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Jhoo Dong-chan

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.

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Companies

APR's European sales top $161.8 mil. in 1st half, sets $353 mil. full-year goal

Beauty and beauty device maker APR said Wednesday its European sales reached 228.9 billion won ($161.8 million) in the first half of 2026, up roughly 363 percent from a year earlier, as the company raises its full-year European sales target to 500 billion won (about $353.4 million). European sales accounted for about 17 percent of APR's total first-half revenue, the company said. APR opened official storefronts on Amazon in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain late last year. By June, sales in each of those markets had grown more than eightfold on average compared with January, with June setting a record for monthly sales on the back of Amazon's Prime Day promotion. Offline sales in Europe also grew sharply. APR entered Europe's offline store market in early 2025 and expanded its retail footprint, including a March addition of Sephora stores. Cumulative offline sales in Europe for the first half of 2026 were more than nine times higher than a year earlier, the company said. The number of stock-keeping units APR operates in Europe grew more than fivefold from a year earlier, reflectin

Aug 19, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
APR's European sales top $161.8 mil. in 1st half, sets $353 mil. full-year goal
People & Events

Korea's literature translation institute to host global translators' conference

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea will mark its 30th anniversary with a two-day international conference on Korean literary translation, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday. The 2026 World Congress for Korean Literary Translators and Alumni Homecoming Day will take place Aug. 28-29 at the Grand Mercure Ambassador Seoul Hotel & Residences Imperial Palace in Seoul. The event will also be livestreamed for participants unable to attend in person. The first day's World Congress will center on the theme "Moving Together: The Future of Global Korean Literature and Cultural Translation." Anders Karlsson, a Korean studies professor at SOAS University of London who translates Korean literature into Swedish, will deliver a keynote address, followed by four panel sessions covering literary translation aesthetics, artificial intelligence's impact on the field, translator training and the publishing industry. The rise in global interest in Korean literature — spurred in part by novelist Han Kang's 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature — has heightened attention on trans

Aug 19, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea's literature translation institute to host global translators' conference
Companies

SKT joins government's 'AI for All' initiative to expand public access

SK Telecom (SKT) said Wednesday it will take part in "AI for All," a project led by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency aimed at making artificial intelligence (AI) tools accessible to the general public. The company plans to draw on what it calls its "full-stack" AI capabilities — spanning its own AI models, infrastructure and services — for the initiative. SKT operates the AI assistant app A. (pronounced "A dot"), which has about 10 million monthly users, and recently unveiled its own large language model, A.X K2, built with 688 billion parameters as part of the government's sovereign foundation model project. The model is already being applied in manufacturing, defense and biotech, the company said. SKT also established SK Hyper last month, a subsidiary dedicated to AI data center development, and has said it plans to open 5 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in stages by 2029. The company plans to leverage its roughly 22.5 million mobile subscriber lines and its online and offline retail channels to distribute the new AI services quickl

Aug 19, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
SKT joins government's 'AI for All' initiative to expand public access
Companies

OpenAI launches teen version of ChatGPT with built-in safety features

OpenAI said Wednesday it has launched "ChatGPT for Teens," a version of its chatbot designed to encourage learning and reduce the risk of emotional dependency among younger users. The teen experience activates automatically when OpenAI's systems estimate a user is under 18 or when a user identifies themselves as between ages 13 to 17. The product is built around getting teenagers to work through problems themselves rather than simply receiving answers. Students studying for exams can ask for explanations of unfamiliar concepts, work through practice problems step-by-step and check their own understanding. If a user appears to be trying to get a direct answer to an assignment, ChatGPT will redirect them to "Study Mode," which walks them through the reasoning process instead. The system also includes prompts that steer users away from skipping assignments, along with directing them to with quizzes and visual learning aids. A new "Study Hours" feature lets teens or their parents schedule times when Study Mode turns on by default. Study Mode was developed with teachers, scientists and educati

Aug 19, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
OpenAI launches teen version of ChatGPT with built-in safety features
Travel & Food

Next great travel destination in Korea might just be a neighborhood bakery

Tourism in Korea was once defined by grand scale: ancient palaces in the capital, pristine coastal views in Jeju and sweeping peaks in national parks. But an ambitious nationwide project reveals a fundamental shift in how people choose to travel — placing humble local bakeries and affordable eateries above conventional sightseeing. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the Korea Tourism Organization, unveiled Wednesday the results of its “100x100 Project.” Designed to bypass traditional, institutional tourism curation, the campaign invited 100 travel writers and journalists to nominate thousands of hidden gems across 100 distinct themes. Over 40,000 citizens then cast more than 1.5 million votes to select the country’s top travel destinations. The clear standout of the national vote was Sungsimdang, a historic bakery nestled in the central city of Daejeon. Ranked as the top individual venue across a single category, the bakery outperformed world-class museums and imperial palaces. Its rise underscores a growing trend: Modern travelers are increasing

Aug 19, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Next great travel destination in Korea might just be a neighborhood bakery
Companies

