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  North Korea

  Trump threatens to 'totally destroy' North Korea

  • Seoul says Trump remarks show firm US resolve to maintain peace
  • Korean president vows to strive for economic democracy, peace
  • S. Korean, British leaders agree to seek peaceful resolution of NK nukes

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  World

  7.1 magnitude quake kills 139 as buildings crumble in Mexico

  MEXICO CITY - A magnitude 7.1 earthquake stunned central Mexico on Tuesday, killing at least 139 people as buildings collapsed in plumes of dust. Thousands fled into the streets in panic, and many stayed to help rescue those trapped.Dozens of buildings tumbled into mounds of rubble or were severely damaged in densely populated parts of Mexico City and nearby states. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said buildings fell at 44 places in the capital alone as high-rises across the city swayed sickeningly.

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  Technology

  Korean online game ‘Battlegrounds’ breaks Steam record for highest concurrent player count

  Online shooting game “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” developed by South Korea’s Bluehole Studio has broken the record for the highest concurrent player count on Steam, the world’s largest online video game store platform.The game, which was released as an early access beta version on Steam around six months ago, hit the milestone by achieving more than 1.34 million concurrent player counts Saturday, Bluehole said this week.With the new record, “Battlegrounds” beat the top peak player count recor

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  North Korea

  Seoul to separate aid to NK from political situations

  South Korea will determine if and when it will provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea by taking all relevant factors into consideration but it will be pursued regardless of any political situations, the country's top diplomat has said. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha made the remark in a meeting held on Tuesday with Anthony Lake, executive director of the UN International Children's Emergency Fund on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly underway in New York. Foreign Minister Kang Kyu

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  Industry

  What it takes to keep a startup up and running

  Despite high spirits over the ‘fourth industrial revolution,’ local startups face hurdles in early-stage funding

• 

  Industry

  Korea to kick off nationwide shopping festival next week

  A nationwide shopping festival involving hundreds of retailers and traditional markets will begin next week, the government said Wednesday, as it aims to draw foreign travelers amid a sharp decline in the number of Chinese tourists.The annual Korea Sale FESTA, jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, will kick off from Sept. 28 and run through Oct. 31. During the special bargain sales event, major retailers and manufacturers

NEWSMAKER

• Industry

  

  Corruption scandal shakes up KAI’s vision

  Credibility appears to be biggest concern for KAI ahead of $10b US project

LATEST NEWS

• Today

  

  Economy

  Korean biz survival rate lower than EU

  South Korean small and medium enterprises have a lower survival rate than their European Union counterparts with some 6 out of 10 surviving more than one year and less than 30 percent past five years, data showed Wednesday.A total of 62.4 percent of Korean companies remained opened for more than one year as of 2015, and 27.3 percent were doing business beyond five years, according to the data by the Korea International Trade Association. Korean businesses' one-year survival rate is lower than Ge

• Today

  

  World

  Trump bluntly threatens to wipe out NK in UN debut

  President Donald Trump bluntly threatened North Korea with annihilation if it menaces the US or its allies and delivered a provocative argument to leaders of the world that they should embrace nationalism even when confronting collective threats.In his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump at times cast aside conventions of political and diplomatic dialogue in favor of the aggressive dialect of social media. He vowed to crush “the loser terrorists” in the Mideast and pinned

• Today

  

  Industry

  Firms reorganize wage systems to head off possible court battle after Kia case: sources

  South Korean companies are struggling to restructure their wage systems to stave off a possible court battle over "ordinary wage" which serves as the basis for overtime, severance and other payments, industry sources said Wednesday.The move comes as the Seoul Central District Court ruled last month that fixed bonuses and meal costs are part of ordinary salaries and that Kia Motors Corp. should pay an overdue amount of 422.4 billion won ($373.2 million), or 38.7 percent, of what the union has req

• Today

  

  Baseball

  Schedules announced for baseball postseason

  Schedules for South Korean baseball's postseason were announced on Wednesday.The wild card game between the fourth- and fifth-ranked teams at 2 p.m. on Oct. 5 will launch the postseason play, the Korea Baseball Organization said. The 144-game regular season is scheduled to finish on Oct. 3.The fourth seed will be the host, and it can advance to the first round of the playoffs either with a victory or a tie in the first game. If the fifth seed wins the first wild card game, then there will be a s

• Today

  

  Soccer

  Beckham says Korean natl. team will improve

  David Beckham said Wednesday he thinks the South Korean national football team will overcome difficult situations and become a better team, emphasizing that all teams and players go through adversity.The 42-year-old retired football star from Britain visited South Korea as a global ambassador for AIA, the pan-Asian insurance group, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the country, to talk about healthy lifestyle and promote the company's new campaign "What's Your Why?"During a press conf

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SPOTLIGHT

• Social affairs

  

  Insect found inside IV fluid bag given to 5-month-old

  Health authorities are investigating an intravenous fluid bag with an insect inside that was found at a hospital in Seoul on Sunday while being administered to a five-month-old child. Parents of the infant, who was hospitalized for urinary stone treatment at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital in western Seoul, found what appears to be a tiny insect floating inside the plastic bag connected to the child, at around 8 p.m. Sunday. It was about 14 hours after the young patient began receiving f

• 

  Finance

  S. Korea to assure credibility of economy during NY summit

  Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon set to meet with foreign investors in New York amid heightend tensions over North Korea threats.

