The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today

The Korea Post media (www.koreapost.com) in English, (www.koreapost.co.kr) in Korean.N. Korean leader watches art performance with Kim Yong-chol amid rumor of purge

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has watched an art troupe's performance, along with his top aides, including Kim Yong-chol, who is rumored to have been punished for February's no-deal summit with the United States, Pyongyang's media reported Monday. The leader attended the performance "given by amateur art groups of the wives of officers of units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) selected in the seventh round of the second-term contest of art groups of KPA officers' wives," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

S. Korea to urge Hungary to swiftly determine cause of deadly boat sinking

South Korea will ask Hungary to swiftly determine the cause of a deadly boat sinking and those responsible, a senior diplomat said Sunday, as search operations continued after the sinking that left 26 Koreans dead or missing. Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho made the remark during a government disaster management meeting, noting that the captain of a cruise ship, which collided with the sightseeing boat and caused it to sink, has been arrested on charges of negligence and carelessness.

S. Korean, U.S. defense chiefs to hold talks about N. Korea

The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States were set to meet in Seoul on Monday to discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula and ways to boost the alliance between the two countries, the defense ministry said. South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan are scheduled to hold one-on-one talks later in the day in Seoul following their trilateral meeting in Singapore a day earlier with Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya.

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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)

S. Korea, Hungary to Decide on Underwater Search for Missing People

South Korea and Hungary on Monday will decide whether to conduct an underwater search for missing passengers of a tour boat that sank on the Danube River in Budapest last Wednesday. Emergency response authorities plan to hold related discussions as river water levels are expected to recede Monday morning, creating more favorable conditions for underwater operations that have thus far been hampered by strong currents and low visibility.

N. Korea's Kim Yong-chol Seen with Kim Jong-un Following Rumor of Purge

North Korean senior official and former nuclear envoy Kim Yong-chol has been pictured with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un following a South Korean media report that he had been purged. North Korean state media channel Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) reported on Monday that Kim Jong-un was joined by Kim Yong-chol on Sunday to watch a musical performance.

Rival Parties Fail to Normalize Parliament in Weekend Meeting

The ruling Democratic Party(DP) and opposition parties held talks over the weekend to discuss ways to normalize parliament, but apparently failed to narrow their differences. DP floor leader Lee In-young, main opposition Liberty Korea Party(LKP) floor leader Na Kyung-won and floor leader Oh Shin-hwan of the Bareunmirae Party meet at the National Assembly for over an hour on Sunday..

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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)

S. Korean, U.S. defense chiefs to hold talks about N. Korea

The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States were set to meet in Seoul on Monday to discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula and ways to boost the alliance between the two countries, the defense ministry said. South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan are scheduled to hold one-on-one talks later in the day in Seoul following their trilateral meeting in Singapore a day earlier with Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya.

S. Korea to urge Hungary to swiftly determine cause of deadly boat sinking

South Korea will ask Hungary to swiftly determine the cause of a deadly boat sinking and those responsible, a senior diplomat said Sunday, as search operations continued after the sinking that left 26 Koreans dead or missing. Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho made the remark during a government disaster management meeting, noting that the captain of a cruise ship, which collided with the sightseeing boat and caused it to sink, has been arrested on charges of negligence and carelessness.

N.K. leader watches art performance with Kim Yong-chol

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) holds a boy wearing military garb as he watches a performance given by amateur art groups of the wives of officers of units of the Korean People's Army in Pyongyang on June 2, 2019, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on June 3. Kim Yong-chol, a close aide to the North Korean leader who has led the country's diplomatic efforts with the United States and South Korea, also watched the performance. He has been reported to have been banished and punished with hard labor. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

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The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)

BTS performs at historic sold-out Wembley concert

BTS on Saturday (local time) made history as the first Korean band to perform at the iconic Wembley Stadium, the largest concert stage in the UK, where legendary acts like Queen, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Beyonce and Adele have headlined. The first of two sold-out concerts was attended by 60,000 fans, who sang-along, chanted, screamed and danced throughout the performance that lasted for 150 minutes. The group performed 24 tunes, including those from its “Love Yourself” series and latest chart-topping album, “Map of the Soul: Persona.”

Search continues for missing victims in Hungary boat sinking

The search for 21 missing passengers of a sightseeing boat that sank in Hungary continued Sunday as recovery efforts remained hampered by high waters, strong currents and poor underwater visibility Upon returning from Hungary on Sunday, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said the full-scale underwater search operation could begin Monday, as the Danube River’s water levels were expected to fall and currents to be slower.

