The standoff over the Busan film festival's "artistic freedom" may appear to have ended with the opening of this year's festival but what lies beneath is film groups' fiercer fight for the freedom, film critics and directors said Sunday. The 21st edition of the festival kicked off in Busan on Thursday featuring 299 films from 69 countries around the world, a scale that is not conspicuously smaller than past events. It, however, became a lackluster festival without the presence of stellar Korean

Walking up to the second floor of one of the biggest branches of a leading health and cosmetics chain, Olive Young, what catches your eye is the hair products section. The size of the section -- with products ranging from dozens of shampoo brands to anti-aging hair products and small gadgets like hair irons -- reflects the importance of hair products in the beauty industry. Hair care products accounted for more than 13 percent of the total production by Korean cosmetics companies in 2015, to

South Korean companies lag behind their Chinese counterparts in industries identified as new growth engines for the economy, a study found Thursday. The Korean Economic Research Institute, a private think tank, identified the top 100 global companies in each of the three main industries, including health care, software and sensor networks, which have been defined as future engines for economic growth. The main industries were divided into nine subcategories. It said South Korean companies in

Consumer prices in South Korea climbed 1.2 percent on-year last month, marking the biggest jump in seven months after remaining stagnant or declining amid growing deflation concerns, data from Statistics Korea showed Wednesday.　The on-month increase of 0.6 percent in overall consumer price level was the highest since January 2013. The upward change in consumer prices was backed by soaring prices for agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits and fish, which saw an average increase of 15.4

On Monday, a government employee surnamed Kang working at a ministry in the center of Seoul met a college friend for lunch. At the end of lunch, Kang and her friend, a journalist, stood in front of the cashier, each holding a credit card to pay for their portion of the meal. There was no tug-of-war over the bill, which is -- or was -- considered proper etiquette in Korea.  Behind the change was the implementation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Law which went into force Sept. 28.

South Korea’s industrial output in August shrank for the first time in four months, dragged down by a double-digit drop in production of automobiles due mainly to an ongoing labor strike, government data showed Friday. Auto production declined 17.7 percent month-on-month and 12.1 percent year-on-year, according to data from Statistics Korea. 　 Drawn-out labor strife at Hyundai Motor, the nation’s biggest carmaker, and other carmakers is estimated to have reduced monthly output by

Strikes by railway and subway workers as well as Hyundai Motor workers are taking a further toll on the nation‘s economy, already suffering from continued low growth in the wake of weak consumption and exports.As the strikes have continued for several days, damage has begun to snowball due to the partial paralysis of car production and logistics networks, industry watchers said Thursday.Financial damages from the strikes by unionized workers of Hyundai Motor, the country’s biggest carmaker, have

A group of foreign multinationals convened Wednesday to seek ways to enhance corporate social responsibility in South Korea that has been facing growing public disappointment over a series of corporate scandals involving foreign companies here.“A slew of big sandals happened simultaneously and foreign companies are concerned with the animosity toward them,” Jeffrey Kim, head of the Foreign Investment Ombudsman said. “However, there are more than 17,000 foreign companies here contributing 20 perc

Hyundai Glovis Co, a South Korean logistics company, has launched an education program for children, the company said Tuesday.Starting Tuesday, the logistics company will visit 120 elementary schools around the country to carry out a safety-themed puppet show, the company said. This will help teach kids the importance of safety in case of disasters and is part of the company’s larger corporate social responsibility program called “Safety Empathy.” Officials at Hyundai Glovis distribute anti-drow

JECHEON, North Chungcheong Province -- Motorists looking for affordable sport utility vehicles have a wider range of options now. Renault Samsung‘s latest SUV, the new QM6, has jumped into the fray, with a set of smart features designed to boost the driving experience.The QM6 inherited its “design DNA” from the SM6, Renault Samsung’s popular midsize sedan, the company said. And it does indeed look like a SUV version of the SM6, with daytime light-emitting diode headlights that have a unique futu

