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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

Hyundai Motor advances $6.3 bil. AI hub in Saemangeum

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it will set up two special purpose companies next month to build and operate an artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Saemangeum — a massive reclaimed coastal zone in southwestern Korea — accelerating its 9 trillion won ($6.3 billion) plan to turn the area into an advanced tech hub. Situated in North Jeolla Province roughly 200 kilometers south of Seoul, Saemangeum is a vast, government-backed development area created by damming tidal flats to claim new land from the sea. Long slated for economic transformation, the coastal territory is being developed as a strategic enclave for high-tech industry, green energy and tourism. Five affiliates — Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai AutoEver — have made final decisions to invest in the data center, the group said. Hyundai AutoEver, the group’s information technology and software affiliate, approved its participation through a board resolution. One of the new companies will build the hyperscale data center and its infrastructure. The other will buy hi

Oct 30, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Hyundai Motor advances $6.3 bil. AI hub in Saemangeum
Entertainment

Trade minister seeks input from tourism, media firms as Seoul pushes to widen China FTA

Trade Minister Park Jung-sung met with Korean entertainment and tourism companies Friday to hear their views as Seoul negotiates with Beijing to expand the two countries’ free trade agreement (FTA) to services and investment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said. Park held the meeting at the CJ ENM Center in western Seoul. Companies from the film, streaming, performing arts, gaming and tourism industries attended. The Korea-China FTA took effect in December 2015 and mainly covers trade in goods. In 2018, the two countries began follow-up negotiations to further open their service and investment markets. The ministry said the meeting was held to hear how Korean content and tourism companies are faring in China’s service market and what problems they face. It also aimed to work out, together with the industry, a negotiating strategy that would help Korean firms enter sectors where they are competitive. The participating companies said Korean content is highly competitive in China and demand for it is strong. But they said that consumer popularity has not turned into actua

Oct 30, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Trade minister seeks input from tourism, media firms as Seoul pushes to widen China FTA
South Korea

Newly designed buildings to supply 8% of electricity in Seoul

Newly approved buildings across the capital of Korea are expected to generate 3,811 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually, driven by city mandates requiring solar facades and geothermal heating in building designs. According to data released Friday by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the projected clean energy output — stemming from architectural plans reviewed between 2022 and 2026 — will equal roughly 8 percent of the city’s total electricity consumption once construction is complete. The output from these upcoming structures is 1.5 times the annual capacity of the Seoul Thermal Power Plant, the city’s historic energy anchor, and represents 85 percent of all renewable energy capacity installed in the capital over the previous 17 years combined. The push comes as Korea works to expand its clean energy mix, where renewable sources currently account for around 9 to 11 percent of national power generation — leaving urban centers like Seoul, which relies heavily on power drawn from outside regions, under pressure to boost local self-sufficiency. The shift reflects a broade

Oct 30, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Newly designed buildings to supply 8% of electricity in Seoul
People & Events

Korean entertainment companies sign $16.6 mil. in potential deals in London, Shanghai

Korean character and content companies lined up about $16.6 million in potential licensing deals at major trade fairs in London and Shanghai this month, the culture ministry said Friday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the state-run Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) ran Korea pavilions at Brand Licensing Europe (BLE), held Oct. 6-8 in London, and at the China Licensing Expo (CLE), held Oct. 21-23 in Shanghai. At licensing fairs, companies that own characters, brands and other intellectual property (IP) sell the rights to put them on toys, stationery, clothing and other products. A total of 35 Korean companies — including HYBE, the agency behind BTS, as well as The Pinkfong Company and CJ ENM — conducted 860 business consultations with overseas buyers, discussing deals valued at an estimated $33.62 million. Of that total, roughly $16.6 million is expected to result in binding contracts, according to the ministry. The participating firms also signed 11 on-site contracts and memorandums of understanding. At BLE, Europe’s largest licensing show, 10 Korean companies

Oct 30, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korean entertainment companies sign $16.6 mil. in potential deals in London, Shanghai
South Korea

Seongdong District opens one-stop service counter for foreign residents

In response to a growing international population, Seongdong District in eastern Seoul said Thursday that it has established a dedicated "Foreign Resident Service Desk" at the Yongdap-dong Community Service Center to streamline administrative procedures and eliminate language barriers for non-Korean residents. According to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics, foreign residents in Korea reached a record high of 2.58 million in 2025, accounting for 5 percent of the total population. In Seongdong District, registered foreign residents have jumped 41 percent over the past five years. Yongdap-dong has experienced an even sharper surge of 70.8 percent, with its foreign population rising from 480 to 820 to comprise 7.1 percent of the neighborhood's residents. This rapid demographic shift, driven by an influx of foreign workers and international students attending nearby Hanyang University, has created a surging demand for accessible public administration. To address these needs, the district created a one-stop service counter staffed by experienced public servants proficient in fore

Oct 29, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seongdong District opens one-stop service counter for foreign residents
Education

Gachon University president hosts 120 international students at traditional hanok

