Shinhan, KB Back Snow and Ice Athletes as Korea Wins at Milan-Cortina Olympics Behind South Korea’s anthems on snow and ice was more than a decade of steady, low-profile support from the financial sector, with long-term backing of lesser-known sports paying off, analysts said. At the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which ended early Sunday in South Korea, the Korean team posted notable results across both snow and ice events. Choi Ga-on’s gold in the women’s snowboard halfpipe was especially symbolic as the country’s first Winter Olympic gold medal in a snow event. Choi is cited as a standout success of Shinhan Financial Group’s “Rookie Sponsorship.” Shinhan has run the program since 2011 to identify and support promising athletes in less popular sports who have international potential but limited training conditions. In snowboarding, Shinhan-backed Kim Sang-gyeom won silver and Yoo Seung-eun took bronze, broadening South Korea’s medal haul beyond its traditional strength on ice. Shinhan also sponsors Lee Chae-woon, who unveiled a world-first technique in the snowboard halfpipe at these Olympics, and Lee Seung-hoon, the first Korean athlete to reach the freestyle ski halfpipe final. KB Financial Group is known for broad support of ice sports over 20 years, starting in 2006 with “figure queen” Kim Yuna. Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan, who finished fourth in the men’s singles, has been backed by KB since 2015. In the women’s short track 3,000-meter relay, the national team that included KB-sponsored Kim Gil-li and Choi Min-jeong delivered South Korea’s second gold medal of the Olympics. In the women’s 1,500 meters, Kim and Choi won gold and silver, respectively. Kim added bronze in the women’s 1,000 meters, giving her three medals at the Games. Hana Financial Group has supported luge for 14 years. At these Olympics, Jung Hye-seon finished 24th in the women’s singles, a result the company said helped raise South Korea’s competitiveness in the sport. Woori Financial Group is sponsoring athletes through an official partnership agreement with the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee. Starting with this Winter Olympics, it plans continued support for national teams competing at major events including the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 06:03:00

U.S. beats Canada in overtime to win men’s Olympic hockey gold for first time since 1980 The United States captured its first Olympic men’s ice hockey gold medal in 46 years, beating Canada 2-1 in overtime in the final of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Games. The Americans won Sunday (Korean time) at Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, sealing the title on a goal by Jack Hughes 1:41 into overtime. The victory gave the United States its first men’s Olympic hockey gold since the 1980 Lake Placid Games and its third gold medal overall in the event. The United States also became the first country in Olympic ice hockey history to win both the men’s and women’s titles at the same Games. In the women’s final on Feb. 20, the Americans also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to take gold, returning to the top for the first time since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Canada, which assembled a “dream team” featuring many star players from the NHL, fell short in its bid for a 10th Olympic title. After winning gold at the 2014 Sochi Games, Canada has gone three straight Olympics without gold: bronze in 2018 in Pyeongchang and sixth place in 2022 in Beijing. The matchup drew added attention ahead of the Games amid U.S.-Canada political and economic friction, including disputes over tariffs, with the rivals meeting for Olympic gold in a sport both consider a national strength. The final was tight throughout. The United States struck first when Matt Boldy capitalized on a Canadian defensive mistake 6 minutes into the first period on a counterattack. Canada tied it late in the second period, with 1:44 remaining, after Cale Makar beat the U.S. defense with a powerful shot to make it 1-1. Canada pressed in the third, outshooting the United States 41-26 overall, but the Americans held on to force overtime. It was the third time an Olympic men’s hockey final went to overtime. Hughes ended it early in the extra period, finishing a counterattack to deliver the gold medal.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 01:57:00