Global air carriers gather in Seoul for IATA annual general meeting

An annual meeting of the world’s largest organization for air carriers kicked off Sunday for the first time in Seoul, bringing some 1,000 market leaders from 290 air carriers together to discuss the future of air transport under the theme “The Vision for the Future.” Dubbed the aviation industry equivalent of a United Nations gathering, the two-day event surrounding the International Air Transport Association’s 75th annual general meeting will cover topics ranging from the digital transformation of airlines to infrastructure capacity, sustainability and building the workforce of the future, IATA said.

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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)

'Purged' N. Korean official appears at show

A senior North Korean official reportedly purged after talks collapsed between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump appeared at an arts performance with the country's top brass, official media reported Monday. Kim Yong Chol, the North's counterpart to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in nuclear talks, was sent to a labour camp following the collapse of the Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi in February, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper had reported Friday.

East meets West at K-pop stars BTS rock London

Tens of thousands of adoring fans of South Korean boy band BTS flocked to Wembley stadium on Saturday (June 1) to witness the group's second ever set of London concerts. Fans from all over the world arriving at the UK leg of the "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" tour said they found inspiration in the seven members' ability to bring Asian culture to a western audience and touch on issues such as mental health, social injustice and generational woes in their music -- despite the Korean lyrics.

'Parasite' attracts 3 million viewers in four days

The Cannes-crowned "Parasite" smashed the weekend box office in South Korea, surpassing a cumulative 3 million admissions on the fourth day of its run, data showed Monday. Released Thursday, the flick sold 2.78 million tickets from Friday to Sunday for a total of 3.36 million, according to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)

Cruise Ship Steamed on After Danube Tragedy

Video footage of the sinking of a pleasure boat in Hungary last Wednesday that killed dozens of Korean tourists shows the cruise ship that rammed it reversing and calmly continuing on its course. The footage was taken by the security camera of another ship at dock in front of the two vessels and gives a more accurate view of the accident than video clips available so far.

Kim Jong-un Resurfaces

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance since overseeing a missile test 23 days ago on Saturday, when he toured weapons factories in Jagang Province. Kim also visited a youth education center and criticized officials there by saying it was "pathetic" to see a building that was renovated three years ago look more than a decade old, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Why Eating Too Fast Can Lead to Obesity

Why does a glass of water quickly quench thirst but even a full meal leave some people hungry? Doctors explain that the phenomenon is real and has to do with the way the body processes food. People's bodies require time to produce the hormones signaling a sense of satiety, which is why some people overeat, especially those who are already obese and tend to wolf down their food out of habit.

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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)

Diplomat at SK Embassy in US dismissed for leaking diplomatic secrets to LKP lawmaker
A diplomat at the South Korean Embassy in the US was dismissed on May 30 for leaking the content of a telephone conversation between the South Korean and US heads of state to his former high school classmate, Liberty Korea Party (LKP) lawmaker Khang Hyo-shang. Another diplomat who allowed his colleage – identified by the initial “K” – to read the particulars of the conversation was given an unexpectedly light punishment with a three-month reduction in pay.

Korean-born sexual minority residing in Germany returns to Seoul for Queer Culture Festival
Kim In-sun, 69, is a sexual minority who lives in Germany, where she settled down after leaving South Korea in the 1970s. Kim is back in Korea to attend the 20th Seoul Queer Culture Festival on June 1. While she has been home quite a few times over the years, this is basically the first time in 47 years that she’s here as a person representing the LGBT community. On May 22, Kim was invited to the Rainbow House, an LGBT community in Seoul’s Mapo District, where she had dinner with young LGBT people and talked to them about what it’s like to grow old as a sexual minority. “To be honest, it was amazing [to meet her]. I’ve never seen an elderly LGBT person before. They’re obviously out there, but I’ve always wondered where they live and what their lives are like,” said Gwang-hun, a gay man in his 20s, when asked about his meeting with Kim, who will soon be in her seventies.

