두 눈으로 봐도 믿기지 않는 마술 트릭들을 간파해 설명한 유튜브 비디오가 1백만번 이상 조회되며 인기를 누리고 있다. 　　이해할 수 없는 것을 속 시원히 알려주는 이 영상을 보면 그간 신통했던 마법 트릭의 해법을 알 수 있다.　　1. 물 위 걷기　거대한 플렉시글라스판을 깔고 그 위를 걷는 것이다. (사진=유튜브)　　2. 수조 탈출하기　자물쇠를 걸면서 동시에 교묘하게 수조의 경첩을 빼내 탈출할 수 있게 한다. 　실제로 목숨이 위험할 수 있는 트릭이라고 한다.　(사진=유튜브)　3. 모자에서 토끼 꺼내기　세 가지 방법으로 할 수 있다. 　토끼가 들어갈만한 숨겨진 서랍이 있는 탁자를 이용하는 것. 　특수 제작한 모자를 이용하는 것. 　재빠른 손동작으로 순식간에 토끼가 든 자루를 모자 안에 넣는 것. 　세 번째 방법. (사진=유튜브)　4. 메타모포시스 　메타모포시스 마술도 다양한 도구의 도움을 빌린다. 　가령 사람을 가둬 넣은 궤짝이 사실은 뒤가 뻥 뚫려 있다거나. 　(사진=유튜브)　5. 사

Competition is intensifying in South Korea's market for smartphones equipped with high-quality front cameras to meet the booming trend of selfies, company officials said Monday. A smartphone's high-quality front camera, mainly used to take selfies, is increasingly appealing to plenty of young consumers, they said.  SK Telecom Co.'s Luna S smartphone (Yonhap file photo)Earlier this month, SK Telecom Co., the nation's top mobile carrier, began selling its Luna S smartphone, fitted with a 13-megapi

Air Busan, a low budget airline under South Korea's No. 2 flag carrier Asiana Airlines Inc., said Monday it will launch a route to Sanya on China's southernmost island of Hainan from South Korea's southeast port city of Busan, starting Dec. 7.The South Korean airline plans to operate four round-trip services per week that depart at 10:05 p.m. from Gimhae airport near Busan on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. From Sanya airport, the four-hour flights depart at 3:05 a.m. on Monday, Thursd

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Monday that it has decided to file a criminal lawsuit against the chief of Hyundai Group for the false reporting of the ownership of the group's affiliates.Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun had deliberately omitted six affiliates that her family members hold stakes in from relevant documents submitted to the watchdog between 2000 and 2016, according to the Fair Trade Commission. (Yonhap)Under South Korea's fair trade law, companies with assets exceedin

North Korea's propaganda websites on Monday condemned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, viewed as a potential candidate for South Korea's presidential election next year, for siding with the US and conservative groups.Ban has become an object of ridicule and condemnation as he has called for a swift adoption of UN Security Council resolutions to punish North Korea's latest nuclear test, according to dprktoday.com, one of the North Korean propaganda sites for outside online users."He is strugglin

The United States has become South Korea's largest source of beef imports in October as more consumers prefer American products as an alternative to the expensive local supply, US quarantine data showed Monday.  South Korea imported a total of 10,551 tons of American beef from Oct. 1-20, surpassing Australian imports of 8,382 tons over the same period, according to the data compiled by the US Meat Export Federation. Shoppers at a Seoul supermarket look at imported poultry on Oct. 3, 2016. (Yonha

A South Korean worker in Botswana has been found dead and another wounded in an apparent robbery, the foreign ministry here said Monday.The worker was found dead on Sunday (local time) in his temporary house in Palapye, 270 km northeast of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, according to the ministry.The man, whose identify has not been confirmed, died from a gunshot wound apparently sustained during a home invasion that took place around 2 a.m.stock image (123rf)Another Korean worker was also wo

North Korea is orchestrating free trips to Pyongyang for Chinese residents living in the North and Korean-Chinese people as part of efforts to cement its relations with China, a media report said Monday.An informed source in the North's North Pyongan Province told U.S.-based media Radio Free Asia (RFA) that the North is holding a commemorative event in its capital for Chinese people residing across the country. "The event, a tourist one involving Pyongyang's tourist attractions, is aimed at rewa