Producer Kim Tae-ho Says MBC’s ‘Manitto Club’ Prioritizes Message Over Buzz MBC’s “Infinite Challenge” helped reshape the rules of Korean variety TV, and the generation that grew up on it is often called “Infinite Challenge kids.” Producer Kim Tae-ho’s new show, “Manitto Club,” is built around a familiar “manitto” idea — a secret gift-giver — with a twist: a club of people who split one thing into two and share it. The show debuted with a 2.1% rating before sliding to 1.6%, but Kim said the goal was never to chase hype. “Of course it was disappointing,” he said. “But we didn’t make it to squeeze ratings out of having Jennie, Choo Sung-hoon or Noh Hong-chul. ‘Manitto Club’ is an omnibus that keeps returning to the theme of sharing. I wanted it to feel like an omnibus movie you’d see around Christmas. From the start, we agreed to center the message, and I hoped the intent would land well and be sustainable rather than focusing on immediate results.” Kim said early feedback made him rethink how much information the show gave viewers up front. “I also felt we should have provided more information at the beginning,” he said. “The teaser set the overall direction, and we were a bit confused, too. Still, we want to stick with a show people can watch comfortably and relate to, rather than content that’s all dopamine. We originally didn’t design it as a highly variety-driven show because we were thinking of a weeknight or late-weekend slot. But when it was scheduled for Sunday evening, we decided we needed more variety elements and a faster pace. We’re explaining what needs explaining more clearly and adjusting the rhythm. People watch on broadcast and on OTT, so we’re also thinking about how to balance those two viewing experiences.” Kim said the casting followed the show’s core idea, which began with the keyword “gift.” “In August last year, Jennie said she wanted to do content that would feel like a gift to viewers around the year-end holidays,” he said. “That word ‘gift’ stuck with me and led me to think of manitto. Because of the first group of cast members, the chase element stood out and people said, ‘Is this a chase show?’ But what I wanted was a story about thinking of someone and giving a gift. The most important thing in our program is the secret manitto, and we cast based on who fits that.” “Manitto Club” rotates cast members by “class.” Class 1 featured Jennie, Dex, Choo Sung-hoon, Lee Soo-ji and Noh Hong-chul. Class 2 includes actors Go Youn-jung and Jung Hae-in, and entertainers Park Myung-soo and Hong Jin-kyung. Kim said Class 1 leaned more heavily into variety, while Class 2 is expected to have a more detailed, “handmade” theme. “Because there was a benefit for the first person to give a gift, the flow turned into something like a chase,” he said. “Maybe that made it hard to build details. So for Class 2 we chose handmade. If people make things by hand and show their effort, I thought a different flow could come out. I also wanted a consistent tone in how they give gifts to their secret manitto. When it’s handmade, you can see the sincerity more clearly, and you feel the group’s energy.” Kim also addressed why familiar faces such as Park Myung-soo and Noh Hong-chul — known to many viewers from “Infinite Challenge” — appear again. “With real variety, even if new cast members study hard, they don’t have experience data, so there are difficult points,” he said. “From a production standpoint, you mix a certain percentage of familiar people with a certain percentage of new people. That’s why people like Park Myung-soo, Noh Hong-chul and Kwanghee appear. And when you think about who fits the secret manitto concept, they naturally come to mind. I think Noh Hong-chul in Class 1, Park Myung-soo and Hong Jin-kyung in Class 2, and Kwanghee in Class 3 each did their roles well. It’s not only because of ‘Infinite Challenge.’ There are clear advantages to the data you get when you meet new people, like in ‘Earth Marble.’” Running a variety show by rotating “classes,” rather than fixed members, is a difficult choice because it gives up the chemistry and relationships that build over time. Kim said it is also an experiment in a different storytelling approach. “Because it’s class-based, I think it could develop into other forms of content,” he said. “People who form connections can continue across classes. Nothing is set yet, but I’ve imagined earlier classes influencing later ones or making special appearances. These days, many people don’t even watch all 12 episodes, so it could be fun to compress it into four episodes and end it. Fixed cast members build chemistry and make editing easier, but we chose a harder path. It was a decision to try a different way of speaking.” Asked about what comes next, Kim said he does not see “Manitto Club” as something he completes alone. “Our judgment matters, but I also think absorbing viewers’ reactions matters,” he said. “That’s the direction I want. Rather than deciding alone, I want to give viewers the ‘major shareholder’ seat. If people tell us what’s good or bad, we can reflect it. We’ve finished filming through Episode 12, and we’re trying to reflect opinions as much as possible.” Kim said it has been five years since he founded the production company TEO, and