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Lee set to depart for ASEAN, APEC summits in Manila, Shenzhen

President Lee Jae Myung was set to depart Monday on a four-day trip to attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Philippines and an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China. During the ASEAN summit beginning Monday in Manila, the South Korean president will participate in a South Korea-ASEAN summit to discuss cooperation with the region, followed by a summit with leaders of the five Mekong countries — Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The following day, he will attend an ASEAN Plus Three summit, bringing together leaders from ASEAN member countries, South Korea, China and Japan, as well as an East Asia Summit involving 16 countries in East Asia. On Wednesday and Thursday, the South Korean president will attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen, which will include a CEO summit, a dinner banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and the main summit under this year's theme, "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together." On the sidelines of the two summits, Lee is also expected to hold bilateral talks with participating le

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InterviewKorean thriller writer Seo Mi-ae on crimes hiding in plain sight

SINGAPORE — When author Seo Mi-ae came home from a college hiking trip with a cut on her face, it took her family three days to notice, even though they had shared meals and lived under the same roof the whole time. The Korean thriller writer still uses that small lapse to explain how her genre works. In crime fiction, a sentence skimmed in passing or a figure lingering in the background can turn out to matter most. That idea runs through Seo’s psychological thrillers, and it is also the theme of this year’s Singapore Writers Festival (SWF), “Hidden in Plain Sight,” which opened Friday. Seo is one of the featured writers in the festival’s new Crime and Mystery Spotlight. Often called the "queen of mystery," Seo, 61, is one of the country's best-known thriller writers. She started her career in 1994, when her short story "30 Ways to Kill Your Husband" won a spring literary contest. Several of her works have since been adapted into TV dramas, films and plays. Her 2010 novel "The Only Child" follows a criminal psychologist summoned by a serial killer on death row. It has been s

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Korea to expand flexible-hour bank branches ahead of shorter banking hours

Korea's financial watchdog plans to expand the number of bank branches offering extended hours and weekend services, seeking to make in-person banking more accessible as branch networks shrink and lenders prepare to push back their opening times next year, officials said Sunday. At a meeting chaired by Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Gov. Lee Chan-jin on Friday, the financial watchdog said that it would work with the Financial Services Commission and banks to expand the days and hours these branches operate and the range of services they provide. The country's bank branch network has continued to shrink, falling to 5,466 locations at the end of September from 5,831 at the end of 2022, according to the FSS. Of these, only 991 offered services outside standard banking hours. Access to staffed branches with extended hours is particularly limited. About 40.3 percent of these locations are in the Seoul metropolitan area, while only 10.6 percent open on weekends. The need for more flexible banking services is expected to become more pressing from April next year, when banks are set to dela

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InterviewWhy kimchi maker Daesang bets on movies

Korea's kimchi and traditional sauce giant Daesang is thinking outside the box to promote its products globally — turning to movies instead of conventional food marketing. The company's Eat & Travel Film Festival (ETFF), which held its sixth edition in August, is attracting growing interest from international participants and overseas consumers. Held for first time in Europe this year, the festival brought together 48 students, half of them from 24 countries, who spent two weeks engaging with locals and tourists in Budapest while promoting the event and serving free Korean dishes made with Daesang's products. Eo Ho-kyung, brand communication team manager at Daesang Holdings who coordinates the festival every year, has renewed her perception of foreigners’ positive reception of K-food and Korea during this year's event. She pointed to not only the growing interest among international students participating in the festival, where they produce short films using smartphones, but also to the positive response from local residents who enjoyed the films and Korean dishes unfamiliar to West

3 MIN READ
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Top tax accountant exam scorer admits to cheating using AI

The top scorer in Korea’s recent tax accountant qualification examination admitted Sunday that he used generative artificial intelligence (AI) and a camera to cheat, reversing his earlier denials after his unusually high marks drew public scrutiny. “I cheated on the tax accountant examination,” Han Won-seok said on the YouTube channel run by his lawyer Lee Don-ho. “I sincerely apologize for the harm my wrongdoing has caused so many people.” Han’s results attracted attention because he answered 159 of the 160 questions correctly in the first-stage tax accountant examination in April, scoring 397.5 out of 400. Three months later, he scored 663 out of 800 in the second-stage written examination and was named the overall top scorer. His exceptionally high scores had fueled online speculation about possible cheating. Experts, including licensed tax accountants and tax lawyers, argued that the near-perfect score in the first test was “close to impossible,” suggesting that he might have used AI smart glasses. It turned out Han’s cheating method was not AI glasses. He said he i

