The Korea Times

S. Korea to hold info session on doing business with Iran

South Korea said Tuesday it will hold an information session next week to help local businesses make inroads into Iran after the lifting of international sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plan to hold a joint session on Aug. 5 to help firms better understand the details of Iran's recent nuclear deal with the U.S. and five other global powers, according to a government press release.After years of tough negotiations, Iran and the so-called P5+1 -- Britain, France, China, Germany, Russia and the U.S. -- struck a deal on July 14 aimed at curbing Iran's uranium enrichment program in exchange for international sanctions relief.The sanctions will remain in place until after the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies whether Iran is abiding by the agreement, a process expected to be completed in the first half of next year.During the session, the government will explain its policy on Iran and its planned revisions to trade and investment guidelines governing business with the Middle Eastern nation.The g

Jul 28, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Shows & Dramas

Korean hip-hop duo scores three-pointer in video game soundtrack

Dynamic DuoKorean hip-hop group Dynamic Duo has participated in the soundtrack for a world-class basketball video game.The duo’s agency, Amoeba Culture, said Tuesday Dynamic Duo’s “AEAO” _ made with American DJ Premier last year _ had been selected as the part of the soundtrack for the video game, “NBA 2K.”The duo, comprising Gaeko and Choi Ja, joins artists, including Calvin Harris, Jay Z and Major Lazer, for the game’s “Around The World” playlist. 

Jul 28, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Korean hip-hop duo scores three-pointer in video game soundtrack

Shows & Dramas

Beast to hold 'Beautiful Show' in August

 BeastK-pop boy band Beast will perform “2015 Beautiful Show” on Aug. 29-30 at the Olympic Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, eastern Seoul, Cube Entertainment said.About 20,000 people attended a concert given by the six-member band last year. Yoon Doo-joon, Jang Hyun-seung, Yong Jun-hyung, Yang Yo-seob, Lee Gi-kwang and Son Dong-won will perform their latest hit single “Yey” as well as other songs.Tickets will be available to the general public on Aug. 5, while Beast fan club members begin purchasing them on Aug. 3.

Jul 28, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Beast to hold 'Beautiful Show' in August

South Korea

N. Korean envoy says no interest in dialogue on nuclear program

North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae-ryong said Tuesday that his country has no interest in reopening talks with the United States on its nuclear weapons program, boasting that Pyongyang is a "nuclear weapons state."In a rare press conference at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Ji also called on South Korea and the U.S. to halt their annual joint military drills on the Korean Peninsula in the coming weeks."The DPRK (North Korea) is not interested at all in dialogue to discuss its nuclear program," Ji said. North Korea is "a nuclear weapons state both in name and in reality."The DPRK is the acronym of North Korea's official name -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.North Korea is also capable of mounting a miniaturized nuclear warhead on a missile, he said. (Yonhap)

Jul 28, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Shows & Dramas

K-pop festival set to rock U.S.

 Girls' GenerationA K-pop festival hosted by Korea’s CJ E&M will open in Los Angeles at the weekend. The leading content and media company said that KCON, North America’s largest Korean cultural festival, will open at the Staples Center from July 31 through Aug. 2.The annual festival will then move to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Aug. 8.The lineup for the Los Angeles event will feature Super Junior, Sistar, Shinhwa, AOA, Block B and Got 7. Artists for the New Jersey event include Girls’ Generation, Teen Top and Vixx.Super Junior

Jul 27, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

'위대한 모성'…3살아들 구하고 추락사

중국의 한 백화점에서 발생한 에스컬레이터 사고에서 세 살배기 아들을 살리고 자신은 목숨을 잃은 어머니의 사연이 중국인들의 심금을 울리고 있다.    27일 관영 신화통신 등에 따르면 후베이(湖北)성 징저우(荊州)시의 한 백화점에서 26일 오전 10시께 7층 에스컬레이터 상층 끝 부분의 발판이 갑자기 '푹' 꺼지는 사고가 발생했다.    30대 여성이 세 살배기 아들을 안은 채 6층에서 7층으로 올라가 에스컬레이터에서 막 내리려는 순간이었다.    이 여성은 모성을 발휘해 본능적으로 아들을 밀쳐 올렸으나 자신은 움푹 팬 구멍 아래로 떨어지고 말았다.     아들은 백화점 점원 등에 의해 전혀 다치지 않고 구조됐지만, 이 여성은 에스컬레이터를 해체해 구조 작업을 펼쳤음에도 약 5시간 만에 숨진 채 발견됐다.    경찰은 백화점 측과 에스컬레이터 시공사 등을 상대로 정확한 사고 경위를 조사하고 있다.    사연이 알려지자 중국 누리꾼들은 '자신의 목숨을 아들의 목숨과 바꾼 위대한 모성', '아이는 구하고 자신은 구하지 못하다니 너무나 안타깝다'는 등의 반응을 보이며 가슴 아파했다.    일부 누리꾼들은 '날벼락'과도 같은 이번 사고에 대해 '무서워서 에스컬레이터를 타기가 두렵다', '엘리베이터나 에스컬레이터를 탈 때 안전에 주의해야 한다'는 등의 반응도 나타냈다.    중국 언론들은 중국에서 그동안에도 자주 에스컬레이터나 엘리베이터 사고로 인한 인명피해가 발생해 왔다면서 '사고의 60% 이상은 관리·보수가 제대로 되지 못하고 있기 때문'이라고 지적하기도 했다. (연합뉴스)

