South Korea's defense chief on Tuesday called on South Korean and U.S. troops to enhance their joint readiness to better cope with threats posed by North Korea.Defense Minister Han Min-koo made the comments during his first visit to a South Korean brigade in Dongducheon and the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division in Uijeongbu, both near the border with North Korea. The two units form the Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Division.U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks also joined the inspecti

South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday sought heavy prison terms for those responsible for toxic humidifier sterilizer products that claimed many lives in the country.In the final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors have asked the court for a 20-year prison term for Shin Hyun-woo, a former CEO of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, the Korean unit of a British household goods maker."The accused is the root cause of the massive tragedy," the prosecutors said. "We have no choice but to punish

Rep. Han Jeoung-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party (Yonhap)The South Korean parliament's labor committee on Monday approved a bill which bans employers from requiring job seekers to provide a headshot and information such as their weight and height.It also seeks to prohibit the "discriminatory" practice of requiring information about an applicant's birthplace, religion, marital status, assets and family details on application forms.Violators will be slapped with fines of up to 5 million

The incoming US administration of Donald Trump should impose powerful secondary sanctions on Chinese firms and wage a trade war with China in order to force Beijing to stop its support of North Korea, a US expert said Monday.Gordon Chang, an East Asia security expert, made the case in an article in Forbes magazine, accusing China of failing to sincerely carry out UN sanctions and stressing that waging a trade war on China "may be the only way to obtain Beijing's cooperation on North Korea."   "N

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on the moves made by the companies and governments of South Korea, China and Japan in entering the new industry 4.0 era. This is the first installment. -- Ed. Beijing’s InnoWay, Osaka’s Knowledge Capital and Pangyo’s Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy and Innovation are hotbeds of innovation in East Asia. These sites are where Korea, China and Japan are pinning their hopes for the fourth major upheaval in manufacturin

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is expected to announce the final results of its probe into the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 within the year, industry sources said on Nov. 29.On Nov. 11, the Korean tech giant launched a new round of investigation to find out the cause of several fires and explosions related to the bigger-screen phone together with product safety authorities and experts both in Korea and the US. Right after the first recall issued in September, the company pinpointed faulty batter

The South Korean government said Tuesday it will ban sales of six models by three foreign automakers, accusing them of fabricating reports to win sales approval from the local government.The Ministry of Environment said it detected defects in the certification documents of 10 vehicle models from the local units of Nissan, BMW and Porsche.Among them, six models -- the Infinity Q50 and Qashqai from Nissan, the X5M from BMW and the Macan S Diesel, Cayenne S E-Hybrid and Cayenne Turbo from Porsche -

In a conference co-hosted by government and private organizations Tuesday, ocean experts urged stronger efforts from governments and businesses to combat unsustainable and illegal fishing across the region. Co-hosted by the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Environmental Justice Foundation and World Wide Fund for Nature, the two-day conference began in Seoul under the title, “Building Ocean Health: Sharing Experience to Move Toward Sustainable Fisheries Management.” 　 &ld

With its aging population, South Korea should look to Japan for lessons and opportunities that can be applied to its health care industry, a government trade promotion agency said in a report Monday.  The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said in its global strategy report titled, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution Era: Japan’s Medical and Health Care Industry,” that Japan is making an all-out push to strengthen the global competitiveness of its health care i

The world’s two leading electric vehicle makers, Tesla Motors and BYD Auto Co, are set to hit the Korean market within this year. But questions remain over whether they can shake up the world‘s 10th-largest auto market that suffers from the sluggish EV sales. The total sales of eco-friendly cars saw a growth of 68 percent in the first 10 months of this year with a total of 53,631 units sold. But 94 percent of the total were hybrid cars with the rest being plug-in hybrid EVs, pure E

Brian Bae, 40, recently wrote on his Facebook wall, “I can’t believe it’s the 20th anniversary of the launch of Diablo -- yet more evidence that I’ve become an ajae.” Diablo is a popular role playing video he had taken up as a college student. Now he is the father of two children and holds a senior position at his company. A few years ago, he might have been called “ajeossi,” an appellation for middle-aged men in Korean, but his youthful fashion style

South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor aims to sell 100,000 units of its new Grandeur, a company executive said at the official launch event Tuesday. “Before we began receiving preorders three weeks ago, I was worried because of the prolonged economic recession and end of benefits for the individual consumption tax and competition,” Lee Kwang-guk, an executive vice president of Hyundai Motor, told the media. ”But the record-breaking preorders have made me confiden

  The number of workers 50 years old and above hit the 10 million mark in Korea for the first time in the second quarter this year, as the aging population is reluctant to leave the workforce amid longer life expectancy, government figures showed Monday. In the second quarter this year, there were 10.08 million senior workers, adding 272,000 more than the same period from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.  In the third quarter, the tally decreased to 10.02 million

 TOKYO -- US Tesla’s electric vehicles are about to hit the South Korean market with its flagship store set to open in Starfield Hanam, located some 20 kilometers east of Seoul, as early as the end of November. Tesla’s debut in the country has lagged behind other neighboring countries such as Japan and China. The electric-car maker opened its first showroom in Japan in October 2010 and in China in November 2013. In Korea, Tesla started to receive preorders in August. Tesla’s media representative

The two previous models of Hyundai’s premium brand Genesis have been popular as corporate cars among executives, but this might change with the launch of the G80 Sport, a speedy luxury sedan unveiled in October. According to the company, 71.3 percent of the 500 preorders taken between Oct. 6 and 31 were made by those in their 30s and 40s, while 7 percent were by those in their 20s.The shift in the vehicle’s popularity among younger consumers might be due to its hip design, which drew hordes of y

The snowballing scandal of Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s confidante, is seen spilling over to the financial industry, as eight banks submitted banking records of Choi and her aides amid allegations preferential loans might have been given to Choi and her associates. Eight commercials banks handed over transaction records and other information regarding Choi and other individuals involved in the massive corruption and manipulation of the government affairs scandal as requested by prose

General Electric and Baker Hughes are joining their oil and gas businesses to create a powerful player in an energy sector buffeted by years of weak prices. The deal could give the new company, which will be called the ``New'' Baker Hughes, more leverage both in technology, and with oil drillers that are cutting back on contracts with oilfield service companies like Baker Hughes.  Baker Hughes is the smallest of the big three oilfield services companies. It has a market capitalization less than

Economic growth in the eurozone remained low but stable in the third quarter as inflation rose to a 27-month high amid fears over Brexit and major elections in France and Germany.The Eurostat statistics agency said growth in the eurozone remained stable in July to September, to 0.3 percent, which was on par with analysts surveyed by Factset, a data company.Analysts said the expansion remained low, however, and came on the back of France that shook off a contraction earlier in the year to expand

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern over the latest scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye's influence-peddling confidante, one of his acquaintances said Monday, marking a rare remark from the potential presidential contender on domestic issues."I hope the situation is settled in the near future. I am really concerned," Ban was quoted as saying by a former provincial lawmaker who met him last week. Ban has been refraining from making comments on issues at home, adding he will

South Korea's two policy lenders said Monday they will reduce costs by about 70 billion won ($61.2 million) in the coming years as part of their ongoing restructuring.The Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) said they will cut jobs and wages to stay slim and regain financial health. The KDB said it will slash the number of its employees by 10 percent to 2,874 by 2021 and cut the annual salaries of executives and operating costs.The policy bank also said it