A roof collapsed at a major agricultural and fishery wholesale market in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday afternoon, following the heavy snowfall. One person sustained minor injuries. According to the Anyang Fire Department, the ceiling of the fruit and vegetable section at the Pyeongchon Agricultural and Fishery Wholesale Market collapsed inward at 12:06 p.m. The market had suspended operations since 9 a.m. due to concerns over a potential collapse due to the major snowfall. Some merchants w

The four members of 1VERSE – Hyuk, Seok, Aito and Kenny – are about to achieve the first milestone that countless K-pop trainees dream of: an official debut with an album and showcases. This group, tirelessly honing their skills with the goal of debuting by the end of this year, has one special distinction. It is the first K-pop group featuring North Korean defectors. When 24-year-old Hyuk and Seok, who escaped North Korea and arrived in South Korea 10 years and 5 years ago, respectively, make t

Serbian Ambassador to South Korea Nemanja Grbic highlighted Serbia’s future opportunities and its growing role as a regional hub for innovation and investment during a session of the Global Business Forum on Wednesday. Addressing an audience of business leaders, Grbic emphasized Serbia's transition from an agriculture-dominated economy to a leader in information and communication technologies, with ICT exports now surpassing agricultural goods. Grbic also underscored the robust econom

South Korea's top diplomat said Thursday that Japan would "bear the cost" of tarnishing its international image and reputation if it continues to renege on its commitments to address the historical issue of forcibly mobilizing Korean workers during its colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul publicly criticized Japan for failing to honor its pledge to hold a memorial ceremony to sincerely honor the sacrifices of Korean forced laborers at the Sado Gold Mine in

Innocean, a marketing agency affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, said Thursday it has completed a campaign in the US, titled “Villains Against Evil.” A collaboration with the National Coalition Against Censorship, the campaign aims to oppose to a recent move to ban children's books on specific issues such as LGBTQ+ and racism in school libraries. In the AI-powered short-form videos, fairy tale villains voice their concerns, stating, “Banning books is the ultimate evil.&

South Korea was thrown into disarray on Thursday as it reeled from an unusually heavy November snowfall, now in its second day. Treacherous conditions brought transportation to a halt, triggered widespread delays, and caused power outages in parts of Seoul. Extremely heavy snowfall blanketed the densely populated greater Seoul area, wreaking havoc across the country's bustling capital and its surrounding regions. The sudden, heavy snow slowed down traffic once again in Seoul, with Line No.

The delegation from Ukraine did not request that South Korea provide defensive weapons during a series of high-level meetings held Wednesday in Seoul. Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who spoke with his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov for 30 minutes on Wednesday, said he “did not receive any proposals” from the delegation about buying the Cheongung air defense system, as some reports had speculated. The South Korean defense minister was speaking Thursday in re

KB Financial Group’s decision to name its insurance unit head as the next CEO of KB Kookmin Bank has shown its willingness to optimize synergies among pan-KB affiliates. The CEO recommendation committee of KB Financial Group recommended that KB Life Insurance CEO Lee Hwan-ju lead KB Kookmin Bank on Wednesday. “We recommended Lee as a final candidate who can stably pursue substantial growth and drive consistent improvement in corporate and shareholder value through structural improv

Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo-sun will be relocating as the new chief of Samsung SDI, the battery-making unit said Thursday. Choi has a Ph.D in electrical engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He has served in key positions at Samsung Electronics, including head of DRAM development in the memory division, head of strategic marketing and head of the America for the device solutions division. He later became head of the large display business unit and CEO of Samsu

Han Kang, this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature, stepped back from involvement in the operations of independent bookstore Onul Books, which she established in 2018. “The author (Han Kang) is no longer involved in the operations of ‘Onul Books,’ and we hope this clarification helps avoid any confusion,” an announcement dated Nov. 2 by the book store read. Onul Books is an independent bookstore that Han Kang opened in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul,

Commuting has never been easy, but on Thursday morning, it became nearly impossible for some of South Korea's workers, as a severe snowstorm pounded Seoul and its surrounding areas, causing traffic disruptions. Oh Se-won, a 36-year-old secretary living in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, gave up driving to his office in Pangyo, just south of Seoul, and took the day off. Not only was his car covered in a thick layer of white, but so were the nearby roads blanketed in piles of snow accumulated over

Once again, Elon Musk is back to tracking South Korea's nose-diving birth rate. With just 0.72 births per woman in 2023, South Korea has emerged as an extraordinary case study among developed countries grappling with declining fertility rates -- a sort of petri dish for what might lie ahead for societies facing a demographic crisis. These unprecedented numbers have made the country a favorite reference point for Musk, CEO of Tesla and X and US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to le

The emergence of K-pop powerhouses’ “localized” groups such as VCHA, Katseye, and Dear Alice has sparked debates over whether they can be called K-pop acts. Despite their association with prominent K-pop agencies, industry experts largely agree that they fall outside the traditional definition of K-pop. Major players in the K-pop industry, including Hybe, JYP Entertainment and SM Entertainment, have identified localization as the next step in the genre’s evolution. This s

The Industrial Bank of Korea is nearing the final steps to open a subsidiary in Poland next year. The state-run lender said Thursday that the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, or KNF, had authorized its application to set up a corporate entity, making it the first Korean bank to mark such a milestone. IBK in May 2023 opened its first office in Wroclaw, in a venture to establish Poland as the bank's foothold for European expansion. In March, it filed its application for the local subsi

South Korean oil refiner S-Oil hosted an awards ceremony in Seoul on Thursday to honor the contributions of eight “Hero Firefighters,” together with the Korea National Council on Social Welfare. At the 2024 Hero Firefighters Award Ceremony, a panel of firefighting experts named Fire Lt. Yoo Seung-geol as the “Top Hero Firefighter.” Yoo received a cash prize of 20 million won ($14,300) for acts of bravery. In June, he rescued a person trapped in a flood during an underwate

South Korea’s state weather agency said Thursday that its short-range weather forecast will start providing an overview of potential weather conditions up to five days ahead, instead of the previous four days. The update will allow viewers to see weather predictions up to Friday when they check the system on Monday, the Korea Meteorological Administration explained. However, due to current technological limits, forecast details for the fifth day, such as precipitation probability, will b

Members of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Council have come under fire for deliberately setting a rice paddy on fire, with the purpose of checking how fast firefighters would arrive on the scene. According to the local Yonhap News Agency, members of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Council's construction and firefighting committee set the field on fire at 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 18, in Sangju city, North Gyeongsang Province. A man who called the 119 emergency hotline to report the fire turned o

Koreans born in the early 1970s bear a “triple burden,” juggling financial support for their parents and children while worrying about their own retirement, a survey revealed Thursday. Among those born between 1970 and 1974, seven out of 10 financially support their children, and four out of 10 support their own parents or those of their spouses. One in four supports both generations, spending an average of 1.55 million won ($1,114) per month. They allocate 1.07 million won ($768

Inspired by the splendor of green hues of the trees as the streetlights shone in the city's avenues during summer nights, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday it has chosen "green aurora" as the city's color for next year. As the municipal government expands its color palette every year to roll out the city's identity for the coming year, officials explained that the new soft-tone color aims to offer comfort and support to citizens fatigued from their everyday

Samsung SDS, the South Korean IT solutions affiliate of Samsung Group, said Thursday that it has appointed Lee June-hee, corporate executive vice president of the Network Business Division at Samsung Electronics, as its new CEO. Lee is recognized as an expert in information technology. He has played a key role in leading the commercialization of Samsung’s flagship smartphone Galaxy series and 5G networks at the tech giant. After graduating in electrical and computer engineering at Seoul Na