The number of college graduates who failed to pay back their student loans jumped nearly eight times in three years, data showed Monday, in the latest sign of financial trouble for young South Korean workers.Under the student loan program that began 2010, college graduates are required to pay back their loans in case they earn more than 18.56 million won ($16,000) a year.Last year, a total of 86,715 college graduates were obliged to start paying back their loans.Among them, 7,912 college graduat

South Korea's child mortality rate has been nearly halved over the past two decades, but that of North Korea continues to remain high apparently due to the communist state's lack of medicine and medical services, a report showed Monday.According to the report from the Korea Policy Center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Korea's child mortality rate came to 3.6 in 2014, compared with 7.1 in 1990.The child mortality rate refers to the number of deaths of children

CL of South Korean girl group 2NE1 set out on her first-ever solo North America tour, her agency said on Sunday.The 25-year-old female rapper threw the first party of her "HELLO BI+CHES TOUR 2016" at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on Saturday, US time, YG Entertainment said in a press release. (YG Entertainment)The K-pop artist will hold concerts in a total of nine cities in the US and Canada.The New York concert kicked off with an introductory video presentation of CL's personal history,

The delinquency rate of South Korean banks' won-denominated loans to large companies hit a new all-time high in September after the nation's No. 1 shipper was put under court receivership, government data showed Monday.The rate rose to 2.67 percent during the month, up 0.08 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service. This undated file photo shows bank workers handling corporate financing. (Yonhap)It marks the highest since the relat

Marines from South Korea and the United States kicked off an amphibious landing operation along the eastern coast, a military official said Monday, the latest in a series of military drills meant to demonstrate the resolve of the allies to counter Pyongyang's evolving threat.The weeklong exercise involves some 2,600 Marines from South Korea and 130 counterparts from the United States. The troops will be supported by some 10 warships, including Aegis destroyers, and30 amphibious assault vehicles

South Korea's financial authorities are looking into whether a local bank has extended illicit or preferential loans to President Park Geun-hye's friend at the heart of a massive influence-peddling scandal and her daughter, officials said Monday.Choi Soon-sil, known as a longtime confidante to Park, and her daughter Chung Yoo-ra, currently a college student, are alleged to have taken out foreign exchange loans illegally or at least with preferential treatment from KEB Hana Bank, the largest lend

Bidders for Hanjin Shipping Co.'s Asia-US route up for sale will start a due diligence process this week, with the asset sale by the country's ailing shipper expected to be completed by next month, industry sources said Monday.Last week, Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., the Korea Shipping Association, Korea Line Corp., local private equity fund Hahn & Co. and an unidentified investor submitted their preliminary bids for Hanjin Shipping's lucrative asset.The asset sale includes vessels that operate o

More South Koreans have canceled their installment savings accounts before maturity this year, industry data showed Monday, an apparent sign that an increasing number of ordinary people are feeling the pinch from the country's sluggish economy.The early cancellation rate of installment savings accounts at Shinhan, KB Kookmin, KEB Hana and three other major banks came to 45.2 percent as of end-September, up sharply from 42.6 percent the previous year.Industry sources said households, when they ex

The number of people newly employed by South Korea's state-run corporations rose 15 percent this year from a year earlier amid a slump in the local job market, government data showed Monday.Some 320 state-funded companies and organizations hired 14,790 new employees through September this year, up from 12,877 a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.A total of 296,000 are working at the institutions, up 3.2 percent, or 9,224, from a year earlier, with fo

South Korea's government and public entities will place orders for more than 250 ships, worth about 11 trillion won ($9.59 billion), with domestic shipyards by 2020 as part of a plan to stimulate the ailing shipbuilding sector, its finance minister said Monday.The government's industrial restructuring measures, finalized at a meeting of economy-related ministers, also call for upgrading the competitiveness and profitability of the shipping industry as well as shipyards, as the two sectors have b

South Korea's rejection of China's pressure over its decision to host the US THAAD missile defense system represents a "new degree of strategic trust" with Washington, a congressional report showed Friday.The Congressional Research Service made the assessment in the latest report on US-South Korea relations, saying that North Korea's provocations appear to have driven the military alliance between Seoul and Washington closer.Seoul's decision to host a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery

South Korea's main bourse has underperformed most advanced markets so far in the second half of the year due to a lack of growth momentum amid negatives at home and abroad, industry sources said Monday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 2,019.42 as of Friday, up 2.49 percent from the end of June, according to Daishin Securities Co. and other industry sources.The increase was much lower than the average gain of 6.71 percent for the key stock indexes of the Group of 20 (G-