National Assembly fails to hold debate on comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation
A mood of learned helplessness among lawmakers is undercutting human rights in South Korea, with comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation failing to even come up for debate under the 20th National Assembly and the Moon Jae-in administration. To date, no comprehensive anti-discrimination bill to bar discrimination in the areas of employment, transactions, and education on bases such as sexual orientation, gender identity, and academic history has been presented before the 20th National Assembly. This stands in contrast with the 18th and 19th National Assembly, where legislation was sponsored. In contrast, lawmaker Kim Tae-heum has presented an amendment to the National Human Rights Commission Act that would remove the category of “sexual orientation” from the list of acts of discrimination that violate equal rights. The provision in question is nearly the only legal basis for barring discrimination against LGBT persons in South Korea. The only exception is the Justice Party, which has been working with the group Solidarity to Enact Anti-Discrimination Legislation to prepare a comprehensive anti-discrimination bill to be sponsored by the end of the year.

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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)

More N. Korean vessels to be seized,’ says former UN PoE head

Hugh Griffith, former head of UN Panel of Experts monitoring the UN sanctions on North Korea, emphasized the necessity to prevent North Korea’s violation of sanctions regarding the North Korean coal ship Wise Honest seized by the U.S. “It is clear that Wise Honest engaged in illegal activities violating the UNCLOS,” said Griffith. “If North Korea continues to transport coal in this manner, more North Korean vessel will be seized in the future.” Regarding the grounds of such an assessment, he said, “The annual report on North Korea sanctions, which we had worked on for five months since September, has meticulously investigated and review the matter.” Griffith is a sanction expert who has been leading panel activities for five years as the head of PoE. He granted an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo, which was the first interview with a Korean newspaper.

Retirement extension is under discussion

The government officially started a discussion on extending retirement age for the first timein two and a half years since extending retirement to 60. However, it decided to incentivize retirement extension rather than mandating it by law to prevent side effects. Minister Hong Nam-ki of Strategy and Finance said, “A taskforce to improve population structure is focusing on the retirement extension issue and will announce the government’s stance when it reaches a conclusion.”

Chief searching diver promises to cooperate until the salvage of the boat

Szatmári Zsolt, 50, chief of the private diving team Harborian, said in an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo over the phone that it was nearly impossible to dive into the waters, describing an urgent moment when his team carried out a diving mission to search for the Hableany boat that sank on May 30 into the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary. He said that the team was not able to go into the waters at first. The angry waves of the waters roared so furiously that marking points for divers were swept away, making the team repeatedly set up new points, according to his interview. Asked why he voluntarily assisted in such a dangerous search work to rescue foreigners, he answered that he has no special connection to Korea but wants to rescue them because every human is precious regardless of nationality.

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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)

[Tragic Boat Ride down the Danube] “Safety” Sank in the Danube: River Swallows 26 Koreans

On May 29 (local time), a riverboat sailing down the Danube River with South Korean passengers capsized and sank in Budapest, Hungary. Among the 33 South Korean passengers, seven died and seven were rescued. The remaining nineteen are missing. Two local crew, including the captain, are also missing. Due to the heavy rains that have continued since early this month, the Danube had swollen and the velocity of the river was quite fast. The accident occurred late in the night, so authorities faced difficulties in the search and rescue of missing persons. According to the Hungarian police and the South Korean foreign ministry on May 30, the ferry, Hableany (“mermaid” in Hungarian) was overthrown and sank after it was hit by Viking Sigyn, another large ferry, near Margit Bridge overlooking the Hungarian Parliament building at around 9:05 p.m. on May 29 (4:05 a.m. May 30, Korean time).

Three Generations on a Family Trip, Three Retired Couples, and a Brother-and-Sister Pair Separated by Fate

There were a lot of people traveling with their families among those on board the riverboat on the Danube in Budapest, Hungary. Among them were a six-year-old girl with her grandparents and a brother-and-sister pair. Three couples of former public officials, who had worked at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, were also on board. Ahn (60), who was rescued on May 30, was traveling with Choi (63) and Yu (62), civil servants whom he had worked with at the Intellectual Property Office. Choi and Yu retired in 2012, and Ahn retired as a grade-four secretary in 2015. The men had been close since their days in office, and they were each accompanied by their wives. Among the six people, only Ahn was rescued as of May 30.