the market has changed. “These days people prefer concepts with strong dopamine, like survival shows or genre series,” he said. “In some ways, genres have narrowed compared with before, but if you don’t touch the sidelined genres, PDs might never experience them in their careers. That’s why we often talk about sitcoms at the company. I think junior PDs who haven’t experienced sitcoms need to try drama-style directing for new seeds to grow. That’s one reason I made the company. At first, I thought the OTT environment was so good that if you had good material you could keep working, but now we’re already in a different place five years later. Still, TEO has been putting out solid content while working with good platforms. I initially wanted to give younger staff opportunities rather than directing myself, but I’ve ended up working alongside them longer than expected. With our fifth anniversary this year, we’re rethinking the company’s brand image and setting a new direction.” He said TEO has focused on two tracks: producing content for global distribution and building intellectual property that can become company assets. “We have many great creators, and everyone is doing their part,” he said. “From next year, there will be content where seeds bear fruit, and we’re starting to see global results little by little. Profitability matters, but the biggest dopamine for a PD is hearing, ‘You opened a new era.’ Just as ‘Culinary Class Wars’ opened an era for cooking programs, what matters is opening a new era. So we keep thinking: What do we open next? We’ll keep a company identity, but we want as much variety as possible in genres and content.” * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 00:06:09

Seiko Matsuda Makes Long-Awaited Korea Concert Debut With 45th Anniversary Tour Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda held her first concert in South Korea, 45 years after her debut, drawing fans across generations as renewed interest in her music has spread among younger listeners and longtime followers alike. The show took place on Feb. 22 at Inspire Arena in Incheon as part of the Inspire Concert Series #7, titled “Seiko Matsuda 45th Anniversary Concert Tour – Sing! Sing! Sing! in Korea.” It followed stops that included Saitama Super Arena and Japan’s Budokan, where the tour drew major attention. Matsuda debuted in 1980 with “Barefoot Season” and went on to set records in Japanese pop, including 24 consecutive No. 1 songs on the Oricon chart and cumulative album sales of 29.63 million. The article notes that at her Budokan concert last September, she expressed strong anticipation about visiting South Korea. She opened with “Blue Coral Reef,” one of her best-known songs among Korean fans, appearing in a white dress with pink ribbon details. She followed with “Heaven’s Kiss,” as the crowd responded with loud sing-alongs. Midway through the concert, she switched to a black dress and performed “Alice in the Country of Time,” “Pink Mozart” and “Cherry Blossom.” She also varied the staging by taking drumsticks and slinging on a guitar, prompting cheers from the audience. Addressing the crowd in Korean, she said, “Hello, I’m Seiko Matsuda. Have you been well? This is my first concert in Korea. Nice to meet you.” In an acoustic section, she interacted closely with her band and said she prepared the Korean greeting with longtime members for the Korea visit. The set included ballads such as “I Want to Be Loved,” “Eighteen” and “Seychelles Sunset.” During “Sweet Memories,” the venue fell quiet as the audience focused on her vocals. Near the end, she said, “I waited all day, excited to meet the Korean audience in person. I’m truly happy that you’re cheering me on with such warm eyes.” She then sang “Red Sweet Pea” with the crowd and closed with “Rock’n Rouge” and her debut song, “Barefoot Season.” The concert featured frequent audience choruses, underscoring the cross-border appeal of her catalog and leaving fans with what the article described as a long-promised meeting finally fulfilled. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 00:05:00

Author Kang Ji-young’s Korean-Rooted Characters Drive Global Interest in K-Thrillers A woman in her 50s with urinary incontinence is a cold-blooded professional killer. A bald, potbellied shop owner is an arms dealer. A seemingly ordinary college student is suddenly swept into a war among assassins. In Kang Ji-young’s thrillers, characters look familiar but rarely turn out to be what they seem. The same goes for settings: a neighborhood supermarket or butcher shop can be more than it appears. Kang’s novel “Mrs. Shim Is a Killer,” credited with helping open the door for “K-thrillers,” is set to be published in more than 20 countries in the first half of this year. In a recent interview at Seoul Chaekbogo in Jamsil, Kang said the overseas attention is “because the characters are Korean,” adding that “there also seems to be a culture forming worldwide that ‘Korean things are hip.’” The upcoming U.S. and U.K. editions highlight Korean elements, including an image of metal chopsticks and bilingual English-and-Korean text for the title and author name. Kang will begin a book tour March 28, starting in Paris and continuing to Lyon, Poland and Hungary. She called the results “very joyful,” but said she also feels “a sense of responsibility.” “I’m excited, but I’m worried, too. I was lucky to export one work, but my work can’t end up blocking the path for other writers,” she said. Kang works across genre fiction and literary fiction, as well as webtoons and web novels. Disney+ released the 2024 drama “A Shop for Killers,” based on her work “A Shop for a Killer,” starring Lee Dong-wook and Kim Hye-jun. After the success of Season 1, Season 2 will be released within the year. Her books are known for quickly drawing interest in adaptation rights. Readers cite vivid descriptions that make scenes easy to picture, along with black humor that can prompt a laugh even amid sharp violence. Kang said she does not plan stories with screen adaptations in mind. She attributes the strength of a “super IP” to everyday life. She writes on a strict schedule, sitting at her desk at 9 a.m. and ending manuscript work at 5:30 p.m. “There was a time when it was hard to survive if I didn’t write diligently,” she said. “I have a child. A kid can’t grow on dreams alone,” she said. “I worked hard. Until my late 30s, I held a job while writing novels. Writing becomes meals, academy tuition, and school lunch money. That process itself was a period of growth. I feel not only accomplishment but a lot of pride. I didn’t choose writing as a high-end hobby.” Twists on familiar people Kang’s characters often begin with people around her. “The female lead in ‘Gama-goe on a Giraffe’ borrows some of my younger sister,” she said. “Jeong Jin-man in ‘A Shop for a Killer’ is a stand-in for my father, and Shim Eun-on in ‘Mrs. Shim Is a Killer’ draws partly from my aunt. After losing her husband, she raised her siblings while running a butcher shop. I took the basic setup from that. That’s why readers can find pieces of ‘our mom’ or ‘my sibling’ in my work.” Then comes the reversal: the middle-aged woman becomes a knife-wielding assassin, and the potbellied man a major figure in arms trafficking. Kang also often portrays women in their 20s and 30s as resilient people who “keep walking forward to find a way out.” Early in her career, she said, most of her short-story protagonists were men and women were often reduced to victims of violence. “As I started writing novels, I thought, ‘As a woman, I should make women into active characters,’” she said. “That’s why many of my novel protagonists are young women just stepping into the world.” That approach also shapes the three-part “A Shop for a Killer,” which reads like a coming-of-age story as protagonist Jeong Ji-an collides with the world and grows tougher. “Even without landing a full-time job, I wanted to portray a woman who faces the world in her own way — not a beginner anymore, but an independent person,” Kang said. Kang linked that to her own 20s. Raised in Paju, she said she had to become independent after entering a university in Seoul. “Back then I worked part-time jobs relentlessly. I started working and earning money at 21,” she said. “It felt like the world was picking on me for no reason. At some point, my family felt unfamiliar. I started devoting myself to family after I had a child. That’s when I moved from being Jeong Ji-an, the niece, to Jeong Jin-man, the uncle.” Dangerously convincing lies Many characters die in Kang’s novels, yet the stories can feel oddly cathartic. “Doesn’t everyone have at least one person they want to kill?” she said. “Doesn’t everyone think at least once, ‘I want to kill them cleanly’ or ‘I want to get rid of them’?” she said. “I’m just carrying out, in a story, what’s hard to do in real life.” She said the same logic applies to suffocating relationships. In “Gama-goe on a Giraffe,” the protagonist cuts off family ties. “I wanted to tell readers, ‘If it’s harmful, you can cut it off,’” she said. “You have to find your own path to happiness. For people who can’t bring themselves to do it, I want to give them at least some vicarious satisfaction.” Kang recently finished the novella “Dokni.” Its protagonist is described as a composite of South Korean female serial killers including Go Yoo-jung, Lee Eun-hye, Eom In-sook and Kim Seon-ja. “There are many cases of killing someone they loved with poison, so I titled it ‘Dokni,’” she said. Through a woman in her 70s who is released on parole after 29 years and one month, Kang said she examines, from a skeptical perspective, “whether humans can truly be rehabilitated.” A separate work centered on a traditional Catholic exorcism rite is set to be published around summer. Kang said writing it was so difficult that she suffered sleep paralysis throughout the process. Often labeled a “young writer” or a “storyteller,” Kang, who is approaching 50, said she no longer cares about such descriptions. “I sometimes describe my job as ‘someone who cleverly lies without getting caught,’” she said. “I keep making lies that feel real, on a razor-thin boundary. I don’t care what I’m called. It’s enough if readers fall for the world I created.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-23 00:03:28

