South Korea’s First Olympic Snowboard Cross Racer Woo Subin Misses Round of 16 Woo Subin, the first South Korean athlete to compete in Olympic snowboard cross, failed to advance to the round of 16. Woo was disqualified after slipping midway through her heat in the women’s snowboard cross round-of-32 qualifying races at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Feb. 13 (Korea time) at Livigno Snow Park in Italy. She was listed as DNF (did not finish), ending her bid to move on, with the top two finishers in each heat advancing to the round of 16. Snowboard cross, added as an official Olympic event at the 2006 Turin Games, is raced on a course featuring jumps, moguls and banked turns. In seeding runs, Woo placed 29th out of 32 in the first run with 1 minute, 19.90 seconds, and ninth out of 12 in the second run with 1:17.82. She entered the round-of-32 races ranked 29th overall. In her heat, she fell to the back after the start. While trying to make up ground, she went down and was ruled DNF. Regardless of the result, she got back up and crossed the finish line, drawing applause from the crowd.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-13 23:48:00

Klaebo wins 10K freestyle for third gold at Milan-Cortina Olympics, ties Winter Games record Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway completed a cross-country skiing triple at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, earning his eighth career Olympic gold medal. Klaebo won the men’s 10-kilometer interval-start freestyle on Feb. 13 (Korean time) at the Tesero Cross-Country Stadium in Italy, finishing in 20 minutes, 36.2 seconds. He added the title to golds in the men’s skiathlon (10km+10km) and the men’s sprint classic at these Games. The victory gave Klaebo eight Olympic gold medals in total. He won three at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games (men’s sprint classic, men’s 4x10km relay and men’s sprint freestyle) and two at the 2022 Beijing Games (men’s sprint freestyle and men’s team sprint classic). Klaebo’s eight golds tie the all-time Winter Olympics record, matching biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and cross-country skiers Bjoern Daehlie and Marit Bjoergen, all of Norway. If Klaebo can also win long-distance events, he could set a new record for most Winter Olympic gold medals. At last year’s world championships, he won six golds, including the 10km classic, 20km skiathlon and 50km freestyle. The 10km freestyle was held in an interval-start format, with skiers starting at set time gaps and the fastest overall time determining the winner. Klaebo was 12th through the opening 1.8 kilometers, then surged over the final 1 kilometer to take gold. South Korea’s Lee Jun-seo of Gyeonggi Provincial Government finished in 24:25.4, placing 73rd among 113 competitors.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-13 23:03:00

Milan-Cortina 2026: South Korea’s Choi Ga-on to Receive 300 Million Won Bonus for Gold Choi Ga-on (Sehwa High School), South Korea’s first gold medalist of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, will receive a 300 million won ($) bonus from the Korea Ski and Snowboard Association. Competing Feb. 13 (Korea time) at Livigno Snow Park in Italy, Choi scored 90.25 points to win the women’s snowboard halfpipe final, beating American Chloe Kim, who scored 88.00. The victory gave Choi South Korea’s first gold of the Milan-Cortina Games and the first Winter Olympic gold medal in Korean skiing. The association has set medal bonuses of 300 million won for gold, 200 million won for silver and 100 million won for bronze. As the gold medalist, Choi will receive 300 million won. Since 2014, with Lotte Group serving as the association’s lead sponsor, the bonus program has expanded. For the Olympics, world championships, World Cup events, the Youth Olympics and junior world championships, the association pays bonuses not only for medals but also for finishes up to sixth place. Olympic gold medalists also receive 63 million won in government prize money and a performance-based pension from the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation. Depending on evaluation points, an Olympic gold medalist can receive 1 million won per month or a lump sum of 67.2 million won.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-13 21:00:00

IBK Industrial Bank union ends CEO work blockade after deal on unpaid compensation IBK Industrial Bank of Korea and its union have agreed to pay previously unpaid allowances, ending a 22-day effort to block new CEO Jang Min-young from reporting to work. The union said Feb. 13 it reached a final agreement with management on the 2025 wage negotiations and related issues, and called off the blockade. The deal includes normalizing the handling of overdue compensatory leave, increasing the employee stock ownership plan, expanding practical compensation, improving management evaluations, and reducing workloads. Union Chairman Ryu Jang-hee said, “Thanks to CEO Jang’s efforts and a decision by the Financial Services Commission, we were able to reach a good settlement on the key issue and union demand of normalizing the overdue compensatory leave problem,” adding that the union welcomed the commission’s “responsible decision.” The dispute began after employees said they could not use leave accrued from overtime and demanded it be paid out as allowances. IBK, which operates under a total wage cap system, had granted compensatory leave instead of overtime pay, but the leave accumulated to the point that workers could not use it freely. With labor and management agreeing in principle to pay allowances, the two sides are expected to discuss the payment amount and timing after the Lunar New Year holiday. A union official said details are being reviewed with the Financial Services Commission.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-13 19:00:00

KORAIL Moves Toward Tender to Replace Aging KTX-I Fleet KORAIL is moving up the timeline to replace KTX trains that have been in service for more than 20 years, with bidding procedures expected to begin as early as this summer. The project is expected to total about 5 trillion won, raising the stakes for rail manufacturers. According to the rail industry on Thursday, KORAIL is working through administrative steps to launch the KTX-I replacement project. After finalizing details such as the tender method, it plans to post the procurement notice within this year. The project would replace 46 KTX-I trainsets introduced in 2004, totaling 920 cars. Although their expected service life runs to 2033, the company needs to move this year because building and testing new trains typically takes more than seven years. Industry officials expect the procurement notice to come around July, when the second half of the year begins. They say that from the tender notice through technical evaluation and contract signing typically takes at least four months, making that timing suitable if the government aims to finalize a contract by year’s end. A KORAIL official said the company has begun detailed administrative work needed for the replacement but that the exact tender schedule has not been set. The official added that it could proceed “around summer, when the weather gets warmer.” With the KTX-I replacement expected to exceed 5 trillion won, companies are stepping up competition. The race is widely expected to pit Hyundai Rotem, emphasizing high-speed rail technology, against Woojin Industrial Systems, which is highlighting price competitiveness and overseas consortium partners. The two have faced off repeatedly since a 2023 re-bid for the KTX-Eum (EMU-320). Hyundai Rotem has been positioning itself with next-generation high-speed rail technology. In December, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it completed development of core technologies for the EMU-370, a next-generation high-speed train with a commercial operating speed of 370 kph and a design top speed of 407 kph, through a national R&D program. Last month, Hyundai Rotem also shipped early the first trainset of its second-generation EMU-320, designed for 320 kph service. Woojin Industrial Systems, which began as a Hyundai Rotem partner, has built expertise over more than 50 years producing and supplying electrical components for rail vehicles. Backed by contracts in Seoul’s urban rail projects, it has sought to expand into high-speed rail. In 2023, it teamed with Spanish train maker Talgo and entered the 760 billion won KTX-Eum bid on its own, but lost after falling behind on technical points, scoring 79.30. It later tried again in a 1 trillion won SRT project for distributed-power high-speed trains (EMU-320) ordered by SR, forming a consortium with Talgo. The bid failed after it scored 0.8 points below the 85-point threshold required to pass the technical evaluation. Industry watchers say Woojin has since strengthened its capabilities, making this year’s tender a key test. “The KTX replacement is not just a vehicle purchase; it is a project that will shape Korea’s high-speed rail competitiveness for the next 30 years,” a rail industry official said. “Depending on the outcome, significant changes are expected in the structure of the domestic rail industry.” 2026-02-13 18:03:00

Actress Hwang Jung-eum’s Itaewon home hit with court-ordered provisional seizure Actress Hwang Jung-eum’s former agency, Y.One Entertainment, has sought a provisional seizure of a luxury single-family home she owns in Itaewon. In a statement released on the 13th, Y.One said it “respects the court’s decision” regarding the ongoing legal process. It added that it is difficult to confirm or comment on specifics at this stage because doing so could affect judicial proceedings, and said it would continue to respond in good faith in line with the process. Earlier on the 13th, SPOTV News reported that Y.One recently applied for a provisional seizure of the land and building of Hwang’s Itaewon home. According to the report, the Seoul Central District Court accepted the request on the 10th, with the claimed amount reported at 282 million won. Hwang bought the home in 2020 for 4.6 billion won. Hwang was indicted without detention last year on allegations of embezzling about 4.3 billion won in company funds, and in September she was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years. She also faced controversy after it was revealed that she set up a one-person agency, “Hunminjeongeum Enter,” in 2022 and did not register it as a popular culture and arts planning business for four years.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-13 17:18:00

SK chair meets US big tech leaders for HMB4 pitch SEOUL, February 13 (AJP) -SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won commanding the world's most-sought memory chip unit held a string of meetings with big-tech leaders in the United States to strengthen leadership in AI chip supply chain amid tension with Samsung Electronics over HBM4 supply. His business meetings included all the big tech names Nvidia, Broadcom, Microsoft, Meta and Google engaged in AI chip accelerators, as he pushed to expand partnerships centered on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and next-generation AI infrastructure. Chey first met Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, in Santa Clara on Feb. 5 (local time). The two exchanged views on global AI industry trends, demand for advanced semiconductors and cooperation on next-generation GPUs and HBM. Ahead of the meeting, Chey reviewed SK hynix’s supply strategy and shifts in the AI ecosystem, the company said. On the following day, Chey visited Broadcom’s headquarters in San Jose for talks with CEO Hock Tan. Their discussions focused on the medium- to long-term outlook for the memory market, supply strategies and investment cooperation. The two sides also explored ways to reflect SK hynix’s HBM technology in Broadcom products from the design stage, as Broadcom develops customized AI accelerators and networking solutions. On Feb. 10, Chey met Satya Nadella in Seattle to discuss expanding cooperation beyond semiconductors to include AI data centers and cloud-based solutions, reflecting SK Group’s broader push into AI infrastructure and services. The same day, Chey held talks with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in San Jose on long-term memory supply and next-generation AI infrastructure. SK hynix shared its HBM strategy optimized for Meta’s in-house AI accelerator project, MTIA, and discussed early alignment of technology road maps for products beyond HBM4 and HBM4E. On the final day of his trip, Feb. 11, Chey met Sundar Pichai at Google’s campus in San Jose. The two agreed that securing memory supply has become a key bottleneck in expanding AI data centers and that stabilizing medium- to long-term supply is critical, as production capacity cannot be expanded quickly. They also discussed cooperation on custom HBM and future HBM4-based chips aligned with Google’s AI roadmap. SK hynix said the meetings underscore its efforts to deepen partnerships with global tech companies based on its AI memory leadership. The company aims to expand HBM supply while building cooperation that spans next-generation chips, data centers and cloud infrastructure. 2026-02-13 16:42:43

