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Lee Kyung-min

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr

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South Korea

Busan unites foreign workers through sports, culture, safety

On the factory floors and shipyards of Korea’s second-largest city, foreign laborers power key sectors of the regional economy. Home to over 60,000 foreign residents, the southeastern port city of Busan relies heavily on migrant workers to keep its industrial hubs running. This weekend, city authorities are swapping heavy machinery for tug-of-war ropes, traditional folk dances and workplace safety quizzes to help those workers feel more at home. The city of Busan said Thursday that it will host its third annual Sports and Cultural Festival for foreign workers Sunday. Running from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Hwaam Park in the Gangseo District — a heavy industrial heartland housing hundreds of manufacturing plants — the event is expected to draw roughly 700 foreign workers, their families and local community leaders. Organized by the Busan Foreign Worker Support Center and backed by the city government along with local labor unions, the gathering aims to build community bridges in a country rapidly turning to overseas labor to offset its shrinking domestic workforce. The festival blends recr

1d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
Busan unites foreign workers through sports, culture, safety
Companies

Seoul's streetwear titan Musinsa expands physical footprint to Shenzhen

Musinsa, the Korean e-commerce titan that built an empire out of Seoul’s trendsetting streetwear scene, is doubling down on physical retail in China. The company will open locations on Oct. 31 for both its flagship multibrand boutique and its private-label basic line, Musinsa Standard, side by side in Shenzhen — marking its expansion beyond eastern China into the country's southern fashion hub. The Korean fashion platform said Thursday that both stores will open at ONE AVENUE, a major mixed-use shopping complex in Shenzhen’s Futian central business district. The move marks Musinsa’s first offline expansion into southern China after establishing retail operations centered on Shanghai and Hangzhou. The company said Shenzhen, a major economic and industrial center in southern China, has a large population of young consumers with strong purchasing power. Musinsa Store will initially carry about 30 Korean fashion brands, with plans to add more based on customer response and demand. The store is intended to serve as an offline base for introducing Korean fashion labels to Chinese consume

1d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
Seoul's streetwear titan Musinsa expands physical footprint to Shenzhen
Companies

Noul brings AI cervical cancer screening technology to Indonesia

Noul, a Korean medtech firm specializing in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven diagnostic tools, has entered the Indonesian market through its first supply agreement for an automated cervical cancer screening system as the Southeast Asian nation works to scale up preventive care. The company said Thursday it signed the agreement with an Indonesian medical device distributor and plans to supply at least 50 miLab CER units to local medical institutions and laboratory networks over three years. Noul said it will initially work with hospitals, screening centers and laboratory networks before seeking opportunities in Indonesia’s public procurement market. The company said it has secured regulatory approvals for miLab CER in several Southeast Asian markets, including Vietnam and the Philippines, providing a foundation for further expansion across the region. Indonesia, with about 280 million people, is Southeast Asia’s largest health care market, according to Noul, which said cervical cancer places a significant burden on women in the country. Noul said Indonesia plans to include cervical

1d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
Noul brings AI cervical cancer screening technology to Indonesia
People & Events

Seoul Street Arts Festival to turn Han River, Seoul Forest into open-air stages

Seoul Street Arts Festival 2026 will bring giant puppets, circus acts and other performances to Ttukseom Hangang Park and Seoul Forest this weekend, turning familiar walking and cycling routes into an open-air stage. The festival runs Saturday and Sunday, with 20 works presented 62 times, including productions from France, Lithuania, Chile, Slovenia and Brazil. Organized by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, the festival expands beyond conventional performance spaces, inviting visitors to encounter works as they walk along the Han River or move between Ttukseom and Seoul Forest. A new program called Artrekking offers four suggested routes that combine performances and hands-on activities, with full and half courses designed for families and other visitors. Visitors can travel between venues on foot, by Ttareungi public bicycles or by Han River buses, while collecting stamps at six locations to complete a festival postcard. The lineup includes a large parade featuring an eight-meter red giraffe puppet, as well as circus performances using Chinese pole, tightrope walking and jugglin

2d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
Seoul Street Arts Festival to turn Han River, Seoul Forest into open-air stages
South Korea

Gyeonggi Province returns 16 rehabilitated wild animals to nature

Sixteen wild animals, including endangered leopard cats, raccoon dogs and weasels, have been returned to the wild in Gyeonggi Province after months of rehabilitation and training to prepare them to survive on their own. Gyeonggi Province said Wednesday that the animals were released a day earlier in cooperation with the Imjin River Ecological Conservation Association, a local private wildlife protection group. The animals were rescued during the spring and summer breeding season after losing their mothers or being found exhausted or ill, with residents reporting the animals and the private group transporting them to the Gyeonggi Northern Wildlife Rescue and Management Center. Among those released were leopard cats, classified as Class II endangered wildlife in Korea, along with raccoon dogs and weasels. At the center, the animals received individualized feeding and nutritional care, medical treatment and rehabilitation, followed by staged training intended to help them live independently in the wild. The program included exercises in hunting for food, finding shelter and avoiding people,

2d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
Gyeonggi Province returns 16 rehabilitated wild animals to nature
People & Events

