Rapper Jay Park appointed as ambassador for global luxury brand Gucci

SEOUL -- Gucci, a high-end luxury fashion house in Italy, has selected rapper Jay Park as its global ambassador. The 36-year-old, known for his hip-hop label AOMG, has participated in the global brand's fashion show held at a traditional Korean royal palace in central Seoul in May 2023. AOMG has one of the strongest lineups of artists in South Korea's hip-hop scene. In August 2021, the label held a non-face-to-face extended reality (XR) concert for global hip-hop fans amid t

November 14, 2023

Kakao to introduce new business plans with lower royalty fees for affiliated taxi companies

SEOUL -- Kakao Mobility, the mobility service wing of South Korea's web service giant Kakao, will introduce a new service plan for affiliated taxi business operators and individual taxi drivers that would offer a lowered royalty fee of less than three percent. The current plan demands a royalty fee of about 20 percent from affiliated taxi companies and drivers. Kakao Taxi was first introduced to South Korea in 2015. The service is now integrated into Kakao T, Kakao Mobility'

November 14, 2023

Hyundai shares future vision of software-defined vehicle-centered driving experience

SEOUL -- Hyundai auto group has shared the carmaker's vision that is centered on the driving experience of software-defined vehicles. The auto group revealed a roadmap in 2022 to reveal its plan to transform all vehicles to vehicles that can be continuously upgraded and have new features added through the development of software. A software-defined vehicle (SDV) is a future-generation car that constantly evolves to remain up to date. New vehicle functions can be added or existin

November 14, 2023

Urban hydrogen-electric tram tested in southeastern industrial city

SEOUL -- An urban hydrogen-electric tram was demonstrated in South Korea's southeastern industrial port city of Ulsan as part of a state program to commercialize hydrogen-powered trains. The project, designed to establish green mobility infrastructure and promote urban trams, is led by Hyundai Rotem, a train-making subsidiary of South Korea's Hyundai auto group. Urban trams disappeared in Korea in 1968. After the first tram line started its operation in Seoul in 1898, tram n

November 14, 2023

S. Korean President and Chinese leader to visit San Francisco for APEC summit

SEOUL -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will embark on a three-day journey to San Francisco to attend a summit meeting for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, an economic forum that involves 21 member countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The inter-governmental forum will also be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Tensions between Seoul and Beijing escalated in 2017 due to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system by US troops in South

November 14, 2023

S. Korea to showcase homemade light-armed helicopter in UAE

SEOUL -- At a global air show in Dubai, South Korea's state arms procurement agency will showcase its light-armed helicopter, designed to replace an aging fleet of light helicopters such as MD500s and AH-1S Cobra. At the biennial event, sponsored by the United Arab Emirates government, more than 1,400 companies from 95 countries will present technologies in aviation, astronomy, and military capabilities. The light-armed helicopter (LAH) was developed by South Korean aircraft mak

November 13, 2023

Southern resort island to export tangerines to New Zealand for first time

SEOUL -- The southern resort island of Jeju will export "Gyul," tangerines which are well-known winter season specialty products of Jeju, to New Zealand for the first time since South Korea and New Zealand engaged in trade negotiations of tangerines in 1999. Gyul was farmed in Jeju since the fifth century and the citrus fruit was highly regarded as a luxury product by royal families and nobles throughout the history of Korea. Tangerines are now South Koreans' favorite

November 13, 2023

BTS agency selects veteran content producer Isaac Lee to lead subsidiary in Mexico

SEOUL -- Isaac Lee, a Colombian-American content creator who produced the Netflix crime thriller series "El Chapo," has been picked to lead a Mexico-based subsidiary of Hybe, the agency of BTS. The veteran producer will create content tailored to the Latin American market and collaborate with global agencies. Data released by Hybe showed that the Latin American music market reached about $1.3 billion in 2022, up 26.4 percent from a year ago. Spanish language-based songs

November 13, 2023

Kakao Mobility to discuss lowering service royalty fee with taxi industry officials

SEOUL -- Kakao Mobility, the mobility service wing of South Korea's web service giant Kakao, will engage in talks with taxi officials to discuss possible changes that could be made to the existing service brokerage fee of "Kakao Taxi," the country's favorite smartphone taxi-hailing service. Kakao Taxi was first introduced to South Korea in 2015. The service is now integrated into Kakao T, Kakao Mobility's one-stop mobility service app with some 12 million month

November 13, 2023

Number of camping sites in S. Korea increases to record-high in 3Q 2023

SEOUL -- The total number of camping sites in South Korea has reached a record high of some 3,600 in the third quarter of 2023, thanks to the increased population of campers who became attracted to the outdoor hobby during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit South Korea in early 2020, the country rolled out strict quarantine guidelines that virtually prohibited groups of more than four people from gathering in indoor environments. Many people

November 13, 2023