Author: Jae young

August 22, 2025SEOUL – The upcoming summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to focus on building “future-oriented cooperation” in security and economic matters between the two countries.Lee will make a two-day visit to Tokyo on Saturday for talks with Ishiba amid North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats, coupled with rising global trade uncertainties stemming from Washington’s steep tariffs. Lee will then head to Washington to hold talks with US President Donald Trump on Aug. 25.Lee, who presided over a meeting of senior presidential aides Thursday afternoon, stressed that his…

August 21, 2025SEOUL – McDonald’s is once again teaming up with global pop sensation BTS to roll out a new collaboration in September.According to McDonald’s Korea on Wednesday, the “BTS Happy Meal” will debut on Sept. 3 in 66 countries, including South Korea, the United States, Germany, Brazil and Australia.The Happy Meal is McDonald’s children’s menu set, which includes a hamburger, fries, a drink and a toy. For this collaboration, the toy will be a miniature figurine from BTS’s TinyTan character line, modeled after the group’s members.Earlier this week, the US burger chain teased the launch by posting an image…

August 21, 2025SEOUL – Despite Hybe’s ongoing efforts to diversify its business and reduce dependence on BTS, new data shows the K-pop powerhouse still relies heavily on its flagship group for generating profit.Earlier in August, the company announced a record quarterly revenue of 705.6 billion won ($504.4 million) with 63 percent coming directly from artist-driven activities such as concerts and albums.While overall album sales fell 8.4 percent year-on-year, concert revenue offset the decline. Concerts alone accounted for 26.7 percent of total revenue, jumping 31 percent year-on-year to 188.7 billion won, leading overall growth.Nearly 40 percent of Hybe’s concert revenue in…

August 21, 2025SEOUL – Next week, there will be a summit meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump in Washington. Besides the tariff issue on which the two countries recently reached an agreement, experts say that there will be a lot to discuss at the meeting, such as cost-sharing for the US troops deployed in Korea, changing the role of US troops on the Korean Peninsula, and transferring wartime operational control of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command. The Korean people will be anxiously watching this important event with high expectations that President Lee may return home…

August 21, 2025SEOUL – In an exclusive interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung stressed that he intends to uphold the agreements that previous administrations reached with Japan regarding the issue of so-called comfort women and lawsuits related to former wartime requisitioned workers.Speaking at the presidential office in Seoul on Tuesday, Lee described the presence of Japan as “extremely crucial” and expressed a strong willingness to strengthen economic and security ties between the two countries.Lee answered questions over about 90 minutes from Shoichi Oikawa, chairman of the board and representative director of The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings.…

August 20, 2025SEOUL – Former Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min has been indicted on charges of colluding in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived imposition of martial law, the special counsel’s office announced Tuesday.Lee, under arrest since Aug. 1, is the second member of Yoon’s Cabinet to face indictment over the December 2024 martial law crisis, following then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. Lee is accused of participating in what prosecutors call an attempted insurrection, abusing his authority to suppress media and lying under oath before the Constitutional Court.“As the head of the Interior Ministry, Lee joined efforts to destroy constitutional…

August 20, 2025SEOUL – Most Korean adults can handle basic digital devices without major difficulty, but the digital literacy gap remains significant for older people, those with lower education levels and households with smaller incomes, a new government survey shows.According to the Ministry of Education’s first-ever adult digital literacy survey, released Tuesday, 8.2 percent of adults — about 3.5 million people — struggle with even the most basic use of smartphones, computers and digital kiosks. A further 17.7 percent, or about 7.6 million people, can operate devices but fall short of applying them effectively in daily life.By contrast, 52.8 percent…

August 20, 2025SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday called for a “rapid expansion of nuclearization” and denounced regular military exercises by South Korea and the US as a clear display of “most hostile and confrontational” intent toward Pyongyang.This was notably Kim’s first public message since South Korean President Lee Jae Myung extended an overture for inter-Korean reconciliation and pledged to pursue a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula in his Aug. 15 speech marking the 80th National Liberation Day.North Korean state media on Tuesday reported Kim’s on-site visit to the regime’s brand-new destroyer Choe Hyon docked at the Nampo Shipyard…

August 19, 2025SEOUL – YG Entertainment chief producer Yang Hyun-suk on Monday outlined the company’s release plans for the second half of this year, covering Blackpink, Treasure and Babymonster.Blackpink’s new album is scheduled for a November release. Yang said that both the members and the production team are actively preparing for the launch.“We will try to have (Blackpink’s) album released in November,” the chief producer said in an interview video shared on YG Entertainment’s official blog.Yang’s confirmation follows local media reports last week that said the girl group has already completed the album’s cover shoot and is finishing recording the…

August 19, 2025SEOUL – South Korean police will launch a 100-day special crackdown on abuses against migrant workers, the Korean National Police Agency said Monday.Each of the nation’s 18 regional police agencies has formed a special unit that will operate through Nov. 25 to investigate cases of violence, assault, confinement, coercion, humiliation, sexual abuse and labor exploitation targeting foreign workers.The initiative follows nationwide outrage over a video showing a Sri Lankan worker being strapped to a forklift and lifted off the ground.The incident occurred in February at a brick factory in Naju, South Jeolla Province, where the Sri Lankan, who…