Who's lying? Hybe vs. Min conflict continues to intensify

The conflict between Hybe and former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin continues to intensify, with both parties clashing over another round of allegations. A day after Ador rejected NewJeans' request to reinstate Min as CEO on Wednesday, a local media outlet released an exclusive interview with Min. In the interview, Min revealed that Hybe had offered her money in May on the condition that she leave the company. “After winning the injunction against the extraordinary shareholders' meeting in

K-popSept. 27, 2024

North Korea unveiling uranium enrichment site a US election-conscious move: NIS

South Korea’s spy agency considers North Korea publicizing leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to a previously undeclared uranium enrichment facility earlier this month to be a “US election-conscious move,” Rep. Lee Seong-kweon of the National Assembly intelligence committee said Thursday. “Kim’s visits to facilities related to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are rarely ever disclosed this way. The spy agency said the US presidential election was likely the

PoliticsSept. 26, 2024

2025 Trend Forecast: Small details, new happiness trend amid sluggish economy

After completing his annual bestselling series “Trend Korea” for the upcoming year, Seoul National University professor Kim Rando lamented that "grandeur has disappeared." Next year, Kim explained, will mark a shift from the grand to the details, with an emphasis on paying attention to small details and subtle differences. Now in its 17th year, the "Trend Korea" series forecasts consumer trends for the upcoming year through 10 key predictions, with allusion to the

BooksSept. 25, 2024

KFA Chair denies unfair hiring of national coach

Korea Football Association chief Chung Mong-gyu on Tuesday denied any attempts to plot a “scheme or cover up the truth,” in the hiring of men’s national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo, which has been under suspicion of irregularities. He was summoned to testify before the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee on the allegations that the KFA hired the 55-year-old star football player-turned-coach in July as the head coach of the men’s squ

PoliticsSept. 24, 2024

What will Yoon, Han talk about at dinner?

President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon are scheduled to hold a dinner meeting Tuesday, as several impending issues, such as the country's deepening medical crisis, loom over their heads. Besides Yoon and Han, the dinner will be attended by 14 officials from the ruling party leadership and the presidential office. Han recently requested a separate, private one-on-one meeting between him and Yoon on the sidelines of the dinner meeting, but the presidential o

PoliticsSept. 23, 2024

Assembly to review disputed appointment of national soccer team coach

The controversy-ridden appointment of men's national soccer team head coach Hong Myung-bo will be reviewed by the National Assembly on Tuesday morning, during the sports committee's assessment of the current issues in the sports circles. Hong, Korea Football Association chief Chung Mong-gyu, and KFA Technical Director Lee Lim-saeng who headed the coaching selection, were chosen to be witnesses in the questioning by the members of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee. The

SoccerSept. 22, 2024

3 suspects apprehended for selling celebrity deepfake porn: police

Three suspects are accused of selling sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of over 20 South Korean celebrities, including minors, through Telegram, according to Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on Friday. Police officials announced two suspects were arrested and one was apprehended without arrest Thursday in violation of the Juvenile Protection Act and the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes. The police said the three suspects were in their 20s and were

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

NK newspaper 'unusually' silent on new missile tests: Seoul

While North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, primarily targeting international audiences, reported missile test launches under Kim Jong-un's supervision on Thursday, the country's primary domestic newspaper unusually omitted the coverage. Kim supervised the tests of tactical ballistic missiles fitted with "super-large" warheads and modified cruise missiles on Wednesday, according to the KCNA. But the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s most widely circulated

North KoreaSept. 19, 2024

High temperatures may worsen mental health conditions: study

Amid the prolonged summer in South Korea, research revealed Wednesday shows that rising temperatures can cause not just heat-related illnesses but also increase the risk of obtaining mental illnesses such as depression. According to joint research conducted by the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul National University and Pusan National University with 219,187 respondents of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s Community Health Survey, for every increase in average annual t

Social AffairsSept. 18, 2024

[LLG] Car accidents shattered her vision – and sparked a new artistic journey

Kang Joo-hye is an artist who has a unique view of the world — literally. Blind in her right eye and experiencing double vision in her left, she chooses to communicate with the world through art. Created under the pen name “Migeung” — meaning crazily or beautifully positive — her drawings betray no hint of this struggle; they exude warmth and positivity. The survivor of two serious car accidents understands the media’s fascination with her story. However,

Hashtag KoreaSept. 17, 2024

[AtoZ into Korean mind] Koreans do things quickly. Is it efficiency or lack of patience?

