From the beginning of 2017 until the end of May of this year, a total of 23,219 foreign nationals have purchased apartments in South Korea, with the number of units reaching 23,167. The data was released by the National Tax Service as it announced plans to launch a tax probe against 42 foreigners who own multiple homes with suspicions of evading taxes. The government has been tightening rules and imposing higher taxes in their attempt to curb housing prices in Seoul.  (khnews@heraldcorp

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to the Nixon Presidential Library last week to proclaim the American opening to China a grand failure. “What do the American people have to show now 50 years on from engagement with China?” Pompeo asked. His answer: not much. China, the secretary of state intoned, had become a menacing tyranny that had succeeded economically only by robbing America of its jobs and its ideas and now threatened its freedom. Instead of continuing “the old p

  진행자: 김혜연, Paul Kerry 1. New Zealand ups pressure on Korea to cooperate in diplomat sexual assault case   [1] New Zealand authorities have heightened pressure on South Korea to cooperate in its probe of a Korean diplomat who has been accused of sexual assault. *heighten pressure on: (감정·효과를) 고조시키다, 압박하다 *probe of: 조사하다, 캐묻다 [2] Winston Peters, New Zealand’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, urged the Korean government to cooperate by waiving the ac

Last week’s disclosure by family members of the late Lotte Group Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho with regard to changes in their stakes in the group after inheriting assets from Shin showed that his second son, current Chairman Shin Dong-bin, has further expanded his control over the group. Friday was the deadline for members of the Lotte owner family to report their inheritance taxes, which are estimated to total at least 450 billion won ($376.94 million). The founder died in January and his two

Action for Clean Environment, a global nonprofit organization with a mission to facilitate global environmental activism, held its first annual ceremony for the completion of the 2020 Fellowship for Young Leaders Program on Saturday at Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, organizers said. The event celebrated the successful completion of its program for young students interested in learning how to solve real-world problems through engaging and dynamic discussion and activities related to global envir

South Korea’s exports in July declined by a single digit percent in four months after showing a double-digit drop for three consecutive months, data showed Sunday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the nation’s exports fell 7 percent on-year to $42.83 billion last month. In the aftermath of COVID-19, Korea’s monthly exports fell 25.5 percent in April, 23.6 percent in May and 10.9 percent in June, marking the third consecutive month of double-digit decline.

As the coronavirus crisis emerged, South Korea distinguished itself on the global stage on the basis of its excellent health care system, quality of medical staff and personnel, and most of all, the collective strength of its citizens coming together to rise above the challenge of a potential epidemiological crisis. Korea’s response to the crisis -- the rapidity with which diagnostics kits were developed, produced, and distributed as well as early adoption of innovative practices such as

The number of people who relocated to other areas within the country in June was the highest in five years, data from Statistics Korea showed. This was due to a rise in home purchases and rents, it said. According to the data that collected reports of new addresses, a total of 607,000 resettled, up 25.3 percent from a year ago. The Korea Appraisal Board said that the number of house transactions reached 138,578 in June, up 152.5 percent from a year ago, and the highest in 14 years. (khnews@h

Two out of three workers aged between 55 and 79 in South Korea said they wish to continue working, according to a survey conducted by Statistics Korea earlier this week. The survey as of May this year showed that the respondents wished to work until 73 on average, although the job market for the age group has deteriorated since the 2008 financial crisis. Of the respondents, 47.1 percent received pension in the past year. Among the 14,271,000 people in the age group, 55.3 percent had jobs. It

There is a growing possibility that the COVID-19 crisis will mark the end of the growth model born four decades ago with the Reagan-Thatcher revolution, China’s embrace of capitalism, and the demise of the Soviet Union. The pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of human societies and fortified support for urgent climate action. And it has strengthened governments’ hand, eroded already-shaky support for globalization, and triggered a reappraisal of the social value of mundane ta