https://www.scmp.com/rss/328872/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com In 1941, during World War II, a young Korean man decided his ambitions were bigger than the family pig farm. After finishing high school, Shin Kyuk-ho boarded a ship from the Korean port city of Busan to Japan with dreams of becoming a novelist. Instead he would build one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates, the Lotte brand, and become known as Asia’s “chewing gum tycoon”. Today, Lotte has a global chain of fast food restaurants, hotels and theme parks. Its 123-storey headquarters in Seoul is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3078991/story-lotte-how-chewing-gum-maker-japan-became-one-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3078991/story-lotte-how-chewing-gum-maker-japan-became-one-south?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2020 05:00:10 +0000 South Koreans on Monday celebrated a historic night at the Academy Awards, where director Bong Joon-ho’s dark comedy Parasite became the first foreign film to win Best Picture, along with three other Oscars. Parasite, a satirical take on the widening gap between South Korea’s rich and poor, overcame what Bong’s described as the “one-inch barrier of subtitles”, which the director said had in the past dissuaded English-speaking audiences from discovering foreign films. According to Chosun, South... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3049881/parasite-makes-history-oscars-and-south-korean-fans-join-bong-joon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3049881/parasite-makes-history-oscars-and-south-korean-fans-join-bong-joon?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Feb 2020 12:00:18 +0000 South Koreans are rallying to support protests in Hong Kong against a contentious extradition bill, with university students sharing posters on campus and more than 20,000 people signing an online petition asking President Moon Jae-in to “stand up for the principles of international human rights law”. Moon has previously promised to act on any petition submitted to the presidential Blue House that earns 200,000 signatures in 30 days. The country’s third-largest political party, Bareunmirae –... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3014574/south-koreans-rally-support-hong-kong-protests-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3014574/south-koreans-rally-support-hong-kong-protests-against?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jun 2019 11:30:43 +0000 While most of us are fixated on taking the perfect selfie, Paris Hilton is selfless with hers. In Seoul last weekend for the South Korean release of her luxury skincare line ProD.N.A., which includes a rose water named Unicorn Mist, the hotel heiress turned singer, actress and business mogul proved she’ll never turn down a request for a fan photo. Wearing a revealing black gown, Hilton lingered on stage for hours on Friday night after the launch party for her skincare line, as several hundred... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3013332/paris-hilton-shows-south-korea-why-she-original-influencer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3013332/paris-hilton-shows-south-korea-why-she-original-influencer?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jun 2019 17:00:12 +0000 When 25-year-old Martyna Posluszna first moved to Seoul from her native Poland last year, she thought she would feel right at home. She quickly made friends and even found herself a Korean boyfriend. But 12 months in to her two-year masters programme at Yonsei University, one of the most prestigious in South Korea, struggles adapting to life in the country provoked a panic attack that landed Posluszna in a private hospital. She was diagnosed with anxiety, and was charged US$800 for a half-day as... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3010985/skype-therapy-south-koreas-lack-mental-health-help-forces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3010985/skype-therapy-south-koreas-lack-mental-health-help-forces?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 May 2019 10:08:09 +0000 Inspecting the communal plates one by one, Nurul Islam made sure they were clean before arranging slices of watermelon, oranges and honeydew neatly beside. He then served up generous portions of jhal muri, a spicy Bangladeshi dish made of puffed rice, chickpeas and spices. Snapshots of Ramadan across Asia reveal changing lives of Muslims Nurul would go on to fill close to 100 plates with the help of 50 other believers preparing for iftar, the evening meal for Muslims during their month of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3009432/islamic-month-ramadan-fuels-faith-distant-places-how?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3009432/islamic-month-ramadan-fuels-faith-distant-places-how?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 May 2019 00:00:07 +0000 South Korean President Moon Jae-in began a week-long tour of Central Asia on Tuesday, in an effort to shore up support for ambitious energy deals and move the country beyond its diplomatic and economic reliance on the US and China. But while Moon seeks to buffer Seoul against turmoil between Washington and Beijing, his plans in Central Asia might inevitably link him to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Meeting with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan from April 16 to April... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3006436/south-koreas-moon-tries-leave-us-china-orbit-lands-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3006436/south-koreas-moon-tries-leave-us-china-orbit-lands-back?