Telecom firms compete head-on for AI assistant service

Competition is heating up among major South Korean telecommunication companies to take the lead in the market for artificial intelligence assistants. LG Uplus, the country's smallest telecom company by market share, is set to launch a call-recording service, dubbed, “ixi O,” next month, according to industry sources on Friday. It is expected to offer services such as call recording, summary function and spam call and voice phishing filtering. Currently, AI assistants are evolv

IndustrySept. 13, 2024

Seoul’s western districts to entertain book lovers

Guro-gu, a district in western Seoul, will beckon reading enthusiasts with a book festival at Anyangcheon Stream’s water park from Sept. 28 to 29. The 12th edition of Guro Book Festival, titled “Humanism 2.0,” will offer hands-on activities and an exhibition, hosted by the district-based libraries and Guro Cultural Center. Starting with a quiz at 11 a.m. on the opening day, the book lovers of all ages can enjoy live-drawing performance, mime show, poetry recitation and more. Ki

TravelSept. 13, 2024

MMCA releases English VR tour of 'Performative Home' exhibition

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea has unveiled a virtual reality exhibition tour for “Performative Home: Architecture for Alternative Living," which is currently physically on view at the museum’s Gwacheon venue. For the VR tour, the actual exhibition space was captured in 360 degrees, and architectural materials such as 3D models and sketches were used. The 360-degree VR exhibition tour, provided in English and available on the MMCA’s YouTube channel, is the

Arts & DesignSept. 13, 2024

Gheorghiu stands her ground over 'Tosca’ tantrums

The ongoing controversy between renowned soprano Angela Gheorghiu and the organizers of Puccini's opera Tosca intensified this week after the soprano's management issued a statement claiming that an agreement had been made for no encores, a claim later denied by the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. On Wednesday, Gheorghiu’s management, Intermusica, released a statement saying, “Ms. Gheorghiu deeply regrets the circumstances that led to the incident at the Sejong Arts Center on

CultureSept. 13, 2024

Court suspends prison sentence of man for attempted rape of daughter-in-law

A man in his 80s charged with attempted rape of his Vietnamese daughter-in-law was released Wednesday, after a court suspended the 2-year jail term he was issued by a lower court. Gwangju High Court’s 1st Jeju Criminal Division ruled on Wednesday that the two year prison sentence should be suspended for four years in an appellate trial. He had been in prison following the lower court’s ruling. The man was also ordered to attend 40 hours of sexual violence treatment and banned from

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2024

Yoon's approval rating sinks to lowest point since taking office

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell to 20 percent, marking its lowest level since he took office in May 2022, a poll showed Friday. The survey, conducted by the polling agency Gallup Korea, showed that the positive assessment of Yoon's performance plunged 3 percentage points from the previous week, while his negative assessment reached an all-time high of 70 percent, up 3 percent from a week earlier. Yoon's handling of medical school quotas, the economy, and lack of com

PoliticsSept. 13, 2024

[Photo News] Pope rides Hyundai Ioniq 5 in Singapore

Pope Francis waves to the crowd from a Hyundai Ioniq 5, the auto giant’s flagship electric vehicle, as he arrives at the National Stadium in Singapore on Thursday. Singapore is the final stop of the pope’s 12-day, four-nation trip through Southeast Asia and the South Pacific – his longest and most distant tour of his papacy. (AFP-Yonhap)

MobilitySept. 13, 2024

Economy shows signs of recovery on strong exports, soft inflation: finance ministry

The South Korean economy continues to show signs of recovery, driven by strong exports and manufacturing output, with consumer prices showing signs of stabilization, the finance ministry said Friday. The Ministry of Economy and Finance made the assessment in the Green Book, its monthly economic report, noting that domestic demand is also recovering, led by facility investment and the service sector. "The South Korean economy is experiencing a recovery trend amid the stabilization of consume

EconomySept. 13, 2024

Naver to develop Arabic-based LLM, expand AI cooperation with Saudi Arabia

Naver Corp., the operator of South Korea's largest internet platform, has signed an initial agreement with Saudi Arabia's artificial intelligence (AI) agency to jointly develop an Arabic language-based large language model (LLM), company officials said Friday. During the Global AI Summit hosted by the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh earlier this week, Naver and the SDAIA signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in various

IndustrySept. 13, 2024

Presidential security official arrested for alleged fraud in presidential office relocation

A high-ranking official at the Presidential Security Service has been arrested on charges of illegally taking personal profits while supervising the relocation of the presidential office, sources said Friday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office arrested a presidential security official, identified by his surname Jeong, and a construction broker, surnamed Kim, after obtaining arrest warrants the previous day, the legal sources said. In October last year, the Board of Audit and Inspectio

