Blackswan is back with 'Roll Up'

Blackswan, the first K-pop girl group consisting of all members who are not from South Korea, is set to make a comeback. The group will return with new album "Roll Up" on July 31 at 6 p.m. This EP is the group's first release since single album "That Karma" released in May last year, and includes a total of four tracks, with title song "Roll Up." The title track boasts an impressive lineup of producers, including: Rob Grimaldi, Alina Smith, Lauren Dyson, A Wrig

K-popJuly 29, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Twice logs 800m views with ‘What is Love?’ music video

Twice garnered 800 million views on YouTube with the music video for “What is Love?,” label JYP Entertainment said Monday. It is the group’s first to reach the milestone. “What is Love?” is the title track from Twice's fifth EP which came out in 2018. Written by the label’s head producer Park Jin-young, the music video for the upbeat tune turned each member into a movie character. Twice holds the record as the girl group with the most music videos with ov

K-popJuly 29, 2024

Teen shooter Ban Hyo-jin wins gold in women's air rifle

Teen shooter Ban Hyo-jin captured the gold medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle at the Paris Olympics on Monday, becoming South Korea's youngest shooting medalist ever at age 16. Ban edged out Huang Yuting of China in a shoot-off, 10.4 points to 10.3 points, after the two teens tied the Olympic record with 251.8 points in the final at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris. This was South Korea's fourth gold medal of the Paris Olympics and its 100th gold

More SportsJuly 29, 2024

Teens spend most of digital social lives on Instagram: data

Instagram has emerged as the social media app South Korea's teens spend the most time on, outpacing KakaoTalk by more than double, data showed Monday. According to data from mobile marketing and data analysis company IGAWorks, Korea's smartphone users under 20 spent a total of 94.1 million hours scrolling on Instagram in June, making the app the leading social media platform in popularity for the age group. This figure was nearly double the time they spent on the next most popular

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2024

Heat wave, tropical nights to persist this week

Heat wave warnings and tropical night phenomena are expected to persist throughout this week, with sporadic rain continuing in the Greater Seoul area and some parts of Gangwon Province until the end of the week, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Monday. On Tuesday, daytime temperatures are expected to reach as high as 36 degrees Celsius, with precipitation ranging between 5 to 30 millimeters for parts of Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province and 5 to 10 mm for much of Grea

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2024

[KH Explains] Korea-Japan breakthrough? Watershed weekend faces challenges

Last weekend marked a significant turning point for South Korea and Japan, as the Yoon Suk Yeol government attempted to move beyond one of the longstanding historical disputes stemming from Imperial Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Simultaneously, the defense chiefs of Seoul and Tokyo, meeting on Japanese soil for the first time in 15 years, committed to revitalizing military exchanges and signed an agreement institutionalizing trilateral security cooperation wi

Foreign AffairsJuly 29, 2024

Seoul shares end up for 2nd day ahead of Fed's rate decision

Seoul shares ended higher for a second straight session Monday amid hopes that the US Federal Reserve will hint at a potential rate cut in September. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 33.63 points, or 1.23 percent, to close at 2,765.53. Trading volume was moderate at 449.64 million shares worth 10.78 trillion won ($7.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 634 to 244. Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 522 billion won

MarketJuly 29, 2024

Hyundai Motor accelerates air mobility business in Indonesia

Hyundai Motor and Kia demonstrated their advanced air mobility in Indonesia as they demonstrated a flying aircraft and hailing procedure at the Samarinda Airport in East Kalimantan on Monday. With officials from Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation and Nusantara Capital City Authority in attendance for the presentation, the automakers explained how ride-pooling application Shucle and specialized aircraft can be developed to fit the circumstances of the local customers and advanced furthe

MobilityJuly 29, 2024

After 15 years of waiting, iPhone users launch petition to bring Find My feature

The number of people demanding US tech giant Apple enable its Find My app in Korea surpassed 6,500 on Monday on the National Assembly’s petition website, a week after the movement started there on July 22. Find My allows users to track the locations of their Apple devices. If a lost device is nearby, it plays a sound. If users mark a devices lost, it locks or erases personal information. South Korea is the only country where Find My does not work, which has led online petitioners to accuse

IndustryJuly 29, 2024

Amid prolonged doctors' strike, Korea faces critical cardiology shortage

South Korea's health care system is grappling with a severe shortage of cardiology residents as a nationwide doctors' strike enters its seventh month. Recent data from The Korean Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery reveals that only 12 of the country's 107 cardiology residents are still on duty. The study, conducted over three days last week, shows 75 residents have resigned and 20 have pending resignation requests. Several major regions, including Gangwon and North Ch

