ARIRANG News

Elon Musk launches Starlink in Indonesia

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk arrived on Indonesia's Bali Island on Sunday for the launch of his company's Starlink internet services. This makes Indonesia the third Southeast Asian country where Starlink will operate, following Malaysia and the Philippines. The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX arrived in a private jet and was greeted in Bali by Indonesia's Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, before attending the Starlink launch ceremony at a community health centre in Denpasar with Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin. Starlink satellite internet service will now cover the archipelago nation of 17,000 islands, home to some 270 million people.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-20 09:00:00

60 years later, America's first Black astronaut candidate finally reaches space on Blue Origin flight

America's first Black astronaut candidate, who was denied the chance to become the first African American in space six decades ago, finally made it into space on Sunday aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule. Ed Dwight, a 90 year-old artist and former Air Force test pilot, blasted off from the west Texas launch site, with five other crew members: a software engineer, an Indian adventurer, a French entrepreneur, a venture capitalist and a retired accountant. Dwight also became the oldest person ever to reach space, at 90 and eight months old, beating the previous record set by "Star Trek" actor William Shatner. While a ticket on billionaire Jeff Bezos' New Shepard space-flight costs about 500,000 dollars, Dwight's seat was sponsored by a non-profit organisation, 'Space for Humanity'.

Sunday's launch was Blue Origin's first passenger flight since a rocket crash around two years ago.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-20 09:00:00

Cloudy and breezy in north, sunny and warm in south on this Soman

Good morning. The sunny and hot summer-like weather triggered the highest temperatures of the season so far in some southern provinces on Sunday, including Gwangju and Daegu. There will be more heat rolling into the southern regions under plenty of sunshine but it shouldn't be as hot as Sunday. Further south will be exposed to stronger UV rays, so sun safety awareness is a must.

Meanwhile, there will be cloudy skies hanging around in upper regions with a chance of spotty rain during the day. It's Soman today the second summer seasonal term, and we can tell the morning has gotten much warmer compared to last week but due to cloudy skies in the upper regions, temperatures won't rise much topping out at just 23 degrees in the capital nearly 5 degrees lower than yesterday. Daegu and Gyeongju meanwhile, see a high of 30 degrees. Sunny and warm weather returns tomorrow to the upper regions and it will stay that way throughout the week.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the international weather conditions.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-20 09:00:00

Iran's Ebrahim Raisi missing after helicopter crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been reported missing after the helicopter he was traveling on crashed due to bad weather on Sunday. Iran's top diplomat was also on board. Officials say heavy fog is hampering search operations. Lee Seung-jae has more.

Iran's state media says a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister, and other officials crashed due to bad weather. Reports say the helicopter made a "hard landing" in East Azerbaijan Province in northwest Iran. According to an unnamed Iranian official contact had been made with a passenger and a crew member of the president's helicopter. The official also spoke to Reuters, saying that the lives of the president and foreign minister are "at risk.

" Rescue teams and the military have been deployed to the site of the crash for search operations, but have been hampered due to heavy fog, and mountainous terrain. President Raisi had been in Azerbaijan for the opening of a dam with the country's president, Ilham Aliyev. Both the U.

and the EU are watching cautiously on the developments of the crash. President Joe Biden is said to have been briefed on the incident during his visit to the state of Georgia, with U.

officials keeping close tabs on the story. European Council President Charles Michel also said he's watching for developments carefully, but did not elaborate further. Many countries with strained relations with Tehran, have remained quiet on the matter.

However, countries like Saudia Arabia and Türkiye have expressed support for Iran saying they are ready to provide any help required for search operations. Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-20 09:00:00

[WEEKLY FOCUS] How might Naver-Line Yahoo case unfold?

South Korean online platform giant Naver has been facing pressure from the Japanese government to sell its shares in Tokyo-based Line Yahoo, the operator of Japan's popular messaging app. And it no longer seems to be just a business issue. Joining me in the studio to discuss is our business correspondent Park Kun-woo. Welcome, Kun-woo.

Thank you for having me. So Kun-woo, how has this issue expanded into a political and diplomatic problem? First of all, the Japanese government gave administrative guidance to Line Yahoo twice in 2024 advising it to reorganize its shareholding structure in order to prevent security problems. Japan's main concern is a Korean company having access as a shareholder to the personal information of Japanese users of LINE due to a data leak last year, making it a political issue here in South Korea. Opposition parties criticized the government for taking a passive attitude instead of speaking up for a Korean company, while the ruling People Power Party said opposition parties were driving anti-Japanese sentiment.

