A month has passed since the discovery of a disfigured female body in Incheon, but the investigation is not moving any forward, heightening the possibility of it becoming a cold case. 　According to Samsan Police, as of Tuesday 32 days have passed since a cleaning man reported the badly decayed body found inside an abandoned burlap bag near the stream Gulpocheon in Galsan-dong, Bupyeong-gu, Incheon. 　All that has been found in the ensuing investigation are the possible cause of the woman’s death

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced Tuesday its plans to give tax incentives to couples who marry in the next three years.Under the proposed revision to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, the Korean government will deduct 1 million won ($830) tax for double-income couples who marry between 2017 and end of 2019. To be eligible, each married person has to be contributing to the national economy through some form of work. A single-income couple will receive half the incentive. (Yon

Photo sharing mobile platform Instagram is continuing to grow as it enters its seventh year. Instagram’s launch in October 2010 signaled a new era for photography. Pioneering the smartphone photo taking and sharing frontier, Instagram was one of the very first apps to introduce readymade photo filters that rendered Photoshop near outdated.Korea’s online giant Naver quickly followed up with homegrown Pholar, but it failed to catch on.With Instagram, casual snaps taken on mobile phones can be tran

The fitness solution startup FITT, headed by CEO Andrew Hong, will be broadening its horizons in 2017 with the launch of a specialized healthcare platform. On Dec. 28, FITT announced that it will be launching its completely renovated website on Jan. 1 as well as converting its operations to a fitness and healthcare platform.“Our new platform offers diverse types of content, combining theory and practice as taught by sports science and healthcare professionals. And we will continue to develop con

UlalaLAB, headed by CEO is Kang Hak Ju, will soon be supplying its independently developed smart factory platform, WimFactory, to an influential Indian company. On Dec. 27, CEO Kang Hak Ju announced that the company “will be signing a business cooperation contract in the first quarter of next year with a prominent Indian company regarding WimFactory and related R&D.”As of August and September, UlalaLAB has already begun supplying WimFactory to Nike plants in Indonesia and China. This experience

Attocube announced on Dec. 19 that it recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mongolian Association of Private Pre-school Center concerning its entrance into Mongolia’s preschool education market. Attocube is a startup company that develops diverse types of educational content using wooden blocks as well as IT-based smart toys.  Attocube CEO Sangtaek Han (right) and Executive Director Battuya Banzar of the Mongolian Association of Private Pre-school Center recently signed an MOU o

Incheon Customs said Monday it had busted the largest scale of gold bullion smuggling involving six Koreans who brought 20 billion won ($16.6 million) worth of undeclared gold from China to Korea.The six men caught by the customs office had laced specially fitted vests with small bullions and carried them in via ship over 14 counts between November 2015 and November this year.  (Incheon Customs)The smuggled gold weighed 423 kilograms in total.The gang, headed by a 35-year-old, was charged under

Anyractive has been crowdfunding for its independently developed interactive bulletin board GoTouch via Indiegogo since Dec 13, the company announced.GoTouch already conducted a successful campaign on Kickstarter in October, through which it earned $110,000, far exceeding its goal of $30,000. Screen capture of the GoTouch Indiegogo campaignSung Hyun Lim, CEO of the company, said, “This product, which we have promoted on the top two US crowdfunding platforms, is the 2.0 version, which can be used

BrilliantTS, whose CEO is Bae Jaehun, announced Wednesday that it will be releasing its independently developed B PAY smart card in the first quarter of 2017. B PAY is an all-in-one, smart payment card service that integrates offline payment and loyalty cards -- including credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, transportation cards and various membership cards -- into a single card.It is equipped with a magnetic strip, integrated circuit chip, Bluetooth, a small e-paper display and a battery,

An unexplained explosion at Ulsan’s reserve training camp injured more than 20 people at around midday on Tuesday.Eighteen suffered burns, and two suffered other injuries. All of the injured were in their early 20s on active duty.The military base in Ulsan where the explosion occurred. (Yonhap)Out of the 18 soldiers who were burned in the explosion, five were sent immediately to the Ulsan University Hospital and 10 to Ulsan City Hospital. One of the burned soldiers is said to be in a serious con