Jul 27, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Shows & Dramas

B1A4 to release mini-album next month

B1A4K-pop boy band B1A4 will release a mini-album titled “Sweet Girl” on Aug. 10, its talent agency announced Monday.The album brings together the five members: Baro, Sandeul, CNU, Gongchan and Jinyoung. The members have been engaged in separate activities since their fifth mini-album “Solo Day”was released last year.Teaser images for “Sweet Girl” have been released through the band’s official website and SNS. 

Jul 27, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Court upholds suspension of officer who grabbed woman's chin to force her to drink

Suwon District Court has upheld the two-months suspension of an Air Force warrant officer who forcibly grabbed a female staff sergeant’s chin to make her drink soju, reports said Sunday.“It is a grave misdeed where a supervisor, using his position of authority, to force a drink on a junior,” the court said in a statement explaining why the suspension should stay.The warrant officer gave the drink to the woman, 20, during an office outing in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province in August 2013. When he was refused, he grabbed her chin and cheeks to force open her mouth.The warrant officer was initially suspended for three months, which was reduced to two months last July.

Jul 26, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Court upholds suspension of officer who grabbed woman's chin to force her to drink

South Korea

Suspect in savings bank robbery caught

Police reveal a toy gun the suspect allegedly used in the robbery of MG Community Credit Cooperatives in southern Seoul, Sunday. / YonhapBy Chung Ah-youngA man suspected of robbing a bank in southern Seoul has been captured, police said Sunday.Seocho Police Station said that it is questioning a 53-year-old man surnamed Choi who was apprehended in Suseo-dong, southern Seoul. Choi is suspected of taking 24 million won in cash from a branch of the MG Community Credit Cooperatives in Jamwon-dong at 12:20 p.m. on July 20, after threatening workers with a “fake” firearm, which police later said was a toy gun. After robbing the bank, the suspect made his getaway on a scooter. “We captured him after analyzing the footage of security cameras, installed around the district where he drove his scooter after robbing the bank,” a police officer said.Admitting the robbery, the suspect told police that he took the money from the bank to repay a debt of 50 million won. Among 24 million won, he used 21.5 million won in settling the debt and used 2.5 million won for gamblin

Jul 26, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Baek Jong-won to not appear on 'My Little Television'

Chef Baek Jong-wonChef and entrepreneur Baek Jong-won has announced that he will step down temporarily from “My Little Television”a show aired on the network MBC. The producers of the show said that Baek, 48, was not taking part in this week’s production.The news comes amid reports that his father was recently questioned by the police for allegedly sexually harassing a female golf caddie. Daejeon Dunsan Police said last week that Baek Seung-tak, 80, former superintendent of the South Chungcheong Provincial Office of Education, was recently questioned.According to police, the caddie -- a woman in her 20s whose name was withheld -- came to know Baek at a golf club in Daejeon. She claimed that she and Baek met outside of the club in June and that he forcibly and repeatedly touched her breasts and other parts of her body. The senior Baek denied any wrongdoing and said the court will determine the truth.But Baek has two other food programs on a cable channel, which for now he is expected to continue. 

Jul 26, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Kim Ji-soo

Read more

S. Korea to hold info session on doing business with Iran

Korean hip-hop duo scores three-pointer in video game soundtrack

Beast to hold 'Beautiful Show' in August

N. Korean envoy says no interest in dialogue on nuclear program

K-pop festival set to rock U.S.

'위대한 모성'…3살아들 구하고 추락사

B1A4 to release mini-album next month

Court upholds suspension of officer who grabbed woman's chin to force her to drink

Suspect in savings bank robbery caught

Baek Jong-won to not appear on 'My Little Television'

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