Eileen Gu Wins Olympic Halfpipe Gold Again at Milan-Cortina Games Eileen Gu of China won the women’s freestyle ski halfpipe at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, securing her second straight Olympic title in the event. Gu scored 94.75 in the final on Feb. 22 (Korea time) at Livigno Snow Park in Italy. China’s Li Fanghui took silver with 93.00, and Britain’s Zoe Atkin won bronze with 92.50. The final, originally scheduled for Feb. 21, was postponed a day because of heavy snow. Gu advanced to the final in fifth place from qualifying. She opened with 30.00, then jumped into first with 94.00 on her second run and improved to 94.75 on her third to seal the win. Gu had already won silver in slopestyle and big air at these Games, finishing with one gold and two silvers. Including the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she now has three golds and three silvers for six Olympic medals. The total gives Gu the most Olympic gold medals in freestyle skiing, men or women. Her six medals also move her past Mikael Kingsbury of Canada and Xu Mengtao of China, who each had five, for the most in the sport. Despite major differences among freestyle disciplines, Gu has reached the podium in every event she entered across her two Olympics. Born to an American father and a Chinese mother and competing for China, Gu was also known as the highest-earning athlete at these Games, with Forbes estimating her income over the past year at $23 million (about 33.3 billion won). At a news conference on Feb. 18, asked about disappointment over her two silvers, Gu said she is the most decorated female freestyle skier in Olympic history and said it was hard to agree with the view that she had missed out on medals. South Korea’s Kim Da-eun (Kyung Hee University) and Lee So-young (Sangdong High School) were eliminated in qualifying in women’s freeski halfpipe. In women’s snowboard halfpipe, South Korea’s Choi Ga-on (Sehwa High School) earlier won gold, the country’s first in a snow sport event.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-22 23:39:00

Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics Close; South Korea Finishes 13th, Seoul Court Sets Up Insurrection Appeals Panels First Olympics with 'two flames' heads into history The 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, staged for the first time with “two flames,” will close with a ceremony starting at 4:30 a.m. Korean time on the 23rd at the Verona Arena in Italy. It was the first Olympics in 20 years to be held in Italy, and the first to include two place names in a single official Games title. The opening ceremony featured athlete entries and torch events in both Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, with the cauldron lit simultaneously in two locations for the first time. With events spread out and some venues not completed until just before the opening, the Games began under concern. Once competition started, attention shifted to the athletes. Cross-country star Johannes Klaebo of Norway won six gold medals and collected his 11th career Winter Olympic gold, a record total, among other highlights. Verona, the site of the closing ceremony, is about 160 kilometers from Milan, which hosted the opening ceremony as well as skating and ice hockey events. The 80,000-seat Verona Arena is an amphitheater completed in A.D. 30 during the Roman Empire and once used for gladiator contests and hunts with wild animals. South Korea will have short track skaters Choi Min-jeong of Seongnam City Hall and Hwang Dae-heon of Gangwon Provincial Office serve as flag bearers. Choi won one gold and one silver at these Games, setting a South Korean Olympic record with seven career medals. Hwang won two silver medals, the best result among South Korea’s male athletes at the Games. South Korea ends 2026 Winter Olympics with 3 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze; 13th overall South Korea, which set a top-10 finish as its medal-table goal, ended the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics with what it called a partial success. As of the 22nd, South Korea had won three gold, four silver and three bronze medals to place 13th overall. Short track, expected to deliver at