The Korea Times

COVER STORY Ahn's calligraphy 'Independence' remains in limbo despite repatriation effort

A provincial government’s bid to bring home “Independence,” a calligraphic work by Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun, remains stalled as officials struggle to reach a deal with its Japanese holder. The Gyeonggi Provincial Government said Friday that its yearlong effort to secure the work’s return has yet to yield a result, adding that it will continue talks through the end of the year as Korea marks the 81st anniversary of its liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Ahn, a revered Korean independence activist, wrote the calligraphy at Lushun Prison shortly before his execution in 1910 for assassinating Ito Hirobumi, Japan’s first prime minister and resident-general in Korea, at Harbin Station the previous year. He then gave a Japanese guard the work, which is regarded as one of his most symbolically significant pieces. According to provincial officials, it is now held in custody by Ryukoku University in Kyoto after being entrusted by descendants of the guard. Provincial officials had initially expected negotiations to proceed smoothly. In 2025, as Korea marked the 80th

Aug 15, 2026By Jung Min-ho

[COVER STORY] Ahn's calligraphy 'Independence' remains in limbo despite repatriation effort

Society

'Yellow envelope law' could derail chip cluster project: law experts

Backed by pro-labor activists, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea passed what is known as the “yellow envelope law” last year, substantially expanding the definition of labor disputes. Just five months after the law took effect, however, party leaders and the Lee Jae Myung administration face the possibility that the policy they championed could complicate — and potentially derail — their own flagship industrial project: the semiconductor megaproject in the Jeolla region. Speaking to lawmakers at the National Assembly on Wednesday, Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said he was reviewing whether to establish enforcement rules to resolve ambiguities in the law, which amended the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. His remarks came a day after the president told him to spell out the boundaries of legally permissible labor disputes through detailed regulations rather than relying solely on administrative interpretations of the law. The controversy stems from the law’s broadened definition of a labor dispute, as Lee pushes ahead with the chip cluster project. Previously,

Aug 14, 2026By Jung Min-ho

'Yellow envelope law' could derail chip cluster project: law experts

Foreign Affairs

PHOTO Bill Gates arrives in Korea

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates arrives at Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center, Thursday, marking his first visit to Korea in a year to discuss energy cooperation with Korea's policymakers. He is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Han Seong-sook on Friday. Yonhap

Aug 13, 2026By Jung Min-ho

Environment & Animals

Urban crow surge fuels blackouts, other accidents

More than 980 households in Busan lost power Sunday after a crow came into contact with electrical equipment, authorities said. The outage left residents without air conditioning for about an hour amid a record-breaking heat wave. This incident came only a day after another outage affected 986 households in the same city, which authorities also believe was caused by crows coming into contact with power facilities. On July 8, a similar incident also occurred in Seoul’s Mapo District, when a crow touched a high-voltage line on a utility pole, cutting power to 286 households. In some cases, the consequences are far more serious than a temporary loss of convenience. On June 30, a ready-mix concrete truck driver was severely injured after being electrocuted in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, when a crow’s contact with a utility pole caused a 22,900-volt power line to snap and fall onto his vehicle. These cases are part of a broader rise in crow-related problems as they become increasingly visible in urban areas, where they can build nests near power lines and forage in residential nei

Aug 13, 2026By Jung Min-ho

Urban crow surge fuels blackouts, other accidents

Tech & Science

PHOTO Power supply deal for chip clusters

From left, Kim Yong-kwan, president of management strategy at Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions division, Gwangju Mayor Min Hyung-bae, Climate Minister Kim Sung-whan, KEPCO CEO Kim Dong-cheol and Yeom Seong-jin, president of SK hynix's communications division, pose after signing a power supply deal for the planned chip clusters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City at KEPCO's office in Seoul, Wednesday. KEPCO will supply 3 gigawatts of electricity to the new semiconductor industrial complex in the southwestern region from 2029, with plans to expand the cumulative supply to more than 6 gigawatts through additional facilities. The agreement follows up on the government’s initiative involving three megaprojects announced on June 29 and is intended to establish power-supply networks in line with the operating schedules of factories in the regions. Courtesy of Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment

Aug 12, 2026By Jung Min-ho

[PHOTO] Power supply deal for chip clusters

Politics

EXPLAINER Lee's push to open Sejong presidential office by 2029

For more than two decades, the Korean government has tried, in fits and starts, to move its center of political power away from Seoul. The effort has produced a new administrative city and dozens of relocated government ministries, but the president has never had a real foothold with them down south. President Lee Jae Myung wants to change that and, on Tuesday, he gave his clearest signal yet that he intends to get it built before his term ends. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting held at Government Complex Sejong, Lee called for ministers to make an all-out push to complete a new presidential office in the city, saying he wants to hold his administration's final Cabinet meeting there. "Accelerate the construction of the presidential office in Sejong and the Sejong branch of the National Assembly and make sure that related infrastructure projects proceed without disruption," he said, describing Sejong as a city that must become a firmly established center of national governance to support balanced regional development. The remarks were the latest and most concrete reaffirmation of his campaig

Aug 12, 2026By Jung Min-ho

[EXPLAINER] Lee's push to open Sejong presidential office by 2029

Law & Crime

Korea moves to criminalize AI-generated sexual content of fictional people

A bill that would criminalize sexually explicit content featuring fictional people generated by artificial intelligence (AI) has recently been referred to detailed review by the Subcommittee of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The proposal, introduced by Rep. Huh Young and nine other lawmakers of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), would criminalize the creation, distribution and possession of sexually explicit material made using the technology, even when it does not depict a real person. The amendment to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes comes in response to the proliferation of sexually explicit content created using AI and other new technologies, while related harm is rising rapidly. A report released last month by the state-funded Korean Women’s Development Institute showed that reported digital sex crimes rose 66 percent over nine years, from 9,385 cases in 2015 to 15,612 cases in 2024. Deepfake sex crimes have increased particularly sharply. They accounted for just 31 cases, or 0.3 percent of all re

Aug 11, 2026By Jung Min-ho

Korea moves to criminalize AI-generated sexual content of fictional people

Foreign Affairs

Activists, foreign ministry clash over approval process for Ukraine trip

Rights activists under police investigation over an unauthorized visit to Ukraine in May say the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked them to secure a recommendation from the unification minister as part of their application for exceptional passport-use approval — a requirement the ministry says it never imposed. Earlier this month, police notified the activists that they were being investigated on suspicion of violating the Passport Act following a complaint by the ministry. Ukraine was designated a travel-ban country for South Korean citizens in February 2022, and entering the country without exceptional passport-use approval is subject to criminal penalties. The activists say they had sought permission well in advance of their visit to meet Ukrainian officials over two North Korean prisoners of war. They say they submitted all documents requested by the foreign ministry but were unable to obtain a recommendation letter before their scheduled May 7-11 visit. One of the six activists, Kang Dong-wan, a professor at Dong-A University, described the alleged request as “unprecedented”

Aug 9, 2026By Jung Min-ho

Activists, foreign ministry clash over approval process for Ukraine trip

Entertainment

Massive Attack's tribute to Seo Taiji draws censorship fight of its own in Incheon

When Massive Attack covered Seo Taiji & Boys' "Regret of the Times" at Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on Aug. 1, the British band framed it as a tribute to a song that had once defied authoritarian control. Now, a Korean city councilor wants to use a government audit to investigate the band over the performance, a move critics say risks reviving the very dynamic the song was written to resist. "Regret of the Times," released by Seo Taiji & Boys in 1995, was itself once at the center of a censorship battle. The group refused to comply with a government pre-screening requirement for the track, resulting in a standoff that contributed to the eventual abolition of Korea's pre-release music censorship system. Massive Attack's cover, performed partly in the original Korean as homage and partly in English for a wider audience, was explicitly framed by the band as an act of solidarity with that legacy. "'Regret of the Times' took on an authoritarian government and won. In 2026, as corporate absorption and the censorship of artists for political expression looms large again, it resonates as a s

Aug 6, 2026By Jung Min-ho

Massive Attack's tribute to Seo Taiji draws censorship fight of its own in Incheon

Education

Korea considers using AI to grade CSAT essay answers

Korea’s top education policy body is weighing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in order to safeguard fairness in evaluating essay-style answers, as the government moves to overhaul the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The presidential National Education Commission, which oversees national education policy plans, has started drafting a reform blueprint that would introduce written and essay-type questions across subjects and shift the college entrance exam as well as high school records from relative grading to absolute evaluation. The commission is currently collecting public opinions before finalizing the plan next March. “In fact, when it comes to essay-type assessment, the biggest public concern is fairness and we are reviewing the use of AI as one possible alternative among options to address that,” a senior official involved in the project told The Korea Times. At the commission’s policy briefing held at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Wednesday, Chairman Cha Jeong-in highlighted the problem with the current main test structure based on five-option multiple-choice qu