From the Scene In series
Stories told from where they are happening.
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# First-hand
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From the Scene In series
Stories told from where they are happening.
Would you like to subscribe?
One face, one formula: Inside Amorepacific's AI beauty lab
Yongsan-gu has never been Seoul's beauty district, not like Seongsu or Myeong-dong, but it may be inching in that direction with Amorepacific's newest flagship store, Amore Yongsan, where beauty means one formula for one face. During The Korea Herald's visit to the store last week, a two-armed robot behind a glass wall labeled Hera Custom Match was at work inside its own sealed booth, selecting a bottle, carrying it to the pigment station and mixing, every so often breaking into a small dance mi
July 14, 2026 - 11:20:42
Homeplus falls silent as shoppers, workers await July 20 deadline
The banners still read, “We are open as usual.” But beyond the entrance, the reality is strikingly different. Where shopping carts would normally rattle across the floor and checkout counters buzz with customers, the store sits eerily still — as if time has stopped. Just steps away, at Homeplus’ culture center, staff spend the day making one phone call after another. “Hello, you heard we’re closed today, right?” one employee says, explaining that the day’s classes can no longer be held. With sto
July 13, 2026 - 18:53:18
In Shenzhen, the surprise isn't the tech — it's the green
Korea Herald correspondent SHENZHEN, China — The green and the hardware are not opposites in Shenzhen; they run on the same logic. The city that manufactures the world's gadgets is now manufacturing its image as a green one — and, increasingly, turning that green into a business. The first thing a visitor notices in Shenzhen may be the green license plates — reserved for electric vehicles — on car after car after car. To someone arriving from another Chinese city like Beijing, the number of elec
July 11, 2026 - 16:00:00
With no end in sight, election protests enter second month
Protests alleging fraud in South Korea's June 3 local elections have continued for more than a month with no sign of ending, as demonstrators maintain a blockade of the Olympic Handball Stadium in Jamsil, central Seoul, one of the election's vote-counting centers. When The Korea Herald visited the site on Wednesday, the crowd was noticeably smaller than in the early days of the protests. Even so, demonstrators maintained a steady presence from morning until evening, with participants rotating th
July 9, 2026 - 20:54:41
Shenzhen built an architectural icon and then filled it with trash
Korea Herald correspondent SHENZHEN, China — A building featured in a Yale University Press survey stands in Shenzhen's Longgang District. Wrapped in a vast circular shell — a form its Scandinavian designers borrowed from the Hakka roundhouses native to the district — the structure is one of 55 that critic Hugh Pearman selected for "About Architecture," his June 2023 survey of structures that help explain the world. The identity of this building is the Longgang Energy Ecological Park, and it is
July 8, 2026 - 14:49:10
How Hugel turns a thumb-sized tube into 25,000 toxin vials
CHUNCHEON, Gangwon Province – A tube thinner and shorter than a thumb, holding what looks like little more than a drop or two of clear liquid, sat locked inside an ultralow-temperature freezer at minus 80 degrees Celsius in Building A of Hugel’s Geodu factory in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on Thursday. “That tiny tube is enough to produce more than 25,000 vials of botulinum toxin,” said Seol Hee-soo, managing director at Hugel. That little tube was among the most tightly guarded assets inside H
July 8, 2026 - 06:00:00
How Spain's one-network model helps Malaga take off
Korea Herald correspondent MALAGA, Spain — At Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport in southern Spain, travelers move with the ease of commuters passing through a well-run railway station — local in character despite the constant stream of international arrivals. The gateway to the Costa del Sol ranks as Spain's fourth-busiest airport, after Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, with passenger traffic more than doubling over the past decade to top 25 million travelers in 2025. Airport officials trace
July 6, 2026 - 08:08:14
At Hanoi expo, K-pop buzz fuels Korea’s consumer goods exports