Gachon University President Lee Gil-ya invited about 120 international students from countries including China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Mongolia and Uzbekistan to Gachonjae, a traditional Korean house in Incheon, on Wednesday, the university said. The event, part of the university’s Gachon Global Leadership Program for international students, was organized to encourage the students and strengthen their sense of belonging to the school. The students first toured Gachon University Gil Medical Center, a memorial hall for Lee’s former obstetrics clinic and the Gachon Museum. Gachonjae is a “hanok,” or traditional Korean house, that Lee, founder of the Gachon Cultural Foundation, built with master carpenter Choi Ki-young for traditional etiquette education, tea culture programs and exhibitions on traditional medicine. Sharing her experience of studying abroad and Korea’s development, Lee told the students to have confidence in their countries’ futures. “Just as Korea, once poor, achieved its current development, your countries can create a better future if you believe and work hard,

Oct 29, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Gachon University president hosts 120 international students at traditional hanok
Business

Gimcheon hosts Korea's largest tuning car festival as custom vehicle market grows

The 2026 Korea Tuning Car Festival kicks off Friday for a two-day run at Gimcheon Sports Town in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, bringing together customized vehicles, off-road performance showcases and specialized camping cars, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday. Now in its fifth year, the event stands as Korea’s largest celebration of car tuning — the practice of modifying automobiles to enhance performance or alter visual design. Jointly organized by the transport ministry, North Gyeongsang Province, Gimcheon city and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, the festival aims to demystify vehicle customization and foster broader public engagement. Last year’s gathering, also held in Gimcheon, drew roughly 30,000 visitors. To improve accessibility, organizers revamped this year’s setup by moving the venue to a centralized downtown location. Key industry groups will display custom-built camper vans and high-performance modifications, offering attendees direct access to inspect the vehicle interiors. The festival arrives as Korea's vehicle cu

Oct 29, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Gimcheon hosts Korea's largest tuning car festival as custom vehicle market grows
Trends

Seoul launches building block sets of Gwanghwamun Square, Hangang bus

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will release limited-edition building block sets featuring Gwanghwamun Square and the Hangang Bus on Thursday, in collaboration with Korean building block brand Oxford. The SeoulCity Series consists of two sets designed to let residents and tourists experience Seoul’s landmarks and changing city life by assembling them, the city said Wednesday. The Gwanghwamun Square set includes Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbok Palace, statues of naval hero Adm. Yi Sun-sin and King Sejong, the inventor of the Korean alphabet, and the Garden of Gratitude. It is the first time the garden, a memorial honoring the 22 nations that supported South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, has been made into merchandise. The garden drew 500,000 visitors within 160 days of its opening. The Hangang Bus set features the city’s ferry service on the Han River along with one of its docks. The city said it focused on making the assembly process itself an experience, moving away from traditional souvenirs that are sold already finished. The Gwanghwamun Square set costs 62,900 won

Oct 29, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul launches building block sets of Gwanghwamun Square, Hangang bus
Companies

Kolmar Korea develops powder skin care that melts into skin

Kolmar Korea, a cosmetics developer and manufacturer, said Thursday it has developed a hyaluronic acid powder that melts and is absorbed when rubbed onto the skin, the first such product in Korea. The company said it has obtained a patent for the technology, which turns hyaluronic acid, a widely used moisturizing ingredient, into a powder of sharp, needle-like crystals. It is the first time the ingredient has been made into this form in the cosmetics industry, according to the company. The product mimics spicules, tiny needle-shaped natural materials taken from marine sponges. Spicules lightly stimulate the skin’s surface to help active ingredients absorb, and the tingling sensation they cause has made spicule cosmetics popular. But because they are hard and do not dissolve in water, they can irritate the skin and must be washed off. After about four years of research, Kolmar Korea developed a method of hardening hyaluronic acid particles into crystals and shaping them into 250-micrometer pointed powder. Like spicules, the crystals help ingredients penetrate the skin, but because hyal

Oct 29, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Kolmar Korea develops powder skin care that melts into skin
Companies

LG Uplus advances smartphone AI with breakthrough papers at top global conference

LG Uplus, one of Korea’s major telecommunications carriers, said Thursday that two of its research papers on making mobile artificial intelligence (AI) run faster while consuming less smartphone battery have been accepted at NeurIPS 2026, the world’s premier AI research conference. The papers were selected for the conference’s On-Device Intelligence workshop, which focuses on AI that runs directly on phones rather than on remote servers, according to the Korean mobile carrier. NeurIPS, the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, is considered one of the top three AI conferences along with ICML and ICLR. This year’s event will be held in Sydney from Dec. 6 to 12. The research centers on token optimization. Tokens are the units of data AI models use to understand questions and generate answers. Processing them more efficiently speeds up responses and cuts power use. LG Uplus developed a small language model for its call services and optimized it for smartphones with limited memory and power. The model ran about 4.5 times faster and used about 77 percent less battery th

Oct 29, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
LG Uplus advances smartphone AI with breakthrough papers at top global conference
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