In South Korea, speed is key. What needs to be done quickly? Virtually everything. As encapsulated in the running joke that “ppalli ppalli” -- where "ppalli" translates to "quickly" or "hurry up" in Korean -- is one of the first Korean phrases that visitors pick up here, Koreans tend to display minimal tolerance for delays. “Being quick is considered to be efficient, at least in my workplace,” Song Min-jae shared, a Seoul resident in his

Hashtag KoreaSept. 16, 2024

Nearly 2,000 aging separated family members die in first 8 months of year: gov't data

Nearly 2,000 separated family members in South Korea died in the first eight months of this year without having an opportunity to reunite with their loved ones in North Korea after being separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, government data showed Sunday. A total of 1,961 applicants for government-arranged reunions for separated families died in the January-August period, raising the total number of such people to 96,352, according to the data from the unification ministry. As of end-August, arou

Social AffairsSept. 15, 2024

Former Ador CEO files injunction to remain as director after her current term

Former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin, filed for an injunction Friday to be reinstated as a director at the company after her term ends Nov. 2. Anticipating that the Ador board will not renew her term, Min’s legal representative law firm Sejong and her PR firm, Macoll Consulting Group, announced that they had submitted a petition to the Seoul Central District Court, requesting an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting and Min's reappointment as an internal director. Previously, Ador

K-popSept. 13, 2024

Gheorghiu stands her ground over 'Tosca’ tantrums

The ongoing controversy between renowned soprano Angela Gheorghiu and the organizers of Puccini's opera Tosca intensified this week after the soprano's management issued a statement claiming that an agreement had been made for no encores, a claim later denied by the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. On Wednesday, Gheorghiu’s management, Intermusica, released a statement saying, “Ms. Gheorghiu deeply regrets the circumstances that led to the incident at the Sejong Arts Center on

CultureSept. 13, 2024

Is NewJeans leaving Hybe?

K-pop group NewJeans has issued an ultimatum against Hybe, demanding the reinstatement of Min Hee-jin as CEO of Ador, by the deadline of Sept. 25. The request was announced during a livestream they held on YouTube Wednesday evening, the post about which was subsequently deleted from X, formerly Twitter. “What we want is for Ador to be restored to its original state with Min Hee-jin as the CEO, where management and producing are integrated. Restore Ador to its original state by Sept. 25,&rd

K-popSept. 12, 2024

Unseasonably hot weather continues; Seoul hit by latest tropical night on record

Summertime temperatures have persisted and likely will for some time, with the state-run weather agency projecting the current late heat wave to continue. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration's forecast, temperatures in Seoul may rise above 30 degrees Celsius into late September. The nation's capital also saw its first-ever heat wave advisory in September on Tuesday. Korea defines "heat wave days" as when the daily high is 33 degrees Celsius or higher. Seoul s

Social AffairsSept. 11, 2024

Korean teachers handling larger classes, but starting pay lags behind OECD average

South Korean teachers handle larger classes, but earn less compared with several of their counterparts in other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Education Ministry said Tuesday. According to the latest edition of a government report analyzing the OECD's annual "Education at a Glance," the number of students per teacher in South Korea stood at 15.8 in elementary schools and 13.1 in middle schools, respectively, in 2022, which was higher than

Social AffairsSept. 10, 2024

Minister pushes for inheritance tax overhaul

The South Korean government is stepping up efforts to overhaul its inheritance tax system next year, with the Finance Ministry preparing a bill to tax the inheritors instead of the estate that is being inherited. "To enhance fairness and ensure consistency in taxation, as well as align with global trends, the government plans to shift to an inheritance acquisition tax system," Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok said Monday in a meeting with journalists at the gove

EconomySept. 10, 2024

So many epic performances, so few places to hold them

While K-pop continues its phenomenal growth and more people attend live performances than ever before, one issue remains unchanged from a decade ago -- the chronic shortage of concert venues. "Finding a venue is like finding a needle in a haystack," said an official from a music festival organizing agency. The official added that many performances that were originally scheduled for December to target the year-end are being pushed to January due to the shortage of venues. Another indust

CultureSept. 9, 2024

Frieze Seoul sees slower sales, yet confirms stronger art scene in Seoul

The economic slowdown has affected the third edition of Frieze Seoul, which started Wednesday at Coex with relatively slow sales. Galleries brought works at lowered prices as though they were bracing for the economic impact on the art market. Some galleries were hesitant to share sales figures, saying that collectors appeared to be taking more time to make purchases, or that sales had been similar to -- or worse than -- last year. “We know that the economy here has not been at its best, ev

Arts & DesignSept. 6, 2024