South Korea and China won't tolerate any attempts to deny history, Beijing's top envoy to Seoul said Wednesday, in a thinly veiled swipe at Japan.   "The people of our two countries will never allow any act that denies and distorts, even beautifies, the history of aggression," Amb. Qiu Guohong said during the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.   Although he did not mention Japan by name, his remarks were an apparent criticism of the ne

North Korea has yet to master the skills needed to make nuclear warheads small enough to fit onto inter-continental ballistic missiles, Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo said Wednesday.   In the massive military parade marking the ruling party's foundation anniversary last Saturday, North Korea displayed the KN-08 ICBMs tipped with a round warhead alongside 30 other types of weapons.   The North introduced the missiles in the parade as one of the "diversified and miniaturized" strategic rocke

　Korean start-up Shakr, a video-making platform for small businesses, has taken its next step in global expansion with an exclusive partnership with Yahoo Japan.　 　The strategic content deal allows Japanese small business owners to create their own video ads through the portal, the country’s most visited website, on the new platform Yahoo Japan Video Creator, which is powered by Shakr and launched last month.Shakr CEO David Lee poses ahead of an interview with The Korea Herald at the company`s o

The purported death of Cho Hee-pal, the mastermind behind South Korea’s largest-ever fraud case, returned to the spotlight as his close aide was arrested in China last week, with fresh testimonies suggesting he is actually still alive. 　Cho is one of the most-wanted conmen in South Korea, having allegedly scammed up to 50,000 people out of an estimated 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in a pyramid marketing scheme.Cho Hee-pal (Yonhap)　The 58-year-old established a medical equipment supply company a

Vietnamese participants perform a traditional dance at last year’s GIC Day. (GIC)Major cities across Korea will be hosting multicultural festivals this weekend, as annual events in Seoul, Busan and Gwangju coincide.　The festivals are an opportunity for foreign community groups to show off their food and culture, while residents can enjoy cultural performances, try new food for the first time and find out what the local support centers for foreign residents offer.　　Busan　The Global Gathering will

The Camarata Chamber Singers (CMC)Nonprofit music organization Camarata Music Company will be holding its annual fall fund-raiser next week to help fund its activities.Held in partnership with the Korea Business Leaders Alliance, the “Fall into Music” event will feature performances from the Camarata Chamber Singers, an auditioned choir of 27 singers, a performance from gayageum player Jocelyn Clark and the Camarata Jazz Duo.“It’s one of our largest events of the year. It goes a long way to help

Job Fair for Foreign-Invested Companies 2014(JTI Korea)Global tobacco company JTI Korea will participate in the Job Fair for Foreign-Invested Companies 2015 to offer job opportunities to talented job seekers. 　Hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and organized by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, the job fair for foreign-invested companies is held at Coex’s B1 Hall in Samseong-dong, Seoul, from Oct. 15-16.　JTI Korea is one of the 100 foreign-invested companies to parti

Tonino Lamborghini Gusto (KT&G)KT&G rolled out the “Tonino Lamborghini Gusto,” the latest of its Lamborghini lineup, the country’s largest tobacco maker said Wednesday. 　Tonino Lamborghini Gusto contains 10 percent naturally fermented Cavendish tobacco, which brings out the natural sugars in the tobacco through pressure applied during the preparation process. Cavendish tobacco is named after British colonialist Thomas Cavendish, and became a popular material for pipe smoking. 　“With its rich tas

New KT&G president Baek Bok-in speaks at his inauguration meeting in Daejeon on Wednesday. (KT&G)New KT&G president Baek Bok-in vowed to strengthen transparency and ethical management during his inauguration on Wednesday, urging the nation’s largest tobacco maker to snap out of the “wrong of the past and faulty precedents.”　Baek, 50, said he will make “three Cs” -- clean, cooperative and creative -- as his top management agenda. 　Set for a three-year term, Baek, former KT&G’s vice president and

GLOBAL VOLUNTEER DAY -- Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea employees and their families and friends participate in a baking project for the patients of the Red Cross Hospital in Majang-dong, Seoul, Saturday. As a global project, about 2,600 volunteers get involved in 78 Prudential community service projects to celebrate the 19th Global Volunteer Day on Oct. 5. (Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea) (Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea)