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Apr 2019 12:00:09 +0000 Team4U thought it had cornered South Korea’s sex-doll market. Less than an hour’s drive from Seoul, the country’s only domestic maker of life-size dolls uses moulded silicone to make a wide range of the toys, clad in everything from flight attendant uniforms to traditional Chinese robes. All of them have pale skin, shapely bodies and no mechanical parts – and cost US$3,100. “When foreign-made sex dolls were banned from South Korea, there was no regular way to get them,” said Team4U owner Kim... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3002920/how-do-you-arouse-interest-south-koreas-adult-industry-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3002920/how-do-you-arouse-interest-south-koreas-adult-industry-life?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Mar 2019 01:00:08 +0000 South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor is hoping to revive its flagging fortunes by building more hydrogen-powered cars, as part of the country’s bid to become a leader in hydrogen technology by 2040. Last October in the United States, the company launched Nexo, an SUV that goes 609km on a single charge, has no battery, and puts out nothing but water vapour from its exhaust. And in December, it announced it would spend US$6.7 billion from now till 2030 on hydrogen technology. But its... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2184809/south-korea-hyundai-motors-pin-hopes-hydrogen-cars-new-energy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2184809/south-korea-hyundai-motors-pin-hopes-hydrogen-cars-new-energy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Feb 2019 12:00:45 +0000 South Korea will use an international conference to highlight wartime atrocities committed by the Japanese, including sex abuse, its Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has said, in a move that is likely to escalate tensions between the countries. Kang said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos last week that South Korea would host an international conference on sexual violence in conflict during the first half of this year. “The conference is not to address [the comfort... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2183974/wartime-sex-abuse-spotlight-south-korea-japan-rift-deepens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2183974/wartime-sex-abuse-spotlight-south-korea-japan-rift-deepens?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Jan 2019 12:17:38 +0000 A teachers’ union in South Korea is lobbying to lower the number of native English speakers who teach the language in Seoul’s public primary schools, insisting qualified Koreans can be just as effective. Many foreigners do not hold formal academic degrees and are therefore less qualified than local teachers who could teach lessons on their own, according to the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union. Currently, the country has a co-teaching system in primary school English lessons, where a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2182841/class-war-do-native-english-speakers-deserve-special-treatment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2182841/class-war-do-native-english-speakers-deserve-special-treatment?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Jan 2019 10:00:00 +0000 A thick haze of smog has covered South Korea for the second day in a row, prompting officials to close outdoor venues and release health advisories. Parts of Seoul and Gyeonggi province have been particularly affected. Levels of air pollution became severe on Sunday and worsened on Monday morning as dangerous levels of fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, blanketed the country. PM 2.5 air pollutants are 30 times thinner than a human hair, and can enter the lungs and even the human blood stream... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2181967/south-korea-chokes-smog-and-once-again-seeks-blame-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2181967/south-korea-chokes-smog-and-once-again-seeks-blame-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jan 2019 07:00:00 +0000 It WOULD be a great plot for a drama series – a band of put-upon underdogs putting aside their differences to take on an invading giant. But it’s happening for real in South Korea, where local broadcasters are joining hands in an effort to defend their home market against American tech titans such as Netflix. South Korea’s largest broadcasting firms, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), are banding together with SK Telecom... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2181578/screen-grab-korean-broadcasters-join-forces-fight-netflix?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2181578/screen-grab-korean-broadcasters-join-forces-fight-netflix?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000 The trains that have been crossing the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea, the latest sign of rapprochement between the divided neighbours, are carrying more than just hopes for peace. Riding the track from Seoul to Pyongyang is an ambitious plan to connect the Korean peninsula to Eurasia by tying together transport and energy networks across the region. “The trans-Eurasian railway network will transform South Korea practically from a DMZ-cut island to a Eurasian port nation, with... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2179148/trains-cross-dmz-between-koreas-hopes-rise-energy-supergrid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2179148/trains-cross-dmz-between-koreas-hopes-rise-energy-supergrid?