3 MIN READ
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Nvidia tops Korean investors' weekly US stock buying list

Korean investors aggressively bought Nvidia shares last week, seizing on a steep sell-off triggered by revelations of former CEO Jensen Huang's extramarital affairs and subsequent resignation as a buying opportunity, data showed Sunday. Nvidia topped Korean investors' net-buying list for U.S.-listed stocks from Nov. 9 through Friday, with the amount reaching $319.75 million, according to SEIBro, a data portal operated by the Korea Securities Depository. The figure represented a 717 percent surge from the previous week. The buying marked a sharp reversal from the start of the week, when Korean investors initially sold a net $6.6 million worth of Nvidia shares on Nov. 9 following Huang's public admission of marital infidelity. But the selling was short-lived. Korean investors resumed buying the following day and stepped up purchases on Friday, snapping up a whopping $254.85 million worth of Nvidia shares as the stock plunged as much as 14 percent intraday on news of Huang's resignation. The buying spree extended to domestically listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The five Korea-listed ETF

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Warming seas slash Ulleung's squid catch by 99% in 25 years

The squid catch around Ulleung Island has plummeted amid rising sea temperatures caused by climate change, highlighting how warming waters are reshaping Korea’s marine ecosystem and the coastal communities that depend on it. According to Ulleung County on Sunday, the local catch fell from 11,315 tons in 2000 to 1,852 tons in 2015 and 1,172 tons in 2020, before plunging to 141 tons in 2025. The 2025 catch amounted to just 1.2 percent of the 2000 figure. The decline has continued this year, with only 54 tons caught from January to September. Squid is the signature seafood of the island in North Gyeongsang Province and has long been a mainstay of its economy. The decline stems largely from rising sea temperatures, which have reshuffled the marine food chain and are pushing squid out of Korean waters. The National Institute of Fisheries Science (NIFS) believes squid that would normally grow off Korea’s coast have moved north toward Russia and other areas as their main coastal and offshore habitat in the southern East Sea has warmed. The average sea surface temperature around the Korean Pe

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Actor Ko Kyung-pyo's drunk driving prompts broadcasters to edit him out

Actor Ko Kyung-pyo’s drunk driving has prompted broadcasters to cut his appearances from their shows, the latest case of Korea’s long-standing practice of minimizing screen time for entertainers involved in wrongdoing. Ko was caught driving under the influence after his car hit a garbage truck in western Seoul’s Mapo District at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. Officers found him in the driver’s seat with a blood alcohol level high enough for license revocation. The production team of MBC’s variety show “Hang Out With Yoo” said on Saturday morning that it would edit out as much of Ko’s presence as possible to avoid making viewers uncomfortable. Ko had appeared as a guest in an episode set to air that afternoon. The producers of tvN’s variety show “Sixth Sense: B-Side,” on which Ko is a regular cast member, also said they would keep his scenes to a minimum in Sunday’s episode and next week’s finale for the same reason. The team behind “Amazing Saturday,” another tvN variety show, which recently filmed an episode with Ko as a guest, plans to edit down h

2 MIN READ
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Korea loses to Japan for 3rd straight runner-up finish at regional baseball tournament

Korea lost to Japan 5-1 in the final of a regional baseball tournament in Tokyo on Sunday, with its offense silenced and pitchers unable to keep the ball in the park. Korea managed only five hits while serving up two home runs in the final of the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) at Tokyo Dome, as it settled for its third consecutive runner-up finish behind Japan. Japan won the two previous editions of the APBC in 2017 and 2023. The APBC is for players aged 24 years and younger or those with no more than three years of professional experience. Teams can each take up to three players who are between 24 and 29 years old. In round-robin play, Korea lost to Australia 8-7 on Thursday and fell 9-5 against Japan on Friday. Korea then held off Taiwan 6-4 on Saturday, as those two countries, plus Australia, finished with an identical record of 1-2. Korea won out in a tiebreaking formula called Team Quality Balance, which looks at teams' runs scored and runs allowed, and it set up a rematch against the undefeated Japan in Sunday's final. Japan wasted little time taking the lead, as Mis

