Tag - south-korea

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

SOUTH KOREA

The DEEPX booth at the 2025 Korea Tech Festival in Seoul on Dec. 4
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 22, 2026
South Korea launches landmark laws to regulate artificial intelligence
Seoul hopes its new AI Basic Act will position the country as a leader ‍in the field, taking effect in South Korea sooner than a comparable ‍effort in Europe.
A customer at a market in Seoul. South Korea's GDP contracted 0.3% in the three months through December from the previous quarter, the Bank of Korea said Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 22, 2026
South Korea’s surprise contraction points to broad fragility
The slowdown underscores how policy options to stimulate growth are constrained by a wobbly currency and mounting financial risks.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump review an honor guard ahead of a bilateral meeting at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo on Oct. 28.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 22, 2026
Takaichi’s strengths and the need for ‘strategic signaling’
The challenge facing Japanese diplomacy lies in strategic signaling: how to communicate intentions and capabilities in an increasingly unstable international environment.
Former South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (center) arrives at the Seoul Central District Court for his first sentencing trial in the insurrection case in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 21, 2026
South Korean ex-PM Han gets 23 years jail for martial law role
The sentence is eight years longer than prosecutors’ demand.
A South Korean military guard post near the Demilitarized Zone
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 21, 2026
South Korea raids suspects over drone flights into North
One man has claimed responsibility for the infiltration, saying he did so to detect radiation levels from the North’s Pyongsan uranium processing facility.
Visitors try out Naver Cloud’s AI at South Korea’s Independent AI Foundation Model competition in Seoul, on Dec. 30. Naver Cloud was later eliminated from the competition.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 20, 2026
South Korea kicks off ‘AI Squid Game’ in bid to compete with U.S. and China
The event, designed to identify the leaders in the country’s bid to become an AI powerhouse, is ruthless, like the Netflix show.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for his arrival for final arguments in his insurrection trial at a court in Seoul on Jan. 13.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2026
The cautionary tale of Yoon Suk Yeol and the ‘abuse of power’
South Koreans use the strength of their democracy to impose checks against executive overreach.
“Ground,” an underground installation added to Museum SAN in 2025, was codesigned by architect Tadao Ando and sculptor Antony Gormley.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 18, 2026
Tadao Ando’s ongoing architecture dialogue with Museum SAN
Since Museum SAN opened in 2013, Tadao Ando has returned three times to design additional buildings and spaces.
South Korea’s then-President Yoon Suk Yeol in November 2024. Yoon was impeached and stripped of office over a shock declaration of martial law.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2026
South Korea’s Yoon gets jail term in first of series of rulings
The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of unlawfully obstructing authorities’ attempts to arrest him last year, and abuse of power.
The head priest of Horyuji temple greets Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2026
Takaichi and Lee beat the drums for better bilateral ties
Among the discussed items were cooperation to promote regional stability, economic security, the complete denuclearization of North Korea and transnational crime.
BTS’s comeback has been overshadowed by romance rumors, exposing the clash between K-pop’s obsessive superfan culture and the artists’ right to love freely as the industry expands globally.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2026
K-pop stars should be allowed to love
The controversy that has fired up a small but vocal fandom centers on whether two of the industry’s biggest stars, Jungkook of BTS and Winter of aespa, are in a relationship.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s China visit before securing Japan and South Korea’s support weakens Canada’s leverage in dealings with Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2026
Canada undermines its own China engagement
Carney’s decision reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of how middle powers must engage with Beijing in an era of intensifying great power competition.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and chief priest Shokaku Furuya see off South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at Horyu-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 14, 2026
Rich in symbolism, Takaichi-Lee talks highlight strong Japan-South Korea ties
The amicable environment was all the more notable considering that the conservative Takaichi and liberal Lee sit on opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Michael ByungJu Kim (center), co-founder and chairman of MBK Partners, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 14, 2026
Buyout billionaire Kim wins court fight over arrest bid
South Korean prosecutors are investigating the billionaire co-founder of buyout firm MBK Partners and three others on charges including fraud.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung raise their drumsticks after a drum session following the two leaders' summit talks in Nara on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 14, 2026
Takaichi and Lee drum up excitement for closer South Korea-Japan ties
Following their talks, the two leaders held a jam session to the songs “Golden,” from the Netflix series “KPop Demon Hunters,” and K-pop supergroup BTS’ hit song “Dynamite.”
Yoon Suk Yeol, then the president of South Korea, in Seoul on Sept. 14, 2022. A special counsel asked a court in Seoul on Tuesday to sentence Yoon to death.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 14, 2026
South Korean prosecutors demand death penalty for former leader Yoon
Yoon triggered a political crisis when he announced an end to civilian rule in December 2024 and sent troops to parliament to enforce it.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the start of their meeting in the city of Nara on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2026
Takaichi and South Korea’s Lee to take ties to ‘new heights’ amid Japan-China rift
The two leaders agreed to boost cooperation on economic security and reached a deal on DNA testing for Korean wartime laborers who perished in Japan.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, in October in Gyeongju, South Korea
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 11, 2026
Takaichi and Lee set for talks on cementing ties as China-Japan dispute simmers
Despite a stated goal of strengthening ties between Tokyo and Seoul, the meeting comes in the looming shadow of the ongoing row with Beijing.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arrives at the Vostochny Сosmodrome before a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, in Russia's far eastern Amur region in September 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 11, 2026
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong urges South Korea to investigate drone incidents
Kim ‍said she personally appreciates Seoul for making a wise decision to announce its official stance that it has no intention of provocation.
These images taken on Jan. 4 and released as a combination photo on Saturday shows the wreckage of a drone that North Korea claims originated from South Korea and was brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets after violating North Korean airspace.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 10, 2026
North Korea accuses South of another drone incursion
South Korea said it had no record of the flight, and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the drone in the photos was “not a model operated by our military.”
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER