On March 23, the Cultural Heritage Administration held a ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of its foundation. Instead of festive celebrations, the state-run body marked the occasion with a solemn oath that it would change the way it has been working. For Rha Sun-hwa, the CHA’s chief since January, it felt like the end of a chapter ― one that has been brutally tough on her and her staff ― and...

Korea has promoted the country’s tourism under several slogans ― none of which survived long enough to make a lasting impression. The slogans, which sometimes cost millions of dollars to come up with, were pulled for various reasons. “Sparkling Korea” was briefly withdrawn in the U.S. after the shooting rampage in Virginia by a Korean-American student in 2007. The word sparkle was feared to deno...

This is the eighth installment in a series of interviews with chiefs of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed. In late January, shock and disbelief swept through the country as two people with disabilities were rescued from a salt farm on a remote southwestern island after years of forced labor, sleep deprivation, confinement and beatings. A probe found at least 18 other such victims around the...

It’s been almost three years since Dr. Song Yoon-hee released her first documentary, “White Jungle.” Dubbed the Korean version of “Sicko,” the low-budget film was an expos on Korea’s health care system, including privatized hospitals that solely focus on profit-making. Since her film debut, Song has done a lot as a filmmaker as well as a physician. She wrote a screenplay for veteran auteur Im K...

The logistics industry may be one of the most male-dominated sectors. But Deutsche Post DHL, the German-based logistics giant, has poured considerable resources into reversing this long-held tradition. “We cannot allow ourselves the luxury to take only 50 percent of professional leaders out there,” Angela Titzrath, personnel and labor director at DHL, told The Korea Herald in a recent interview ...

Even if you never saw “Cats,” you would probably recognize the musical if you saw the actors, with their facial paint, furry tails and unitards, or heard “Memory,” one of the most popular songs from any musical. Staged numerous times in numerous cities, including Seoul, for more than 30 years since its London premiere, the Andrew Lloyd Webber show has become something of a musical milestone. Th...

Let’s go back in time to the early 2000s and say you have $1 million to invest in either a fully developed or an emerging market. what would you choose? Many would opt for the emerging market, with the rationale being that investing in a rapidly developing market would generate quick and high returns. But betting on a fast-growing part of the world has actually led to losses for many over the p...

An increase in global trade has created a borderless world and spurred competition, calling on businesses to develop and introduce technologies for a wide range of consumers with different tastes. A new market called for companies to adopt innovative strategies that include safeguarding their inventions by filing their intellectual properties as efficiently and globally as possible amid growing ...

Eva Yoo Ri Brussaard, president of the Single SuperMom Foundation, an organization in the Netherlands which she founded to support unwed mothers and their children, finds many parallels between the Netherlands 30 years ago and Korea today when it comes to single mothers. “Being an unwed mother in the Netherlands was also seen as shameful and something to be hidden. Young girls were often sent of...

JEJUDO ISLAND ― The reemergence of the Cold-War political structure amid the East-West standoff over the Ukraine crisis could benefit North Korea as it would put the isolated state under the protective umbrella of one of the two competing blocs, said a North Korea expert. During an interview with The Korea Herald, Rudiger Frank, professor at the University of Vienna, also pointed out that “Cold ...

BUSAN ― GM will not leave South Korea, according to the carmaker’s president Sergio Rocha. “I can reassure you that GM is here to stay,” Rocha said on Thursday on the sidelines of the Busan International Motor Show, holding up his right hand as if he was making an oath, during his interview with The Korea Herald. He was addressing concerns that the recent recall orders issued on GM autos manufa...

Despite being one of the lesser-known candidates in the June 4 local elections, Cho Hi-yeon is no stranger to those familiar with Korea’s social movements. The sociology professor spent his early days fighting the iron-fisted rule of former president Park Chung-hee and has devoted much of his life to civil rights activism. The 57-year-old said he would now focus on transforming Korea into a welf...

In 2005, 40-year-old Aussie Joseph Mervyn Cross decided to consume nothing but vegetable juice for two months. At the time, he weighed almost 145 kilograms and suffered from an autoimmune disease that forced him to take the steroid prednisone for years to ease the pain. His doctors told him he would die early. But after switching to the juice diet, Cross’ weight dropped to 100 kilograms and his...

The determination in their eyes is undeniable as the six tight-knit school chums from Baekseok University in South Chungcheong Province talk about their mission to show the public that aspiring musicians don’t have to come out of one of the elite universities in Seoul to make a dent in the music scene. Classmates S.Jay, Coontza, Junohwani, Pangju, dB and JINew all met as music technology majors,...

Incumbent Seoul education superintendent Moon Yong-rin vowed to reform the the traditional emphasis on rote memorization, which stifles creative thinking, if he is reelected as the capital’s education chief in the upcoming June 4 local elections. “My dream is to educate the students in a way that encourages their dreams and talents, but one year and four months in office was too short to realize...