Jan 20, 2020   Technology

[Graphic News] Samsung ranks No. 3 in global wireless headset shipments in 2019

　Samsung Electronics ranked third in global wireless headset shipments last year, industry data showed, though it trailed far behind its rival Apple. 　Samsung shipped 7.4 million totally wireless headsets for a 6.9 percent market share in 2019, according to data from market tracker Strategy Analytics. 　Apple was the dominant force in the TWS market with a 54.4 percent market share after shipping 58.7 million AirPods, its signature TWS headset product, in 2019. (Yonhap)

Jan 20, 2020   North Korea

South Korea should take active role in denuclearizing North: ex-minister

South Korea should take an active stance in dealing with North Korea amid stalled inter-Korean ties, such as by showing its resolve to halt joint military exercises with the US, a former unification minister said Monday. “For the past 1 1/2 years since the Singapore summit, Seoul’s stance was that inter-Korean relations need to adjust to the speed of US-North Korea dialogue. But with the deadlocked denuclearization talks, inter-Korean relations are reaching their worst state,&r

Jan 20, 2020   Industry

KT develops 5G-powered medical service

KT Corp., South Korea's major telecommunications firm, said Monday it has developed a 5G-powered medical service with a Seoul hospital to provide better patient care. KT said it built a 5G network at the Samsung Medical Center and successfully applied its 5G technology to medical practices last week.KT and the SMC have been working together since September 2019 after signing a partnership to develop 5G-powered medical services. Through its 5G network, KT said medical staff at the SMC can now hav

Jan 20, 2020   Industry

KCC conditionally approves SK Broadband, T-broad merger

The Korea Communications Commission on Monday conditionally approved a merger between SK Telecom’s pay TV unit, SK Broadband, and T-broad, the country’s No. 2 cable TV operator. After its meeting on Monday, the KCC announced that it had approved the merger under 14 conditions and three suggestions, which will require the company to protect users’ rights and serve the public interest. The KCC will deliver the results of its review to the ICT Ministry, which is expected to issue

Jan 20, 2020   Foreign Affairs

S. Korea protests Japanese FM's claim to Dokdo

The foreign ministry issued a strong protest on Monday over Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi's parliamentary speech that renewed Japan's claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo.During his speech on foreign policy, Motegi claimed that the East Sea islets are inherently Japan's territory, remarks that overshadowed budding efforts to defuse a row between Seoul and Tokyo over wartime history and trade."The government strongly protests the fact that the Japanese government,

Jan 20, 2020   Industry

CheongKwanJang collaborates with Spain’s Vicens

Red ginseng health supplement brand CheongKwanJang of Korea Ginseng Corp. said Monday it has collaborated with Spain’s renowned chocolate and nougat brand Vicens.The products, released last month, are the result of a partnership between the 120-year-old South Korean firm and Vicens -- with 250 years of tradition -- to introduce six different chocolate types featuring red ginseng. Vicens has been making chocolates and turrons (nougats) since its establishment in 1775. The latest collaborati

Jan 20, 2020   Industry

[Monitor] Chip exports down, car exports up

Semiconductors, usually South Korea’s main export item, accounted for less than 20 percent of all exports in 2019, data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association, the Trade Ministry and the Korea Customs Service showed.On the other hand, automobiles, on the back of buoyed sales of sport utility vehicles and eco-friendly cars, were the country’s No. 2 export item. While the actual number of cars delivered overseas dropped by 1.9 percent from 2018, their export value increa

Jan 20, 2020   Markets

Number of stock-trading accounts nears 30m

The number of active security accounts in South Korea is nearing 30 million amid growing stock trading activities focused on overseas markets, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association on Monday.As of Thursday, the number of active equity accounts was around 29.4 million. It is expected to soon reach 30 million, considering its fast growth, the self-regulatory financial organization said.Active security accounts are those with depository assets of 100,000 won ($86.4) and

Jan 20, 2020   Viewpoints

[Anjani Trivedi] China spins a trade-deal trap in bad debt market

China is opening the deepest, darkest corner of its strained financial system to American financial institutions. It’s not clear why investors would want to go there, even with their eyes wide open.As part of President Donald Trump’s “phase one” trade deal, China will allow US institutions to apply for asset management company licenses (beginning with the provinces), permitting them to acquire non-performing loans directly from Chinese banks. Previously, foreign investors

Jan 20, 2020   Viewpoints

[Noah Smith] The sitcom that gets America’s working class

Sitcoms are an underrated way of portraying the economic challenges faced by average people. “Atlanta” shows the travails of working-class black Americans navigating a world of hassle, insecurity and poverty. The Canadian program “Kim’s Convenience” depicts immigrant small-business owners and their second-generation children off to a rocky start on their rise into the middle class. Broad economic trends form the backdrop to both of shows -- the loss of dependable ma

Jan 20, 2020   Social affairs

[News Focus] Korea’s youth population sees steepest fall among OECD members

SEJONG -- Fifty years ago, South Koreans aged 14 and under made up 42.5 percent of the population in the wake of the country’s 1955-1963 baby boom.Korea ranked second in a retrospective comparison of the 36 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which looked back at youth populations relative to total country populations in 1970. While Mexico topped the list for that year, with 46.8 percent of its population no older than 14, the majority of OECD members post

Jan 20, 2020   Politics

Moon picks Cho Kuk's ex-assistant as new presidential secretary

President Moon Jae-in appointed a lawyer who worked as a policy assistant to former Justice Minister Cho Kuk as a new presidential secretary Monday, a choice expected to trigger public controversy.Moon named Kim Mi-kyoung as his secretary for balanced personnel affairs, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Kim served as deputy secretary at Cheong Wa Dae from 2017-2019 under Cho, who was senior secretary for civil affairs.Cho was later picked to lead the Ministry of Justice, causing weeks of massive stree

Jan 20, 2020   Social affairs

Seoul on alert after 1st confirmed case of coronavirus from China

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Monday ordered health authorities to respond quickly to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus from China, after the first case was confirmed in South Korea. On Monday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a Chinese woman had tested positive for the coronavirus.  On receiving the report, Chung ordered the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the KCDC to work with other concerned organizations to prevent the virus from spreading,