SouthKorea

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  London Business School professor urges companies to come up with specific purpose in polycrisis era SEOUL -- Alex Edmans, a finance professor at London Business School, urged companies to utilize their strengths to overcome the global polycrisis, which refers to multiple social crises such as inflation, COVID-19, and the Russia-Ukraine war. At a conference held in Seoul, the British scholar highlighted LG Electronics commercializing a robot that disinfects surfaces using ultraviolet light amid the COVID-19 pandemic. LG Electronics' autonomous quarantine robot was commercializ 2023-03-21
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  Eastern city Wonju to test-operate electric bicycle rental service SEOUL -- The test operation of electric bicycle rental service will begin in Wonju some 86.8 kilometers (53.9 miles) east of Seoul. In South Korea, public bicycle rental service has steadily gained popularity among urbanites who wish to travel short distances of a few kilometers instead of using crowded buses or subway trains. One of the most well-known bike-sharing or bike rental services in South Korea is Seoul Bike, also known as "Ttareungi", run by Seoul City. As of J 2023-03-20
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  S. Korea lifts mask mandate on public transportation including buses and subways SEOUL -- South Korea has lifted the mask mandate on public transportation such as buses, subway trains, and taxis. It is no longer needed to wear masks anywhere in the country except for several medical facilities vulnerable to infection including nursing homes. The government said in a statement that the obligation to wear masks in public transportation, supermarkets, and pharmacies located in public spaces would end on March 20. It's been about two years and five months since 2023-03-20
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  [SUMMIT] ​S. Korean President Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida agree to resume 'shuttle diplomacy' SEOUL -- During a summit meeting in Tokyo, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio have reached a consensus on resuming "shuttle diplomacy," a diplomatic action in which international leaders frequently visit each other's country to strengthen diplomatic relations. Yoon met Kishida at his official residence on March 16 for two meeting sessions during his two-day visit to Japan. The two leaders attended the first 23-minute-long m 2023-03-16
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  [SUMMIT] President Yoon heads to Japan for summit meeting with Prime Minister Kishida SEOUL -- South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol has departed for a two-day visit to Japan to attend a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio. Yoon and his delegation including staff members departed from Seoul Airport in Seongnam south of the capital city on an Air Force presidential jet at around 9:50 a.m. (0050 GMT) on March 16. After arriving in Japan, Yoon's first schedule will be to attend a meeting with South Korean residents in Tokyo before participatin 2023-03-16
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  S. Korean President to have dinner with Japan's Prime Minister at Omurice restaurant during summit SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk-yeol will visit Japan on March 16 for two days to meet Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio for a summit meeting. The two leaders will engage in discussions to find solutions to improve bilateral relations and have dinner at an Omurice restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo's shopping district filled with department stores and restaurants. It would be the first visit by a South Korean president to Japan in about four years since ex-President Moon Jae-in attended 2023-03-15
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  Almost half of S. Koreans think opposition leader Lee Jae-myung should resign: survey SEOUL -- A survey showed that almost half of South Koreans think Lee Jae-myung, the chairman of the main progressive opposition Democratic Party of Korea, should resign. In February 2023, a state prosecutor's office sought an arrest warrant for Lee over corruption allegations that involve land development projects and suspicious donations from corporations. In a survey of 1,064 South Koreans aged 18 or older, conducted by pollster Hangil, about 48.6 percent said Lee should resi 2023-03-13
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  Massive Fire at Hankook Tire factory destroys some 400,000 tires in 13 hours SEOUL -- A massive fire erupted at Hankook Tire's second plant in the central city of Daejeon destroying some 40,000 tires and leaving the factory complex inoperable. The fire that broke out at 10:09 p.m. (1309 GMT) on March 12 was brought under control after 13 hours. Ten workers and one firefighter were hospitalized for inhaling smoke but their conditions were not critical. According to the emergency headquarters, the fire is speculated to have started during the curing proce 2023-03-13
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  ​Startup minister Lee Young attends Saudi Arabia's biggest startup event SEOUL -- South Korea's Minister of SMEs and Startups attended "Biban 2023," Saudi Arabia's largest startup conference event held at the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center, along with South Korean small and medium-sized companies and startups. Biban 2023 is an annual startup event held in Saudi Arabia. This year, some 350 speakers and about 10,500 audiences will attend the conference to share ideas about the establishment of healthy and mutually benefi 2023-03-10
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  Number of S. Korean Facebook monthly active users drop below 10 mln for first time in 2 yrs SEOUL -- According to an online big data analysis, the number of South Korean monthly active users of the Facebook smartphone app has dropped below 10 million for the first time in two years since South Korean big data analysis solution company Mobile Index started monitoring. South Korea currently has some 54 million registered smartphones and an average of about 65 percent of people access social media using their phones. According to a survey of 10,154 South Korean people, con 2023-03-09
