From the Scene In series
Stories told from where they are happening.
#Issues
# First-hand
Would you like to subscribe?
From the Scene In series
Stories told from where they are happening.
Would you like to subscribe?
International students lend rescue dogs a hand
Ten international students from different countries gathered at an animal shelter in Seoul on Monday to participate in a volunteer event to take care of dogs at a Seoul-based animal shelter. “I've been living in Korea for three years, and I've wanted to volunteer for a long time,” Arina Telpukova, 22, a Russian postgraduate student at Soongsil University, said at the event organized by the Seoul Global Center. Animals currently under protection at the center had arrived under various circumstanc
Oct. 15, 2026 - 13:12:23
From six robots to 204: Inside Hyundai's reborn India plant
PUNE, India — Yellow robotic arms swing, twist and weld steel car bodies in synchronized movements at Hyundai Motor's new plant in Pune, western India. Nearby, laser scanners sweep across doors and hoods, checking for defects with precision beyond the human eye. The factory floor is a striking departure from what stood here just a few years ago. When General Motors shut down the facility in 2020 and exited India, it left behind a largely manual assembly plant with just six welding robots. The si
Oct. 15, 2026 - 13:00:00
GM puts service training in high gear ahead of Buick Electra E7 debut
BUPYEONG, Incheon — Inside GM Korea’s service training center at its Bupyeong plant, two Buick Electra E7 SUVs were parked side by side. One was fully assembled, while the other partially dismantled to show its inner workings beneath its body. Laid out separately in front of the disassembled plug-in hybrid SUV were its 1.5-liter gasoline engine, electric drive unit and high-voltage battery, offering technicians a chance to study the parts they would soon be servicing. Bright orange cables and wa
Oct. 15, 2026 - 11:32:52
Hyundai nears 1 million vehicle capacity in India with new Pune plant
PUNE, India — Hyundai Motor is stepping up its India expansion with a new factory in Pune, bringing its annual production capacity in the country close to 1 million vehicles, as the South Korean automaker strengthens its foothold in the world's third-largest auto market. Built on the site of a former General Motors plant acquired in 2023, the facility is central to Hyundai's strategy to make India both a major production base for domestic sales and an export hub serving emerging markets. The exp
Oct. 14, 2026 - 17:00:00
Old Cold War script, new personal twists at the DMZ
PAJU, Gyeonggi Province — Just an hour's drive north of Seoul, the strip of land that cuts the Korean Peninsula in two is where the Cold War lives on. The 1953 armistice stopped the shooting but never yielded a peace treaty; what it left behind is a roughly 250-kilometer buffer zone of barbed wire and land mines, where soldiers on both sides keep watch around the clock. It's hard to think of a more curious setting for a show built around the obscurantist theorizing of Bruno Latour. The late Fren
Oct. 13, 2026 - 15:22:53
Inside Burger King Korea's 90-minute secret Whopper room
Most visitors to Flameground, Burger King's first global flagship in Seongsu, Seoul, arrive for its exclusive burgers, built on 70 years of flame-grilled heritage. Yet a select few venture deeper, past the broiler-themed main hall, into a ten-seat bar tucked in the back. Here diners find the Gastro, a reservation-only tasting course that deconstructs the Whopper, Burger King's signature burger, layer by layer. Each ingredient gets its own Korean-accented plate. Charcoal smolders in an open kitch
Oct. 12, 2026 - 11:17:45
Loving the idols, honoring the choreographers: Making of a K-pop cover
Nine K-pop cover dance teams from across the United States gathered in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on Oct. 3, competing for prize money and a chance to perform alongside the K-pop artists they had spent years watching from afar. The competition was part of the Gangnam Festival's Global K-Pop Cover Dance Championship. The dancers came from varied backgrounds. Some had years of dance experience before finding K-pop; for others, K-pop was how they got introduced to dance. Several had been performing c
Oct. 8, 2026 - 11:01:30
North Korean defector school seeks a place to belong in Seoul
