"Guardian: The Lonely and Great God," the hit tvN drama which ended last week, held on to its lead on a TV popularity chart to claim a three-week winning streak, data showed Tuesday. (tvN)"Guardian," which ended its 16-episode run last Saturday, scored 315.1 points on the Content Power Index, becoming No. 1 among TV programs during Jan. 9-Jan. 15.CPI, developed by entertainment company CJ E&M and Nielsen Korea, measures the popularity of TV shows based on the number of views of related news stor

The Bareun Party, which spun off from the ruling Saenuri Party as a parliamentary negotiation body in December, will officially become an independent party on Tuesday.After about a month of preparation, it will become the No. 4 party in the 300-seat National Assembly with more than 30 lawmakers.Earlier this week, the Bareun Party designated Rep. Choung Byoung-gug as its chief while naming members of its decision-making Supreme Council.The splinter party came as a result of a factional feud in Sa

Recent satellite imagery shows North Korea has made a series of improvements at an east coast missile site, raising the possibility of the regime carrying out a threatened test of an intercontinental ballistic missile from there, a US expert said Monday.The Kalma missile test site near the eastern coast city of Wonsan is where the North conducted at least four tests of the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile last year, and the facility would be a "logical choice" for an ICBM test as wel

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Monday that it has filed for an appeal with the Seoul High Court against a lower court's recent decision on the landmark deal with Tokyo on former sex slaves.The ministry took the legal step earlier in the day, more than two weeks after the Administrative Court of Korea ordered the government to release all documents related to its 2015 deal with Tokyo. In 2015, South Korea and Japan produced the deal on resolving the issue of Korean women forced into sexual s

(Yonhap)Chinese remakes of Korean reality programs show strong performance in viewership, the Beijing office of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) said Monday.Among the top 20 reality shows which went on air in China last year, seven programs turned out to be remakes of Korean shows. They are ranked in order of viewership rates at their peak during the run of each program."Hurry Up, Brother," the Chinese version of Korea's popular reality show "Running Man," has snatched the number one an

(Yonhap)South Korean K-pop group BTS (Bangtan Boys) will release its new album on Feb. 13, its management agency said Monday.Big Hit Entertainment said the new album, "Wings: You Never Walk Alone," is both the follow-up and extended version of the previous album "Wings," which was released in October.The group members participated in writing songs and lyrics, and producing the album.On Feb. 18-19, it will hold "2017 BTS Live Trilogy Episode III Wings Tour in Seoul" in the Gocheok Sky Dome in sou

The new conservative Bareun Party elected its first leader Monday, a day before its official launch since spinning off from the ruling Saenuri Party.Fifth-term lawmaker Rep. Choung Byoung-gug was elected in an unanimous vote and is to officially assume his post at the party’s first convention Tuesday. The party also formed a seven-member Supreme Council, including former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. “Ever since he joined the political circle, Choung has continuously made efforts for reform, never set

South Korea's trade minister said Monday that he will visit the United States soon to seek better ways to expand understanding and bilateral cooperation with the new Donald Trump administration.In his inauguration speech on Friday, Trump stressed his "America First" doctrine again, saying that his every decision on trade, taxes and foreign affairs will be made to benefit Americans. Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan (L) speaks during a meeting with trade-related officials in Seoul on Jan. 23, 2017. (

President Park Geun-hye cited her friend's daughter as an example of a young and gifted athlete as she ordered the establishment of programs to train emerging sportspeople, a former vice minister said Monday.The remark by Kim Chong, vice culture and sports minister from 2013-2016, implicates Park further in allegations that she abused her power to give undue favors to her friend Choi Soon-sil. Choi's daughter Chung Yoo-ra was a member of the national equestrian team."I was shocked at (Park's) di

A high-stakes survival game appears to be unfolding between the United States and North Korea, as Washington pushes to bolster its missile defense capabilities in the face of Pyongyang's growing longer-range missile and nuclear threats.The new US government has unveiled its plan to develop an advanced missile defense system to counter North Korean threats while the North has signaled it is close to acquiring the technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the US mainlan

