Koreans who want to enjoy Vietnamese coffee are lining up in front of Cong Caphe in Yeonnam-dong, western Seoul. Cong Caphe, a Vietnamese cafe franchise with more than 50 stores, launched its first overseas store in Seoul on Tuesday. Cong Caphe in Seoul (Yonhap)News of the launch has been spreading on social media since it was made public on July 10. On Friday evening, a long line formed in front of the store, with people waiting to have a sip of Vietnamese coffee despite the scorching heat.  On

South Korea continues to experience a record-breaking heat wave, with more than 15 days of high temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius. According to the weather agency, Wednesday was the hottest day in the capital city in 111 years with the day-time high recorded at 39.6 C. As the summer holiday season reaches its peak, many holidaymakers have hit the road, heading for coastlines to escape from the blistering heat wave. Busan’s Haeundae Beach was especially packed with local vacationers and touris

With summer vacation in full swing, August is prime time for swimming. It is also high season for water survival classes for schoolchildren. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has teamed up with the Incheon Coast Guard to provide lessons to practice survival floating techniques at Yeouido and Ttukseom Hangang Park swimming pools this summer.Basic techniques taught from these classes can help anyone, including children, stay afloat until someone comes to rescue them, instructors say. Participants

A woman was spotted carefully drying the year’s precious harvest of chili peppers at a traditional Hanok village in Hamyang-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday.Vegetable harvest in Korea this summer has suffered due to 21 days of hot weather, resulting in a fall in supply and a rise in the prices of vegetables.On Wednesday, Korea saw a record high of 41 degrees Celsius in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. Staff of the national weather agency personally traveled to the region to verify the unp

With sunflowers in full bloom, the sixth annual sunflower festival is being celebrated in the host county of Haman, South Gyeongsang Province. Local farmers have reportedly planted 1 million sunflowers on 48,000 square meters of land. Festivalgoers can take part in activities such as music performances, cheese-making classes and face painting. The festival, which began on July 21, runs through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. General admission is 2,000 won ($1.80), which will used to support

As high temperatures continue in Korea, many locals are escaping the heat by flocking to pools and beaches in a bid to cool off. Seoul recorded a daytime high of 37 degrees Celsius on Monday, Incheon 26 C, Suwon 25 C and Daejeon 26 C.A child goes down a water slide in a pool set up in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Sunday.Heat advisories have been in effect nationwide as the weather agency warned people to avoid vigorous outdoor activities. Soaring temperatures have seen an increase in the number of patients

The annual WaterBomb Festival was held Friday and Saturday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. On the first day of the event, K-pop stars, such as Hyolyn and Jessi, appeared as guests with performances that doubled the fun. The second day was a blast as Black Pink members showed up on Sprite Island, the name of a stage at the event, in outfits that matched the soft drink brand’s colors. Jennie donned a green off-the-shoulder top with short pants, while Jisoo wore a green cropped blouse with white shorts

Amid the sweltering summer heat, many locals and foreign visitors were spotted at the Ice Museum near Hongik University cooling off from the heat. The museum offers a unique experience packed with colorful attractions and sculptures made of ice. Visitors can take pictures inside an igloo or videos coming down a slide. Without an additional entrance fee, tourists can also take a look around the Trick Eye Museum for funny optical illusions in the form of paintings. Photos by YonhapWritten by Cathe

5G PACT -- South Korean Minister of Science and ICT You Young-min (third from left) poses with heads of three Korean telecommunication companies SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus at Marriott Executive Apartments Yeouido Park Centre in Seoul on Tuesday. The four agreed Tuesday that the three telco companies would adopt fifth-generation commercial network technology in the domestic market by March 2019, which would mark the first in the world. (Yonhap)

International pop group Now United posed for the camera in a studio in Yongsan, Seoul, as part of the promotion for their debut album “Summer in the City” in South Korea. Now United poses in a studio in Seoul. (Yonhap)Formed by English producer Simon Fuller, the group consists of five boys and nine girls from across the world including the US, Germany, Russia, China, Finland, India, Japan, Brazil and South Korea.The 14 members were put together after taking part in the final audition in Los Ange

Students at Uijeongbu High School in Gyeonggi Province dressed up for their yearbook photo shoot Monday, keeping their wacky tradition of creating eye-catching graduation photos. Uijeongbu High is an all-boys school that has made headlines both at home and abroad for its unconventional graduation pictures. The class of 2018 chose to dress up as Hog Rider of the mobile game “Clash of Clans,” a demon clown from the horror movie “It,” Sanrio’s lazy egg character Gudetama, South Korean Skeleton Olym

 Kim Soung-soo (second row, third from right), chairman of Youth For Understanding Korea, a nonprofit student exchange organization, poses with seven Korean students selected for the 2018 Korea-Japan exchange program sponsored by Toyota Korea. In the back row left from Kim are Nobuyuki Takemura, head of Toyota Korea; Hiroshi Shimbo, first secretary of the Japanese Public Information and Cultural Center; and In Sung-yeon, YFU Korea assistant national director. (YFU Korea)

As the scorching weather continued over the weekend, people flocked to beaches in Korea to enjoy summer. The Korea Meteorological Administration has issued heat wave warnings in most regions of the country, as of 2 p.m., with temperatures hovering around 30 to 37 degrees Celsius on Sunday. About 250,000 beachgoers visited Haeundae Beach on Saturday, while a total of 520,000 people going to other beaches in Busan, including Gwanganli Beach and Dadaepo Beach. The combined number nearly dou

An annual chili pepper festival, complete with a chili-eating contest, kicked off Monday in Hunan province, southern China.To get an idea of how big Hunan is on chilies, perhaps a Chinese saying offers the best insight: “Guizhou people like spiciness, Sichuan people don’t fear spiciness, Hunan people fear there’s no spiciness.”Living up to its reputation, Hunan has prepared a scorching challenge of eating 50 Tabasco chili peppers. Ten people can sign up for the challenge every day until the end

Under the theme of “AI technology, toward better life,” the 2018 Artificial Intelligence Expo Korea kicked off Monday with some 100 exhibitors setting up booths at Coex in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. Information sessions introducing AI technologies -- machine learning, speech recognition and image recognition -- networking sessions and experiential tours are part of the three-day event. Attendees can explore various AI applications and services including, but not limited to, autonomous drivin