least two gold medals, met its target with two gold, three silver and two bronze. Snow events exceeded expectations with one gold, one silver and one bronze, after aiming for at least one medal. South Korea improved on its 2022 Beijing results of two gold, five silver and two bronze medals, when it finished 14th, but it did not reach the top 10. The team also earned its first Olympic medal in ski and snowboard events. Choi Ga-on of Sehwa Girls’ High School scored 90.25 points in the women’s snowboard halfpipe final, beating Chloe Kim of the United States, who scored 88.00 points while seeking a third straight title. Choi’s victory delivered South Korea’s first gold medal of the Games. In men’s snowboard alpine, Kim Sang-gyeom of High1 won silver, and Yoo Seung-eun of Seongbok High School took bronze in women’s snowboard big air, helping drive South Korea’s early medal push. The short track team outperformed a bleak outlook and piled up medals. Kim Gil-li, the youngest member of the women’s team and born in 2004, won two gold medals and one bronze, becoming South Korea’s only double gold medalist at these Games. South Korea gained momentum with a bronze by Lim Jong-eon of Goyang City Hall in the men’s 1,000 meters, a silver by Hwang in the men’s 1,500, and a bronze by Kim Gil-li in the women’s 1,000. The women’s 3,000 relay produced a dramatic comeback to win gold. On the final day of the sport, South Korea won silver in the men’s 5,000 relay, and Kim Gil-li and Choi Min-jeong took gold and silver in the women’s 1,500. Speed skating, which had been South Korea’s next-most successful Winter Olympic sport after short track, ended these Games without a medal. Vice minister Kim Dae-hyun vows push for snow-sport training facilities, new military winter team Kim Dae-hyun, second vice minister at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, visited the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics and pledged to work to improve conditions for South Korea’s athletes. Speaking on the 22nd at a South Korean team disbandment ceremony at Korea House set up at Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, Kim said, “As the vice minister in charge of sports, I have two policy takeaways.” He said he was grateful to athletes for strong performances in events such as snowboard halfpipe and big air, where there had been doubts about South Korea’s medal chances. But he added that he felt sorry after hearing athletes had trained abroad because there were no domestic facilities. “Once we return, I will consult with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, including President Yoo Seung-min, and also coordinate within the government to do our utmost to ensure training venues can be 마련ed,” he said. Kim also said discussions are underway to expand opportunities for winter-sport athletes to join the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps, known as Sangmu. “There are many summer sports in Sangmu, but for winter there is only biathlon. We are consulting with the Ministry of National Defense, and I am also requesting support from the minister and working hard,” he said. “I hope we can join forces so a winter team can be newly established in Sangmu.” Seoul High Court’s insurrection appeals panels to begin work on Yoon case Specialized panels at the Seoul High Court assigned to handle appeals for key figures involved in the Dec. 3 martial law incident will begin full operations, including the case of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of leading an insurrection, according to legal officials. According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Yoon Seong-sik, with Judges Min Seong-cheol and Lee Dong-hyeon) and Criminal Division 12 (Judges Lee Seung-cheol, Jo Jin-gu and Kim Min-a) were designated as the specialized insurrection panels and will start related work from the 23rd. The panels were established under the “Special Act on Criminal Procedures for Crimes Such as Insurrection, Foreign Aggression and Rebellion” (the law creating the specialized insurrection panels). They will handle Yoon’s case as well as appeals for major Cabinet members whose first-trial verdicts have been issued, including former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, who face charges such as participating in important duties. On the same day, two new panels will also be created at the Seoul Central District Court to exclusively handle first trials in insurrection cases. One panel will be led by Presiding Judges Jang Seong-hoon (Judicial Research and Training Institute class 30), Oh Chang-seop (class 32) and Ryu Chang-seong (class 33). The other will be led by Presiding Judges Jang Seong-jin (class 31), Jung Su-young (class 32) and Choi Young-gak (class 34). * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-22 22:03:00

