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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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Films

After record global presales, Na Hong-jin's 'Hope' prepares for world rollout

When director Na Hong-jin releases a movie, the international cinematic world tends to hold its breath. Celebrated for his relentlessly tense, atmospheric thrillers like "The Chaser" and "The Wailing," the visionary filmmaker is preparing to unleash his latest cinematic spectacle, "Hope," upon global audiences this fall following a record-breaking presales run spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Distributor Plus M Entertainment said Wednesday that the film will kick off its international theatrical rollout in Taiwan on Sept. 4, followed by a wide North American debut on Sept. 9. A formidable roster of major global distributors has rallied behind the title. Indie powerhouse NEON is handling the English-speaking markets, while prestigious partners such as MUBI, Focus Features/UPI France and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will bring the feature to screens across Europe, Latin America, Australia and Asia. Set in a secluded port town near the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, "Hope" follows Beom-seok, a local police outpost chief, who receives a startling rep

Aug 5, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
After record global presales, Na Hong-jin's 'Hope' prepares for world rollout
Companies

HD Hyundai, Huntington Ingalls deepen Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation

HD Hyundai and U.S. shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) are accelerating their advanced shipbuilding technology cooperation, HD Hyundai said Wednesday. HD Hyundai said it launched a pilot project to improve production efficiency at Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of HII, America's largest military shipbuilder. Ingalls Shipbuilding, located in Mississippi, is the largest builder of surface combatant ships in the United States. The project stems from a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the two companies signed at the Sea Air Space 2025 exposition in Washington last year, covering cooperation to improve shipbuilding productivity and advance shipbuilding technology. As the first step of the pilot project, HD Hyundai is introducing its self-developed Intelligent Welding System at Ingalls Shipbuilding. The system has already been used at HD Hyundai's own shipyards, including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Samho. The system was designed to make welding work safer and more efficient. It automatically recognizes the target and conditions of a welding job and adjusts the weld

Aug 5, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
HD Hyundai, Huntington Ingalls deepen Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation
Companies

Celltrion chief embarks on global tour to accelerate overseas sales

Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin will spend the month of August visiting the company's overseas operations to strengthen second-half sales, the biopharmaceutical group said Tuesday. Seo is scheduled to depart for Paris on Aug. 10 and travel sequentially through European countries before visiting major overseas subsidiaries in the United States, Canada and Japan to review the company's sales and revenue plans for the rest of the year. The trip is intended to accelerate execution of second-half sales targets rather than serve as a routine visit to overseas units, the company said. Seo will review market conditions by region, product-level sales, bidding and supply schedules, and plans to expand into new markets, while supporting rapid decision-making on issues raised in the field. Celltrion said Seo will pay particular attention to sales synergy and strategy with local subsidiaries strengthened after the company's acquisitions of French health care company Gifrer and Swiss pharmaceutical distributor iQone. He will also review the pharmacy distribution network across Europe as part of a

Aug 5, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Celltrion chief embarks on global tour to accelerate overseas sales
Travel & Food

Concrete meets canvas: Seocho District launches guided English art tours along Han River

For most travelers navigating southern Seoul, the massive Express Bus Terminal and the shimmering, floating islands of Some Sevit are places to pass through — stops on a commute rather than destinations for quiet contemplation. But starting this week, the surrounding riverfront neighborhood is recasting its concrete underpasses and urban walkways as a vibrant canvas for fine art. Beginning Thursday, Seocho District will launch the Seocho-Han River Art Tour, a summer initiative pairing English-guided public art walks with hands-on traditional craft workshops. Running eight times through Aug. 30, the project aims to transform the everyday cityscape into an accessible, open-air gallery for international tourists and local residents alike. Led by bilingual docents with credentials from premier institutions like the Seoul Arts Center, the 90-minute evening walking tours offer deep dives into open-air installations along the district's special tourism zone. Highlights include the "Wonder Street" public sculpture exhibition — held in partnership with confectioner Crown-Haetae's ongoing sc

Aug 5, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Concrete meets canvas: Seocho District launches guided English art tours along Han River
Defense

Lost in translation no more: Korea's military unveils multilingual guide for recruits

Learning how to march in sync, fold a uniform with precision and salute with crisp authority is a rite of passage for every young military recruit. But for those who grew up overseas or come from multicultural homes, Korea’s armed forces present an extra, unexpectedly tricky drill: decoding a whole new dialect of military jargon. To help these soldiers hit the ground running, the Ministry of National Defense unveiled a surprisingly approachable fix, Wednesday: a user-friendly military glossary designed specifically to cut through the language barrier. Titled the "Easy-to-Understand Barracks Life Glossary," the guide breaks down 562 essential military terms — ranging from daily basics like "jeomho" (evening roll call) and "gyeongnye" (salute) to tactical training lingo like "yeongjeom-sagyeok" (zeroing a rifle) — into plain, accessible Korean. Crucially, each entry is translated into five languages: English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish and Japanese. To keep things intuitive — and far from a dry rulebook — 231 of the terms feature playful webtoon-style illustrations. The initia

Aug 5, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Lost in translation no more: Korea's military unveils multilingual guide for recruits
Arts & Theater