Olympic Gold Medalist Choi Ga-on to Receive Omega Watch Worth 9.5 Million Won Choi Ga-on (Sehwa High School), the first gold medalist for South Korea at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, is set to receive an Omega watch valued at 9.5 million won. Competing Feb. 13 (Korea time) at Livigno Snow Park in Italy, Choi scored 90.25 to win the women’s snowboard halfpipe final, beating Chloe Kim of the United States, who scored 88.00. The victory made Choi South Korea’s first gold medalist of these Games and delivered the first Winter Olympic gold medal in Korean skiing. Omega, the Olympics’ official timekeeper, said on Jan. 26 it would present an Olympic Edition watch to the first South Korean athlete to win an individual gold medal at Milan-Cortina. That recipient will be Choi. The gift is the “Speedmaster 38mm Olympic Edition” timepiece. It features a “finger trace” pattern inspired by the Milan-Cortina 2026 emblem, a sub-dial finish evoking ski slopes, and a caseback engraved with a Milan-Cortina 2026 medallion, Omega said. Omega said the award is meant to honor “the pinnacle of the Olympic spirit — excellence, precision and dedication to sport — and to celebrate the one athlete who reached the top first.” Omega began awarding Olympic Edition watches at the 2012 London Olympics. Jin Jong-oh received one after winning South Korea’s first gold medal there in the 10-meter air pistol, two days after the opening ceremony. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, short track speed skaters Hwang Dae-heon and Choi Min-jeong received the watches after winning the first men’s and women’s gold medals for South Korea, respectively.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-13 16:39:00

Park Bo-gum Shares Milan Photos During Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics Actor Park Bo-gum posted photos from Milan, where the 2026 Winter Olympics are being held. Park Bo-gum shared several images on social media on Feb. 13 with the caption, “IT’s Milano – IT’s My Vibe.” He also added the hashtag “Milano Cortina 2026.” In the photos, Park wears casual outfits and looks into the camera. Online commenters responded with messages such as “So lovely,” “Seeing you happy makes me happy,” and “Park Bo-gum, you’re so cute.” Park is appearing on the tvN variety show “Bogum Magical.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-13 16:36:00

KOSPI least hit by broad foreigners' regional pullout ahead of long holiday SEOUL, February 13 (AJP) -South Korean shares ended slightly lower Thursday after touching fresh record highs, the least affected in the region by broad foreign withdrawals from East Asian markets ahead of a lengthy Lunar New Year break next week. The benchmark KOSPI fell 0.28 percent to close at 5,507.01, snapping a four-day winning streak. The index climbed as high as 5,583.74 during the session, extending its record, before retreating in afternoon trading. Market flows remained volatile. Foreign investors sold a net 1.20 trillion won worth of shares, while individual and institutional investors posted modest net buying. Heavyweight stocks were mixed. Samsung Electronics gained 1.46 percent to 181,200 won, breaking above the 180,000-won level for the first time. SK hynix slipped 0.9 percent after briefly reclaiming the 900,000-won mark. Technology and battery-related shares underperformed, with LG Energy Solution and secondary battery stocks posting sharp losses, while selected industrial names showed relative resilience. On the secondary board, the KOSDAQ dropped 1.77 percent to 1,106.08, pressured by broad-based selling from foreign and institutional investors. In currency trading, the won weakened, with the dollar rising 3.30 won to 1,445.80, adding to cautious market sentiment. Postelection euphoria faded in Tokyo, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 losing 1.21 percent to 56,941.97. China’s Shanghai Composite slid 1.2 percent to 4,084.55, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.85 percent to 26,532.42. Looking ahead, Tokyo will operate as usual next week, while Seoul will reopen on Thursday, Hong Kong on Friday and Shanghai on Feb. 24 after the Lunar New Year holidays. 2026-02-13 16:11:00