Lee Eui-jin, Han Da-som Miss Final in Women’s Cross-Country Team Sprint at 2026 Milan Olympics Lee Eui-jin (Busan Metropolitan City Sports Council) and Han Da-som (Gyeonggi Provincial Government) were eliminated in qualifying for the women’s cross-country team sprint at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The pair placed 23rd out of 26 teams with a combined time of 7:50.72 on Feb. 18 at the cross-country stadium in Tesero, Italy, missing the top 15 that advanced to the final. In the team sprint qualifier, two skiers form a team and each races a course of about 1.5 kilometers o February 18, 2026

Copyright Issues Over Pop Music Spotlight Olympic Figure Skating as Amber Glenn Places 13th Copyright concerns tied to the use of pop music became a major talking point in figure skating at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Even with support from pop star Madonna, U.S. skater Amber Glenn finished 13th in the women’s short program. Glenn scored 67.39 points in the women’s singles short program on Feb. 18 (Korean time) at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy, placing 13th. Glenn chose Madonna’s hit “Like a Prayer” for her short program this season and had worried about copyright February 18, 2026

South Korea Women’s Curling Beats Sweden 8-3 to Keep Semifinal Hopes Alive South Korea’s women’s curling team known as “5G” kept its push for the semifinals alive by defeating Sweden in seven ends. World No. 3 South Korea — skip Kim Eun-ji, third Kim Min-ji, second Kim Su-ji, lead Seol Ye-eun and fifth Seol Ye-ji — beat Sweden 8-3 in its eighth round-robin game of the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics on the 18th (Korea time) at the Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Sweden, the most successful nation in Olympic women’s curling, ope February 18, 2026

Boston Dynamics Robotics Research VP Scott Kuindersma to Step Down Hyundai Motor Group robotics unit Boston Dynamics said Scott Kuindersma, vice president of robotics research, has submitted his resignation. Industry sources said Feb. 18 that Kuindersma wrote on social media that he decided in January to leave Boston Dynamics. “Starting with a small research team, we became the first to showcase humanoid robot parkour, and it has been an incredible journey all the way to launching Atlas, a product with the potential to reshape industrial automation,” h February 18, 2026

Hyundai’s U.S. sales hit January record as SUVs and hybrids drive growth Hyundai Motor is extending its momentum in the U.S. market on the strength of SUVs and hybrids, with January sales topping 60,000 for the first time as it pushes for another annual record. Industry data released Tuesday showed Hyundai’s U.S. retail sales in January totaled 60,794 vehicles, up 2.4% from 59,355 a year earlier. Sedan sales, including the Sonata and Ioniq 6, fell 12.6% to 13,569. But RV sales — including SUVs such as the Kona, Tucson, Santa Fe and Palisade — rose 7.8% to 47,2 February 18, 2026

Steelmakers Eye Humanoid Robots as New Growth Market for Specialty Steel Humanoid robots are emerging as a potential new growth market for South Korea’s steel industry, as demand is expected to increase for specialty steel and electrical steel sheets used in key drive components such as reducers, joint shafts and motor cores. Analysts say steel demand, long centered on construction and shipbuilding, could broaden to robots and other automation equipment. Industry officials said Feb. 18 that Korean steelmakers could strengthen a two-track strategy: adopting hum February 18, 2026

Shinhan Bank, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Sign Deal to Expand Productive Finance Shinhan Bank said Tuesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyundai Engineering & Construction to expand cooperation aimed at boosting what it called “productive finance.” The signing ceremony was held at Hyundai E&C’s headquarters in Seoul and attended by Shinhan Bank CEO Jeong Sang-hyeok and Hyundai E&C CEO Lee Han-woo. The companies said they will jointly review financing options tailored to each project’s characteristics and funding needs and set up a working-l February 18, 2026

Bank Credit Loan Rates Return to 4% Range After 14 Months, Raising Borrower Costs Minimum interest rates on credit loans at major South Korean commercial banks have climbed back above 4% for the first time in 14 months, adding pressure on borrowers who have relied on debt to invest or buy homes. According to the financial sector on Tuesday, credit-loan rates at the four biggest commercial banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori — stood at 4.010% to 5.380% as of Feb. 13 for top-tier borrowers with one-year maturities. The lower end of the range, which had stayed i February 18, 2026

Doosan Enerbility, Doosan Skoda Power sign $240 million steam turbine deal for Czech nuclear plant Doosan Enerbility said Tuesday it signed a 320 billion won ($240 million) contract with its subsidiary Doosan Skoda Power to supply steam turbines and turbine control systems for the Dukovany nuclear power plant units 5 and 6 in the Czech Republic. A signing ceremony was held in Prague on the 16th (local time) with the industry ministers of South Korea and the Czech Republic in attendance. The Czech government last June signed the main contract for the Dukovany 5 and 6 construction project February 18, 2026

Report: Hyundai, Tesla Lead AI Robotics Push, but Profitability and Ethics Remain Hurdles AI-powered robots are expected to reshape manufacturing and boost efficiency across industrial processes, and analysts say the auto industry is especially well positioned to scale the technology. The report said advanced control and driving technologies already used in vehicles could be combined with robotics, expanding business opportunities across many areas of human mobility and helping build a next-generation mobility ecosystem. But it said commercialization will require progress on February 18, 2026