The number of manufacturing jobs in the country has continued to decline over the past decade. - AP
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): South Korea recorded the first net increase in employment in 13 months last month, in what government officials described as the latest sign that the laboUr market is improving after a year-long slump mainly caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The number of employed people reached 26.92 million in March, an increase of 314,000 from a year earlier, according to data released by Statistics Korea last week. Buoyed by the figures, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who concurrently serves as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said the job market was expected to continue to improve in April and beyond.
BTS, who became the first South Korean nominee to perform at this year’s Grammy Awards, has enjoyed one celebrity endorsement deal after another in recent years. Photo: Handout
Fast food restaurant chain McDonald’s has announced that it is teaming up with popular Korean group BTS for a new celebrity meal which will hit the stores next month globally.
The BTS Meal consists of a 10 Chicken McNuggets, medium fries, a medium Coke as well as Sweet Chili and Cajun dipping sauces inspired by popular recipes from the South Korean unit of McDonald’s, which will be available for the first time in the United States.
Seo Ye-ji s agency also denied allegations that the actress was a bully in school and that she had forged her educational background. Photo: Handout Controversy surrounding actress Seo Ye-ji has continued to mount, as more allegations of bullying have surfaced, despite denials from her agency in an official statement.
An alleged staffer that used to work with the actress posted on an online portal early Wednesday (April 14) morning that Seo had regularly mistreated her staff members in her agency, Gold Medalist.
“As a staff member going around in the same car with her for several years, verbal abuse was nothing. She smoked in the car, so I suffered from secondhand smoke. Also, she made me buy cigarettes and would scold me for a small mistake while blowing smoke in my face,” the post read.
The writer says that Asean is looking to US-led initiatives, including the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), to check and balance the challenges posed by China s growing power projection capabilities. - AFP
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): The bitter war of words at the US-China Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Alaska last March portended the rough waves of the new Cold War between the US and China with profound implications for this region and the world.
Geopolitically, Asean and Korea lie on the frontlines of US-China competition. Southeast Asia is particularly important to China because the region is a crucial gateway for China to access major sea routes to the rest of Asia and the world.