Song Kang-ho, "The Title Is 'Parasite,' But the Film Is about Symbiosis"

There is no movie created to win a prize at a film festival. It's the same with the film, Parasite. That is why the actor, Song Kang-ho (52) asked people to focus on the details and message of the film, before considering the aura of Cannes, surrounding the film, Parasite. When we met Song at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on May 29, he said, "The title is Parasite, but it is a film about symbiosis and coexistence," and introduced the film. "Director Bong asked that we concentrate on the attachment and dependent aspect of parasite rather than on the lower organism or insect aspect of the word," and did not forget to mention filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (50). Throughout our conversation with Song, we could feel the respect and courtesy he extended to Bong, a companion whom he has worked with for seventeen years. Song Kang-ho recently earned a new nickname, “Bongpeson.”

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Maeil Business News Korea ( http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)

Samsung Elec scion rounds up chip, display heads for emergency weekend meeting

Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., gathered the chief executives of the semiconductor and display units for a rare emergency meeting last weekend as the tech behemoth grapples with tough market conditions and escalating U.S.-China trade tensions. The heir to South Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group rounded up Samsung Electronics co-vice chair Kim Ki-nam, memory division head Jin Kyo-young, system LSI division head Kang In-yeop, foundry division head Jung Eun-seung and Samsung Display CEO Lee Dong-hoon for a four-hour meeting at the Hwaseong plant last Saturday, according to the company.

S. Korea’s exports fall for 6 straight months in May

South Korea’s exports extended its losing streak for a sixth consecutive month in May in an absence of signs for recovery in semiconductor demand and global economy, especially Chinese economy, amid intensifying trade frictions between the world’s two biggest economies, the United States and China. According to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Saturday, Korea’s exports came to $45.9 billion in May, down 9.4 percent from the same period a year earlier. It is the sixth straight month that the nation’s exports dropped on year since December last year when the figure shrank 1.2 percent. The country’s exports declined 5.8 percent in January, 11.1 percent in February, 8.3 percent in March, and 2.0 percent in April.

Foreigners shunning S. Korean stocks buy record high bonds in May

Foreigners net purchased a record high South Korean bonds worth more than 10 trillion won ($8.4 billion) in May amid increasing risk aversion that, at the same time, has forced offshore investors to dump Korean stocks over the same period. According to data from Korea Financial Investment Association on Sunday, foreigners net purchased 10.5 trillion won worth of bonds over the counter in May, the largest amount since the association began compiling related data in 2006. The previous largest was in November 2007 when foreigners net bought 10.4 trillion won worth of bonds. There had been only two other occasions when monthly foreign net purchases surpassed 10 trillion won, which were in June and October 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis.

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What’s ticking around the world at this second?
See what the world media around the world have to report:

USA Today www.usatoday.com aallman@gannett.com
The New York Times www.nytimes.com inytletters@nytimes.com
Wall Street Journal www.wsj.com support@wsj.com, service@wsj-asia.com
Financial Times www.ft.com ean@ft.com
The Times www.thetimes.co.uk help@timesplus.co.uk
The Sun www.thesun.co.uk talkback@the-sun.co.uk
Chinese People's Daily www.people.com.cn kf@people.cn
China Daily www.chinadaily.com.cn circulation@chinadaily.com.cn
GwangmyeongDaily www.gmw.cn webmaster@gmw.cn
Japan's Yomiuri www.yomiuri.co.jp japannews@yomiuri.com
Asahi www.asahi.com customer-support@asahi.com
Mainichi www.mainichi.jp
Le Monde www.ilemonde.com
Italy LaRepubblica www.quotidiano.repubblica.it vittorio.zucconi@gmail.com
Germany Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung www.faz.net anzeigen.ausland@faz.de
SüddeutscheZeitung www.sueddeutsche.de forum@sueddeutsche.de
Australia Brisbane Times www.brisbanetimes.com.au syndication@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au
Colombia Reports http://colombiareports.com
Bogota Free Planet http://bogotafreeplanet.combfp@bogotafreeplanet.com
El Universal http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english
Andes http://www.andes.info.ec/en
Ecuador Times http://www.ecuadortimes.net
The Jordan Times https://www.jordantimes.com
LSM.lv http://www.lsm.lv/en
The Baltic Times http://www.baltictimes.com lithuania@baltictimes.com, estonia@baltictimes.com, editor@baltictimes.com
El Pais http://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html
Philippine Daily Inquirer https://www.inquirer.net
Daily News Hungary http://dailynewshungary.com
Budapest Times http://budapesttimes.hu
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The Korea Post is running video clips from the different embassies.
Azerbaijan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8CBpcQ4WM
Sri Lanka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hByX92Y2aGY&t=22s
Morocco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfFmp2sVvSE
And many other countries.
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