The pervasive sentiment of Asian financial leaders and economists who gathered for the ADB’s 50th annual meeting in Yokohama in the past few days was optimism about Asia’s prospects. They expressed confidence that the region would continue to lead global economic growth, despite some political instability and indications of protectionism seen elsewhere.　The optimism appears justified given that 95 percent of Asia’s population now lives in middle-income economies, while as recently as the 1990s,

Two one-act plays by local expat playwrights take to the Seoul stage from Saturday, in a project that sees Seoul Players show off their writing as well as their stage talents. The two plays have their share of laughs, but will leave audiences something to contemplate, said co-producer Kim Schroeder. “Rent, Boy” (Robert Michael Evans)The first, “Rent, Boy” by Raymond C. Salcedo, is a comedy of errors and unpaid debts centered on youth and bad behavior.“It‘s a wonderful journey. It’s kind of a dra

Cities across South Korea will be hosting multicultural events as part of the Justice Ministry’s Together Day festival. Together Day, in its 10th year, comprises of events taking place over around 10 days, the first of which was a talent contest for foreign students at Soongsil University. Last year’s Global Gathering in Busan (BFIA)Among the biggest events is Busan’s Global Gathering on Sunday, run by the Busan Foundation for International Activities. The gathering predates Together Day, but is

Michael Breen will talk about his new book “The New Koreans” at an event in Seoul this Saturday.The book follows up his 1997 book “The Koreans,” a guide to the cultural landscape of modern Korea. Initially intended simply as a new edition, so much has changed that the update grew into a book of its own right.In his foreword, Breen said he had, at the time of his previous book, expected a unified Korea by this point -- a “third miracle” after those of economic development and democratization.Inst

Song Joong-ki has bought a house in Itaewon-dong, Seoul for 10 billion won ($8.9 million). The Korean actor, who starred in the hit “Descendants of the Sun,” bought a two-story house with a basement in January, according to a document obtained by The Korea Herald. The house has a total floor area of 371.7 square meters and sits on land measuring 602 square meters, according to the document.An official from Blossom Entertainment, Song’s agency, on Wednesday said he was not aware of the purchase.“

Hyosung is participating in Asia’s largest plastic industry expo Chinaplas, from Tuesday to Friday, promoting Hyosung Chemicals Performance Group’s polypropylene brand Topilene and polyketone brand Poketone.Participating in the event for the first time for its polypropylene business, diverse products, including pipes, films, transparent containers, and heat-resisting home appliances, were revealed, the company said. Hyosung's booth at Chinaplas (Hyosung)The company has developed its own technolo

An annual flower festival was canceled in South Korea after unauthorized strains of genetically-modified organisms were found, the festival board said Wednesday.The Taebaeksan Rape Flower Festival preparatory committee said that they decided to scrap this year’s event, scheduled for June 2-6, as flower specimen was tested positive for living modified organisms. South Korea entirely bans LMOs for fear that they may confuse the natural ecosystem. LMOs are able to reproduce as they are living organ

Buoyed by rising international oil prices, South Korea’s export and import prices each surged by 0.5 percent in April compared to the previous month, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday.The provisional import price for April was 81.79 (based on the standard of 100 in 2010, in local currency terms), showing the first increase in three months. The rise in import price, which is reflected in consumer prices, was attributed to the higher international oil prices. The price of Dubai crude -- South

The nation’s top court has dismissed an appeal by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to keep its patent over a technology that reliquefies evaporated liquefied natural gas, industry sources said Wednesday.The ruling puts an end to a three-year trial that looked into a request made by DSME’s rivals, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, to nullify the former’s patent right. The two companies claimed that DSME falsely promoted that the company holds a patent for the techno

CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun has made an official comeback to the nation’s food and entertainment giant, ending a four-year hiatus in management due to his ill health and jail term. The chairman, in a gray double-breasted suit, stood up from his wheelchair to plant a commemorative tree for a research and development center for food and biochemistry businesses in Gwanggyo, a commuter town south of Seoul on Wednesday.  (Yonhap)Standing in front of CJ staff and executives, Lee said he would inves

GS Group, a South Korean refinery and retail conglomerate, held its eighth GS Value Creation Forum to share notable performance by affiliates, the company said Wednesday.“Let’s put in all efforts for change and innovation to lead the development of GS and to create more jobs,” said GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo. GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo (GS Group)“In the recent management environment, it is difficult to predict the speed and direction of change. Monitoring market trends and customers al

President Moon Jae-in’s first week in office has received mixed reactions from the opposition parties, ranging from harsh criticism to him being “frighteningly” good. On Wednesday, Liberty Korea Party floor leader Rep. Chung Woo-taik notched up the criticism by honing in on the backgrounds of Moon’s aides. Saying Moon favors the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and those with ties to late President Roh Moo-hyun, Chung remarked his choices are far from the fairness Moon promised. In particular, C

It looks to be a matter of time before artificial intelligence spills into the financial sector as South Korea’s two leading companies in telecommunication and finance have announced a joint measure to start a voice-based account service.South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom and leading financial group KEB Hana Bank said Wednesday the two will work together on AI-based voice recognizing bank services in June, and expand the services to securities, insurance and credit card firms in the second h