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  Chicken price hits all-time high due to increased costs of poultry farm operation SEOUL -- The price of chicken has reached its all-time-high as the cost of livestock farming has skyrocketed due to the increase in farm operating costs including the prices of fertilizers, animal feed, electricity, and fuel that were accelerated by the sluggish global economic growth sparked by the fuel price increase, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. Concerns that the era of expensive "30,000-won ($22.7) fried chicken" is not far off are growing among South Ko 2023-03-08
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  ​S. Korea's banking sector embroiled in controversy for inflating recruiting capacity SEOUL -- According to an exclusive report by Economic Daily, South Korea's banking industry inflated its recruiting capacity while carrying out the government's order to hire more employees. Unlike the original plan to recruit 2,288 new employees, the actual number turned out to be only 953. The country's finance industry has earlier announced its massive recruitment plan, followed by President Yoon Suk-yeol's 2023-03-07
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  State-affiliated foundation to pay compensation and delayed interest to Japan's forced labor victims SEOUL -- The South Korean government has officially announced that the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan (FOMO), operated by the interior ministry, will play the role of the "third-party compensator" to pay court-ordered compensation and delayed interest to the forced labor victims and their families. Ties between the two Asian neighbors have been in the doldrums for decades, with South Korea insisting that Japan should apologize and make ame 2023-03-06
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  S. Korea's finance sector inflates recruiting capacity while carrying out government's order to hire more employees SEOUL -- The South Korean financial sector has been embroiled in a controversy that it has inflated its recruiting capacity while carrying out the financial authorities' order to hire more young employees. Unlike the original plan to recruit 4,719 new employees, the actual number turned out to be only 2,654, according to an exclusive report by Seoul-based news media company Economic Daily. During a policy briefing on Febr 2023-03-06
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  Seoul's facility management operator to recruit repair shops for public bike rental service SEOUL -- The facility management operator under the Seoul metropolitan government will recruit bicycle repairmen for the capital city's public bikes called "Ttareungi," also known as Seoul Bike. The public bicycle rental service launched in December 2015 has been used by urbanites who wish to travel short distances of a few kilometers instead of using crowded buses or subway trains. As of January 2023, there were some 43,500 Seoul Bikes in the capital city. The cumula 2023-02-28
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  Anti-drone system to be established in S. Korea's central city of Daejeon SEOUL -- In an effort to efficiently handle unexpected threats caused by drones, South Korea's central city of Daejeon will build an anti-drone system for state-run agencies. After the establishment of the prevention system, the city will demonstrate its aerial surveillance functions. Anti-drone systems are mostly used to detect drones and fire interference radio waves that can neutralize them before the aerial vehicles reach the country's key facilities. According to South 2023-02-27
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  S. Korea launches working group to discuss intellectual property issues regarding AI-generated images SEOUL -- South Korea has launched a working group composed of experts from various sectors to discuss issues regarding intellectual property rights over artificial intelligence-generated images. Thanks to the development of AI technologies, anyone can generate artificial images to match their preferences. However, generated images are based on datasets of pictures and drawings created by human artists. AI-generated image services became popular during the last few years as they off 2023-02-24
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  Science research institute UNIST to create vegetable garden on campus SEOUL -- A vegetable garden with various plants, a pond, and plant-based food items will be created at a science and technology university in the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan. The state institute, which earlier created an experimental living lab using energy from human excrement, aims to establish infrastructure for a carbon-neutral campus. The Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) said in a statement that the institute has partnered with a local bank, 2023-02-24
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  Naver's travel reservation service becomes S. Korea's second-most used travel service provider: survey SEOUL -- A travel reservation service, operated by South Korean web service giant Naver, has become the country's second-most used online travel service provider with a usage rate of 19 percent in 2022. The largest online travel service provider with a 22.9 percent usage rate was Yanolja, which also owns Interpark, a popular online ticket reservation service company. Naver, which was kick-started as a web portal service in 1999, is now South Korea's largest web service prov 2023-02-23
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  ​South Korea to lift PCR test requirement for arrivals from China SEOUL -- South Korea plans to lift a post-arrival PCR test requirement for travelers from China on March 1 as the COVID-19 pandemic has receded, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said February 22. The headquarters affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said that the government has decided to scrap the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test requirement as the pandemic situation in China has been stabilized with Chinese arrivals showing a low 2023-02-22