Cool havens of art: Inside Seoul's newest architectural sanctuaries

When August's suffocating heat settles over the concrete corridors of Korea’s capital, escaping the oppressive moisture usually means ducking into air-conditioned shopping malls or retreat-bound subway trains. Yet across the metropolis, an alternative summer migration is quietly taking shape. Over the past four years, a wave of newly opened, architecturally ambitious museums has cropped up across Seoul’s residential districts and historic neighborhood perimeters, offering shaded sanctuaries where high art and sleek architectural engineering converge. Far from the overcrowded galleries of the central cultural core, these fresh institutions invite weary urbanites to cool down while contemplating everything from analog darkroom techniques to digital media installations and lingering water-droplet canvases. Photography Seoul Museum of Art Rising above the residential skyline of Chang-dong in northern Dobong District is the Photography Seoul Museum of Art, the nation’s first public institution dedicated entirely to the medium. Having opened its doors in May 2025, the facility celebrate

Aug 5, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Cool havens of art: Inside Seoul's newest architectural sanctuaries
Travel & Food

Seoul's Dream Forest unveils canopy walkway, upgraded outdoor cafe

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday announced the opening of a new 500-meter elevated wooden boardwalk and a refreshed outdoor terrace space at Bukseoul Dream Forest, offering parkgoers refreshed, shaded retreats amid the intense summer heat. Managed by the city's Northern Park Leisure Center, the renovation project focused on upgrading key areas around Mount Byeogo and Mount Opae within the expansive 17-year-old park, which originally opened on the former grounds of the iconic Dreamland amusement park. The newly constructed boardwalk along the forested slopes of Mount Byeogo was specifically engineered to bypass previously steep and difficult terrain while carefully preserving the surrounding natural environment. Winding beneath a dense, cool canopy of mature shade trees, the accessible route seamlessly connects the popular Olmangjolmang Play Forest directly to the park’s western entrance. Along the pathway, four newly built observation decks offer scenic panoramic vistas over distinct park landmarks, including the Changnyeongwi Gungjaesa historical site, the traditional Ae

Aug 4, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul's Dream Forest unveils canopy walkway, upgraded outdoor cafe
Law & Crime

Seoul expands emergency alarm program to protect women small business owners

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that it is significantly expanding eligibility for its "Small Business Emergency Alarm" initiative, extending protection beyond single-employee shops to include women-owned small businesses across the capital. The emergency system — recently rebranded as "Sosanggoin Ansimbell" — provides retail storefronts with a compact, real-time threat-mitigation device. Designed for immediate physical intervention during on-site crises, the setup features a wireless panic button, a smart hub and an external flashing warning light equipped with a high-decibel siren. When a merchant triggers the button during an emergency, the exterior siren alerts nearby pedestrians while automatically transmitting a signal to the local district’s CCTV monitoring control center. Security personnel review live camera feeds near the premises and dispatch emergency police services to the location when necessary. Previously restricted to strictly solo operator businesses or shopfronts where employees work alone on temporary shifts, the updated policy extends coverage t

Aug 4, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul expands emergency alarm program to protect women small business owners
Companies

Kakao upgrades Kanana-o AI to express emotions, accents via text prompts

Kakao, the operator of Korea’s dominant messaging app KakaoTalk and a major digital services ecosystem, has upgraded the voice generation technology in its proprietary omni artificial intelligence (AI) model, Kanana-o. The update allows users to fine-tune tone, speed, emotions and accents through simple natural-language instructions alone. According to a post on Kakao's tech blog published Tuesday, the improved model lets users shape how speech is delivered — not just what is read aloud — by giving instructions such as "read it very quickly," "read it in a low voice," "read it in a sad voice" or "read it in a Gyeongsang Province accent." The AI adjusts speed, volume, pitch, emotion, intonation and intensity accordingly. The model can also follow role-based instructions, such as reading "like a sports broadcast," "like a news anchor" or "like a storybook," and can combine multiple instructions at once — for example, "lower the tone and read it quickly in a sad voice." Kakao said that although the model was trained primarily on Korean-language data, it can follow the same kinds of

Aug 4, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Kakao upgrades Kanana-o AI to express emotions, accents via text prompts
Companies

Starbucks Korea teams up with local farmers to support small cafes

Starbucks Korea has unveiled its eighth “shared growth” beverage — a Sangju Shine Muscat Ade crafted with locally sourced grapes from North Gyeongsang Province — as part of an ongoing initiative to help independent coffee shops boost sales and sharpen their competitive edge. The company held a handover ceremony Aug. 3 at its Seoul support center, attended by officials from the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership and a national cooperative representing independent cafe owners. Starbucks launched the program in March 2022, becoming the first coffee company to sign a "cafe industry shared growth agreement" with the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership and the cafe owners' cooperative. Under the agreement, Starbucks has developed and shared drink recipes using local agricultural products, supported recovery efforts after natural disasters and helped improve aging cafe facilities. Over the past five years, the company said it has provided about 1 billion won ($694,000) in related funding. The shared drinks have become known as an effective way for Starbucks to pass along

Aug 4, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Starbucks Korea teams up with local farmers to support small cafes
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