2 MIN READ
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Factional infighting puts DPK chief in leadership crisis

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Kim Min-seok faces a leadership crisis only about three months into the position, as factional infighting between his supporters and loyalists to the party's former leader is escalating, with the latter boycotting meetings and openly criticizing his leadership. The latest move adds to disputes that have dogged Kim’s leadership, ranging from a row over his claim of a “secret alliance” between a nonmainstream religious sect and the former leader, Jung Chung-rae, and Kim's investigation order for one of Jung's loyalists, to disagreements over pending issues including the chief justice’s impeachment and property tax reform. On Friday, Reps. Choi Min-hee, Han Min-soo and Lee Seong-yun, all Supreme Council members and considered loyalists to Jung, boycotted a meeting in protest against Kim’s order the previous day for the party's ethics committee to investigate Choi. They instead held a press conference to call for the party's reform, criticizing Kim's leadership. Kim and Jung competed in a bitterly contested party leadership race in A

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BTS, aespa take grand prizes on MMA2026 opening night

K-pop juggernauts BTS and aespa took home the two grand prizes on the opening night of the 2026 Melon Music Awards (MMA2026) on Saturday, with the former recognized for its blockbuster comeback album and the latter becoming the first winner of a new honor measuring K-pop's reach across Asia. Organized by Melon, Kakao Entertainment's music streaming platform and the largest in Korea, the MMA is one of the country's major year-end music ceremonies. This year's 18th edition, held at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome, expanded to two nights for the first time and introduced awards tied to the Global-K Chart, which launched in June to combine official data from leading music platforms in Korea, China and Japan. BTS won KakaoBank Album of the Year, one of the ceremony's grand prizes, for its fifth studio album "ARIRANG," along with Stage of the Year and a Global Top 10 award. "ARIRANG" came out in March as the septet's first album since all seven members completed their mandatory military service. Kim Hyun-jung, vice president of the group's agency BigHit Music, was named Best Producer. BTS did not atte

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Experience-first hiring leaves more young Koreans in irregular jobs

For Son Ga-hyun, who managed to land a job in textbook development after years of searching, job hunting in Korea had been a slow grind with little to show for it. “Entry-level openings were few and far between, and even internships would be packed with applicants with substantial work experience,” she said. “So even when positions were technically open to candidates with and without experience, I felt I never really stood a chance competing against people who had already spent years in the workforce.” For nearly two years, the 27-year-old relied on part-time teaching jobs to make ends meet. Her experience reflects a broader struggle among young job seekers in the country, where nearly half of young wage earners now work in irregular positions. As of Aug. 31, irregular workers accounted for 46 percent of wage earners aged 15 to 29 — the highest ratio recorded by the Ministry of Data and Statistics since it began compiling the data in 2003. The figure was considerably higher than the 38.5 percent recorded among wage earners of all ages. The trend points to a changing hiring cultu

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Why Anthropic's blockbuster IPO is getting a muted reception in Korea

Anthropic's planned initial public offering (IPO) is drawing a muted response in Korea despite expectations it could raise a record-high $90.4 billion, as local brokerages and asset managers shy away from the deal following fallout from SpaceX's IPO, industry officials said Sunday. There were no Korean brokerages among the 22 underwriters named in Anthropic's S-1 registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Korean retail investors are therefore unlikely to gain access to shares through the IPO. Those in Korea will still be able to invest through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Major asset managers, including Mirae Asset, KB, NH-Amundi and Samsung Asset Management, have launched a range of related ETFs since news of Anthropic's IPO plan emerged. The funds have provisions allowing index committees to consider adding AI companies such as Anthropic once they go public in the U.S. Still, asset managers are taking a cautious approach to launching and promoting the products, emphasizing broader investment themes such as U.S. technology, large language models and

