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South Korean designer Paeng Minwook has invented a gadget called a “third eye” to help keep smartphone addicts safe as they walk while looking at their phones. Paeng said the device is meant to criticise modern-day phone users, whom he calls “Phono sapiens”.
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South Korea’s “doomsday” vault is a seed repository where seeds from the Korean peninsula are safeguarded from apocalyptic events. Hidden 46 metres (151ft) underground in Bonghwa county in North Gyeongsang Province, the tunnel can withstand a magnitude 6.9 earthquake and even a nuclear blast. The 4,751 wild plant sp…
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Hong Kong was Asia’s music entertainment leader during the 1980s and 1990s, only to see its influence wane over the years due to competition from South Korean, Taiwan and Chinese mainland artists. But following Hong Kong’s civil unrest in 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic, new Canto-pop stars have emerged, including Ke…
North Korea has opened an art exhibition in the capital, Pyongyang, to showcase pieces by the country’s best young and emerging artists. It features artworks depicting people of various professions striving to ‘implement the tasks’ of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
South Korea’s plans to build the largest offshore wind farm in the world are under fire from fishermen. The 48 trillion won (US$43 billion) project is considered critical for the coal-reliant country’s goals of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The wind power plants are also part of President Moon Jae-in’s…
In South Korea, there has been a growth in illegal “ghost doctors” in the country’s thriving plastic surgery industry. “Ghost doctors” are stand-in medical workers who perform the procedure instead of the hired surgeon. It’s done to increase the number of surgeries conducted, maximising profits. One victim of the pr…
As Minari star Youn Yuh-jung won the Oscar for best supporting actress on April 25, 2021, the film also brought pride to minari farmers in South Korea. Minari is a leafy green that takes at least a year to grow; it serves as a metaphor for the immigrant experience in the 2020 film about a Korean-American family who …
Of course, the influence of Hong Kong cinema has been waning for some time now. It was galling to see Korean movie Parasite become the first foreign-language film to win best picture at the Oscars when Hong Kong’s most creative films were historically ignored when it came to awards seasons – In the Mood for Love, fo…
Women who free-dive without oxygen to gather seafood in waters off South Korea face a new threat to their centuries-old traditions. Already under pressure from the competition of modern fishing methods, the haenyeo or “sea women” now see climate change degrading the marine habitat where they work. But Jin So-hee and…
Security camera footage showing the wife of the Belgian ambassador to South Korea slapping a shopkeeper has sparked outrage. Seoul police on April 21, 2021, said they want to question Xiang Xueqiu for the alleged assault.
South Korean fishermen have staged protests against Japan's decision to release treated and diluted radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. On April 19, 2021, rallies were held by fishermen in two coastal cities in South Korean coastal cities. In Yeosu, a fleet of more…
South Korea recorded 532 new coronavirus cases on April 18, 2021, the first time in six days the number fell below 600. But health authorities warned of a possible fourth wave and tougher Covid-19 restrictions if infections do not slow down fast enough. Meanwhile, the country noted for containing the coronavirus ste…
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 13, 2021, ordered officials to explore petitioning an international court over Japan’s Fukushima water waste decision. The move came a day after Tokyo unveiled plans to release treated radioactive water from its wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, prompting objec…
Among the US athletes preparing to head to Tokyo to compete in the delayed 2020 Summer Olympic Games are Asian-Americans who are concerned about a recent spike in anti-Asian violence in the United States. Among those speaking out about the problem are gymnast Yul Moldauer, who was adopted as a baby from South Korea,…
North Korea’s sports ministry announced on April 6, 2021, that the country will withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games, citing Covid-19 risks. The international sporting event, which was originally scheduled to happen in 2020, has been postponed until July 23, 2021, because of the coronavirus pandemic. News about Pyo…
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato said on April 6, 2021, that he would closely monitor the situation after North Korea announced that it would pull out from the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Pyongyang says the decision was made at a meeting of North Korea’s Olympic committee on March 25.
A South Korean professor built an autonomous vehicle and test-drove it across the country in the 1990s. Han Min-hong came up with his invention years before self-driving cars became a multibillion-dollar industry. His vehicle drove itself 300km (186 miles) all the way from Seoul to the southern port of Busan in 1995…
Live-streamers are known as “broadcast jockeys” (BJs) in South Korea. From the comfort of their homes, top-tier live-streamers can earn tens of thousands of dollars a month just by chatting, gaming, dancing, eating or even sleeping.
