South Korea

  • World NewsCoronavirus cases more than double in South Korea to surpass 150

    Coronavirus cases more than double in South Korea to surpass 150

    South Korea has reported its first death from the COVID-19 corona virus. The government reports that a 63 year old man, who died Wednesday, tested positive for the virus in a post mortem examination. The exact cause of his death has yet to be determined. He died in North Gyeongsang province, where he had been hospitalized for over 20 years,…

  • Covid-19 NewsKorea reports 15 more coronavirus cases, total now 46

    Korea reports 15 more coronavirus cases, total now 46

    South Korea today confirmed 15 more cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus bringing its total number of infections to 46, amid growing concerns that the illness is spreading despite tighter quarantine measures. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 13 new patients were found in Daegu, 300 kilometres southeast of Seoul. It’s presumed they contracted the illness…

  • Covid-19 NewsThai Airways starts to trim back schedules due to loss of demand

    Thai Airways starts to trim back schedules due to loss of demand

    Thai Airways is cutting back services to South Korea and Singapore out of Bangkok due to “a dramatic fall in demand” and cancellations caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The vice president of sales at Thai Airways, Nond Kalinta, says the national carrier had adjusted flight schedules to match commercial demand. He confirmed the following changes. • Flights reduce on the…

  • World NewsFortress Wuhan. Chinese authorities lock down the source of the coronavirus.

    Fortress Wuhan. Chinese authorities lock down the source of the coronavirus.

    Wuhan, a city of more than 10 million in the central Chinese province of Hubei, is effectively in lock down following a decisive attempt to isolate the source of the Novel Coronavirus. Wuhan has ‘temporarily’ closed its airport, rail station and main roads out of the city. All city public transport services are all suspended too, as authorities scramble to…

  • Economy NewsSit down, shut up and hang on – The Asian century is here

    Sit down, shut up and hang on – The Asian century is here

    GRAPHIC: paragkhanna.com In the nineteenth century, the world was ‘Europeanised’. In the twentieth century, it was ‘Americanised’. This century it is all about being ‘Asianised’. With more than half of the world’s population, Asia has gone swiftly from low to middle-income status in a single generation. Today, its global share of trade grows quickly, along with capital, people, knowledge, transport,…

  • Technology NewsSamsung Electronics flags 56% fall in third quarter profits

    Samsung Electronics flags 56% fall in third quarter profits

    “Samsung took advantage of the US trade ban against Chinese rival Huawei.” PHOTO: CNBC Samsung Electronics says it expects operating profits to drop more than 50% in Q3 amid a continued slump in the global chip market. Operating profits for July to September was expected to reach 7.7 trillion won (US$6.4 billion), down 56.2% from a year earlier – this from…

  • EntertainmentBTS will have to break up, whether they like it or not, and fans are not happy

    BTS will have to break up, whether they like it or not, and fans are not happy

    Even though they’ve been making music since their debut back in 2013, it’s the last two years BTS, aka Bangtan Boys (or Bangtan Sonyeondan for Korean pronunciation), have gone from zero to hero in the pop music world. Now they’re riding their success on the crest of a wave that has defied conventional pop marketing and ‘western’ white-washed music standards.…

  • Technology NewsSamsung launches foldable smartphone tomorrow

    Samsung launches foldable smartphone tomorrow

    Take two. Samsung says it will launch its hotly anticipated foldable smartphone tomorrow, months after faulty screens forced an embarrassing delay. It’s the first major ‘redesign’ of the smartphone form in over a decade. The world’s largest smartphone manufacturer spent nearly eight years developing the Galaxy Fold, a smartphone that folds in half.. Samsung had to delay the April launch…

  • World NewsSouth Korean President in Thailand to sign trade agreements

    South Korean President in Thailand to sign trade agreements

    PHOTOS: The Nation PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife Naraporn Chan-ocha, have welcomed South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook to Government House in Bangkok this morning in the midst of an official state visit that continues tomorrow. A government spokesperson says that this was President Moon’s first official visit to Thailand since assuming his post in May…

  • EntertainmentBTS are breaking up…

    BTS are breaking up…

    …temporarily. The announcement about BTS was made on Twitter by their South Korean management company and label Big Hit Entertainment. Don’t stress AMRY, they’ll be back together in a couple of months! Big Hit says the kings of pop need time to regroup and recharge their batteries. The announcement followed another dazzling display of their finely-tuned pop skills at the Lotte…

  • Thailand NewsThai workers killed in van crash in South Korea

    Thai workers killed in van crash in South Korea

    PHOTO: Thaikuknews Two Thai citizens have been killed in South Korea after their passenger van carrying 16 people skidded off a mountain road heading to a farm. The Korean Times reports that the two Thais, the van driver and another passenger were seriously injured after the van crashed through a guard rail. Nine other people, of mixed nationalities, were in the…

  • World NewsJust one of the tourists – South Korean President visits Angkor Wat

    Just one of the tourists – South Korean President visits Angkor Wat

    PHOTO: Yonhap News South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in put on his tourist clothes yesterday and roaming around with thousands of other tourists at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. The ruins attract millions of visitors each year, making the ruins in Siem Reap province Cambodia’s most popular tourist destination. The world heritage site contains the remains of different capitals of the…

  • Thailand NewsThai tourists abandoned at Suvarnabhumi after buying dodgy tour to South Korea

    Thai tourists abandoned at Suvarnabhumi after buying dodgy tour to South Korea

    PHOTOS: The Tourist Police Bureau A Thai man has been arrested over the operation of an non-existent tour. He has abandoned five Thai tourists who had bought a tour to South Korea at Suvarnabhumi Airport this week. The Tourist Police report that 32 year old Thai man Puwanart Prakam was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport. He has failed to present a…

  • HealthWill the West embrace the South Korean male beauty product industry?

    Will the West embrace the South Korean male beauty product industry?

    PHOTO: ‘V’ or Kim Tae Hyung from Korean band BTS Over the past decade South Korean men have become the world’s biggest male spenders on skincare and beauty products. The market has grown by 44% in the country in the six years before 2017, according to Euromonitor. This figure is even higher for Gen Z respondents (the ones born after…

  • World NewsJobless rate rises – December figures in South Korea *Thaiger Bite

    Jobless rate rises – December figures in South Korea *Thaiger Bite

    PHOTO: Yonhap South Korea’s jobless rate rose slightly in December from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, as the finance minister vowed to create 150,000 jobs this year. The unemployment rate stood at 3.4 percent last month, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of employed people reached…