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'KPop Demon Hunters' world concert tour to begin next June

Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters,” the streaming giant’s most-watched film with more than 670 million views, will bring its animated stars to stages worldwide with a concert tour opening June 5 in Baltimore in the United States. Netflix said on Saturday that the “KPop Demon Hunters Golden World Tour” will feature more than 150 performances in nearly 50 cities across North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America throughout 2027 and 2028. The company initially unveiled 61 performances scheduled across North America and Europe from June through October next year. Dates for other regions will be announced later. Presented by Mastercard and produced by Netflix and AEG Presents, the arena tour will combine animation, advanced performance technology, live stunts and professional dancers to recreate the film’s supernatural world. The interactive production will allow audiences to engage with Rumi, Mira and Zoey, members of the fictional K-pop girl group Huntrix, whose secret mission is protecting fans from supernatural threats. Rival group the Saja Boys and fan-favorite cha

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Megaspeed says Alice Huang left firm in August 2025

SINGAPORE — Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed International, under scrutiny for allegedly steering Nvidia chips to China, said on Sunday that suspected spy Alice Huang had left the firm more than a year ago. Megaspeed is suspected of helping Chinese firms get around U.S. export controls by buying Nvidia chips for its data centers in Southeast Asia and routing them to China. Its former director Alice Huang has been identified in U.S. media as an alleged Chinese intelligence asset who had a relationship with Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang, who resigned as the tech giant's chief executive on Thursday. "Ms. Alice Huang officially left Megaspeed effective Aug. 30, 2025, and currently has no role with the company," the firm said in reply to an AFP query. "Megaspeed does not comment on Ms. Huang's personal and private matters." Alice Huang and Jensen Huang are not related. Beijing has denied the spying allegations. Jensen Huang acknowledged an extramarital affair in a Nov. 8 letter to Nvidia employees that did not name the woman involved. He resigned days later. Nvidia's board has sai

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Korea football team stuck in limbo

There is a well-known saying, "comparison is the thief of joy." The meaning is self-evident, and just 24 hours after Korea lost 3-2 to Saudi Arabia, rival Japan defeated Brazil by the same scoreline. The saying does not quite apply, however, as there wasn’t much joy to be stolen anyway. It is a sober reminder of the gap between the Taeguk Warriors and the Samurai Blue. It was the second time in 13 months that Japan has defeated the five-time world champion and the first time in 21 years that Korea has lost to the team from Riyadh. It was a deserved defeat. Saudi Arabia was the better team for much of the match against the lackluster visitor. In last week’s column, I wrote that Korea’s results in this international break did not matter so much, but that was a mistake. Tuesday’s game against Qatar is now hugely important for the team because it is hugely important for coach Robert Moreno. It is the last of Moreno's six games that he has to prove himself. Of the five so far, there have been two wins, a draw and two defeats. Friday’s was the worst. Saudi Arabia started the game ran

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SK chairman calls for AI expansion beyond chips into models, services

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won urged leaders of group subsidiaries to redefine themselves as artificial intelligence (AI) companies and expand beyond chips, infrastructure and energy into AI models and services, building a growth cycle that connects the conglomerate’s businesses. According to SK Group, Sunday, Chey outlined the strategy at CEO seminar held Thursday to Saturday in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. During the seminar, Chey highlighted the importance of an "AI flywheel" to position SK as a key player in a “token economy,” where AI computing and services are traded as resources. “We must break out of existing business frameworks and redefine ourselves as AI companies,” Chey said, urging every affiliate to find new roles beyond its traditional business and connect them to AI services and the token economy. Under the strategy, AI semiconductor capabilities would support AI factory expansion, supporting the growing demand for electricity, energy and AI services. Competitive energy supplies and wider service adoption would spur investment in AI factories and advanced chips.

