With the court ruling on Samsung’s de facto chief scheduled for Aug. 25, questions are being raised over not only the fate of the billionaire himself, but the future of the conglomerate as well. The prosecution on Monday demanded Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong be sentenced to 12 years in jail for his alleged role in a bribery scandal that saw the nation’s president impeached. Lee is facing the harshest criminal sentence ever sought against a chaebol leader. His father, Chairman L

The newly appointed chief of the country’s top science and technology office is coming under increasing fire from scientific and political circles. On Monday, President Moon Jae-in appointed Soonchunhyang University professor Park Ky-young as the new vice-minister level chief of the Science, Technology and Innovation Office within the Ministry of Science and ICT. While Cheong Wa Dae assessed Park as being the right choice to prepare the country for the “fourth industrial revolution” and for lead

Foreign nationals suspected of serious crimes are to be subjected to the same travel ban measures as Korean nationals, with a partial revision to related regulations being approved at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. The amended Immigration Act will enable investigative authorities to request emergency departure prohibitions to be issued on foreign suspects considered likely to flee or destroy evidence. Once issued, approval for the travel ban needs to be filed with the minister of justice within six

Splash pads and play fountains are popular hangout spots in summer among families with young children. But is it safe to play there? Does anyone mind the water quality? Children play in a floor fountain at Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, on Aug. 3. (Yonhap)“I think it is a great idea to build splash parks like this for kids to play with water in the middle of the city,” said a mother in her 30s, who brought her 7-year-old son to a splash park at Seoul Square last week, when the daytime high r

The drastic expansion of the peer to peer financing market seemed to be slowing down over the past months due to tightened investment regulations, but is expected to see a rebound from the recent fiscal tapering of the banking sector.It is especially likely to absorb the investor cluster who, under the government’s new restrictive measures on real estate transactions, are swiftly turning away from banks and seeking for an alternative source of investment income, according to industry watch

SK Telecom has launched a portable artificial intelligence device with enhanced assistance services, it said Tuesday. Dubbed NUGU Mini, it is the country’s first Korean-based portable AI speaker, according to the company. It is a smaller and portable version of SKT’s home assistant NUGU speaker that was introduced last September and which currently has about 150,000 users here.  Models hold NUGU Mini devices at a picnic. (SK Telecom)The device measures 84 millimeters in width, 84 mm in length an

Korea TESOL has opened registrations for its international conference in October.The conference is an annual gathering at which around 1,000 professionals in English education discuss issues and research in the field and develop their skills.Keynote speakers at this year’s conference will be Andy Curtis of Anaheim University and Nicky Hockly of Consultants-E, an online training and development organization. Curtis is an intercultural communications expert and the author of several books who will

Applications to take the Test of Proficiency in Korean will open Monday, ahead of the exam day on Oct. 22.The test is available in two formats, TOPIK I, which covers levels 1 and 2, and the more challenging TOPIK II, which covers levels 3-6. The test costs 35,000 won for the TOPIK I and 40,000 won for the TOPIK II. There are 46 test centers in Korea, covering all provinces and metropolitan cities except Ulsan and Sejong. The test is also available in 72 other countries. Tests outside Asia are he

Seoul Global Cultural Center is hosting a free screening of the Korean film “Sunny,” with English subtitles, Saturday.The 2008 film is set during South Korea’s involvement in the Vietnam War.  Poster for "Sunny" (Showbox)The protagonist is Soon-yi, a young woman whose husband, Sang-gil, is a soldier who leaves his wife for his college sweetheart. After Sang-gil is sent to fight in Vietnam, Soon-yi decides to join a band heading there, performing as a singer with the stage name Sunny, to save her

The state-run Korea Gas Corp. is seeking to gain public trust through its corporate social responsibility projects along with a stable supply of safe natural gas. (Korea Gas Corp.)The state-run Korea Gas Corp. is making all-out efforts to gain public trust by carrying out a wide range of activities through its Onnuri project, which handles corporate social responsibility, the company said Tuesday.“We are doing our best to give back to society and enhance the brand value of the state-run company

South Korean goods are losing their presence in one of their largest overseas market, China, with the products taking up 9.4 percent of China’s import market in the first half of the year, the lowest since 2014, data from the Korea International Trade Association showed.The proportion was 10.4 percent and 10 percent in 2015 and 2016, respectively, until South Korean exporters were hit by Beijing’s alleged economic retaliation, such as boycotts and stronger regulatory inspections, upo

Sony Korea CEO Morimoto Osamu poses at Sony Korea’s office in Yeouido, western Seoul. Park Hyun-koo/The Korea HeraldMany Koreans wonder what has happened to Sony, which used be the global top TV provider in the 1990s. The Japanese electronics maker closed its TV business in Korea in 2013, squeezed out by Samsung and LG Electronics. However, Sony did not give up on the Korean market, focusing on camera and audio businesses that are still the world’s No. 1. Although digital technologies may be cha

The United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Saturday that could slash by a third the Asian state‘s $3 billion annual export revenue over its two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July.The US-drafted resolution bans North Korean exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood. It also prohibits countries from increasing the current numbers of North Korean laborers working abroad, bans new joint ventures with North Korea and any new

Pressure on North Korea must be maximized to force the regime to abandon missile and nuclear programs, the South Korean and US presidents agreed Monday.In a telephone conversation held early Monday, President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump agreed that Seoul and Washington should collaborate with the international community to pressure North Korea “as much as possible.” This is the first direct communication between the two leaders since North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic