Before the start of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Yun Yong-bok, a senior North Korean sports official, offered a bold prediction on his country's performance."We didn't come all the way here to win a meager five gold medals," Yun said on July 28, when the North Korean athletes landed in Rio.Yun talked the talk, but his athletes couldn't walk the walk.North Korea ended its Rio campaign with two golds, three silvers and two bronzes. At the 2012 London Olympics, the country had won four golds, three

The chief organizer of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Sunday singled out the "low-cost, high-efficiency" opening ceremony as the most impressive moment of the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games. construction for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics (Yonhap)Lee Hee-beom, who heads PyeongChang's organizing committee, has been in Rio to promote the first Winter Games in South Korea. The Rio Olympics will draw to a conclusion with a closing ceremony later Sunday."The time has now come for the Pyeo

South Koreans Son Myeong-jun and Shim Jung-sub finished well out of medal contention in the men's marathon at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Son came in 131st among 140 runners, finishing the race at 2:36:21, nearly 24 minutes slower than his personal best.Shim was 138th at 2:42:42, almost 30 minutes behind his personal record.Fifteen runners didn't finish the race.Eluid Kipchoge of Kenya won the gold medal at 2:08:44, followed by Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia

지난 18일 미국 온라인 매체 UPI는 호주의 한 정비공이 수리·보수 업무를 맡은 차량 내부에서 약 2.4미터 길이 비단구렁이를 발견한 사건을 보도했다. 　(페이스북)　여느 때와 같이 일에 착수하려다가 소스라치게 놀란 것이다.　　이 야생 구렁이는 추운 겨울 따뜻하게 달궈진 엔진 곁에서 동면 중이었던 것으로 추측된다. 　　호주는 남반구에 위치해 8월 현재 한겨울을 보내고 있다. 　　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)　　

미국 공화당 대선후보 도널드 트럼프를 반대하는 단체가 세운 트럼프 풍자 동상이 18일 현지매체들에 의해 앞다투어 보도되며 온라인상 화제가 되고 있다. 　　　‘진저 (Ginger)’라는 이름으로 활동하는 예술가의 작품인 이 동상은 트럼프를 벌거벗겨 전라로 표현했다. 　 (유튜브 캡쳐)　작품명은 동화 ‘벌거벗은 임금님 (The Emperor Has No Clothes)’을 패러디해 ‘00없는 임금님 (The Emperor Has No Balls)’라고 붙여졌다.　　민감한 부위를 적나라하게 표현해 한국에서라면 수위 논란이 벌어졌을 일이다.　 (유튜브 캡쳐)　진저가 속한 단체 ‘인디클라인 (Indecline)’은 트럼프를 ‘편견’으로 뭉친 ‘파시스트’라며 비판하고 있다.　　벌거벗은 트럼프 동상은 뉴욕, 시애틀, 로스앤젤레스, 샌프란시스코, 클리브랜드 총 다섯 곳에 세워졌지만 뉴욕에 세운 동상은 이내 철거 되었다고 한다. 　　　한편, 국내에선 박근혜 대통령을 풍자한 전단지를 살포한 팝아티스트

미국 뉴햄프셔주에서 웃지 못할 사건이 벌어졌다. 　　워싱턴 D.C.에 위치한 통신 매체 UPI는 지난 17일 경잘관 제이슨 쇼트 (Jason Short)가 한낮 뜨거운 차 속에 갇힌 아기를 구조하기 위해 유리창을 깨부순 사건을 보도했다. 　　다만 이 아기가 굉장히 사실적인 인형이었던 것. 　 (유튜브 캡쳐)　쇼트는 “힘 없이 죽은 듯”했던 아기의 입을 벌려 인공호흡을 하려던 순간에야 이 사실을 알아챘다고 한다. 　　이 인형은 무려 220만원 ($2,000) 가량하는 고급 제품으로, 인형주인 캐롤린 세퍼트 (Carolynne Seiffert)는 어린 아들을 떠나 보낸 슬픔을 극복하기 위해 인형을 모으기 시작했다고 한다. 　　세퍼트는 약 40개 인형을 소유하고 있다. 　　쇼트는 자신이 부순 유리창을 배상하기로 했고 세퍼트는 차에 스티커를 붙여 인형이 실제 아기가 아님을 명시하기로 했다. 　　(khnews@heraldcorp.com) 　

President Park Geun-hye's summit diplomacy next month is likely to focus on highlighting the necessity of deploying an advanced US missile defense system in South Korea and tightening international cooperation against Pyongyang's unrelenting military threats, analysts here said Friday.On Sept. 2, Park will embark on a weeklong trip to Russia, China and Laos for a series of multilateral and bilateral summits on regional and global issues, which would serve as a crucial opportunity for her to ensu

