In what is being described by the New York Times as a marketing coup, Hyundai Motors has seen its market share double over the last month, a 14-percent jump, as nearly every major manufacturer has seen their sales slump with the economy. (more…)

Everything you wanted to know about the lunar new year at the Korea Times.

“Seollal” or the Lunar New Year, one of the biggest holidays in the country, is here once again. Despite an air of gloom due to the economic crisis, people will try to forget their worries as they head to their hometowns for celebrations this weekend. This year, Lunar New Year’s day falls on Jan. 26.

If you manage an international cultural or community organization in Seoul, this news is for you. Foreign expatriate groups have two weeks left to apply for financial support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The initiative aims to encourage expatriates living in Seoul to publicize their international culture through fostering cultural events, parades, and festivals. (more…)

With the world’s top automakers in the U.S., Japan, and South Korea entering a steep decline in sales, one European Citroen dealer in Dongfeng, China is having no such difficulty selling cars. (more…)

In ultra speedy Korea and in matters of the heart, couples can unite in matrimony and just as quickly see it all fall apart.

Call it shadenfreude or entertainment, but that is part of the attraction of the KBS program Marriage Clinic: Love & War (부부클리닉 사랑과 전쟁). It comes from the fact that viewers want to sort through the disastrous failures of others and pick up a few cautionary pointers perhaps on the road to their own marital bliss. (more…)

Minerva is rapidly becoming the rallying figure for online bloggers worldwide as a bulwark of freedom of expression. But given the current climate of civil discourse in Korea, we may be seeing the start of a much larger national referendum against Lee Myung-bak and his policies. (more…)

When the times get tough, members of the National Assembly get tougher. Defenders of Kang Ki-kap, the stylishly populist and ultra-left leader of the Democratic Labor Party (민주노동당), might say he was merely trying to establish order by moving the retractable Tensabarrier. Supporters of the FTA in the leading pro-US Grand National Party, however, might say he was unfairly bringing his own gavel to session.

[Chosun]

Her name is Missy, and her children Mira and MissyToo are just like her. In fact, they are her. The two dogs join SNUppy as being among the world’s first successfully cloned dogs. (more…)

For those of you have tried Google Earth, you’ll know that South Korea has for reasons of national security blotted out huge swaths of countryside. Luckily, you can see all of Seoul up to a certain resolution on their satellite view. We’ve also been eagerly anticipating Google Street View to come to Seoul but that’s not entirely certain given Seoul’s uncountable alley roads (golmok-gil, or 골목길 in Korean). (more…)