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East Asia
QR codes help tourists
Gangnam install 8 on-pavement markers for visitors to get around Gangnam has installed quick response (QR) codes on the sidewalks of major tourist destinations to “help” visitors navigate the upscale southern district of Seoul referred to in Psy’s international hit “Gangnam Style.” It is the first time that QR codes…
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East Asia
Xi’s image as ‘reformer’ under dispute
BEIJING – The well-observed vociferous clamoring for press freedom in China, ignited by protests at the country’s most prominent weekly newspaper Southern Weekend, was a vignette shot of how new leader Xi Jinping is seen by both reformists and conservative factions, thinking that he belongs to them. Some see Xi…
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NK calls for dissolution of United Nations Command
North Korea’s foreign ministry renewed its call for the dissolution of the United Nations Command (UNC) Monday, saying that the cease-fire agreement that concluded the 1950-1953 Korean War needs to be replaced by a peace treaty. According to the North Korean Central News Agency, the ministry said, in its “diplomatic…
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East Asia
Nurturing Asia’s female leaders
When Jack Meyer first asked Korean-American lawyer Kim Young-joon in 2011 if he could succeed Meyer as the chairman of Asian University for Women (AUW) Support Foundation, Kim declined. The chairman’s job is to raise funds, and Meyer is a legendary former manager of Harvard University’s endowment who started with…
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East Asia
Rare photos of past Korean society to be shown in Japan
Two old men, dressed in traditional Korean garb, face the camera, one performing what seems like a traditional dance move, are seen against the sea off Jindo, South Jeolla Province. Japanese photographer Takumi Fujimoto captured during the 1970s and ’80s what he saw as exotic and rare scenes that revealed…
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NHN’s Line rises; Kakao Talk stalls
Line, a smartphone messenger application created by NHN is emerging as Asia’s leading SMS tool as a growing number of people in the region are using it for instant communication. The free call or message service now boasts 100 million users, according to NHN officials, Monday. The growth is partly…
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East Asia
Chemical leak causes panic
200 tons of hydrochloric acid spills in solar cell plant in Sangju The dangers of toxic chemical accidents were highlighted Saturday morning with the leak of 200 tons of lethal hydrochloric acid in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province. The accident at a solar cell-making plant followed the Sept. 27 hydrofluoric acid…
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East Asia
Singapore, Korea can collaborate more
Firstly, my warmest congratulations to Madam President-elect Park Geun-hye on her recent election victory! Under the Park government, I look forward to more bilateral interactions. She knows Singapore well, and is well-acquainted with many Singapore’s leaders, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and…
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East Asia
Gov’t set to ‘normalize’ black markets
The nation’s tax agency plans to bring the underground economy into the open in order to normalize “black markets” and expand tax revenue base to support the welfare budget of the incoming government, according to sources, Sunday. The National Tax Service (NTS) reported Saturday to President-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition team…
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East Asia
Young Asians urge UN to settle territorial rows
A group of young people from China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia last Wednesday urged the settlement of regional territorial disputes in Northeast Asia and a resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue to become future development goals of the United Nations. At the Korea University campus in Seoul, 50 participants…
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