Students, graduates and supporters of Yeomyung School gathered outside the Seoul Metropolitan Council on Wednesday to appeal for a lasting home for a school that helps young people from North Korean defector families adjust to life in South Korea. One placard read, “Young people from North Korean defector families are Seoul citizens, too.” The school’s 105 students currently attend classes at a former elementary school in Gangseo-gu, where permission to use the building expires in February. A pl
Oct. 7, 2026 - 15:28:25
For foreigners in Korea, getting hired is only the start
Twenty-five companies were interviewing job seekers at a Seoul job fair Thursday, but Jin Hong Yu first wanted to know which jobs were within her reach. “I'm here to find out what jobs are available for me as a foreigner,” said Jin, a Chinese national in her late 30s married to a Korean. “It's not easy to find one when my Korean isn't at a native level.” The Cheonhajeil Job Fair, hosted by the Yeongdeungpo-gu Office, brought together employers including Emart, McDonald’s Korea and Coupang Fulfil
Oct. 2, 2026 - 15:26:56
Three stops, three views of ceramics at Gyeonggi Biennale
ICHEON, Gyeonggi Province — From ancient crafts to radical contemporary practice, ceramics take center stage across Gyeonggi Province this fall. The 2026 Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale brings artists and ideas together across the cities of Icheon, Gwangju and Yeoju through Nov. 1. Organized by Gyeonggi Province and the Korea Ceramic Foundation, the biennale is Korea's only international ceramics art festival. Now in its 13th edition, it explores clay and earth not simply as raw materials, but as act
Sept. 22, 2026 - 14:59:25
The iPhone missing from Apple’s Seoul launch
Apple’s first foldable iPhone was absent from the display tables at its Myeong-dong store Friday, but the device was already on some shoppers’ minds. As customers arrived to collect the newly released iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, conversations also turned to the iPhone Duo, due next month. For some, this year’s upgrade decision involved more than choosing a color or screen size: Buy now, or wait for Apple’s entry into foldables? A man in his 30s who bought the iPhone 18 Pro said he had considered
Sept. 20, 2026 - 11:17:28
iPhone 18 draws Korean fans as foldable buzz builds
“Five, four, three, two, one!” Cheers erupted as Apple Myeongdong opened its doors at 8 a.m. Friday. Employees stood at the entrance, applauding customers as they stepped inside to pick up their newly released iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Some had been waiting since the previous evening. One customer arrived at 7 p.m. the night before and spent about 13 hours outside the flagship store before becoming one of the first visitors to enter. “I usually switch to a new iPhone almost eve
Sept. 18, 2026 - 14:26:18
Will Nodeul Island become Seoul’s next landmark?
Beneath Hangang Bridge, a new 1.5-kilometer trail traces the water’s edge around Nodeul Island, passing ecological gardens, play areas and stretches of grass overlooking the Han River. Seoul unveiled the renovated waterfront Thursday, a day before it opens to the public. The area, long one of the less-developed parts of the island, had been closed since November for construction. “We have heard that runners in Seoul have been eagerly awaiting the opening,” a city official told The Korea Herald d
Sept. 17, 2026 - 15:37:23
Off Jeju's coast, waves power a test of hydrogen’s future
JEJU CITY — After 15 minutes of sailing through rolling waves, the boat approached a lone box-shaped platform standing in the sea off Jeju Island’s west coast. Measuring 32 meters long and 23 meters wide, the concrete structure is anchored in water about 15 meters deep. It is the core of a wave energy test site operated by the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering. Researchers here are testing whether electricity generated at sea can be converted into hydrogen, providing a way
Sept. 16, 2026 - 15:10:03
A taste of Chuseok brings Seoul's senior citizens and foreign students together
For generations, Korean families have gathered during Chuseok to make songpyeon, the half-moon-shaped rice cakes associated with the holiday. On Monday, that tradition was shared by a different kind of family gathering in western Seoul — older local residents and international students. Hosted by the Seodaemun-gu Family Center, the event brought together about 40 international students and 40 older residents to make songpyeon and share stories about Korean culture and holiday traditions. Seodaem
Sept. 14, 2026 - 17:49:02
