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Lee Kyung-min

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Regional airports to expand international flights by 11.6% for winter season

Korea Airports Corp., which operates 14 airports nationwide, said Wednesday that airlines will operate 10,208 scheduled flights a week during this winter season, which runs from Oct. 25 through March 27, 2027. International services will account for 3,206 weekly flights, up 11.6 percent, or 332 flights, from the summer schedule, while domestic services will total 7,002 flights a week. The expansion comes as the government seeks to attract 30 million foreign visitors ahead of schedule, with additional airport slots at Gimhae and Cheongju allowing more takeoffs and landings. Gimhae International Airport’s hourly capacity will increase from 27 to 30 flights, while Cheongju’s will rise from eight to 10, the airport operator said. Southeast Asian routes will increase 32.7 percent from the summer schedule to 600 flights a week, while services to China will rise 17.5 percent to 844 weekly flights. New China routes include Gimhae-Xiamen, Gimhae-Guangzhou, Cheongju-Xiamen and Jeju-Shijiazhuang. Gimhae will also introduce daily charter flights to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport starting in December and

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Regional airports to expand international flights by 11.6% for winter season
Others

Regulatory standoff delays debut of Seoul's 1st modern streetcar line

The launch of Korea's first modern streetcar network has encountered a temporary regulatory roadblock, forcing city officials to push back the line's planned December debut as local authorities work to finalize safety protocols along shared pedestrian and roadway corridors. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that full commercial operation of the Wirye Line tram — a 5.4-kilometer wireless streetcar project — will be postponed into next year. Although physical construction is 97 percent complete, the delay stems from protracted disputes among government agencies over traffic safety infrastructure and regulatory jurisdiction. Spanning 12 stations, the 350.3 billion won ($253 million) transit project connects Macheon Station on Seoul Subway Line 5 with Bokjeong Station and Namwirye Station on Line 8 and the Suin-Bundang Line. The line represents a major milestone for urban transit in Korea, marking the return of streetcars to the capital for the first time since the city decommissioned its original tram network in 1968. It is also the nation’s first transit line to deplo

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Regulatory standoff delays debut of Seoul's 1st modern streetcar line
People & Events

Korean mother-of-pearl lacquerware exhibition draws 16,000 visitors overseas

An exhibition exploring the intricate designs and techniques behind Korea’s mother-of-pearl lacquerware has drawn more than 16,000 visitors during a two-year international tour across the United States, Canada and Japan, introducing audiences abroad to a traditional craft shaped by generations of artisans. The Seoul Museum of Craft Art said Wednesday that its special exhibition, “The Design Room of Najeon Masters,” concluded its overseas run Saturday after stops in Los Angeles, Ottawa, Tokyo and Osaka in 2025 and 2026. The exhibition attracted 7,556 visitors in North America and 8,427 in Japan, according to the museum, with more than 90 percent of respondents to visitor satisfaction surveys describing it as an opportunity to discover the beauty and depth of Korean traditional crafts. The exhibition examines "najeonchilgi," the Korean art of decorating lacquerware with thin pieces of iridescent mother-of-pearl, through designs, tools and finished works by six modern and contemporary masters: Jeon Seong-gyu, Kim Bong-ryong, Song Ju-an, Sim Bu-gil, Min Jong-tae and Kim Tae-hee. Origin

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Korean mother-of-pearl lacquerware exhibition draws 16,000 visitors overseas
Environment & Animals

Seoul rallies 1,486 volunteers to clean up Han River parks

More than 1,400 people joined forces across Seoul’s Han River parks this month, picking up litter, learning recycling rules and promoting bicycle safety in a city campaign to keep its popular riverside spaces clean and safe. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that 1,486 citizens, corporate employees and volunteers took part in three Fall Hangang Volunteer Day events held at Ichon, Ttukseom and Yeouido Hangang parks between Oct. 13 and Oct. 24. The campaign, organized under the theme “Keep Hangang clean, keep Hangang safe,” combined litter pick-up with environmental education and public safety programs. The first event, held Oct. 13 at Ichon Hangang Park, brought together 50 corporate volunteers who collected trash along park walkways. The second gathering, on Oct. 17 at Ttukseom Hangang Park, drew 95 participants for litter collection and campaigns promoting environmental awareness and safe park use. Yeouido Hangang Park hosted the largest event on Saturday, attracting 1,341 people, including children and adults who took part in environmental missions and quizzes about

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul rallies 1,486 volunteers to clean up Han River parks
Companies

SK Broadband, LS Marine Solution team up to protect vital Asia cable link

SK Broadband, the telecommunications unit of SK Group, is strengthening safeguards around a vital undersea cable linking Korea with Japan and Singapore, partnering with marine engineering specialist LS Marine Solution to speed up emergency repairs along vulnerable coastal stretches. The companies signed an agreement Tuesday to improve the reliability of the Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2) submarine cable system, SK Broadband said Wednesday. Under the agreement, the companies will maintain emergency response vessels and specialized equipment while standardizing technical data and repair procedures in advance. The goal is to coordinate the entire recovery process, from dispatching crews to retrieving damaged cables, reconnecting lines and precisely reburying them on the seabed, reducing the time needed to restore service. The partnership will focus particularly on shallow coastal waters off Busan, where large vessels have difficulty operating and emergency repairs require specialized marine expertise and rapid response. SK Broadband will contribute cable analysis data and monitoring cap