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Dec 2018 23:00:00 +0000 South Korean customs officials have warned that they will not tolerate the country being used by drug smugglers as a gateway to mainland China and the rest of Asia. The announcement follows Monday’s seizure of 64 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated US$168 million, in the southern port city of Busan. Smugglers hoping to thwart X-ray scanners had hidden the drugs, tucked neatly into plastic parcels, inside a container full of copper metal scraps. South Korea will never tolerate becoming a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2178570/us168-million-cocaine-haul-sparks-fears-south-korea-becoming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2178570/us168-million-cocaine-haul-sparks-fears-south-korea-becoming?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Dec 2018 11:32:59 +0000 The South Korean taxi driver who died Monday after lighting himself on fire in front of the National Assembly in Seoul left a note addressed to a senior politician and prominent journalist. The 57-year-old surnamed Choi, who self-immolated in protest of an Uber-like ride-hailing app, addressed the two-page note to Lee Hae-chan, leader of the ruling Democratic Party, and Sohn Suk-hee, a news anchor with broadcaster JTBC. In the note, which was published by Korean media, Choi listed demands for... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2177458/south-koreas-struggling-taxi-drivers-ride-hailing-app-matter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2177458/south-koreas-struggling-taxi-drivers-ride-hailing-app-matter?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Dec 2018 09:00:45 +0000 A guessing game is under way in South Korea over whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will this month visit Seoul for the first time, with speculation growing after officials from both sides met at the North Korean border town of Kaesong on Friday. Lee Eugene, a deputy Unification Ministry spokeswoman, refused to provide confirmation on whether the visit was on the meeting’s agenda when she was asked during a routine press briefing. This was par for the course, given the Kim regime’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2176977/when-will-kim-jong-un-visit-seoul-if-he-knows-hes-not-telling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2176977/when-will-kim-jong-un-visit-seoul-if-he-knows-hes-not-telling?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Dec 2018 12:30:30 +0000 A week ago, hardly anyone in South Korea had heard the name Young Kim. But with her tipped to become the first Korean-American woman voted into Congress, taking over Southern California’s 39th district from long-serving Congressman Ed Royce, she has been a recent fixture in South Korean media. South Koreans and Korean Americans are divided on whether a victory for Kim, a Republican, would be a good thing. But they all agree it would be a sign of progress for Asian-American voices in US... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2172640/young-kim-wins-california-congressional-race-not-all-koreans-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2172640/young-kim-wins-california-congressional-race-not-all-koreans-are?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Nov 2018 15:00:00 +0000 Banners with pictures of star-players were lined up outside the stadium next to the fried chicken stands. A pre-game concert with top-shelf K-pop stars and fireworks warmed up the crowd. The only thing separating this from a World Cup football game was that instead of waiting for goals, we were cheering as gamers battled for supremacy on three enormous plasma screens. The roar of the crowd at 2018’s League of Legends World Championship on Saturday in South Korea was all it took to convince this... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2172157/e-sports-could-compete-fifa-viewers-and-ad-dollars-if-tencent-and-others-can?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2172157/e-sports-could-compete-fifa-viewers-and-ad-dollars-if-tencent-and-others-can?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2018 23:00:00 +0000 Don’t tell its long-suffering taxi drivers, but Seoul may finally be ready to embrace the sharing economy. Granted, that’s not the impression casual observers will have had earlier this month when taxi drivers filled the streets outside city hall to protest against Kakao, makers of the latest ride-sharing app that provoked their wrath. The protest was eerily reminiscent of the ones that helped slam the door on ride-hailing giant Uber back in 2015 and served as a reminder of the many roadblocks... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2171460/all-hail-south-koreas-sharing-economy-except-its-taxi-drivers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2171460/all-hail-south-koreas-sharing-economy-except-its-taxi-drivers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Nov 2018 02:00:00 +0000 With the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize to be decided on Friday, many pundits are beginning to think the once unthinkable. Could US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un really be about to become laureates – possibly as part of a three-way ticket with South Korean President Moon Jae-in? An idea that was lampooned when first mooted by Trump has become all too credible. Bookmakers have slashed the odds on Trump winning, either alone or jointly, for his historic summit with... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2166921/kim-trump-moon-nobel-peace-prize-laureates-oddly-it-makes-sense?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2166921/kim-trump-moon-nobel-peace-prize-laureates-oddly-it-makes-sense?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Oct 2018 04:00:00 +0000