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A debate over tipping comes to South Korea

When a South Korean ride-hailing company started asking passengers for voluntary tips last month, it sparked backlash from some customers.
Diners eat at a noodle bar in Seoul, South Korea in April 2018.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

How Korean culture became a global phenomenon

Nov 18, 2021
The nation's pop culture is a government-funded export that has grown into the "Korean wave."
Rapper RM from BTS is featured on a mural in Seoul. The boy band helped build momentum for the "Korean wave."
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images

How long can China's economic grudges last?

Nov 27, 2019
For South Korea, it’s been three years and counting, hitting industries like entertainment, travel and grocery stores.
Some South Korean businesses in China still face economic retaliation three years after South Korea signed a deal to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system on its territory.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Korean leaders pledge denuclearization, but avoid specifics

Apr 27, 2018
In a historic moment, North and South Korea have pledged there will be "no more war."
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (R) exchange documents during a signing ceremony near the end of their historic summit at the truce village of Panmunjom on Friday. The leaders of the two Koreas held a landmark summit after a highly symbolic handshake over the Military Demarcation Line that divides their countries, with the North's Kim Jong Un declaring they were at the "threshold of a new history.
KOREA SUMMIT PRESS POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Report: U.S. falling behind in 5G

Apr 16, 2018
A new report from a trade group representing the U.S. wireless industry shows the U.S. is lagging China and South Korea when it comes to 5G. CTIA says companies in those countries are getting help that U.S. firms aren’t. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

How sanctions might actually develop North Korea's economy

Mar 29, 2018
North Korea might end up giving up its biggest bargaining chip: nuclear weapons.
This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) last year shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending the combined fire demonstration of the services of the Korean People's Army in celebration of its 85th founding anniversary at the airport of eastern front.
STR/AFP/Getty Images

Why the U.S. needs foreign steel imports

Mar 28, 2018
After Trump’s tariff announcement, manufacturers saw raw materials prices rise.
Hannibal Industries is the largest manufacturer of steel pallet racks in the United States.
Ben Hethcoat/Marketplace

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How to be a Zamboni driver

Feb 23, 2018
Ice technician Ryan Hevern on what it takes to create Olympic-caliber hockey and figure skating rinks.
The Zamboni machine resurfaces the ice during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung on February 10, 2018.
MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images

The darkest building on the planet is at the Olympics

The structure in Pyeongchang is painted with what its maker says is the darkest man-made substance, a material that absorbs 99 percent of light.
The Hyundai Pavilion at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, designed by Asif Khan, is coated with Vantablack VBx2.
Luke Hayes

How North Korea going to the Olympics could affect sanctions

Jan 9, 2018
The forthcoming Winter Olympic Games may become the catalyst for some easing of tensions between the Koreas.
South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (L) shakes hands with the head of North Korean delegation Ri Son-Gwon (R) before their meeting at the Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone on Jan. 9, 2018 in Panmunjom, South Korea. South and North Korea are scheduled to begin their first official face-to-face talks in two years.
Korea Pool/Getty Images