Author: Jae young

July 9, 2025SEOUL – As K-pop braces for what could be a golden time of global resurgence — fueled by the highly anticipated return of BTS and Blackpink — its biggest threat may not be foreign competition, but the moguls within. All heads of the so-called “big four” K-pop agencies, aside from JYP Entertainment’s Park Jin-young are currently embroiled in a legal case.Hybe Chairman Bang Si-hyuk. PHOTO: HYBE/THE KOREA HERALDBang under IPO probeThe most headline-grabbing figure is Hybe Chairman Bang Si-hyuk.Despite his limited public appearances, Bang continues to attract outsized public attention. A video of him walking with a young…

July 9, 2025SEOUL – After the White House’s announcement of steep tariff hikes on 14 countries, South Korea looked to Washington for further negotiations, hoping to blunt the impact before the measures take effect next month.Unveiling a new deadline of Aug. 1, which had previously been July 8, the letter signed by US President Donald Trump indicated that most South Korean goods entering the US will be charged a tariff of 25 percent. The rate would not stack on top of sector-specific tariffs — such as for cars, auto parts and steel products, among others — according to Trump’s posts…

July 8, 2025SEOUL – South Korea has officially asked the United States for an exemption from the implementation of a fee on non-US-built vehicle carriers, as the former continues to search for ways to protect its export-heavy economy.According to online documentation related to the Office of the US Trade Representative on Monday, Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries submitted an official proposal last week to urge the US government to reconsider the imposition of port entry fees on vehicle carriers, which are set to take effect on Oct. 14.“Korea’s shipping and automotive industries…

July 8, 2025SEOUL – South Korea has long prided itself on its technological sophistication, a nation of 5G networks, semiconductor giants and integrated mobile ecosystems. Yet the legal and regulatory machinery governing its economy remains ill-suited to the demands of the industries it claims to champion.A modest but telling countermeasure has been the “regulatory sandbox,” a policy tool that grants temporary exemptions from outdated laws, allowing innovative companies to test new services or products without being immediately stifled by red tape.Introduced in 2020, the system has yielded tangible, if limited, results. According to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry,…

July 8, 2025BUCHEON – The 29th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival opened Thursday with a bold statement on cinema’s future, selecting as its opening film “About a Hero” — a hybrid documentary by Piotr Winiewicz featuring an AI-generated screenplay trained on Werner Herzog’s complete filmography.The festival’s commitment to exploring artificial intelligence runs deep, with 11 AI films among its 217-title program and a three-day conference dedicated to examining how the technology is reshaping creative processes in cinema.Sunday marked the first day of the festival’s AI conference at Bucheon Art Center, bringing together industry pioneers, technologists and policymakers to examine practical…

July 8, 2025SEOUL – South Korea has failed to place Japan’s failure to address colonial-era forced labor at UNESCO-listed Meiji Industrial Revolution sites on UNESCO’s official discussion agenda.The outcome was marked by tense negotiations with Tokyo and behind-the-scenes efforts to rally international support, particularly from the 21-member World Heritage Committee under UNESCO.South Korea initially proposed discussing the issue during the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee held on Monday in Paris. Japan later submitted an amendment to exclude the issue from discussion, which was eventually put to a vote.Of the 21 committee members, there were eight blank ballots, three…

July 7, 2025SEOUL – YG Entertainment, once home to Korea’s most influential K-pop groups, is under mounting pressure to develop its next major intellectual property. While the company remains one of the so-called “Big Four” K-pop agencies — alongside SM, JYP and Hybe — it has yet to introduce a new act that rivals the global dominance of its legacy stars.The last truly game-changing group YG Entertainment debuted was Blackpink, nearly a decade ago in 2016. Since then, it has launched Treasure in 2020 and Babymonster in 2024. However, neither has reached the level of superstardom expected from a YG…

July 7, 2025SEOUL – Foreign residents living with Korean nationals may be eligible for South Korea’s new cash handout program, which aims to revive consumer spending and bolster household income starting July 21.Backed by a supplementary budget of 31.8 trillion won ($23.3 billion), the program offers a one-time payment of at least 150,000 won (about $110) to all Koreans residing in the country as of June 18.“The purpose of the ‘consumption coupons’ is to stimulate sluggish spending, revitalize the local economy, and support Korean incomes. Therefore, in principle, foreigners are excluded,” Vice Interior Minister Kim Min-jae said at a briefing…

July 7, 2025SEOUL – More young, unmarried South Koreans living with their parents, tend to express less desire to work over the past decade, according to a new report by the state-run Korea Labor Institute.The report, released in late June, analyzes a decade of data from 2015 to 2024 based on Statistics Korea’s annual survey of the economically inactive population — focusing on individuals aged 19 to 39 who are not actively seeking employment.According to the research institute, 56.1 percent of economically inactive youth living at home with their parents had showed willingness to seek employment in 2015. But the…

July 7, 2025SEOUL – South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung administration is scrambling to take the edge off the United States’ new tariffs, as the nation’s top security adviser departed Seoul on Sunday to travel to Washington and join forces with Seoul’s trade minister, who had arrived there the day before.Their trip to Washington came as the deadline nears for US President Donald Trump’s 90-day suspension of “reciprocal tariffs.”Trump told the media Friday that he would begin sending out letters Monday notifying 12 undisclosed countries of higher import duties that would take effect on Aug. 1. These would be among 56…