Seventeen dropped a hint about where it will conduct its promotional activities for 11th EP “Seventeenth Heaven.” Agency Pledis Entertainment uploaded a teaser video for one of the activities, “Svt Right Here,” on Friday, that spelled out five cities: Seoul, Tokyo, Paris, New York and Beijing. “Svt Right Here” conveys the band’s signature sound and along with the following phrase “@Everywhere,” set fans abuzz with expectations for the

South Korean oil refiner S-Oil held the company’s annual charity event, dubbed “Sharing Songpyeon with S-Oil,” on Friday, for the upcoming Chuseok holiday. S-Oil CEO and some 100 employees made songpyeon -- traditional half-moon-shaped rice cakes served during Chuseok -- and 500 gift packages, spending 50 million won ($37,400) in total. “Korea’s Chuseok is a meaningful holiday that celebrates a plentiful harvest with families, gathering together to eat special foods

French director Sylvain George's “Obscure Night” won the grand prize at the 2023 DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, or DMZ Docs, which took place Sept. 14-21. On Thursday evening, DMZ Docs held its closing ceremony at the CGV Goyang Baekseok theater in Gyeonggi Province, awarding 10 documentary films. George's “Obscure Night” was praised for its in-depth depiction of young migrants in Morocco who are trying to travel from Africa to Europe via land rout

Suga of BTS began his mandatory military service on Friday. He will be fulfilling his compulsory military service by doing alternative service after receiving basic training for the first few weeks during boot camp. “I was able to come this far thanks to you ARMY (the name of BTS' fan community). Now it’s time for me (to begin my mandatory military service). I will do my utmost to fulfill my national duty. Stay warm as the weather is getting cold. Stay healthy and let’s me

The French drama series titled “The Fragile Colossus” received the Grand Prize at the Seoul International Drama Awards 2023 on Thursday. SIDA 2023 honored a total of 11 drama series as well as 15 actors, screenwriters and directors from around the world in a ceremony held at KBS Hall in Seoul. The French drama series was praised for its in-depth depiction of sexual violence. The plot of “The Fragile Colossus” revolves around Sebastien, a former rugby player who was sexu

South Korean stocks closed lower for the second consecutive day Friday amid concerns the US Federal Reserve may keep its benchmark lending rate higher for longer. The local currency climbed against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index had declined 6.84 points, or 0.27 percent, to finish at 2,508.13. Trading volume was moderate at 425.5 million shares worth 6.9 trillion won ($5.2 billion), with decliners outpacing winners 595 to 285. Individuals purchased a total of 206.

An endowed curatorship for Korean art has been established at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Korea Foundation Curatorship Fund, funded by the museum and Korea Foundation. Eleanor Soo-ah Hyun was named the Korea Foundation and Samsung Foundation of Culture associate curator on Wednesday. Hyun joined the Met in 2019 after working at the British Museum as a curator for the Korean collection. The Met also announced its plans to bolster Korean art exhibitions at the museum, support collab

Lee Seung-min, a third-grade student at Gyeongju Hwarang High School, won the 16th KB Financial Group Women's Amateur Golf Championship on Friday. Lee finished the second round of the tournament at Century 21 Country Club in Gangwon Province with a total of 6-under 138 strokes to take the top spot. The final round of the tournament was delayed by about two hours due to heavy fog and ultimately had to be canceled. The winner was determined by the combined scores of the first two rounds. Lee

South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group conducted a large-scale, earlier-than-usual personnel shakeup following its flagging business showings and losing race against fast-growing retail powerhouses such as Coupang. Via an executive appointment conducted a month ahead of its usual timing, 9 out of 25 of Shinsegae Group's chief executive officers, or some 40 percent, were replaced. The reshuffle was made in accordance with Shinsegae Group's new system personnel management system dubbe

TvN recently confirmed the launch of “Wise Resident Life” (unofficial translation) -- a new spinoff of its hit 2020 medical drama “Hospital Playlist” -- starring rising actor Go Youn-jung. The upcoming series will offer the medical stories of doctors and professors in Jongno branch of Yulje Hospital, the setting for the original "Hospital Playlist." Go, 27, who garnered both local and global drama fans’ interest with “Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shad

Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr has been selected as the recipient of the 12th Park Kyung-ni Literary Prize, the award’s organizers said Wednesday. This year, a total of 37 nominees were chosen through four rounds of preliminary screening from among 234 novelists from around the world. In June, four writers -- Ransmayr, Cormac McCarthy, Margaret Atwood and Antonio Lobo Antunes -- were nominated as the finalists. The 69-year-old Austrian writer won global recognition with his novel &ldqu

Mirae Asset Global Investments has been leading the domestic equity ETF market with its innovative growth ETFs since April 2022, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. In recent years, ETF products have become increasingly popular in Korea and have attracted significant inflows of funds. As a result, the Korean ETF market attracted more than 100 trillion won ($74.77 billion) in investments, with equity ETFs attracting 50 trillion won. Industry sources say Mirae Asset&

Seoul and Washington embarked on their inaugural joint underwater search operation, aiming to locate the wreckage of a US fighter jet and the remains of American pilots who lost their lives during the 1950-53 Korean War in the waters of the East Sea on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea's Ministry of National Defense Agency for Killed in Action Recovery Identification (MAKRI) and the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) commenced a three-week retrieval operation on Sept. 7 in the wate

More than 1,800 breaches of the country’s Youth Protection Act were found during a nationwide government inspection of downtown areas to examine whether operations met requirements. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Friday it had detected 1,802 violations of the act, and that it had asked the local governments responsible to investigate 65 of those cases and issued corrective orders for the rest. The inspection was conducted from July 17 until Aug. 18 at places such as beache

Apple’s latest flagship smartphone series will likely launch in South Korea next month, according to industry sources Friday. Apple is preparing to sell its new smartphones -- the iPhone15, iPhone15 Plus, iPhone15 Pro and iPhone15 Pro Max -- on Oct. 13 in Korea, taking preorders a week ahead of the official release here, sources said. If the tech giant rolls out its latest smartphone lineup on that date in Korea, it will be about a month after the company first unveiled the iPhone 15 serie

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun has reiterated the importance of corporate responsibility as the South Korean automaker celebrated the 25th anniversary of Hyundai Hope on Wheels, a US-based nonprofit organization established to support pediatric cancer research and childhood cancer patients. “Under the vision ‘Progress for Humanity,’ Hyundai Motor is committed to doing the right things for the entire world including innovating products and fulfilling corporate

Wearing a white shirt and jeans, Arts Council Korea Chairperson Choung Byoung-gug prepares coffee at his Seoul office in the small-theater district of Daehagno before the interview in late July. “Five or six years ago, we signed a memorandum of understanding for a 50 billion-won ($37 million) project to build a coffee museum, a coffee library and so on in Addis Ababa,” said Choung, recalling his work as a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Commit

Korea Creative Content Agency announced on Thursday that it will host a special venue to promote Korean comics and webtoon IP at the upcoming New York Comic Con, starting from Oct. 12 to 15. NYCC, which is set to be held at Javits Center, New York City, is considered the biggest comic and pop culture event on the US East Coast drawing comics creators, gaming stars, top anime and celebrities. Poised to raise the profile of Korean webtoons in the US, KOCCA is scheduled to run “The House of K

North Korea held a Politburo meeting on Wednesday to discuss leader Kim Jong-un's recent visit to Russia and subsequent actions required to put the trip's outcomes into effect, state-run media reported Friday. Kim made his first public appearance following his extensive 10-day overseas trip by participating in a Political Bureau meeting at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. During the meeting, Kim Song-nam, the director of the In

Lotte Shopping, the retail arm of South Korean retail giant Lotte Group, said it held the grand opening ceremony for its shopping complex Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi on Friday, following the company's efforts to expand its presence in the Vietnamese market. Standing on a 354,000-square-meter site, and considered one of the largest shopping complexes in Vietnam, the commercial complex is comprised of a wide selection of facilities -- ranging from a shopping mall, supermarket, hotel, aquarium