• 

  Industry

  Hanjin Group chief grilled by police

  Hanjin Group’s chief executive was questioned by police Tuesday regarding allegations that he used company funds to renovate his private home.Cho Yang-ho, who heads the group that runs Korean Air, appeared at the National Police Agency for questioning. He told reporters before the session that he would “fully cooperate with the investigation.” Cho Yang-ho, Hanjin Group’s chief executive, appears for questioning at the National Police Agency in Seoul on Tuesday. (Yonhap)Cho is suspected of using

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  Industry

  Avocado imports increase dramatically in South Korea

  South Korea’s imports of avocados have dramatically increased in recent years, riding on the surging popularity of the fruit for its versatility in cooking and health benefits, industry data showed Tuesday.According to data compiled by the Korea Customs Service, the amount of avocados imported last year reached 2,915 tons, a sixfold surge compared to 457 tons in 2010.  (123RF)The figure is expected to reach almost 5,000 tons by the end this year, the data also showed. Korean retail giant Lotte M

GRAPHIC NEWS

• 

EDITORIAL

• China's two faces

  Beijing’s self-contradictory positions complicate N. Korea crisis

• Moon’s UN debut

  President needs to show firm will against NK to urge other countries to follow suit

VIEWPOINTS

THE INVESTOR

• 

  Bio & Medicine

  Samsung BioLogics overtakes Lonza in market cap

  Samsung BioLogics’ stock price has more than doubled since its market debut last November to take on the segment leader Switzerland’s Lonza in terms of market value.Stocks of the contract drug manufacturing arm of Samsung Group closed at 338,000 won (US$298.85) on Sept. 19, pushing its market capitalization above 22.36 trillion won. In comparison, Lonza’s market cap sits at 18.77 Swiss Franc (22.12 trillion won).The Korean CMO’s stocks have continued to rally as investors are bett

• 

  Samsung

  Samsung Galaxy Note 8 sells 270,000 units on 1st weekend

  Tech giant Samsung Electronics’ latest flagship Galaxy Note 8 has been picking up traction with robust initial sales in Korea, industry data showed on Sept. 18.The nation’s three major mobile carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- received 200,000 new subscribers for the Note 8 on Sept. 15 when the phone hit shelves, and 70,000 new subscribers the next day.Related:New iPhones fail to impress investors Samsung Note 9 will be foldable: mobile chiefThe combined 270,000 new s

K-POP HERALD

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  BTS breaks record, topping 73 iTunes charts

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  Song Joong-ki’s fans make donation

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  Kim Jae-joong to become photographer

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Finance

  

  Hacker-turned-CEO brings digital currency offline

  The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the fintech industry. This is the first installment. -- Ed. While cryptocurrency exchanges among those in their 40s and 50s deal with larger volumes, the older generation more often than not face inconveniences in trading their digital currencies.“Some traders often found themselves in trouble,” Kevin Cha, founder and chief executive of digital currency exchange Coinone, told The Korea Herald in an interview. The inte

• 

  Industry

  ‘Samsung wants to bring idea of Silicon Valley project to Korea’

  Two years on since Samsung Electronics opened its office building in Silicon Valley, the Korean tech giant has seen a dramatic change in their work style and it hopes to bring the idea to Korea, according to a partner at the US architecture firm NBBJ.NBBJ is a firm that designed Samsung’s US building and those of many other global tech firms, including Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent and Google. “Samsung’s Silicon Valley building is very progressive. (I think) They are learning a lot from the project

• 

  Film

  Empathy without exploitation

  Gina Kim’s award-winning VR film ‘Bloodless’ features murder victim’s final minutes

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Cosmos in full bloom

  Visitors take in the view of a cosmos field in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday prior to the local festival’s opening. A yearly celebration of the season’s blooms, “Guri Cosmos Festival 2017” will take place for a three-day run from Friday.By Park Hyun-koo (phko@heraldcorp.com)

VIDEO

• Culture

  

  Ever-expanding universe of ramen

  Barley, maize noodles and self-cookers lead Korean ramen trend

MOST POPULAR

• Trump threatens to 'totally destroy' North Korea
• More countries sever ties with North Korea
• Woman found dead on riverbank in Cheongju
• Hyundai could become world’s No. 1 with FCA merger: report
• Seoul mayor files complaint against ex-president Lee over smear campaign

FEATURES

• 

  Arts&Design

  Syrian artists find ways to express war’s impact

  Seoul exhibition of shows artists overcoming obstacles to communicate with world

• 

  Social affairs

  Tension mounts over upcoming pro-LGBT event at Haeundae beach

  The first LGBT festival to take place in Busan this weekend is hiking up tensions between pro- and anti-LGBT groups, according to Haeundae Police on Tuesday.The possibility of clashes between the two groups is putting local police on high alert. The festival will start at 10 a.m. Saturday at Haeundae beach. There will also be a parade that begins at 4 p.m. and will go around adjacent areas before ending at Gunam-ro Culture Square, which leads back to the beachfront.                              

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  Social affairs

  Four people found dead in suspected suicide pact

  Four people were found dead inside a guesthouse room near Gyeongpo lake in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Tuesday. The four are suspected to have gassed themselves to death in a suicide pact as a nitrogen tank and plastic bags were found in the room.The men and women were initially found dead by the owner of the guesthouse who entered the room after the scheduled check-out time.The police are investigating how the four people, who have little in common in terms of age and place of residence, ended

• 

  North Korea

  Misinterpreted Trump tweet causes online chaos amid NK tensions

  Cheong Wa Dae on Monday urged South Korean media outlets to be cautious in reporting matters that concern national security and North Korea, ahead of President Moon Jae-in’s departure for New York.Reports had misinterpreted US President Donald Trump’s tweet mocking the North Korean leader and the country’s fuel shortages. The tweet, however, was misinterpreted by some South Korean news organizations as being criticism of Moon’s hopes for closer economic cooperation among the South, the North and

WEEKENDER

• Health

  

  In search of youth

  Anti-aging care growing popular among Koreans, old and young