Thriller series 'The Glory' maintains explosive popularity despite director's bullying allegations

SEOUL -- Although the director of "The Glory" has admitted his bullying allegations during his teenage years, it has not affected the content's global popularity. The South Korean thriller series has become the second-most watched content on Netflix through its second part which includes episodes from nine to 16, only three days after its release. According to Flixpatrol, a Europe-based Netflix content ranking service, the second part of The Glory, released on March 1

March 13, 2023

KAIST selected by the government to establish R&D center for high-tech military drones

SEOUL -- The Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) was selected by the South Korean government to establish a research and development center for high-tech military drones. About 49 billion won ($37.5 million) will be invested in the construction and operation of the R&D center. The prominent state-operated research institute said in a statement on March 13 that KAIST was selected by the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Adv

March 13, 2023

Almost half of S. Koreans think opposition leader Lee Jae-myung should resign: survey

SEOUL -- A survey showed that almost half of South Koreans think Lee Jae-myung, the chairman of the main progressive opposition Democratic Party of Korea, should resign. In February 2023, a state prosecutor's office sought an arrest warrant for Lee over corruption allegations that involve land development projects and suspicious donations from corporations. In a survey of 1,064 South Koreans aged 18 or older, conducted by pollster Hangil, about 48.6 percent said Lee should resi

March 13, 2023

Massive Fire at Hankook Tire factory destroys some 400,000 tires in 13 hours

SEOUL -- A massive fire erupted at Hankook Tire's second plant in the central city of Daejeon destroying some 40,000 tires and leaving the factory complex inoperable. The fire that broke out at 10:09 p.m. (1309 GMT) on March 12 was brought under control after 13 hours. Ten workers and one firefighter were hospitalized for inhaling smoke but their conditions were not critical. According to the emergency headquarters, the fire is speculated to have started during the curing proce

March 13, 2023

KT rolls out metaverse platform capable of actualizing housing structure in virtual reality

SEOUL -- A new metaverse platform capable of creating a virtual clone of an actual house was released by South Korea's major telecom company KT. The virtual platform requires users to register their phone numbers so they can interact with their actual friends through avatars. KT said in a statement on March 13 that the metaverse platform called "GenieVerse" was rolled out. Anyone can create their own avatars using some 1,000 items in GenieVerse, which incorporates ar

March 13, 2023

​HYBE withdraws plan to acquire SM Entertainment

SEOUL -- HYBE, the entertainment agency that houses various top K-pop artists such as boy band BTS and girl band NewJeans, has pulled back from a race to acquire SM Entertainment, also one of the top K-pop powerhouses, leaving South Korea's web service giant Kakao as the winner of the fierce takeover competition. The agency led by Bang Si-hyuk, the prodigy producer who created K-pop wonder BTS, said in a statement on March 12 that it will stop all acquisition processes of SM. P

March 13, 2023

Boy band &TEAM to release soundtrack for web cartoon 'Dark Moon: The Grey City'

SEOUL -- A soundtrack for "Dark Moon: The Grey City," a digital cartoon created based on concepts of &TEAM, a nine-member multinational boy band formed by the agency of BTS, will be released in Korean, English, and Japanese. Four members of the K-pop band participated in the soundtrack which portrays the story of nine werewolves with different personalities overcoming various obstacles and stereotypes. Hybe, BTS' agency, collaborated with Naver Webtoon, the web car

March 10, 2023

N. Korea fires short-range ballistic missile prior to U.S.-S. Korea drills

SEOUL -- North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile ahead of the joint military drills by the United States and South Korea, set to begin on March 13 for 11 days. The missile was fired at 6:20 p.m. (0920 GMT) on March 9, near Nampo, located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Pyongyang. The South Korean military is investigating the possibility that multiple short-range ballistic missiles were fired simultaneously. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said th

March 10, 2023

State research institute creates robot system capable of harvesting and carrying fruits

SEOUL -- A state research body has developed a robot system that consists of an artificial intelligence-based robot capable of harvesting vegetables and fruits using its manipulator and a self-driving robot that carries harvested items to a loading dock. The system can significantly help South Koreans to overcome the labor shortage, especially in rural areas. According to data released by the national statistics office, the population of farming households in South Korea was about

March 10, 2023

​Startup minister Lee Young attends Saudi Arabia's biggest startup event

SEOUL -- South Korea's Minister of SMEs and Startups attended "Biban 2023," Saudi Arabia's largest startup conference event held at the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center, along with South Korean small and medium-sized companies and startups. Biban 2023 is an annual startup event held in Saudi Arabia. This year, some 350 speakers and about 10,500 audiences will attend the conference to share ideas about the establishment of healthy and mutually benefi

March 10, 2023