South Korea's monthly household spending stayed flat in the second quarter from a year ago amid a protracted economic slowdown, a government report showed Friday.An average household spent 2.49 million won ($2,245) per month in the April-June period, remaining unchanged from the same period a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea.The average consumption propensity, or the ratio of total consumption spending to disposable income, stood at 70.9 percent, down 0.7 percentage poin

North Korea on Friday slammed South Korean military's largest-ever live-fire exercise conducted to mark last year's inter-Korean artillery clash, denouncing it as a rash provocation. South Korea's military on Thursday carried out the drill along the tense inter-Korean border, involving 49 front-line artillery battalions. It was the military's biggest-ever artillery exercise in size, with about 300 guns being fired in a show of force.It took place two days before South Korea marks the anniversary

South Korea's trade minister on Friday said the government will revamp its policy on free economic zones to attract more investors as the special areas have failed to offer enough incentives to attract local and foreign companies."FEZs played a role in leading South Korea's economic development to some extent, but their achievements have failed to meet our expectations," Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said in a breakfast meeting with local experts and businessmen in Incheon, on the western outski

A local court on Friday fined a 48-year-old pop artist for distributing leaflets critical of President Park Geun-hye multiple times across the country.The Seoul Central District Court ordered Lee Byeong-ha, who goes by the stage name of Leeha, to pay 2 million won ($1,800) for distributing a total of some 18,000 leaflets in Seoul and other major cities in South Korea between 2014 and 2015. (Online community)A 38-year-old actor, identified only by his surname Han, was also ordered to pay 200,000

A North Korean official managing money for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Europe has disappeared, raising speculation that he might have defected with a large amount of state funds, a local media report said Friday.Citing anonymous sources, Dong-A Ilbo, a major daily newspaper here, reported that the official in charge of money management for the so-called No. 39 office of the Workers' Party vanished in June.The office is known for running money for Kim's regime.The North Korean official is

탁구 금메달리스트 출신인 유승민(34·삼성생명 코치)이 19일 오전(한국시간) 브라질 리우데자네이루 올림픽 선수촌 내 프레스 룸에 서 발표한 국제올림픽위원회(IOC)의 선수위원 투표 결과에서 후보자 23명 중 2위를 차지해 IOC 선수위원으로 선출됐다. (연합뉴스) (연합)

South Korean badminton player Lee Yong-dae has hinted at his retirement from the international stage following his exit in men's doubles competition at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games. Lee and his doubles partner Yoo Yeon-seong were eliminated in the quarterfinals at the 31st Summer Games. The world No. 1-ranked tandem suffered a stunning loss to Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia.  (Yonhap)Lee said on Thursday he decided to retire from the national team in order to give more international

South Korean stocks edged down 0.25 percent in late Friday morning, while the top market cap Samsung Electronics continued to rally.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 5.10 points to 2,050.37 as of 11:20 a.m.Foreigners and institutional investors were net-sellers, apparently seeking to lock in their recent gains, but individuals scooped up shares. Samsung Electronics Co. gained 1.04 percent to a fresh record high of 1.657,000 won ($1,490), as its Galaxy Note 7 phablet went on sa

Female workers at South Korea's major brokerage firms got paid nearly half the salaries of their male colleagues in the first half of 2016, official data showed Friday.The average pay of workers at the 20 largest brokerages by asset stood at 48 million won ($43,000) during the six months, according to the regulatory filing system of the Financial Services Commission.By gender, male workers earned an average of 61 million won, while female ones earned 35 million won.It means men made more than 4

A South Korean tourist has died during his visit to the Mambukal Resort in Negros Occidental Province, the central Philippines, the South Korean Embassy in Manila said Friday.The 64-year-old man, identified only his surname Kim, fell into a ravine on Thursday as he was trekking up the falls of the resort with two other tourists and a tour guide.Local police believe Kim lost his footing at the time of the accident. (Yonhap)

A Britain-based senior North Korean diplomat directly flew to South Korea after expressing his wish to defect to the Seoul government, a source said Friday.Thae Yong-ho, who served as a minister at North Korea's embassy in London, and his family arrived in South Korea late last month without going through a third country, according to the source familiar with the matter.The 55-year-old Thae, known as the No. 2 man at the North's embassy, has become one of the highest-level North Korean diplomats

An online pop-up store featuring leading South Korean fashion brands has been opened on the largest online fashion-focused portal in Southeast Asia to help Korean design houses enter the Southeast Asian market, industry officials said Friday.The "Premium Korean Fashion" pop-up shop was launched in Singapore the previous day and will be open till October in Zalora sites in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to the officials at the Korea Trade-Investme

Powered by better-than-expected market responses for the new Galaxy Note phablet, expectations for a continued recovery of earnings have propelled shares of Samsung Electronics Co. to an all-time high, after surging more than 30 percent this year. Shares of Samsung, the world's largest maker of smartphones, jumped 4.7 percent on Thursday to close at 1,640,000 won ($1,480), a record closing high, and traded at a new intraday record of 1,643,000 won per share in early Friday trade. The stock rally