China has disallowed a South Korean content agency to set up facilities to promote Korean-made titles during an upcoming annual international animation festival, the agency said Thursday, the latest in a spate of retaliations against the deployment of a US missile defense shield in Korea.This shows that the Chinese government's ban on Korean culture has been expanded to affect animations from previously popular TV dramas and variety shows. (Yonhap)The Korea Creative Content Agency, which oversee

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday called on public corporations to keep pursuing flexibility, creativity and innovation to stay ahead in the global industrial competition.During a meeting with the heads of public firms, Hwang also instructed them to remain unperturbed by the national leadership crisis and continue to carry out their reform measures such as a merit-based salary system. Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn speaks during a meeting with the h

Police tightened security around government offices in Seoul on Thursday amid growing tension one day before the Constitutional Court's ruling on the president's impeachment. Supporters of Park began rallies early in the morning chanting for the reinstatement of scandal-hit President Park Geun-hye as justices appeared at the court in central Seoul to prepare for the ruling slated for Friday 11 a.m. Police officers stand guard at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on March 9, 2017, as protests int

A closed-circuit television has been installed to monitor any damage to a girl statue, symbolizing Korean women victimized by the Japanese army as sex slaves during World War II, located in front of the Japanese consulate here, a ward office said Thursday. A CCTV is seen over a girl statue symbolizing sex slaves in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan on March 9, 2017. (Yonhap)"We've set up the CCTV about 30 meters distant from the statue, and will watch it around the clock from Friday," an

Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong denied bribery and other criminal charges filed by special prosecutors in the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye at his first court hearing in Seoul on Thursday.The vice chairman of Samsung Electronics claimed innocence through his lawyers at the hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court.Lee didn't show up at the hearing, as the inaugural session mostly dealt with trial proceedings and other procedural issues.Lee was indicted on Feb. 28 on

South Korea's trade minister met with his US counterpart to increase understanding on economic cooperation between the two countries, his office here said Thursday.In a meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in Washington, Joo Hyung-hwan said the South Korea-US free trade agreement has contributed to expanding bilateral trade and investment and creating jobs in both countries since its implementation in 2012, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea's Trade

A meeting of major universities in Asia will be held in University of Ulsan in the namesake city next week to discuss ways to strengthen university-industry collaboration, a university official said Thursday.  University of Ulsan in the namesake city, 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)"The Asia Universities Summit will open Tuesday for a three-day run under the title of 'Forging the future -- building stronger alliances between universities and industry,'" the official said, adding that

Samsung Electronics Co. was the biggest seller of smartphones in 2016, followed by Apple Inc. and China's Huawei, industry data showed Thursday.Samsung sold 308.5 million units of Galaxy series smartphones last year, according to the statistics by industry tracker Strategy Analytics. Samsung remains world's no.1 smartphone seller of 2016. (Yonhap)The comparable figure for Apple Inc.'s iPhone smartphones was 215.5 million and those for Huawei's Honor and Ascend series 72.2 million and 65.7 millio

The Netherlands' Embassy in South Korea declined to comment Thursday on its alleged involvement in helping the son of the slain half brother of the North Korean leader escape from the North's threat. Kim Han-sol, the 22-year-old son of Kim Jong-nam, appeared in a recently posted YouTube clip in which he said he is with his sister and mother but didn't mention where. This image captured from a video posted on YouTube on March 8, 2017 shows a man believed to be the son of Kim Jong-nam, the murdere

Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Qiu Guohong on Thursday urged South Korea to suspend the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in the country."The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery must be scrapped immediately. If that is impossible, it should at least be suspended to leave room open for Seoul and Beijing to negotiate," the envoy was quoted as saying by Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling Liberty Korea Party. (Yonhap)Yoon said he held a private meeting with th

Eight out of 10 South Koreans think the society they live in is "unfair," with the perception most deeply rooted among the younger generation, a poll showed Thursday. According to a latest report by Nielson Korea, 80.1 percent of 1,000 respondents surveyed answered that they regard society as "being not fair." The result was based on a poll of local residents aged from 19 to 70, which was carried out between Feb. 17-23, the local unit of the global research firm said. (123RF)Notably, the percept

