Startup Opus One announced on May 24 that its independently developed, eco-friendly home security solution made it to the semi-finals of Boost at TNW Europe 2017, which was recently held in Amsterdam. This year’s TNW -- The Next Web -- event, the largest tech conference in Europe and an event that attracts startup companies, investors, and accelerators from all around the world, featured the products and services of 31 Korean startups, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Fu

An early summer heat, with midday highs of over 30 degrees Celsius, is gripping the southeastern part of the peninsula, with Daegu hitting 35 C on Monday, the state weather agency said Monday. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the season’s first heat wave warning was issued for the southeastern city of Daegu as well as inland counties and cities in Gyeongsang Province as of 11 a.m. Monday. A heat wave warning is announced when a region’s day high reaches 35 C.(Yonhap)The temp

Mirae Asset Global Investment’s exchange-traded fund business has been increasing its dominance in the global financial market, the company said Monday.The ETF business, currently managing over 15 trillion won ($13.4 billion), can be divided into three brands: Horizons (US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Columbia), Tiger (Korea), and BetaShares (Australia).  Both the firm’s net assets and number of listed ETFs have doubled over the past six years since Mirae Asset has extended the busin

A VERY SPECIAL DAY -- Participants pose for a photo during an event on Saturday organized by Singapore Airlines and also joined by Singapore Airlines General Manager for the Korean branch Seah Chee Chian (standing, center), offering an opportunity for children with visual impairment and their families to cook in-flight meals with Chef Yim Jung-sik of Michelin-starred restaurant Jungsik. The event is part of the airline’s corporate social responsibility program and has been held since 2012. (Sing

Samsung SDI will unveil new residential energy storage system products designed for the global market, the company said Monday. The battery and ESS developer said it will display a full lineup of residential ESS products at Intersolar Europe 2017 running from Tuesday through Thursday in Munich, Germany.  A Samsung SDI booth is set up at the Energy Storage Europe 2017 exhibition in March. (Samsung SDI)Intersolar is one of the leading international exhibitions for the ESS and solar industries. Sam

With the rapid emergence of new platforms that enable peer-to-peer transactions, such as Airbnb and Uber, South Korea will start reflecting the digital sharing economy in its gross domestic product from March, 2019, the Bank of Korea said Monday.While existing digital transactions such as e-commerce and the trade of digital content are already included in the current GDP, unregistered Airbnb service providers have not been reflected in Korea, the BOK said. “The first (GDP) figure that refl

Discord over the issue of irregular workers has exposed a rift in relations between the Moon Jae-in administration and business circles.The new liberal government has not been supposed to be business-friendly as the appointment of key economic policymakers reflects Moon’s resolve to implement his campaign pledge to reform the country’s large family-run conglomerates known as chaebol. But the heavy-handed reaction by Moon and his aides to criticism by a local employers’ group of

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae is to exert all its powers on Monday to ask for the opposition political circles' cooperation in consenting to the appointment of Prime Minister nominee Lee Nak-yon.While the opposition has been asking for President Moon Jae-in’s apology for what it saw as a faulty choice of personnel, the Blue House’s stance so far is that it shall not revoke the appointment. Prime Minister nominee Lee Nak-yon (center) (Yonhap)“Senior presidential secretary for political af

Taiwan becomes 1st in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage.Taiwan has become the first Asian country to order its parliament to legalize same-sex marriage. 　Gay and lesbian couples are allowed to marry in only 23 of the world’s nearly 200 countries. More than 70 countries continue to criminalize homosexual activity. South Africa is the only country in Africa to allow them.Globally, the pace of civil rights victories has slowed against the background of a steady stream of reports of anti-gay viole

The Manchester terror attack by an alleged Islamic State group “soldier” will accelerate the push by the US and its allies to capture the terror group’s strongholds in Mosul and Raqqah. But it should also focus some urgent discussions about a post-ISIS strategy for stabilizing Iraq and Syria.For all President Trump’s bombast about obliterating the Islamic State group, also known as IS, the Raqqah campaign has been delayed for months while US policymakers debated the wisdom of relying on a Syrian

Sitting in my Hangzhou hotel room one evening last September, I caught a helpfully subtitled Chinese TV show about Song Dynasty inscriptions carved on a mountainside near Quanzhou -- the city Chinese media invariably call “the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road.” With prayers for good winds and safe returns, the carvings bore witness to China’s far-flung commercial relations during the European Middle Ages. The report was a perfectly legitimate travel feature. By calling attention to the S