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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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Travel & Food

From K-pop to zoning out, Seoul crowdsources its next tourism map

Korea is turning to its own citizens to map out the future of domestic travel, launching a massive nationwide initiative to crowdsource the ultimate bucket list of 10,000 cultural and geographic landmarks. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the Korea Tourism Organization, announced Monday the launch of the "100x100 Project." Through July 10, the public can vote across 100 distinct subcategories — each curated to select 100 definitive locations — to catalog the country's vast but underutilized regional assets. The campaign signals a major shift away from cookie-cutter tour packages toward hyper-specific, lifestyle-driven travel. Rather than focusing solely on traditional historical sites, the ministry unveiled 100 themes meticulously compiled by travel journalists, authors and regional experts. These categories span from traditional comfort foods like local hangover stews to modern wellness trends focused on relaxation and zoning out in nature to counter burnout. To capitalize on the recent surge in international tourism, the project also explicitly ta

Jun 29, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
From K-pop to zoning out, Seoul crowdsources its next tourism map
South Korea

Korea looks to Saudi Arabia to fuel next wave of K-beauty

Korea is expanding its cultural and economic footprint into the Middle East, launching a state-backed initiative to help small and medium-sized cosmetics brands break into Saudi Arabia’s rapidly evolving beauty market. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, in partnership with the Korean Embassy in Riyadh, unveiled Monday a comprehensive support program designed to connect domestic independent beauty labels with major Saudi retail networks. Long considered a market with immense potential but prohibitive regulatory barriers, Saudi Arabia has become a prime target for international cosmetics companies. Recent social liberalization policies, combined with a rise in women entering the workforce, have fueled unprecedented demand for skin care and cosmetics. Yet, navigating the kingdom’s strict regulatory compliance and establishing distribution lines have remained major hurdles for smaller, independent enterprises. To bridge this gap, Seoul is partnering with over 20 prominent Saudi distributors, including Whites, the kingdom’s largest beauty and wellness chain. Rather than relying on tradi

Jun 29, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea looks to Saudi Arabia to fuel next wave of K-beauty
South Korea

Korea dispatches envoys to NATO, Europe to secure space, defense ties

In a strategic move bridging commercial space tech with Western defense architecture, Korea is dispatching a joint public-private delegation to the European Union, NATO and key Eastern European allies to secure a foothold in the rapidly integrating global space and defense markets. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said Friday that the delegation will tour Belgium, Romania and Poland beginning Monday. The multicity tour will feature a robust contingent of Korean tech and defense giants — including Hanwha Systems, Korea Aerospace Industries and Hyundai Rotem — alongside cutting-edge space startups like Innospace and Nara Space. The mission underscores Seoul's ambition to transform its domestic space capabilities into an export-driven powerhouse, moving past traditional satellites into space-defense convergence. By targeting Brussels, Bucharest and Warsaw, Seoul is directly positioning its defense-heavy space sector to meet the heightened security anxieties and modernization demands gripping the North Atlantic alliance and Eastern Europe. Th

Jun 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea dispatches envoys to NATO, Europe to secure space, defense ties
People & Events

From robot football to AI art, Seoul gamifies tech for kids

As the summer heat settles over the capital, Seoul is transforming one of its tech hubs into a massive, hands-on science playground designed to make cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and drone technologies accessible to everyday citizens. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday it will host the fourth annual Seoul Future Lab Festival on Saturday at its dedicated exhibition center and across the Magok Square plaza in western Seoul. Operating under the theme "A Summer Where Future Tech Becomes Play," the single-day event will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering dozens of interactive stations tailored for children and families. The festival marks a broader push by city officials to demystify complex emerging tech, moving away from dry classroom lectures toward physical, gamified learning. The event features a diverse coalition of municipal science museums, libraries and private tech startups — including AI and robotics firms like UVnex and Yusha. To handle the crowds, organizers have divided the outdoor plaza into three distinct interactive zones: a Tech Zone whe

Jun 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
From robot football to AI art, Seoul gamifies tech for kids
Korean Heritage

Korea designates 15th-century ceramic flask, 4 rare Buddhist artworks as nat'l treasures

A rare 15th-century ceramic flask that was smuggled out of Korea during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial occupation has been officially designated a national treasure, underscoring a renewed push by cultural authorities to elevate and protect the country’s vulnerable heritage. The flask, a Buncheong stoneware flat bottle with incised fish and line designs, is one of five historical artifacts newly designated as national treasures, the Korea Heritage Service said Friday. The designation places the pieces under strict state-backed preservation frameworks, reflecting the government's ongoing campaign to safeguard works that survived centuries of regional conflict and colonial exploitation. Crafted in the southwestern Jeolla region during the early Joseon Dynasty, the ceramic bottle is celebrated for its surprisingly modern aesthetic. After shaping the vessel on a wheel, artisans flattened its sides to create a distinct canvas, applying a white slip before scratching fluid, abstract geometric lines and waves across its surface. The flask’s journey mirrors Korea’s turbulent 20th-century h

Jun 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea designates 15th-century ceramic flask, 4 rare Buddhist artworks as nat'l treasures
Companies

