Author: Jae young

September 17, 2025SEOUL – The South Korean government decided at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday to require bottled water and nonalcoholic beverage producers to use recycled plastic in packaging starting in 2026, the Ministry of Environment said.According to the Environment Ministry, the new law requires that at least 10 percent of the polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, used in bottles comes from recycled sources. The legislation covers bottled water and nonalcoholic beverage producers that use more than 5,000 metric tons of PET bottles each year.Out of roughly 200 beverage producers nationwide, the new rule applies to some 10 major companies, including…

September 17, 2025SEOUL – South Korea’s proposal for a bilateral currency swap with the US is unlikely to win Washington’s approval, economists here say.The request comes as tariff negotiations between the two sides grow tense, with Washington pressing for more upfront cash for Seoul’s $350 billion investment pledge and Seoul seeking measures to contain financial risk.Reports on Monday said Seoul proposed an “unlimited” swap arrangement, under which the Bank of Korea and the US Federal Reserve would exchange won and dollars at a predetermined rate, giving Seoul access to dollar liquidity in times of market stress.The swap proposal is tied…

September 16, 2025SEOUL – Netflix’s customized ad service launched in Korea on Sept. 2 could further accelerate the shift in ad spending from traditional broadcasters to online platforms — posing a significant threat to the financial stability and long-term viability of the country’s entire media industry, experts warn.The service, called Netflix Ads Suite, is the platform’s proprietary advertising tool for brands on its ad-supported tier, offering advertisers tools for audience targeting, creative solutions and integration with external ad networks to better embed ads. Netflix Korea says Ads Suite is ultimately about exploring how to more seamlessly integrate advertising into its…

September 16, 2025SEOUL – Korean convenience store snacks such as gimbap and instant ramyeon have surged in popularity following megahit Netflix movie “KPop Demon Hunters,” with foreign transactions at CU, the nation’s largest convenience store chain, jumping 185 percent.BGF Retail, which operates CU, said Monday that after the global success of “KPop Demon Hunters,” foreign customers are increasingly reaching for K-food items featured in the film, including gimbap, ramyeon, chips and gukbap (Korean soup with rice).According to statistics from the Korea Tourism Organization, 1.73 million foreign tourists visited Korea in July, a 23.1 percent rise on-year. Convenience store food has…

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September 16, 2025SEOUL – As summer conditions ease and the weather cools nationwide ahead of the fall season, an increase in mosquito numbers is beginning to be observed.According to statistics provided by the Busan city government, a total of 1,020 mosquitoes were collected through monitoring in the first week of September, an increase of up to 27 percent compared to the average number of 802 mosquitoes that were collected per week in August.That compares with an average of 1,458 mosquitoes were collected per week in the same month last year.An increase in mosquito numbers has also been observed in Daegu,…

September 16, 2025SEOUL – North Korea’s Kimsuky hacking group used artificial intelligence-generated images in a recent phishing campaign against South Korean military agencies, a local cybersecurity firm said in a report Monday.According to the report by Genians, the group sent malware-laced emails to undisclosed military agencies, asking them to review sample ID card designs for civilian employees of the military.The attached images of identification cards were fabricated with AI tools, which Genians claimed were produced through ChatGPT.The firm said the attackers appeared to circumvent restrictions on commercial AI services such as ChatGPT, which typically block ID card generation, by presenting…

September 15, 2025SEOUL – Despite growing concerns over tariff-driven cost burdens, Apple’s unexpected decision to retain the pricing of its newly introduced iPhone 17 lineup is drawing renewed focus on the earnings outlook of South Korean smartphone component manufacturers.According to industry sources on Sunday, Apple has opted to keep the starting prices of the iPhone 17 series largely in line with its previous models, defying earlier expectations of a $50 to $60 increase in response to US-imposed tariffs.The move is sparking both optimism and caution across the market. While some analysts view Apple’s pricing as a testament to the brand’s…

September 15, 2025SEOUL – The South Korean government has decided not to appeal any of the 71 cases concerning state liability for human rights abuse victims who were subjected to forced labor at two internment facilities, Brothers’ Home in Busan and Seongam Academy in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, effectively acknowledging responsibility.The long-awaited move is likely to expedite compensation for 647 victims of the two privately-owned facilities for “vagrants,” which in reality operated as internment camps for people taken off the streets, including the homeless, children, people with disabilities and student protesters, under South Korea’s authoritarian regimes of the 1980s.According to the…

September 15, 2025SEOUL – Four years after his death from illness, the remains of former President Chun Doo-hwan, who led a coup in 1979, repressed pro-democracy movements, including the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, and ushered in another decade of military dictatorship, have yet to find a resting place.A representative of Chun’s bereaved family was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency that there are “discussions over ways to keep his body permanently at the front yard of the house where he lived” in Seodaemun-gu, western Seoul.Chun ruled South Korea from 1980 to 1988. He was later convicted of insurrection, homicide…