Theborn Korea targets North America with Canadian MOU, US sauce deal

Theborn Korea, the restaurant franchise group founded by celebrity chef Paik Jong-won, said Tuesday it has moved into the execution phase of its North American expansion strategy, signing a partnership agreement with a Canadian hotel operator and advancing sauce-distribution talks with food distributors in Canada and the United States. Paik, who has been on a North American business trip since Aug. 2, signed a memorandum of understanding with Sunray Group, a Canadian hotel and real estate company that operates about 80 hotels under global brands including Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. Under the agreement, the two companies will convert a restaurant Sunray currently operates in Markham in Toronto, into a Theborn Korea restaurant brand, with further openings planned across Sunray's hotel and commercial properties. Paik also met with executives from two major Canadian food distributors to discuss expanding sales of the company's TBK sauce line and other products. Talks with a Korean-Canadian grocery chain covered joint promotional displays, a food court pop-up and TBK sauce-based menu items

Aug 18, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Theborn Korea targets North America with Canadian MOU, US sauce deal
Companies

OpenAI partners with Yonsei University for advanced AI research

OpenAI has selected Yonsei University to be among the participating institutions in the company's initiative of funding 14 independent research and pilot projects across universities, research institutes and policy organizations in the United States, the European Union, Brazil, Singapore and Korea. Aimed at expanding economic opportunity and strengthening social resilience as artificial intelligence (AI) advances, the San Francisco-based AI company said Tuesday it will provide a combined $1 million in research funding and up to $1 million in OpenAI API credits across the 14 projects. The initiative addresses two questions: How AI can broaden economic opportunity, and how societies can build resilience as AI capabilities advance. Projects on economic opportunity will study how workers, businesses and regions can more broadly share AI-driven productivity gains, while those on social resilience will examine AI safety, cross-border information sharing and responsible AI use in public policy. In Korea, Yonsei University was selected to conduct a project on "democratic accountability using AI

Aug 18, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
OpenAI partners with Yonsei University for advanced AI research
Companies

CJ Olive Young attracts 100,000 visitors to inaugural US K-beauty festival in Los Angeles

CJ Olive Young, the retail chain behind Korea's largest health and beauty store network, said Tuesday that its first "Olive Young Festa" held in the United States drew 100,000 visitors over three days in Los Angeles. The event ran Aug. 14-16 in Los Angeles, California, held alongside KCON LA 2026, a long-running Korean pop culture convention that has taken place annually since 2012. Fifty-five Korean beauty and lifestyle brands set up booths across roughly 47,000 square feet of exhibition space, allowing local visitors to sample the latest Korean skin care trends firsthand. The venue re-created the look of Seoul's trendiest shopping districts — Gangnam, Seongsu, Myeong-dong and Hongdae — complete with Korean-language street signs, bus stops and crosswalks, alongside recorded subway station announcements. A central "Olive Young Store" section walked visitors through a Korean skin care routine in sequence, from double cleansing to serums and sun protection, while a personal color-matching service and a skin-diagnostic "SkinScan" booth drew long lines throughout the event. CJ Olive Young

Aug 18, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
CJ Olive Young attracts 100,000 visitors to inaugural US K-beauty festival in Los Angeles
Travel & Food

Gyeongbok Palace opens for autumn night tours starting Sept. 2

Under the crisp autumn sky, the soaring roofs and stone courtyards of Korea’s principal royal palace will soon glow once more against the backdrop of central Seoul. The Gyeongbokgung Palace Management Office, operating under the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center of the Korea Heritage Service, said Tuesday that the autumn season of its "Gyeongbokgung Night Viewing" program will run from Sept. 2 through Oct. 2. Online ticket sales will open on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Aug. 26 at 10 a.m. via the NOL ticket website. For years, nighttime admission to the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty’s premier 14th-century royal residence has remained one of Seoul’s most coveted seasonal traditions. The evening tour grants visitors rare, after-dark access to the palace's central historical zone, including the imposing Gwanghwamun and Heungnyemun Gates, the royal throne hall of Geunjeongjeon, the iconic floating pavilion of Gyeonghoeru and the royal living quarters. Adding to the ambiance this season, the palace grounds will host live classical performances near Sujeongjeon Hall. Musicians fro

Aug 18, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Gyeongbok Palace opens for autumn night tours starting Sept. 2
Environment & Animals

Big choice, small bear: Korea casts ballots for baby panda's name

Forget presidential elections or contentious policy debates. Citizens across Korea are currently locked in a national vote over a far more pressing matter: Naming a 77-day-old, 3-kilogram ball of bamboo-fueled fluff. Everland, Korea’s premier theme park located in Yongin, said Tuesday that it has officially opened public voting to name its newest celebrity resident — the fourth female giant panda born on Korean soil to internet-famous parents Ai Bao and Le Bao. The baby, born June 3 at a modest 171 grams, has blossomed into a robust 3.7-kilogram toddler. But as she approaches her 100-day milestone in September — a culturally significant benchmark in Korea — she faces an existential rite of passage: Shedding her generic placeholder label for a proper moniker. The stakes are unexpectedly high. When Everland opened a preliminary name submission contest on its digital channels last month, more than 10,000 comments flooded in. Citizens pitched everything from poetic tributes to chaotic puns. To manage the diplomatic burden, a high-level "Naming Selection Committee" — comprising zook

Aug 18, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Big choice, small bear: Korea casts ballots for baby panda's name
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