South Korea's ex-culture minister said Monday a former presidential chief of staff was behind the creation and management of a blacklist of cultural figures deemed critical of the government.Yoo Jin-ryong, who served as the minister from March 2013 to July 2014, made the remark as he appeared before the office of a special prosecutor's team to undergo questioning over the alleged blacklist to deny dissident artists state support."The (creation of the) blacklist was spearheaded by Kim Ki-choon fo

As the President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment trial gains speed, Park’s lawyers again applied for a long list of witnesses in an apparent attempt to delay the proceedings on Monday.The Constitutional Court took a subtle jab at them, asking them to first offer long overdue explanation on some of the key allegations -- Park’s role in setting up the Mir and K-Sports foundation and her friend Cho Soon-sil’s assistance in state management. “What makes a difference if the witnesses appear? The witnesse

Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn said Monday he would push to complete the deployment of a US missile shield here “as early as possible,” despite political uncertainties at home and escalating retaliation from China. At a New Year’s news conference, the prime minister called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system a “vital means of defense that can no longer be delayed,” citing North Korea’s “clear, existential” threats demonstrated by its two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile launches

In a move to distinguish himself from key rivals in the upcoming presidential race, Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea chose to highlight his past as a blue-collar worker from a low-income family.Emphasizing his humble background is apparently intended to add weight to his pledge to promote workers’ rights, achieve economic equity, break up conglomerates and ultimately establish an incorruptible state leadership.“It is my lifetime vision to create a jus

South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Monday a plan to overhaul the national health insurance scheme to reduce the fees for the low-income earners and hike those for the wealthy.  The proposal’s main beneficiaries will be about 6 million households -- mostly self-employed -- who will see their monthly insurance premium reduce by half. Some 730,000 high-income earners or high-asset holders will have to endure higher premiums. Ordinary salaried workers with no major assets will se

North Korea on Monday reaffirmed its independent foreign policy based on nuclear power amid a new complicated international situation created by the launch of the Trump administration."It's our unchanged foreign policy to guard the peace in the world as well as on the Korean Peninsula by continuously strengthening self-defense power and pre-emptive strikes centered on nuclear power," the Rodong Sinmun, a daily of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said. The paper criticized the United States' an

The culture ministry made a public apology and vowed to make efforts to prevent a recurrence of the blacklisting of artists critical of the government that led to the arrest of top policymakers and their deputies. "We feel terrible and shameful that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism caused any problems in the fairness of the government's support of the culture-arts scene over the list of artists excluded from public support. (The ministry) is supposed to defend the freedom and creativi

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a funeral altar for the head of the country's aviation agency, expressing condolences over his death, Pyongyang's state media said Monday.On Sunday, the North's leader paid his tribute to Kang Ki-sop, director-general of the General Administration of Civil Aviation and alternate member of the ruling party's central committee, according to the Korean Central News Agency. It did not reveal when or why Kang died.Kim called him a "revolutionary soldier" who fu

South Korea's banking industry will go through upheaval with the introduction of online-only banks, a senior financial regulator said Monday.A couple of banks specializing in Internet banking services -- Kakao Bank and K-Bank -- plan to begin operations in the coming months. An image of South Korea's two planned online-only banks provided by Yonhap News TV (Yonhap)"Consumers expect price competitiveness and new services they have not enjoyed so far," said Jeong Eun-bo, vice chairman of the Finan

 New types of cyberattacks linked to Internet of Things devices against key government agencies and social infrastructure-related facilities are likely to increase this year, a report showed Monday.According to the report by the state-run Korea Internet & Security Agency, a series of so-called distributed denial of service attacks on infrastructure systems through IoT-enabled devices may occur just ahead of a presidential race in the country.The agency said the DDoS attacks may occur with the ai