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
SK Broadband, LS Marine Solution team up to protect vital Asia cable link
Companies

SK On passes large-scale fire test, bolstering ESS safety credentials

SK On, the battery manufacturing unit of SK Group, passed a major fire safety test for its energy storage systems (ESS), clearing a key hurdle as the company seeks to expand in the global market for grid-scale energy storage. The company said Wednesday that its ESS products met evaluation criteria under UL 9540A, a North American standard used to assess how thermal runaway in batteries can spread heat and fire to surrounding equipment. The large-scale fire test recreates conditions resembling an actual energy storage system fire, examining whether flames or dangerous heat spread to neighboring battery containers. The requirements were tightened in March to establish clearer criteria for assessing fire propagation. During the test, battery cells inside adjacent containers did not experience thermal runaway caused by heat from the container where the fire originated, and temperatures inside the containers remained within the evaluation limits, SK On said. The company attributed the result to a system design that releases heat gradually over an extended period, limiting sudden increases in h

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
SK On passes large-scale fire test, bolstering ESS safety credentials
Companies

LG Uplus, Ecolab Korea team up to set AI data center cooling standards

As artificial intelligence (AI) servers pack more computing power into less space, the heat they generate is becoming a critical challenge for data centers, prompting LG Uplus and Ecolab Korea to develop standards for liquid cooling systems. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday at LG Uplus’ headquarters in Seoul's Yongsan District, to improve cooling system operations and establish procedures for managing coolant quality. The partnership combines LG Uplus’ expertise in building and operating AI data centers with Ecolab Korea’s water treatment and cooling fluid management technologies. The growing use of high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) has increased heat output in data centers, driving interest in liquid cooling, which can remove heat more efficiently than conventional air cooling. But coolant that deteriorates or equipment that is poorly maintained can undermine cooling performance and lead to hardware failures, making consistent monitoring and operating standards essential. LG Uplus will provide a large-scale liquid cooling test environment b

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
LG Uplus, Ecolab Korea team up to set AI data center cooling standards
Music

Composer Donghoon Shin, countertenor Iestyn Davies team up for Seoul concert

A leading Korean composer and an internationally acclaimed countertenor will share a stage in Seoul next month, bringing two contemporary works to Korean audiences alongside classical compositions in a program designed to bridge musical traditions across centuries. Sejong Soloists will present the concert at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Consolation Hall in Seosomun Shrine History Museum, featuring countertenor Iestyn Davies, violinist Kim Chee-yun, composer Donghoon Shin and other musicians. The concert will include the Asian premieres of Shin’s “Sonnets to Orpheus” (2026) and “Winter Sonata” (2025), offering audiences an opportunity to hear recent works by a composer whose music has attracted international attention. “Sonnets to Orpheus,” commissioned by Sejong Soloists, Wigmore Hall in London, Istanbul Music Festival and Chamber Music Northwest in the United States, received its world premiere in Istanbul in June with Davies and members of the Berlin Philharmonic. The five-movement work draws on poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, tracing emotions surrounding death, from grief and anger

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Composer Donghoon Shin, countertenor Iestyn Davies team up for Seoul concert
People & Events

Seoul launches new travel push to attract Japanese men

Seoul is launching a targeted tourism push aimed at capturing an overlooked demographic in one of its most reliable travel markets: Japanese men. The Seoul Tourism Organization unveiled "Seoul Quest" on Wednesday, a campaign structured around mission-based travel videos designed to showcase the Korean capital beyond its traditional K-pop and cosmetics appeal. Featuring Japanese fitness influencer Masso, the series blends high-energy urban activities with local culinary experiences to lure a demographic that official statistics show has lagged behind female visitors. Data from Japan’s Immigration Services Agency and the Korea Tourism Data Lab highlight a stark disparity. While Japanese men travel abroad in nearly equal numbers to women, they accounted for roughly 30 percent of Japanese arrivals in Korea last year. Municipal officials see significant growth potential in closing that gap, particularly as male arrivals from Japan show signs of accelerating. "Japan remains a core market with deep familiarity with Seoul, leading us to focus on the relatively underrepresented demand among Jap

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul launches new travel push to attract Japanese men
Others

Global greenhouse gas levels hit new heights in 2025: report

Global atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases reached unprecedented highs in 2025, according to a report released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), driven by continued fossil fuel combustion and industrial activity. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in the atmosphere hit a record high of 426.8 parts per million (ppm) — meaning there are now 1.5 times as much CO₂ in the air as there was before the Industrial Revolution in 1750. Two other powerful heat-trapping gases, methane and nitrous oxide, also reached record highs. But the report offered a slight silver lining regarding carbon dioxide. The annual concentration increase slowed to 2.8 parts per million in 2025, down from 3.5 parts per million the previous year. Climatologists attributed the temporary moderation to the recovery of terrestrial carbon sinks and a decline in wildfire activity following the strong El Niño phenomenon of 2023 and 2024. Regional monitoring data from Korea reflected an even starker trajectory. Findings published by the Korea Meteorological Administration showed background con

Oct 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Global greenhouse gas levels hit new heights in 2025: report
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