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2024

Cash-strapped Tmon, WeMakePrice file for court receivership

Cash-strapped e-commerce platforms Tmon and WeMakePrice filed for corporate rehabilitation on Monday. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court announced that the two companies, embroiled in controversy over delayed payments amid a liquidity crisis at their Singapore-based parent, Qoo10 Group, have sought court-supervised restructuring. Corporate rehabilitation allows financially distressed companies to restructure their debts and operations. While this process enables the companies to continue their business

EconomyJuly 29, 2024

LSO led by Pappano to perform in Korea in 1st Asia tour

The London Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to perform at Lotte Concert Hall on Oct. 3 with Sir Antonio Pappano, who will begin his tenure as principal conductor starting with the 2024/25 season. The concert will be part of the first Asian tour by the London Symphony Orchestra with Pappano, as well as the conductor’s first visit to South Korea in six years. In his visit to the country in 2018 as the music director of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, he performed with Korean pianist Ch

CultureJuly 29, 2024

Korea to tackle wedding charges, housing regulations to boost birth rate

The government announced new measures to boost marriages for young people and support housing for families with children, as a follow-up measure after a "demographic national emergency" was declared by President Yoon Suk Yeol last month. The Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy held its second meeting since its launch in June on Monday to review and accelerate the implementation of over 150 challenges and measures designated to address the aging society and low

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2024

Hyundai Motor’s decadeslong support for Korean archery shines in gold at Olympics

South Korea's female archers continued to rewrite history as they won the Olympic gold medal in the women's archery team event in Paris on Sunday, extending the winning streak to a 10th consecutive title. Behind the archery team’s efforts, there was Hyundai Motor Group’s unwavering support that began in 1985. The auto conglomerate’s 40-year-long sponsorship of the Korea Archery Association marks the longest for a single sports association here. Hyundai Motor Group beg

CompaniesJuly 29, 2024

S. Korean women archers dominate Olympics for 36 years

Since the women’s archery team event was introduced at the Olympics in 1988, South Korean women have never failed to win gold. On Sunday in Paris, they demonstrated once again their dominance, winning the 10th consecutive gold. The South Korean team, consisting of Lim Si-hyeon, Nam Su-hyeon and Jeon Hun-young, defeated China in a shoot-off to win 5-4 in the women's archery team final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The match took place at Les Invalides in Paris on Sunday. President Yoon

More SportsJuly 29, 2024

Police chief nominee blasted for alleged special treatment of son in conscription

The National Assembly confirmation hearing for Cho Ji-ho, the nominee for chief of South Korea's National Police Agency, got off to a rough start Monday, with the main opposition party criticizing him over several allegations, including claims that he had assigned his conscripted son to work at his workplace. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers confronted Cho on reports that he had used his position and power to give his eldest son special treatment for military servic

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2024

6 in 10 workers commute despite dangerous weather: survey

A survey released Monday showed that six out of 10 South Koreans reported braving the weather to arrive at work on time, despite government recommendations to work from home or adjust commuting hours due to safety concerns over natural disasters like typhoons and heat waves. According to the survey conducted by the civic group Workplace Gapjil 119, about 15.9 percent of respondents also expressed concern about facing workplace disadvantages for being late during natural disasters. The survey ask

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2024

Le Sserafim unveils ‘Le Sserafim -- Make It Look Easy’ doc series

K-pop girl group Le Sserafim is to release its documentary series, "Le Sserafim -- Make It Look Easy,” starting from 8 p.m. on Monday. The new release follows “The World Is My Oyster,” the group's first documentary series released in September 2022. The quintet dropped a trailer for the upcoming documentary series on Monday in which the bandmates shared their thoughts about their performances and music. The group also dropped five teasers, each focusing on an individu

K-popJuly 29, 2024

K-pop stars take top spots at Billboard 200

K-pop acts took over Billboard’s main album chart with Stray Kids nabbing its fifth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and BTS’ Jimin landing at No. 2. This marks the first time that K-pop albums have claimed the No.1 and No. 2 spots on Billboard 200. Stray Kids topped the Billboard 200 dated Aug. 3 with its ninth EP “Ate” earning 232,000 equivalent album units in the US, according to Billboard. The Billboard 200 chart, compiled by Luminate, ranks the best-performing albums in th

K-popJuly 29, 2024

'My Name Is Gabriel' losing viewership battle with 'Jinny's Kitchen'

"My Name Is Gabriel," one of the most highly anticipated entertainment shows of this year, going head-to-head with the second season of star producer Na Young-seok's "Jinny's Kitchen," has continued to suffer low viewership, with experts noting the show has failed to leverage Kim's strengths. "My Name Is Gabriel" stars top celebrities such as actor Park Bo-gum and TV personality Kim Jin-young, otherwise known as Dex, who adopt different identities for

TelevisionJuly 29, 2024