The number of Chinese tourists who visited South Korea in August decreased from the previous month, apparently due to political tension between the two countries over the deployment of a missile defense system here, data showed Thursday. The number of visitors from China stood at 873,771 in August, down from 917,519 in July, according to the report from the state-run Korea Tourism Organization.  But it was also 70.2 percent higher than the same period in 2015, which saw a dramatic decrea

On an early September morning, Jung Yun-jin arrived in Seoul from her hometown of Busan. Clad in a black jacket and skirt with neatly combed hair, she was to attend a 30-minute job interview for a Korean-run company in New Zealand in the afternoon. The 24-year-old hoped that the interview would lead to the end of a year of unemployment. “I hope I stand a better chance abroad,” Jung told the Korea Herald after the interview on Sept. 6. A graduate from a four-year university in Busa

South Korean construction company Hyundai Engineering Co. plans to unveil a new apartment complex in the newly developed residential town Chojeon District in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, the company said Thursday. The company will open a model house for Hillstate Chojeon on Friday and begin sales on Sept. 27. Hillstate Chojeon will consist of nine 33-story apartment buildings with a total of 1,070 houses ranging in size from 84 square meters to 91 square meters. The Chojeon District in Jinj

Ottogi Co., a leading food company in South Korea, vowed to continue being devoted to its corporate social responsibility programs. “CSR is one of the most important roles of a company,” a spokesman from the company said. “We will commit more in social responsibility to become trustworthy and responsible to customers.”  Children pose during a ceremony to celebrate 4,000 successful cardiac surgeries funded by Ottogi in November 2015 (Ottogi)Seoul-based Ottogi has been running several CSR programs

Samsung SDS, the information technology solutions unit of Samsung Group, and US computer technology giant Oracle Corp. have formed a partnership in biometrics, Samsung officials announced Tuesday.Samsung SDS’ biometric authentication solution Fido will be used in Oracle’s Identity Access Management, or IAM suite, according to the Korean company. Top officials from Samsung SDS and Oracle pose during a meeting to form a partnership in San Francisco this week. (Samsung SDS)The users of IAM will be

Citibank Korea launched a comprehensive wealth management advisory system called Total Wealth Advisor to provide quality service for asset management, the bank said Tuesday. Citibank Korea’s new service enables the bank’s relationship managers and portfolio counselors to provide financial goal planning and investment asset management services for customers through a systematic and standardized process, the bank said.  Citibank Korea officials provide a customer with an asset management service.

The size of South Korea’s underground economy in 2014 is estimated at 161 trillion won ($143 billion), or nearly 11 percent of the nation‘s gross domestic product, a report showed Monday.According to a research paper which analyzed the underground economy and tax evasion in 26 Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development countries, Korea’s shadow economy is, on average, bigger than 25 of its OECD peers. Between 1995 and 2014, Korea’s underground economy, on average, made up 10.89 percen

A record-breaking earthquake has raised safety concerns over nuclear reactors in South Korea, despite meteorological chief saying that larger earthquakes are unlikely.Ko Yun-hwa, the head of the Korea Meteorological Administration said on Tuesday morning that strong earthquakes exceeding a magnitude of 6.5 are unlikely to occur in South Korea although earthquakes of magnitudes higher than 6 could happen in the future.Following the 5.8 magnitude earthquake in the southeastern city Gyeongju on Mon

Since a project to determine the sequence of chemical units in human genetic material was launched under the name of the Human Genome Project in 2000, many scientists around the world have tried to decode the mysteries of the human genome. At the center of this endeavor is the mouse phenotypic analysis, a method that takes advantages of the fact that mice and humans share virtually the same set of genes.South Korean scientists are part of such efforts. The nation’s attempt to develop such a cent

Standard Chartered Bank Korea has launched a points swap service with online mobile payment platform Payco, the bank said Monday. The service allows customers to convert the bank’s 360Reward points to Payco points. Customers can use Payco points at major internet retailers such as Tmon Interpark, CJmall, Hmall, Ticketlink and Bugs and also at offline franchise chains such as Ediya Coffee and Artisee.  A model promotes SC Bank Korea‘s points swap service. (SC Bank Korea)Standard Chartered custome