Hyundai Rotem scores higher in global ESG ranking, upgrading from bronze for 1st time

Hyundai Rotem, the rail, defense and industrial plant affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group, has received a Silver Medal from global ESG rating agency EcoVadis, the company announced Thursday. It is the first time the company has reached that tier, marking a one-grade improvement from the Bronze Medal it held for four consecutive years from 2022 through 2025. EcoVadis — which assesses more than 130,000 companies across 180 countries on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance — awards the Silver Medal to companies ranking in the top 15 percent of all assessed firms. The agency evaluates companies across four themes: environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. Hyundai Rotem improved its scores across all four categories year-on-year. The company said its Transparent Management Committee, an internal governance body composed entirely of outside directors that has operated since 2020, contributed positively to its ethics score. The committee reviews intergroup transactions, fair trade compliance and shareholder protection matters, and publishes

Jun 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Hyundai Rotem scores higher in global ESG ranking, upgrading from bronze for 1st time
South Korea

Seoul, Hanoi seek to smooth out corporate tax hurdles

The heads of the tax authorities of Korea and Vietnam met in Seoul on Thursday to hammer out cross-border fiscal disputes, highlighting the growing administrative friction that threatens one of Asia’s most critical economic corridors. The 25th Korea-Vietnam Bilateral Tax Commissioners' Meeting between Lim Kwang-hyun, commissioner of the National Tax Service, and Mai Xuan Thanh, director general of Vietnam's General Department of Taxation, comes at a high-stakes juncture. Vietnam is Korea’s third-largest trading partner, with bilateral commerce reaching $94.5 billion last year. Meanwhile, Korea remains the single largest foreign direct investor in Vietnam, where more than 2,600 Korean companies operate, a footprint larger than in any other foreign market, according to the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. That deep integration, however, has led to complex corporate challenges. During the talks, Lim pressed his Vietnamese counterpart on three systemic issues squeezing Korean multinationals: chronic delays in value-added tax refunds, rising volatility in transfer prici

Jun 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul, Hanoi seek to smooth out corporate tax hurdles
South Korea

Korea turns to public for next tourism strategy

As Korea grapples with an accelerating demographic crisis that threatens to hollow out its rural provinces, the government is turning to its own citizens to help rescue local economies. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, alongside the Korea Tourism Organization, recently concluded a fast-paced, three-week public policy competition that drew over 1,100 submissions. The competition aims to crowdsource novel, actionable ideas to boost inbound international travel and breathe life into the country’s quiet regional economies. The initiative follows directives from February’s National Tourism Strategy Council, where officials stressed the urgent need to decentralize tourism away from Seoul. Ultimately, judges selected 20 winning proposals, ranging from regulatory overhauls to transit overhauls. Taking the grand prize was Kim Deok-hyeon, a graduate student in his 20s, who proposed expanding Korea's existing tourism resident ID card to foreign visitors. Currently restricted to citizens, the program grants cardholders discounts on lodging and experiences in designated regions with

Jun 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea turns to public for next tourism strategy
South Korea

Korea backs 100 small businesses in global export push

Korea is betting that its next generation of global export powerhouses will not come from sprawling family-run conglomerates, but from the kitchens, boutiques and workshops of its neighborhood small business owners. The Ministry of Startups and SMEs said Thursday that it selected 100 small and micro-businesses to receive tailored packaging, regulatory consulting and up to 100 million won ($72,000) each in commercialization funding. The initiative, dubbed Local to Global, reflects a strategic pivot by Seoul to transform specialized domestic merchants into international consumer brands, capturing growing global demand for Korean food, beauty, fashion and lifestyle products. The final cohort was narrowed down from 649 applicants through a highly competitive 6.5-to-1 audition process. To ensure transparency, the ministry broadcast the proceedings live on YouTube and introduced a public evaluation panel consisting of 15 domestic citizens and five foreign nationals, who vetted products firsthand at the Pangyo Creative Economy Valley startup hub. The selected enterprises relied heavily on dist

Jun 26, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea backs 100 small businesses in global export push
South Korea

Seoul revamps OASIS program to turn expat tech startups into global players

When Ravi Pandit Shankar arrived in Korea, navigating the country's dense corporate laws and tax codes felt like an insurmountable hurdle. But after completing a specialized municipal program, his tech startup, Konnect — a "super-app" catering to expatriates — went on to win major domestic startup competitions and secure backing from the prestigious Asan Nanum Foundation. "Now I want to become a mentor for the aspiring foreign entrepreneurs following behind me," Shankar, an Indian national, said. Seeking to replicate such successes on a broader scale, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday a major overhaul of its flagship immigrant entrepreneur initiative. Dubbed OASIS 2.0 (Overall Assistance for Startup Immigration System), the program is expanding its curriculum to provide a seamless, end-to-end pipeline from initial business conception to legal incorporation, alongside a newly established alumni mentoring network. The initiative comes as Seoul aggressively positions itself as a global tech incubator, looking to diversify its domestic economy by attracting experts fr

Jun 25, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul revamps OASIS program to turn expat tech startups into global players
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