Since then the government has delivered a stronger message saying that it would do all that it can to support Naver. " The government's response has so far reflected Naver's position as much as possible, and it will continue to support Naver with any future developments. We will respond firmly and strongly to unfair measures that go against a Korean company's stance. " What has been Japan's reaction? Actually on Tuesday, the Japanese government reiterated that its aim is to prevent similar cases from happening again, but also said reorganization of the shareholding structure is still on the agenda.

One expert shared his thoughts on why Japan issued the administrative guidance. "Expectations that the Japanese shareholder would become the majority shareholder over Naver led to a sudden rise of 7 percent in the approval rating for the Japanese government. " He added it could be part of a political strategy by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the ruling party to extend their terms after the elections later this year. Now Kun-woo, tell us more about what has happened in this "LINE case.

" Of course Yoo-jin. So, if you take a look at the screen Line Yahoo's major shareholder, A-holdings, is a joint venture between Naver and Japan's SoftBank with an even split of 50:50. And that's quite unusual as joint ventures usually proportion shares in order to avoid a situation where one firm could take full control. One other thing is that the messenger app LINE is popular among Japanese people with a total of around 96 million users, meaning 8 out of 10 Japanese people are using this app.

And LINE has been expanding its business to become a provider of news, music, digital payment, and more. In November last year, there was a personal information leak involving more than 500-thousand users. As a result, Japan directed Line Yahoo in March to review its capital relationship with Naver to prevent it from happening again. Though Naver responded with a report containing preventive measures, Japan gave administrative guidance for an unprecedented second time in April.

So, Naver has to submit a report again to the Japanese government by July 1st. That's different from what happened with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation or NTT, which had a leak on a much larger scale, with over 9 million users affected, between 2013 and 2023. In that case, the Japanese government accepted improvement measures proposed by NTT. Kun-woo, what are the predictions for Naver's next move? And what are some concerns? So Yoo-jin, Naver has already announced that it is open to all possibilities including selling shares to SoftBank so we'll have to wait and see if the company will actually do so.

Pundits say Naver's value within Line Yahoo is around 8 trillion won or over 5-point-8 billion U. dollars, and a sale would allow Naver to invest in the AI sector where they have been recently focusing. Naver's labor union expressed concern over job cuts and the loss of company tech and know-how if it sells.

But the government recently said selling shares will not be included in the report to be submitted in July, meaning Naver has some more time to consider the issue. And apart from that, an expert said selling shares can actually cause a bigger problem. " This could set a precedent of a Japanese firm "exploiting" a Korean firm's technology, which could happen again and again. " He was also concerned about Naver having to give up its services not only in Japan but also in other regions such as Southeast Asia.

The expert added if Naver's case does become a precedent, it will not be helpful for Japan either, as there is the possibility that firms from other countries would be wary about creating joint ventures with Japanese companies. Alright, thanks for the details, Kun-woo. My pleasure.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-18 12:00:00

[NEWS SPECIAL] 44TH MAY 18 GWANGJU DEMOCRATIZATION MOVEMENT

▪ 44TH MAY 18 GWANGJU DEMOCRATIZATION MOVEMENT ▪ 제44주년 5. 18민주화운동 기념식.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-18 10:00:00

S. Korea sees job market upswing in Apr. with biggest y/y rise in manufacturing employment since Nov. 2022

Moving on to the labor market. In April, South Korea saw a recovery in employment, with the number of new jobs added on-year surpassing the 200-thousand mark for the first time in 3 months, led by solid exports and manufacturing. Our Moon Hye-ryeon covers the rebound and more. South Korea's job market showed recovery on the back of rising exports in April.

According to Statistics Korea on Friday, there were 28-point-6-9 million people in employment last month --a rise of some 261-thousand compared to the same month last year. The rate of employment for people aged 15 years old and above rose by point-3 percent on-year to 63 percent, which is the highest figure for any month of April since data was first compiled in 1982. The job market has seen fluctuations over the past few months, posting over 300-thousand more people in employment on-year in January and February, before a smaller increase of 173-thousand in March. The agency attributed this to a rise in employment in manufacturing as exports have been booming due to an upturn in the semiconductor industry.

