry and society. In par

As South Korea prepares to “live with” COVID-19, the music industry is readying itself to bring back live in-person concerts. While large music festivals have been canceled or switched to online formats, some individual artists are already returning to physical stages. From Oct. 29-31, K-pop artist Kwon Jin-ah will hold a solo concert series titled “The Way for Us.” According to her agency Antenna Music, “The Way for Us,” named after her latest EP release

A video featuring football star Son Heung-min promoting South Korea as a tourist destination will be unveiled this week, the culture ministry said Sunday. The 80-second video with Son of Tottenham Hotspur is aimed at allowing viewers to feel South Korea's unique and attractive features so as to draw more overseas visitors to the country in the post-pandemic era. The video will be available on Monday on social media channels run by the Korea Tourism Organization, the ministry said, adding that

South Korean companies are ending strict pandemic-era rules and restrictions, resuming overseas trips and in-person meetings, as offices prepare to gradually shift to the “living with COVID-19” phase set to start next month. The move is also in line with rising vaccination rates across the country.  According to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 78.7 percent of the population had completed at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 64.6 perce

South Korea‘s major banks are set to loosen control on extension of “jeonse” loans for homes, but their tightened grip over personal credit loans will continue under pressure from financial authorities, industry sources said Sunday. Jeonse is a housing lease system unique to Korea whereby tenants pay a lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent on a two-year contract. NH NongHyup Bank, which in August decided to temporarily stop offering jeonse loans until Nov. 30, will resume

South Korea and the US are almost ready in their preparation to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea, Seoul’s top nuclear envoy said Saturday, amid the allies’ efforts to revive stalled diplomacy with the recalcitrant regime. 　 Noh Kyu-duk, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, made the remark upon arriving in Washington for talks with his US and Japanese counterparts on ways to bring the reclusive Pyongyang back to the table for the

South Korean private equity firm STIC Investments is poised to carry out a backdoor listing to start trading on the domestic stock market in December, a filing showed Sunday.  Following the move, STIC Investments will become the first Seoul-based private equity investment manager to be listed in three years. Seoul is home to high-profile buyout powerhouses including MBK Partners, Hahn & Co. and IMM Private Equity -- none of which are listed on the stock market. According to the f

The Supreme Court on Sunday overturned a lower court’s ruling that a foreign woman who married a Korean man and later divorced could not have child custody due to a lack of Korean language communication skills. The nation’s highest court said that it partially reversed and remanded the case to the Jeonju District Court after the lower court previously ruled in favor of the Korean husband and gave him parental rights over the Vietnamese wife in a divorce and child custody case. Acc