PoliticsSept. 13, 2024

[김대균의 영어산책] 최신 한국 일본 토익 기출 독해 동의어 정리 (2)

지난주에는 파트 5, 6에 나온 최신 기출 단어를 정리해 드렸다. 이번에는 파트7에 나오는 독해 동의어를 정리해 드린다. 모두 최신 정보들이고 일본에 출제된 단어는 한국에 곧 출제되기 때문에 매우 소중한 정보가 될 수 있다! 마찬가지로 한국에 출제된 단어들이 일본에 출제된다. 애정을 가지고 공부하자! 예문은 토익 기출 예문이 아니고 필자가 모두 새롭게 만든 예문들이다! complete = answer 고난도 일본 문제이다! 많은 수험생들이 틀린 독해동의어이다! complete - (v.) 완수하다, 마치다 (To finish or fulfill; to answer fully) ★★★★ (ex) No payments will be made until the contract is completed in its entirety. (계약이 완전히 완료될 때까지 결제는 이루어지지 않을 것이다.) (ex) She completed the survey by answering a

English EyeSept. 13, 2024

N. Korea publicly discloses uranium enrichment facility for 1st time

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for increasing the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment in order to increase its nuclear weapons for self-defense, the state media said Friday. Kim made the call during a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the "production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials," according to the Korean Central News Agency. The dispatch did not release the location of the facility or date of the visit. "He went round the control room of the

North KoreaSept. 13, 2024

Seoul shares open higher on hope for Fed's rate cut

Seoul shares opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors expect the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.17 percent, or 4.43 points, to 2,576.52 in the first 15 minutes of trading. In August, the US core consumer price index and producer price index rose slightly from a month earlier, dashing hopes for a big cut by the Fed next week. But market participants expect the US central bank to cut rates by at le

MarketSept. 13, 2024

[Well-curated] American burger, simple salt bread and open air market

True American-style hamburger in Seoul Craving an authentic American-style hamburger in Seoul? Brooklyn the Burger Joint is your go-to spot. First opened in 2010 in Seorae Maeul, Seoul's French village in Seocho-gu, this American diner-style restaurant now has nine additional locations across Seoul and two in Bundang-gu, Gyeonggi Province. Brooklyn the Burger Joint stays true to the classic, authentic taste of American-style hamburgers, focusing on high-quality ingredients. The restaurant u

CultureSept. 13, 2024

[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Flea market, busking in Jayang Through Sept. 29, a flea market will be open with booths set up by companies promoting upcycling at Jayang Station Exit Nos. 2 and 3 in Jayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu. At “Zero+Festa,” a free-admission event, interactive programs teaching how to reuse products as well as street music performances are prepared. The event will be open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, check out the website at zeroplus.or.kr. Daegu con

TravelSept. 13, 2024

[Around the Hotels] Promotions and packages

Grand Hyatt Seoul unveils promotion for Hannam-dong experience Grand Hyatt Seoul, located in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, presents a new promotion, “Seoul Style Getaway,” offering guests an opportunity to enjoy some of the trending spots in the upscale neighborhood of Hannam-dong. Guests are presented with a set of coupons that offer discounts and special gifts in Hannam-dong-based fashion and beauty brands, including Depound, Le Mont St Michel, Supra and more. The hotel offers a guide

TravelSept. 13, 2024

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“My Dearest Fu Bao” (South Korea) Opened Documentary Directed by Shim Hyung-joon Follow Fu Bao on the big screen in her last three months in Korea and see her interactions with the “Fu Bao grandpa” zookeepers, as well as the heart-touching moment when Kang Cheol-won reunites with Fu Bao three months after she is sent to China. “Alien: Romulus” (US) Opened Aug. 14 Horror/Sci-fi Directed by Fede Alvarez In 2142, a group of young space colonizers go on an

FilmSept. 13, 2024

[Lee Byung-jong] ‘Out of the Box’ Universities

As the new fall semester begins, I face my new students with both excitement and dread. Excitement because I can find vibrant youth energy and unquenchable academic zeal from their glowing faces. Dread because the world outside our campus is dark and grim, filled with uncertainties. Once they graduate, students will have to grapple with not only the world’s woes, such as wars and climate crisis, but also their personal perils, notably job scarcity. With these mixed feelings, I happened to

ViewpointsSept. 13, 2024

Appellate court overturns ruling on Deutsche Motors case

The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday overturned the lower court's ruling on a man surnamed Son, who in 2023 was acquitted of charges of providing scammers linked to a 63.6 billion won ($47.4 million) investment fraud in the early 2010s with a trust account, allowing them to manage assets on behalf of himself or the trust's beneficiary. The case has been drawing public attention as President Yoon Suk Yeol's opponents claim that first lady Kim Keon Hee was also suspected to

PoliticsSept. 12, 2024