Kim Chong-in, a veteran election campaigner often referred to as "kingmaker," is once again at the center of attention in the political arena, with the conservatives betting on him to help them win next year’s presidential election. In recent weeks, the main opposition People Power Party has been openly reaching out to Kim to head Yoon Seok-youl's election campaign and wrest power from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea in the March presidential election. "We hope

Small business revenue has returned to pre-pandemic levels after the government kicked off the “living with COVID-19” scheme designed to gradually open up the economy, according to new data. According to Korea Credit Data’s database on Monday, revenue from small businesses during the first week of November saw a 10.4 percent jump on average compared to the same time one year ago. It was also up 2.6 percent compared to the previous week. Compared to the same week in 2019, befo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been missing from public view for more than a month, fueling speculation over his whereabouts, as it marks his longest absence since 2014.   The last time Kim appeared in a public setting was on Oct. 11 when he delivered a speech at a rare defense exhibition in Pyongyang that showcased the country’s new weaponry, according to state media. 　 Since then there have been reports of him sending letters to foreign leaders and his people, but he ha

Aim is alleviating tourism industry recovery costs, spurring inbound travel demand

South Korea’s central bank chief said Thursday that the economy is likely to see faster-than-expected inflation for the time being, due to the global supply bottleneck and the spike in oil prices. In an opening speech at an economic meeting with investment bankers and experts, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol pointed to the nation’s spiking consumer prices, which gained 3.2 percent on-year -- the sharpest rise since January 2012, when the corresponding figure stood at 3.3 percent.

National Museum of Korea, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea to hand over Lee family donations to new entity

The sense of crisis is deepening in South Korea, as an acute shortage of a chemical called urea threatens to disrupt businesses across a vast spectrum from construction to retail.  Government officials are mobilizing diplomacy to secure urea supplies from overseas, but no immediate solution is in sight.  The Korea Herald looks at what is causing this sudden urea crunch and why this is such a hard problem to solve. 1. What is urea, anyway? Urea is a type of nitrogen made mainly of

President Moon Jae-in on Monday instructed his aides to use diplomacy and public reserves to stave off a urea shortage in the private sector, as the country runs low on diesel exhaust fluid after China tightened exports to avert its own power crisis. Urea solutions are used in diesel vehicles to reduce emissions, and about 97 percent of Korea’s imports came from China during the first nine months of the year, according to the Trade Ministry. Seoul has already asked Beijing to ease its exp

A look back on the former prosecutor general’s remarks on economy and business

Prosecutors again demanded death penalty for the adoptive mother in a highly publicized child abuse case that led to the death of a 16-month-old baby girl. At the Seoul High Court on Friday, prosecutors asked for the highest criminal penalty for the defendant, surnamed Jang, who was indicted in December on charges of fatally abusing her adopted daughter named Jeong-in from March to October 2020. The child was found to have suffered severe abdominal injuries and internal bleeding due to Jang&rs

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) was set to pick its presidential nominee Friday as the two leading contenders appeared locked in a tight race. The nominee will be announced at a national convention at the Kim Koo Museum and Library in Seoul following a four-day poll of party members and the general public on who is best prepared to take on Lee Jae-myung, the nominee of the ruling Democratic Party. The four candidates in the PPP primary are former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl,

Netflix Vice President of Public Policy Dean Garfield, decked in a green tracksuit costume from the hit Netflix show “Squid Game,” entered the press conference room at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul on Thursday, accompanied by the theme song from the drama series. Garfield began his speech by talking about how Netflix is willing to invest more into creating Korean content. However, when addressing the most heated issue on paying internet service providers bandwidth usage fees,

Marvel Studios' latest blockbuster "Eternals" has topped the South Korean box office on its opening day, data showed Thursday. The film posted 296,000 attendees on Wednesday, accounting for 88.9 percent of the day's total ticket sales, according to the data from the Korean Film Council. It marked the second-highest first-day record this year to date, following 400,000 visitors set by "F9," the latest chapter in the "Fast and Furious" series, in May. The new film

South Korean conglomerates managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9.3 percent over the past two years, according to a report on Wednesday, suggesting they face a tough task in meeting the government’s 2050 carbon neutrality target. CEO Score, a corporate tracker based in Seoul, said major companies in the country curbed more than 46 million tons of greenhouse gas output in 2020, compared to 2018 figures. The calculation is based on emissions data from 197 companies in South Kore

KakaoBank, the country’s largest internet-only lender by user base, on Tuesday said its net profit in the first three quarters rose 96.6 percent from a year prior, despite growing regulatory moves on household debts that slowed the lender’s growth in the third quarter. In its first quarterly report that reflects its post-IPO performance, the banking arm of mobile giant Kakao Corp., said it recorded 52 billion won ($44.3 million) in net profit in the third quarter of this year, a 28