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LG Electronics' Tennessee plant tops 10 mil. units in cumulative production

LG Electronics’ Tennessee plant surpassed 10 million units in cumulative production, playing a pivotal role in helping the company secure the top spot in the U.S. laundry appliance market. The company said Sunday it held a ceremony to congratulate the production of the 10 millionth unit at the plant participated by local officials and LG Electronics executives. LG Electronics built its Tennessee plant on a 1.25 million-square-meter site in Clarksville, Tennessee in 2018. Since then, the company has invested approximately $500 million in expanding facilities and improving manufacturing processes. The plant began producing washing machines in November 2018, followed by dryers in 2022 and wash towers in 2023. Its annual production capacity now stands at 2.25 million units, more than four times its 2019 level, comprising 1.55 million washing machines and 700,000 dryers. The expansion has established the plant as LG Electronics’ key local manufacturing and supply hub. LG Electronics’ washing machines and dryers accounted for 17.2 percent and 17.4 percent of the U.S. market, respectively

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N. Korea-linked hackers target 30 S. Korean servers: report

Hackers suspected of having ties to North Korea's Lazarus Group identified 30 servers in South Korea as potential targets for cyberattacks in October, a report released by a cybersecurity firm showed Sunday. Cyfirma said it obtained a list of 216 servers across 10 countries compiled by Korean-speaking hackers, covering government agencies, banks, telecommunications companies and infrastructure providers. Of the total, 30 servers were located in South Korea. The original 216-server list was completed on Oct. 24, the report showed. By region, the Asia-Pacific accounted for 148 targeted servers, followed by North America with 49 and the Middle East with 19. The United States and Japan together accounted for 44.4 percent of the total, Cyfirma added. The cybersecurity firm assessed with "high confidence" that the hackers were linked to the Lazarus Group ecosystem, with their apparent objectives including financial gain and espionage. Cyfirma stressed that inclusion on the target list did not necessarily mean the servers had been successfully breached. The company warned that simply updating webs

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HD Hyundai launches autonomous vessel developed with Anduril

South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai said Sunday it has launched an autonomous surface vessel (ASV) jointly developed with U.S. defense firm Anduril Industries as it seeks to expand into the U.S. market for unmanned naval vessels. HD Hyundai and Anduril held a launching ceremony at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyard in Ulsan, about 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Thursday. The 600-ton ASV is equipped with VAone, an autonomous navigation solution developed by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and Anduril's Lattice platform, enabling it to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance and maritime intelligence-gathering missions without a crew. HD Hyundai plans to conduct sea trials off Ulsan before further testing in the U.S. early next year to gather operational data as it seeks to enter the U.S. Navy's unmanned vessel market. The U.S. Navy is pursuing a hybrid fleet of manned and unmanned vessels to strengthen its maritime capabilities. In September, it announced plans to procure 30 medium-sized ASVs. The latest launch follows a demonstration by HD Hyundai and Anduril of a 368

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K-ART FOCUS For Seok Chang-woo, painting opened world beyond his dreams

It was lunchtime on Oct. 29, 1984. Seok Chang-woo, a 29-year-old electrical technician with a young daughter and a newborn son, was inspecting electrical equipment at work. He climbed up to clean one remaining spot, then everything went blank. When he regained consciousness, he was in intensive care. Electrocuted by an astonishing 22,900 volts, Seok was hospitalized for a year and a half and lost both of his arms and two toes. On Feb. 1, 1988, four years later, his son, who turned four, carried a drawing pad to his mother and asked her to draw a bird. Busy with housework, she told him to ask his father. Realizing what she had said, she hurried into his room. She saw Seok fitting a pencil into the hook of his prosthesis and was drawing an eagle from a bird guide. “Wow, Dad, it looks like a real bird,” his son exclaimed. Encouraged, Seok drew more: sparrows, magpies and swallows, then cartoon characters. What began as something to do for his child became a practice that would carry him toward calligraphy, figure drawing and eventually, expansive abstractions drawn with his whole body. Fi

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Editor's Pick

[COVER STORY] Korean investors in Nvidia suffer estimated $2.4 bil. in valuation losses

COVER STORY Korean investors in Nvidia suffer estimated $2.4 bil. in valuation losses