South Korea’s Four-Man Bobsled Team Finishes Eighth as Olympic Schedule Ends South Korea’s national bobsleigh team wrapped up the country’s final event of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics with an eighth-place finish in the men’s four-man race. The South Korean sled piloted by Kim Jin-su, with Kim Hyeong-geun, Kim Seon-uk and Lee Geon-woo, placed eighth on Saturday (Korea time) at the Cortina Sliding Center in Italy, based on combined times from four heats. Kim’s crew posted a total of 2 minutes, 44.25 seconds over the first three heats, advancing to the fourth and final run reserved for the top 20 teams among 27 countries. Kim competed as a brakeman at the 2022 Beijing Games and reached the top 10 in his first Olympics as a pilot. A second South Korean sled, piloted by Seok Young-jin, finished 23rd after three heats and did not qualify for the final run. The race marked the last competition for the South Korean delegation at these Olympics. Germany swept the medals. Johannes Lochner’s team, which won gold in the two-man event, also took four-man gold to claim a second title at the Games. Francesco Friedrich’s team earned silver again after taking silver in the two-man race. Switzerland’s Michael Vogt won bronze. Germany finished the Games with six gold medals across sliding events — bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-22 21:51:00

Korea Meets Gold Target at Milan-Cortina Olympics, Calls for Better Facilities and Funding South Korea’s Olympic team held a wrap-up news conference to review its results at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics and outline sport-by-sport priorities. Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, and head of delegation Lee Soo-kyung attended the news conference Feb. 22 (Korea time) at Korea House in Milan. South Korea won three gold, four silver and three bronze medals, improving on its Beijing results of two gold, five silver and two bronze. Yoo cited meeting the team’s goal of three gold medals and said a full set of medals in snowboarding — one gold, one silver and one bronze — helped reduce the team’s heavy reliance on ice sports. He also pointed to poor training conditions as a key task going forward. Yoo said South Korea’s first Olympic gold in snowboarding was achieved through overseas training despite lacking basic facilities at home, such as a dedicated air mat, and called for policy-level support for facilities and budgets beyond what individual federations can provide. He also pledged a more detailed support system for speed skating, biathlon and cross-country skiing. Lee, who is also president of the Korea Skating Union, reviewed the performance of the national ice teams and said training methods and infrastructure need to be strengthened. Lee said the short track team showed signs of declining stamina as the competition went on despite strong technical ability, and said she plans to discuss training options with the athletes’ village within a framework that respects athletes’ rights. On speed skating, she cited limits of individualized training and problems caused by not reflecting European training conditions, and called for improving the poor domestic environment — including having only one speed skating rink — and for broader talks on systematic athlete development. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-22 21:45:45

Hyundai Motor Group Invests Millions in U.S. Robotics Software Startup FieldAI Hyundai Motor Group has invested millions of dollars in a U.S. robotics startup, industry sources said. According to the robotics industry on Feb. 22, Hyundai Motor Group recently made a multimillion-dollar investment in FieldAI, a U.S. robotics software startup. FieldAI develops AI software for robot control, with strengths in physical AI that helps robots move autonomously and carry out tasks. Its “Field Foundation Model” (FFM) is designed to help robots detect and assess risks in real time and complete autonomous missions in complex, unpredictable environments. FieldAI drew attention last year after raising more than $400 million from investors including Bezos Expeditions, Intel Capital and Nventures. Hyundai Motor Group has a broad robotics lineup, including the Atlas humanoid, the four-legged robot Spot and the mobility platform MobED. Analysts say combining Hyundai’s hardware with FieldAI’s software could create significant synergy. FieldAI has also maintained a partnership with Hyundai Motor Group robotics affiliate Boston Dynamics. FieldAI’s FFM has been installed on Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot and is being used at construction sites across Asia, Europe and North America. Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy Atlas at its HMGMA plant in Georgia around 2028 and expand its duties to parts assembly starting in 2030.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-22 21:45:15