HANOI, Vietnam — Phuong leaned closer to a mirror at a booth inside Hanoi’s National Convention Center, dabbing a soft pink Korean lipstick onto her lip as K-pop music blared across the exhibition hall. The 23-year-old student had come for a chance to win a ticket to see Winner, the K-pop boy group serving as the ambassador for the Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo. But like many young Vietnamese visitors moving from booth to booth, she was also there to sample what was on offer, from cosmetics
July 5, 2026 - 11:00:00
Hope, skepticism and cautious optimism: What Gwangju residents think about Korea's W800tr chip bet
GWANGJU — When the government announced plans for a whopping 800 trillion won ($519 billion) investment into building a new semiconductor belt centered on Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, the reaction in the region was not simply celebration. There was excitement, pride, but also hints of caution. Though initial debates largely revolved around why Gwangju was chosen, the conversation on the ground had already shifted to the practical realities of making such an ambitious project happen. “I was
July 4, 2026 - 12:01:32
Here’s what it takes to become an Air Force pilot: surviving 6 times gravity
CHEONGJU, North Chungcheong Province — As the countdown begins, the cockpit-shaped simulator spins faster, and the body sinks deeper into the seat as the force surges to six times the pull of gravity. Cheeks are pulled back, legs locked in place and short, guttural breaths come out every few seconds. Breathing is no longer taken for granted. “Keep your head back. Keep your lower body and abdomen tight,” an instructor tells me. I have to inhale and exhale forcefully with the abdomen, hips and leg
July 3, 2026 - 19:15:55
Virtual roads and wire cars: Hyundai’s digital proving ground
HWASEONG, Gyeonggi Province — As vehicles evolve into software-heavy machines, quality inspection has become increasingly complex, raising the bar for advanced, efficient testing powered by digital twin, robotics and artificial intelligence. A key example of this shift is Hyundai Motor Group’s Namyang research center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, where the automaker is pioneering new inspection technologies for the era of software-defined vehicles (SDVs). The Namyang center unveiled its new Ad
July 2, 2026 - 14:54:20
'Our sea is gone': Haenyeo from Pohang seek answers, compensation
Under the scorching Tuesday morning sun, dozens of women sat shoulder to shoulder on mats outside a high-rise in Seoul's Songpa-gu. Some were in their 60s and 70s. Others were well into their 80s. All wore white towels on their heads and red headbands bearing the phrase "Damage compensation." Some held signs that read: "Our livelihoods have been taken away. Compensate for the damage!" The 52 women are haenyeo, Korea's traditional female divers, who traveled more than 300 kilometers to Seoul from
June 30, 2026 - 15:34:40
Inside Lilly's biotech startup factory
SAN DIEGO — Inside the social room on the second floor of a building at Lilly Gateway Labs in San Diego, researchers and scientists gathered in separate groups, casually discussing ongoing projects or sharing lunchtime conversation on Thursday. Next door to the spacious, comfortable social room was a module — a combination of an office space and a laboratory — of a resident biotechnology firm. "Our philosophy is that the access to our scientific leadership and expertise is just as valuable as th
June 29, 2026 - 12:57:43
Inside HD Hyundai Electric’s AI power push
Cheongju, NORTH CHUNGCHEONG PROVINCE -- Stepping inside HD Hyundai Electric’s new power distribution complex in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, the future of electricity looks less like a thundering heavy-industry floor than a tightly orchestrated network of robotics arms and autonomous carriers moving across the plant. During a media tour of the Cheongju Power Distribution Campus on Thursday, workers in a control room overlooking operations sat before real-time screens that tracked energy
June 28, 2026 - 14:00:00
Power of one network: Inside Aena’s airport model
Korea Herald correspondent MADRID, Spain — For decades, Spain has run its airports as a single national enterprise, turning regional gateways into tourism hubs and building the world's largest airport operator by passenger volume. Founded 35 years ago ahead of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, state-backed airport operator Aena now manages 46 airports and two heliports in Spain, as well as 35 airports overseas. In 2025, the group handled a record 384.8 million passengers worldwide, including 321.6 mi
June 28, 2026 - 13:20:13