A deepening scandal involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is unnerving Korean investors, as the chip giant's shares are falling and uncertainty mounts over his future. Nvidia is the second-most-held U.S. stock among Korean investors after Tesla, leaving local shareholders exposed to mounting losses as the chipmaker's shares plunged amid the scandal. Korean investors held about $13.65 billion worth of Nvidia shares as of Thursday, according to data from the Korea Securities Depository. An estimated 800,000 retail investors in Korea own shares in the chipmaker. Nvidia shares have fallen nearly 15 percent since the company announced an investigation into these allegations. Assuming the retail investors maintained their holdings, the 15 percent decline in shares would amount to an estimated $2.4 billion in valuation losses. The losses extend beyond direct shareholdings. Some 153 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed on the Korea Exchange have exposure to Nvidia. The ACE Nvidia Bond Mixed ETF, with assets of about 197.9 billion won ($148 million), has roughly 30 percent of its portfolio invested in N

3 MIN READ

Life in Korea

Itaewon residents, merchants team up to host street festival this weekend

Itaewon residents, merchants team up to host street festival this weekend

Four years after a deadly crowd crush cast a long shadow over Seoul’s best-known nightlife and dining district, Itaewon’s residents and small-business owners are taking the lead in writing its next chapter. The Yongsan District Office said it will host Rising Itaewon, a two-day neighborhood festival running Saturday and Sunday. Unlike top-down municipal tourism campaigns, the festival was conceived and organized directly by locals working to heal the community and revive foot traffic following the Oct. 29, 2022 tragedy. Since August, a 12-member committee of neighborhood leaders and merchant representatives has met repeatedly to design programming aimed at showcasing the area’s independent shops and multicultural flair. Built around four themes — run, music, market and people — the festival invites visitors to explore Itaewon’s side streets through daily events. Each morning from 10 a.m. to noon, “Rising Run” combines a casual neighborhood jog with trash collection along Itaewon’s alleys. From noon to 8 p.m., Noksapyeong will host the Itaewon Local Market, pairing arti

2 MIN READ
Winter blooms transform Seoul Botanic Park into festive garden

Winter blooms transform Seoul Botanic Park into festive garden

2 MIN READ
Korean traditional culture meets modern retail at Seoul festival

Korean traditional culture meets modern retail at Seoul festival

2 MIN READ

Lifestyle

Two 17th-century Buddhist temple halls earn national heritage honors

Two 17th-century Buddhist worship halls in southeastern Korea have been designated as national cultural treasures, the Korea Heritage Service said Friday. Under Korea’s heritage ranking system, a treasure sits just one tier below the country's top national treasure status, honoring buildings and artifacts of major historical and artistic value. The newly recognized buildings are Daeung Hall at Unheung Temple in Goseong County, South Gyeongsang Province, and Daeung Hall at Geodong Temple in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. Both serve as the main prayer halls of temples traditionally traced to the seventh-century monk Uisang, though the surviving wooden structures date to the late Joseon Dynasty. Unheung Temple’s main hall, constructed in 1682, stands as a monument to wartime resilience. During the 1592–1598 Japanese invasions of Korea, the temple served as a strategic stronghold for warrior monks before being burned to the ground in battle. Analysis of its pillars and beams confirmed that the timber used to rebuild the hall was felled between late 1681 and early 1682. Every s

2 MIN READ
Two 17th-century Buddhist temple halls earn national heritage honors
Love spicy instant noodles? Here's what they do to your body

Love spicy instant noodles? Here's what they do to your body

3 MIN READ
[K-ART FOCUS] Yeon Jin-yeong challenges conventions of masculinity

K-ART FOCUS Yeon Jin-yeong challenges conventions of masculinity

4 MIN READ
Up to 2,500 microplastic particles found in tea bags after 3 minutes in hot water

Up to 2,500 microplastic particles found in tea bags after 3 minutes in hot water