The manufacturing sector hired 100-thousand more people in April on-year, and this is the biggest increase seen since November 2022. Other sectors that also saw an upswing in employment were the healthcare and telecommunications industries. On the other hand, the retail sector has been seeing a decline in employment for some time now, and a spokesperson from Statistics Korea explained why. "Wholesale and retail industries are becoming automated, and with the boom in online transactions, employment in wholesale and retail has been continuously decreasing.

" With South Korea's aging population, employment among those aged over 60 years old has continued to increase. 292-thousand more people aged 60 and over were in employment in April this year compared to the same month last year. For those in their late twenties --the employment rate rose on-year, as it has been doing for the past three years, to reach an all-time high for any month of April at 72-point-7 percent. During a meeting headed by the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the same day to discuss the latest figures, the government pledged to support the creation of high-quality jobs in the private sector and develop job support initiatives for vulnerable groups.

Moon Hye-ryeon, Arirang News.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-17 21:00:00

President Yoon emphasizes need to tackle low birth rate

President Yoon Suk Yeol has again emphasized the need to tackle the nation's low birth rate, saying the government needs to thoroughly review the structure of financial projects and improve the delivery and execution methods. Yoon's remarks came as he presided over a national fiscal strategy meeting on Friday in Sejong with ministers and top officials of the ruling People Power Party. Looking back to his past two years in office, he also said the decision to go with sound fiscal policy was a good one, citing some positive upward trends in various global economic indicators but emphasized that it doesn't mean cutting spending, rather spending efficiently.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-17 21:00:00

S. Korea launches National Heritage Administration to become 'global cultural hub'

Upgrading the concept of cultural heritage to national heritage, President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday celebrated the launch of the Korea Heritage Service --rebranded from the Cultural Heritage Administration. In his commemorative address on Friday, the president said the management of cultural property, going forward, will be "future-oriented," with active efforts to "excavate, preserve, and inherit" national heritage. He added he would expand the scope of national heritage, particularly when it comes to intangible assets to encompass the unique aspects of life, including traditional customs, folklore, festivals, and nature. Yoon further promised to make South Korea a "global cultural hub" by sharing its heritage with the world.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-17 21:00:00

Korea Heritage Service celebrates its launch through special opening of Mangmyoru in Jongmyo

And to celebrate the opening of the Korea Heritage Service, a special exhibit is being offered at Jongmyo Shrine, honoring the royal ancestors of the Joseon Dynasty using Lego pieces. Our Lee Shi-hoo takes us there. Over 20-thousand pieces of Lego come together to create a special build --the layout of the Jongmyo Royal Ancestral Ritual. In this 21st-century representation of one of the most significant state ceremonies from the Joseon Dynasty, by artist Colin Jin, hundreds of officiants, musicians, and dancers, presided by the king, perform a special ritual to honor the royal ancestors.

The work is on display at a special exhibit at the Jongmyo Shrine located in central Seoul. "Starting today, the Cultural Heritage Administration has been transformed into the Korea Heritage Service. To celebrate its launch, we have prepared an exhibition hall where visitors can learn about traditional Jongmyo rituals and music, which are both recognized as world heritages -both tangible and intangible. " Jongmyo is where the kings of the Joseon Dynasty performed sacrificial rites and enshrined the royal ancestral tablets of deceased kings and queens.

They believed the spirits of the ancestors would enter and leave the tablets, blessing the descendants performing the rituals. Both the shrine and the rituals performed at the site are recognized as cultural heritages by the South Korean government and UNESCO. And now for the first time ever, visitors can take a step into the piloti-like building called Mangmyoru that housed the management office of the shrine back in history. "From here, the kings of Joseon would wait, thinking of their ancestors until the Jongmyo ritual began.

During the wait, they often wrote poetry in peace. " From the king's seat --a magnificent view of the pond landscaped to represent the land and the sky. "And it's really beautiful to see, I just entered how they did the ritual, so it's very broadening my -I learned quite a lot. I feel the Korean culture is very beautiful and I feel that the history is really amazing.

" Mangmyoru will remain open to the public until the end of June, offering a peek into the royal history dating back over 600 years. Lee Shi-hoo, Arirang News.

Broadcasted on: 2024-05-17 21:00:00