With deft fingers, South Korean drone-racing champion Kang Chang-hyeon sends his drone into the air, dodging past obstacles set up in a rice field in Hwaseong, south of Seoul. As a first-person-view drone-racing pilot, Kang says lightning-fast reflexes, a sharp vision and hours of training are keys to his success. B…
Park Jihyun first left North Korea in 1998, when she was smuggled across the country’s northern border and sold to a Chinese man. Over the next 23 years, she endured abuse, was repatriated back to North Korea and forced to work in a squalid labour camp while being separated from her son. But Park has never let go of…
The South Korean island of Nokdo is home to only four children. The once-vibrant fishing village on the island has been rapidly shrinking, underscoring a deeper demographic crisis that the nation has been struggling with. In 2020, South Korea became the world's fastest-ageing society, according to the World Bank.
China is “using coercion and aggression” against Hong Kong and Taiwan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on March 17, 2021. Blinken is visiting Japan and South Korea alongside US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in the first overseas trip by top-level members of President Joe Biden’s administration. During his…
In North Korea’s first comments directed at the administration of US President Joe Biden, Kim Jong-un’s influential sister warned Washington to avoid spreading “the smell of gunpowder” and “refrain from causing a stink”. Pyongyang’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper released a statement from Kim Yo-jong on March 16, …
With government support, residents of South Korea’s Banwol and Bakji Islands have transformed their towns into a domestic tourist destination, painting their roads and roofs purple.
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Some 40 South Korean tourists have arrived in Thailand under a “golf quarantine” scheme. The golfers are allowed to go out on the course after a negative Covid-19 test result; they can also visit the rest of the country after a further two.
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Pyongyang residents attended a gala concert on February 16, 2021 to mark the 79th anniversary of the birth of their late leader Kim Jong-il. In a video provided by North Korean state media KCNA, audience members were seen wearing face masks while watching song and dance performances by the Mansudae Art Troupe at the…
Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, appeared in public for the first time in more than a year. The couple attended a concert in Pyongyang on February 16, 2021, to mark the birthday of Kim’s late father and former leader Kim Jong-il, according to the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party…
Seoul has started testing pet cats and dogs for Covid-19 if they show symptoms of the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement came after South Korea reported its first infection in an animal; a cat at a religious facility affected by an outbreak tested positive in late January.
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A TV programme in South Korea brought back the voice of deceased singer Kim Kwang-seok with the help of artificial intelligence technology. The sound system can perform in Kim’s voice after analysing and learning 20 of the legendary singer’s songs.
Five 'chubby' young men in China have quit their day jobs to form the nation’s first plus-sized boy band called Produce Pandas. Instead of the skinny boy band look made famous by groups like South Korea’s BTS, members of this outfit are more 'chubby' and cuddly. Selected from about 300 candidates by DMDF Entertainme…
North Korea’s party congress came to a close on January 12, 2021. The meeting, the first gathering of the ruling Workers’ Party since 2016, drew thousands of delegates at the April 25 House of Culture in the capital Pyongyang. During his closing remarks at the congress, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to stren…
A South Korean start-up developed a dog collar that can tell owners how their pets are feeling. With a database of more than 10,000 samples gathered from 50 breeds of dogs, the device can detect five emotions of the canines by analysing their barks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was named general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party, state media reported on January 11, 2021. It came during the country’s first ruling party congress since 2016 when Kim became the party’s chairman. His new title is considered a symbolic move to bolster his authority amid growi…
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un admitted the country’s five-year economic plan had “tremendously fallen short of its goals in almost every sector”, state media reported, as he launched the ruling Workers’ Party’s first party congress in five years and only the eighth one held since the founding of the country on Jan…
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South Korea has seen a surge in the number of people getting plastic surgery during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is thought the increase has happened because people think they can hide behind face masks or work from home while their surgery heals.
South Korea has seen a rise in the number of young women taking their own lives since the Covid-19 pandemic began to sweep across the country. National Police Agency data shows a more than 40 per cent rise in suicides among women in their 20s between January and June 2020, compared with the same period in 2019, an i…
