Boy band Seventeen completes three-month tour in Japan

SEOUL -- Multinational K-pop boy band Seventeen has completed its Japan tour that started in September. The group attracted about 515,000 fans through 12 concerts at in five cities, including Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. The 13-member band debuted in May 2015 and won the "World Performer Award" at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), an annual music festival in Hong Kong. Seventeen consists of three subgroups -- hip-hop, vocal, and performance. The group made its debut i

December 18, 2023

Seoul's iconic palace walls vandalized despite high security

SEOUL -- The walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main palace of the Joseon dynasty (1392~1897), located in the heart of Seoul were vandalized with spray paint despite the palace area being one of the most heavily guarded areas in the capital city. Gyeongbokgung is an iconic palace in Seoul that was visited by some 3.4 million people in 2022. The area near the Blue House, the former presidential office, remains a high-security area with a score of closed-circuit television (CCTV) came

December 18, 2023

LG Innotek develops wireless battery management system for electric vehicles

SEOUL -- LG Innotek, the electrical component-making wing of South Korea's LG Group, has developed a wireless battery management system for electric vehicles. The battery management system (BMS) is the core of EV technology that manages the safety, charging, and discharge of electricity. The electric component maker said that the company developed a new wireless battery management system with upgraded battery performance. The BMS is the heart of an EV. It monitors the voltage, c

December 18, 2023

BTS member V to join special counter-terrorism unit

SEOUL -- BTS member V is set to join South Korea's military police unit specializing in counter-terrorism operations and protecting high-profile individuals. The 27-year-old would be deployed to the "Special Duty Team" after completing a five-week basic military training at an army boot camp and an additional three-week training related to the military police missions. Males aged 18 or older must fulfill their mandatory military service of about 18 months unless th

December 18, 2023

N. Korea fires projectile suspected of ICBM into East Sea

SEOUL -- North Korea has fired a projectile, suspected of an intercontinental ballistic missile, into the East Sea, one day after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile on December 17, the 12th anniversary of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death. In 2023, Pyongyang fired a total of five intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), including "Hawseong-18," a solid-propellant rocket launched in July. A solid-propellant rocket uses solid-type fuels instead of li

December 18, 2023

East Asian esports competition takes place in S. Korea's southern port city

SEOUL -- "Esports Championships East Asia," a cybersport competition between South Korea, Japan, and China, has started in Yeosu, South Korea's southern port city known for its scenic surroundings. A total of 69 professional gamers from the three countries will compete in four different games -- League of Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile, Apex Legends, and eFootball. The annual tournament started in 2021 is hosted by the governments of the three East Asian nations. China

December 16, 2023

S. Korea to stop operation of COVID-19 screening centers

SEOUL -- South Korea will stop the operation of COVID-19 screening centers, about four years after the country was hit by the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. South Korea operated some 500 screening centers across the country since February 2020 to establish a frontline against the infectious disease that infected more than 34 million people and killed more than 35,000 people. The centers offered free polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for anyone who showed s

December 15, 2023

SM BEXEL starts mass production of micro lithium ampoule military batteries

SEOUL -- SM BEXEL, the battery-making wing of South Korea's No. 2 bulk carrier operator SM Group, has started the mass production of micro lithium ampoule military batteries. The South Korean battery maker well known for its long-lasting AA and AAA batteries as well as lithium-ion cells injected some seven billion won ($5.4 million) in March 2023 to establish a military battery-making facility with an annual capacity of 2.5 million cells. The battery maker said that the mass

December 15, 2023

Samsung Electronics to release AI laptop 'Galaxy Book4 series' in January 2024

SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics will release an artificial intelligence-based laptop "Galaxy Book4" in January 2024. The new laptop series, equipped with U.S. technology giant Intel's neural processing unit processor, can autonomously process various computational tasks without depending on cloud services. Without network or communication, AI laptops can handle computation using AI chips, which incorporate AI deep learning compilers to create the best working code for max

December 15, 2023

KAVKAS appoints Jeonbuk University Professor Ryu Kown-ha as new president

SEOUL -- Koreanischer Altstipendiaten Verein der Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAVKAS), an organization of South Korean scholars who obtained their doctoral degrees with scholarships from Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, has appointed a new president. Through a general meeting, KAVKAS said on December 15 that Professor Ryu Kwon-ha was appointed as the scholar association's new president. The 62-year-old professor from Jeonbuk University's Department of Media Communicati

December 15, 2023