• East Asia

    ‘Virtual girlfriends’ at heart of WeChat scam

    “Mango Girl” was an attractive young woman who had volunteered as a kindergarten teacher in a remote village on tropical Hainan Island. And when a 29-year-old white-collar worker in Shanghai got a message from her on WeChat one night in December, asking him to add her as a contact, he…

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  • East Asia

    Changes in world trade

    There is broad historic agreement that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been one of the most successful international institutions; its membership accounts for more than 98 percent of world trade. However, today’s global economic landscape is changing rapidly, coupled with retrenchment and distancing from multilateral agreements. Combined, these factors impact…

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  • East Asia

    Seoul plans marathon at DMZ in Olympics with Pyongyang

    Olympic runners and cyclists may be able to compete inside the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ), according to a working draft of Seoul’s bid to co-host the 2032 Olympics with Pyongyang. The Seoul Metropolitan Government says the DMZ ― a symbol of painful division and the ongoing military standoff between…

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  • East Asia

    SK Telecom creates 5G-based smart office

    SK Telecom unveiled its smart office systems incorporated with new information and communications technologies such as fifth-generation (5G) networks and artificial intelligence (AI), Wednesday. Showcasing four smart systems including a 5G walking-through system at its office in Seoul, the nation’s top mobile company said those systems will improve workplace convenience…

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  • East Asia

    Hyundai Card chief – creative strategist

    Chung faces daunting task amid industry downturn Hyundai Card CEO Chung Tae-young is widely known in the local credit card industry. He emerged into the spotlight in the early 2000s not only as the son-in-law of Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo, but also the chief executive of Hyundai Card. Chung Tae-young,…

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  • East Asia

    Seoul: Nightclub targeted for alleged drug use to assist sexual violence

    Nearly 20,000 people petition to punish Burning Sun operators Suspicions of repeated use of date rape drugs at the Burning Sun nightclub in southern Seoul are becoming more serious, after recent testimony alleged club staff drugged young women to help their VIP customers rape them. A man who claims to…

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  • East Asia

    Touring DMZ with North Korean defector

    “I’m a dead man in my hometown,” a North Korean defector, who uses the alias Jeong Sang-soo to protect his identity, said during a Korea Times interview in the middle of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) tour. “I had to fake my own death so that my wife and children…

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  • East Asia

    Rushing through 1970 Seoul’s music scene

    Korea….what an adventure! In some respects it feels like yesterday, yet in reality it was a lifetime ago. I feel uniquely blessed to have spent the formative years of my childhood in the Land of the Morning Calm. I met life-long friends there, I met my wife Betty there and…

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  • East Asia

    North Korean defector talks about embracing culture through food

    Food is usually an easy entry to a different culture. When it comes to North Korean food, however, there have been few that represent local recipes, a defector says.   Hong Eun-hye, 41, a defector who has been selling various North Korean food from sweets and snacks to abai-sundae ―…

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  • East Asia

    North Korea can learn economy from Hanoi

    Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi can present a potential economic model for North Korea as it seeks to abandon its nuclear program in favor of economic development. Vietnam has been selected as the venue for the second summit between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. as the country has…

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