Samsung Group appears to be in a quandary over when to conduct a leadership shakeup amid a nation-rocking political scandal, which has also forced the country's top conglomerate to delay a couple of year-end events, sources said Tuesday.Samsung has indefinitely postponed its annual management reshuffle, which used to take place in the first week of December, due to a parliamentary investigation into the corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime

The shrewd eyes of the watchful public caught Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong applying coats of lip balm in between his answers at the parliamentary hearing held Tuesday. Although Lee discreetly covered his mouth every time, the online public quickly identified the lip balm stick to be the US brand Softlips, priced at $1.99. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was seen applying lip balm multiple times, at the first round of parliamentary hearings, held Tuesday. (Yonhap)

South Korea unveiled a set of measures on Tuesday to promote renewable energy usage and expand research and development in order to meet the long-term target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent.The plan, approved by the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, is aimed at changing the country's energy structure into a more environmentally friendly power supply system and preparing for the upcoming low-carbon era, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.South Kore

A group of South Korean ruling party lawmakers headed for the United States on Monday for a five-day visit to meet with US President-elect Donald Trump's transition team. Led by Rep. Won Yoo-chul, the Saenuri Party delegation plans to discuss North Korean nukes, the bilateral free trade agreement, and the US troops stationed in South Korea. During his campaign, Trump vowed to bring various changes to the issues, including having South Korea pay more for the US troop deployment.  After his electi

A delegation of lawmakers from South Korea's ruling party will visit the United States this week to meet with the transition team of US President-elect Donald Trump and discuss policy issues related to the Korean Peninsula, party officials said Sunday.The Saenuri Party delegation led by Rep. Won Yoo-chul will visit the US from Monday through Friday and meet with key officials from the transition team and the Republican Party, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA),

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday it has conferred honorary citizenship to the San Francisco mayor currently visiting South Korea to mark the 40th anniversary of friendship between the two cities.Edwin Lee received the citizenship certificate from Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon at city hall.Lee, who formerly worked as a human rights activist and lawyer, is the first Asian to be elected as the top elected official of the US city. He shares a common career background with Park.Seoul and S

진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer1. 박근혜 대통령 제3차 대국민담화기사요약: 박근혜 대통령은 29일 오후 2시 30분 제 3차 대국민담화를 가지며 임기 단축을 포함한 진퇴 결정을 국회에 맡긴다고 밝혔다. 단순히 시간을 벌려는 속셈이 아니냐는 국민의 반발이 거세다.아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2 팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638Park lets parliament decide her fate[1] President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday said that she would let the National Assembly decide the fate of her presidency. “I shall lay my course of action, including a curtail

LuDuS501 (CEO: Serky Jeong) on Nov 28 announced that it had made a significant update to its game “Dangerous Outside the Blanket,” which was released in September. “Dangerous Outside the Blanket” is a mobile simulation game that puts players in everyday situations and is based on a survival and cultivation system. The game prompts players to choose specific actions in response to situations that arise in various aspects of everyday life (e.g., going to work, office duties, routine after getting

Earing announced Friday that it would officially launch its independently developed social briefing app “Earing” by the end of the year. Earing is a social media platform that enables users to convey and share the latest news and information via audio. The product is currently being beta tested, with final improvements being made.What differentiates Earing from its competitors is its voice-based communication.  Screenshots of the Earing app in use. (Earing)The firm’s CEO Hyuck Jae Lee said, “Fac

The decadeslong alliance between South Korea and the United States will remain intact and get stronger even after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year, the US ambassador to South Korea said Tuesday.As Seoul and Washington have built up strong ties in the past 60-plus years, their bilateral alliance will remain firm and get stronger after the Trump administration's inaguration on Jan. 20, Mark Lippert said in a forum in Seoul.The alliance will remain intact based on the two countri