2 MIN READ
Seoul gears up to welcome 1 mil. pilgrims for 2027 World Youth Day

Seoul gears up to welcome 1 mil. pilgrims for 2027 World Youth Day

3 MIN READ

K-Culture

'Dead-End Job' tops Netflix's non-English TV chart

The Korean original series "Dead-End Job" has topped Netflix's non-English TV series chart, the streaming platform said Wednesday. The Netflix series, released Oct. 30, accumulated 8.7 million views during the latest tracking week ending Sunday, according to Netflix. The series, starring Lee Jae-wook and Kim Min-ha, blends horror and black comedy and satirizes South Korea's grind culture. It landed in the top 10 in 76 countries and topped the chart in 22 of them, including South Korea, Bolivia, Egypt, Indonesia and Vietnam. The Korean medical drama series "Doctor X: Mafia in White" ranked No. 4 with 3.7 million views. Based on the Japanese series "Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon," it follows genius surgeon Gye Su-jeong (Kim Ji-won), who challenges corruption in her hospital. In the English film category, "KPop Demon Hunters" ranked No. 10, marking its 69th week in the top 10. It accumulated 2.8 million views and reached the top 10 in four countries.

1 MIN READ
'Dead-End Job' tops Netflix's non-English TV chart
ILLIT's 'Break Even' debuts at 6th on Billboard 200

ILLIT's 'Break Even' debuts at 6th on Billboard 200

1 MIN READ
Doh Kyung-soo surprises fans with new single 'Darling' during global tour

Doh Kyung-soo surprises fans with new single 'Darling' during global tour

2 MIN READ
JYP's new K-pop boy band oftheblue to debut next year

JYP's new K-pop boy band oftheblue to debut next year

1 MIN READ
Why Lee Chang-dong's award-winning 'Possible Love' struggled to find investors

Why Lee Chang-dong's award-winning 'Possible Love' struggled to find investors

3 MIN READ

Celebrities

Kim Go-eun, Gang Dong-won to star in new Netflix series

Actors Kim Go-eun and Gang Dong-won have been cast in an upcoming historical romance drama, Netflix said Thursday, in what marks their first collaboration. Titled "The Twilight Between Us," the action-packed series follows a man and a woman from two families that have been locked in a long feud, who are forced to marry by royal decree, according to the streaming platform. Gang portrays Mu-yeong, an illegitimate son of the Kang family, who lives an isolated life despite his excellent martial arts skills and noble mind. Kim plays Su-ryeon, the only daughter of the Han family, who is compelled to marry Mu-yeong after failing to become crown princess. Park Ji-eun, who penned hit dramas such as "Queen of Tears" (2024) and "Crash Landing on You" (2019-2020), wrote the upcoming drama. It is directed by hit producer Kim Won-suk, known for "When Life Gives You Tangerines" (2025), "My Mister" (2018) and "Signal" (2016).

1 MIN READ
Kim Go-eun, Gang Dong-won to star in new Netflix series
Kany apologizes for racial stereotype remarks about Black people liking watermelon, chicken

Kany apologizes for racial stereotype remarks about Black people liking watermelon, chicken

2 MIN READ
Cha Eun-woo spotted riding Seoul subway in military uniform

Cha Eun-woo spotted riding Seoul subway in military uniform

2 MIN READ
JYP founder Park Jin-young at center of controversy over his faith

JYP founder Park Jin-young at center of controversy over his faith

2 MIN READ
TXT to turn Lotte World into 'Magic Land' for 1,000 fans

TXT to turn Lotte World into 'Magic Land' for 1,000 fans

2 MIN READ

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Opinion

Top 10 Stories

  1. Warming seas slash Ulleung's squid catch by 99% in 25 years

  2. Top tax accountant exam scorer admits to cheating using AI

  3. Megaspeed says Alice Huang left firm in August 2025

  4. Actor Ko Kyung-pyo's drunk driving prompts broadcasters to edit him out

  5. Korea loses to Japan for 3rd straight runner-up finish at regional baseball tournament

  6. Why Anthropic's blockbuster IPO is getting a muted reception in Korea

  7. Korea to expand flexible-hour bank branches ahead of shorter banking hours

  8. Nvidia tops Korean investors' weekly US stock buying list

  9. N. Korean leader's close aide visits Russia amid deepening bilateral ties

  10. Experience-first hiring leaves more young Koreans in irregular jobs

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