South Korean banks reduced the volume of non-performing loans last year through strict risk management, government data showed Thursday.The ratio of loans classified as "substandard or below" came to 1.42 percent at the end of the year, down 0.38 percentage point from 2015, according to preliminary data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service. This file photo shows a bank worker taking care of a customer. (Yonhap)The amount of such bad loans decreased by 5.4 trillion won to 24.6 trillion w

National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun on Thursday said South Korea should seek to normalize state affairs after the Constitutional Court delivers its final ruling on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye later this week.The court is set to determine the fate of Park on Friday, who was impeached by parliament in December over a corruption scandal.If the court upholds the impeachment, Park will be removed from office permanently. In case of the opposite decision, she will immediately retur

Mnet 힙합 서바이벌 '고등래퍼'의 가사 자막이 논란이다. 지난 3일 방송된 서울 강동 최종대표 선발전에서 3명의 고등학생이 부른 노래 자막이 잘못 방송된 것이다.(사진=Mnet 고등래퍼 영상 캡쳐)여자 고등학생의 부분을 "Dancing and dancing and I'm raping and raping uh"라고 자막을 내보냈다.'Raping'은 성폭행한다는 의미를 가지고 있다. 제작진의 실수로 발생한 일이다. 실제로 '나는 랩을 한다' 라는 의미의 'Rapping'이라는 단어대신 사용한 것이다. 논란이 일고 난후 제작진은 이내 방송 실수를 인정하고 사과의 말을 전했다.코리아헤럴드 지예은 인턴기자 (yeeunjie@heraldcorp.com)

A legal adviser to the International Criminal Court argued the leader of North Korea can be referred to the world judicial body if found to be behind the killing of his estranged half brother, a US broadcaster reported Thursday. North Korea is widely believed to have orchestrated the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the rogue regime's leader Kim Jong-un, last month in Malaysia by agents using deadly VX nerve agent. N. Korea leader Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)"That could be something that may

Chinese airlines are cutting back flights bound for South Korea's popular resort island of Jeju, as Beijing banned the selling of tour packages to the country in retaliation over the deployment of a US missile defense system, industry sources said Thursday. Chinese and South Korean carriers are planning to operate 22 routes between China and Jeju Island, off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, with a total of 1,254 flights from March 1 to 28, according to the Jeju unit of the Korea Airport

The culture ministry said Thursday it will enact a bill aimed at protecting artists from political oppression or censorship as part of measures to prevent any future blacklisting of artists critical of the government.Any act that violates artistic freedom and discriminates against artists for political reasons will be strictly punished under the law that will be proposed in the first half of this year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. The plan came after the former presidential

A former CEO of cash-strapped Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. who is already standing trial has additionally been charged with cooking the shipyard's books for years 2008 and 2009, prosecutors said Thursday.Nam Sang-tae, who led the company from 2006 to 2012, is accused of inflating the shipbuilder's management performance in order to extend his term, according to the prosecutors.This file photo taken on June 27, 2016, shows Nam Sang-tae, who headed Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engi

South Korea's household loans extended by local banks rose 10.3 percent in February from a year earlier due to increased mortgages, central bank data showed Thursday.Outstanding household loans from local lenders came to 710.9 trillion won ($615.6 billion) as of end-February, compared to 644.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.Various household loans provided by a Korean bank (Yonhap)Compared to January, the amount rose by 2.9 trillion won. Mortgages

The money supply in South Korea jumped 6.9 percent in January from a year earlier, the central bank said Thursday.The nation's "M2" totaled 2,412.6 trillion won ($2.09 trillion) in January, compared with 2,264.6 trillion won a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.Stacks of ten thousand won bills. (Yonhap)Month-on-month, the money supply gained 0.1 percent, the statement said.M2 is a measure of the money supply counting the currency in circulation, including bank debentures and dep