(123RF)Mortgages issued by Korean banks grew at the fastest pace in five years last month due to rising rents and seasonal factors, industry data showed Sunday.　In September, the mortgage loans of the country’s six major banks – KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, KEB-Hana, Nonghyup and Industrial Bank of Korea – stood at 331.9 trillion won, ($280.6 billion), up 3.9 trillion won from a month ago. 　The monthly growth marks the sharpest rise since relevant data was compiled in 2010.　Mortgage loans have gr

KEB-Hana Bank on Thursday vowed to widen the scope of its community service activities under the slogan “2015 Chuseok Happy Sharing.”　This year, a total of 450 branches will participate in the operation, almost triple that of last year’s 175. 　“Nanum (sharing) is the hope that brightens the whole world -- something that can’t be more meaningful and beautiful, because it drives us to share dreams and hopes with our socially disadvantaged neighbors,” said KEB-Hana Bank president and CEO Ham Young-

Rothmans(BAT Korea)British American Tobacco Korea on Thursday said Rothmans, a tobacco brand that celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, will go on sale in Korea from Monday. 　Rothmans comes in two varieties, Rothmans 5mg and Rothmans 1mg. Rothmans has a new type of recessed filter called “air plus.” 　Launched in a small kiosk of London in 1890, the brand was granted a royal warrant by King Edward VII in 1905, to be supplied to the British Royal Family. Rothmans was the world’s first tobacc

The World Economic Forum, commonly known as “Davos Forum,” called for improvements in Korea’s financial and labor sectors Wednesday, leaving the country’s global competitiveness ranking unchanged.　In this year’s “Global Competitiveness Report,” Korea rated 26th in the overall rankings of 140 member economies, the same place as last year. 　To serve as a reference point for investors worldwide, the report assigns rankings based on a total of 114 items divided unevenly into 12 categories. Among the

(123RF)Financial authorities will start accepting preliminary applications for Internet-only banks, a new banking business platform, Wednesday, the Financial Services Commission said Tuesday. 　The submission runs for two days, from 9 a.m. on Wednesday through 6 p.m. on Thursday. The financial regulators are planning to give preliminary approval to one or two bidders by December. 　Internet-only banks offer the usual savings, wiring and loan services online, without conventional brick-and-mortar b

The world’s leading authorities in nature, forest and culture will kick off the sixth International Wildland Fire Conference next month, the South Korean forest agency said Tuesday. 　With the theme “Fire of the Past, Fire in Future,” the international fire summit will run from Oct. 12-16 in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, to discuss ways to protect natural and cultural heritage from fire. 　The five-day event will also address international cooperation for a cohesive global fire management strateg

The top diplomats of South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia on Saturday (local time) said North Korea must follow the United Nations' resolutions and refrain from making provocations in their meeting in New York.   The five middle-power countries formed a cross-regional caucus, dubbed "MIKTA" from the initials of their English names, in 2013.   In a statement, MIKTA cheered the two Koreas' agreement that defused heightened tensions on Aug. 25, adding Pyongyang should resume the den

China's president on Saturday pledged billions in aid and said Beijing will forgive debts due this year in an effort to help the world's poorest nations, as world leaders begin to seek the trillions of dollars needed to help achieve sweeping new development goals.   President Xi Jinping spoke at a global summit that on Friday launched the non-binding goals for the next 15 years.   Xi and others spoke as the U.N. gathering began to shift focus from development to the high-powered General Assembly

Volkswagen's new boss began trying to pull the embattled carmaker out of the wreckage of a pollution test rigging scandal Saturday, as the United States and Switzerland halted the sale of the group's new diesel cars.   The 62-year-old former Porsche chief Matthias Mueller was tapped Friday to replace Martin Winterkorn, who resigned over stunning revelations by US environmental authorities that the German carmaker had fitted some of its diesel cars with software capable of cheating environmental

The large open plan office with staff behind sleek computers looks like any newly-started modern business.   But Ethiopia's first online restaurant delivery service, Deliver Addis, must contend with major hurdles that would stall many entrepreneurs in more developed nations.   Setting up any business is a challenge, but in Ethiopia, those range from daily operating headaches such as on-off Internet -- stalling the highly time-sensitive orders on which it depends -- to even more fundamental busin