2,000 runners to tackle Seoul's mountains, streets in 2026 Seoul100K

Seoul will turn its mountains, fortress walls, riverfront and downtown streets into a single endurance course this weekend as 2,000 runners from Korea and abroad take part in the 2026 Seoul International Ultra Trail Running Race, known as Seoul100K. The seventh edition of Seoul 100K runs Saturday and Sunday, with 170 international participants from 36 countries joining professional athletes, running clubs and residents across 100K, 50K and 20K events. The 100K and 50K races start at 5 a.m. Saturday from Gwanghwamun Square, while the 20K race begins at 7:30 a.m., sending runners toward destinations including Mount Inwang, Mount Bukhan, the Han River and Cheonggye Stream. Organizers have positioned the race as an urban trail-running event that combines Seoul's natural landscapes with its historic and modern cityscape, with the 100K course allowing runners up to 31 hours to complete the route. Among the international competitors are Sweden's Petter Engdahl, Switzerland's Jasmin Nunige and Germany's Marcel Höche in the 100K, while Norway's Nora Serres, Britain's Holly Page and American Step

2d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
2,000 runners to tackle Seoul's mountains, streets in 2026 Seoul100K
People & Events

Seoul to replace historic Bank of Korea fountain with 7,000-capacity plaza

At a hectic intersection in central Seoul, a quiet piece of 1970s history is about to make way for the future. City officials plan to relocate the decades-old fountain in front of the Bank of Korea to carve out a sprawling, 7,000-capacity plaza — transforming one of the capital's busiest tourist corridors into an open pedestrian hub for walking, relaxation and public festivals. The site sits along a tourism corridor linking the downtown shopping districts of Myeong-dong, Namdaemun Market and neighboring Mount Nam and regularly draws large crowds, particularly during year-end celebrations and major events. The redesigned plaza will remove the fountain and other obstacles that currently divide the space, expanding capacity from about 2,300 people to roughly 7,000. Officials said the larger footprint is intended to ease crowding and improve safety while giving visitors more room to stop and spend time rather than simply pass through. The city plans to connect the plaza with cultural programs, including an outdoor library, busking, K-pop performances, a floor fountain, Seoul Summer Beach an

2d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
Seoul to replace historic Bank of Korea fountain with 7,000-capacity plaza
Korean Heritage

Deoksu Palace to relive 1901 diplomacy of Korean Empire

Step through the grand gates of Deoksu Palace this autumn, and the year is no longer 2026, but 1901. Amid the looming shadows of regional empires, Emperor Gojong is entertaining foreign envoys, desperately leveraging diplomacy to safeguard his nation's sovereignty. Beginning Oct. 2, the Korea Heritage Service, alongside the Korea Heritage Agency, will host an immersive historical reenactment titled "Audience with Foreign Envoys of the Korean Empire" at Deoksu Palace in central Seoul. Running through Oct. 4, the event invites visitors to step directly into a pivotal chapter of modern Korean history. Timed to commemorate the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, this year’s program, themed "The Korean Empire: Embarking on Diplomacy Toward the Future," reconstructs the tense geopolitical landscape of the spring of 1901. Rather than serving as passive spectators, participants will take on the role of press correspondents for the Korean Empire. Equipped with press notebooks and dedicated web applications, audience members will follow historical reenactments ac

2d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
Deoksu Palace to relive 1901 diplomacy of Korean Empire
Companies

KT, KISTI launch Korea's 1st 400 Gbps super-fast data highway to US

KT, one of Korea's major telecommunications service providers, has joined forces with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) to open the nation's first 400-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) international dedicated circuit linking Korea and the United States, creating a faster route for massive research datasets. The circuit connects KISTI’s headquarters in Daejeon with Chicago, a major hub for research networks serving North America and Europe, KT said Wednesday. The new connection quadruples bandwidth from the previous 100 Gbps and is designed to support faster, more stable transfers for international scientific collaboration. Demand for cross-border data exchange has grown as research involving artificial intelligence (AI), large-scale science and astronomy increasingly depends on vast volumes of data, KT said. The new network is expected to accelerate transfers of large research datasets, strengthen global connectivity for Korea’s national research network and expand support for international collaborative research. KT and KISTI also completed technical tests aim

2d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
KT, KISTI launch Korea's 1st 400 Gbps super-fast data highway to US
People & Events

Tech meets tradition as 17 designers reimagine Korea's 'soban' table

A humble Korean table is getting a high-tech second life in Seoul, where 17 designers are turning the traditional "soban" into sculptural objects shaped by 3D printing, lacquer and mother-of-pearl. The Seoul Design Foundation is presenting SEOUL LIFE 2026: Heritage Reimagined, Soban from Monday through Oct. 8 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza’s (DDP) Design Dullegil Gallery, bringing works first shown in April during Milan Design Week to a Korean audience. A soban is a small, portable Korean tray-table traditionally used as an individual dining table. Combining the functions of a tray and a table, it stands roughly 30 centimeters off the floor and is designed to hold a single meal. The exhibition drew 20,346 visitors at ADI Design Museum in Milan, where its combination of traditional Korean craft and contemporary design received favorable attention, according to the foundation. "Soban is a design asset that holds Korea's traditional lifestyle culture while flexibly connecting to contemporary life," said Cha Kang-hee, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation. "Through this exhibition, we want to sha

2d agoBy Lee Kyung-min
Tech meets tradition as 17 designers reimagine Korea's 'soban' table
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