All posts tagged: Koreas

South Korea’s stock market plunges as AI-driven boom fades | Economy

South Korea’s stock market plunges as AI-driven boom fades | Economy

Published by Sam Flores

Published On 29 Jul 202629 Jul 2026 South Korean stocks have dropped for a second consecutive session, with Seoul’s equity market losing about $2.18 trillion in value. Tuesday’s drop continued on Wednesday, putting the market on course for its steepest monthly drop on record. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Investors are suffering losses following a sudden market plunge fuelled by reduced interest in chipmakers, which had previously enjoyed strong growth driven by AI investments. “If you look at what is falling in the market, it has been the stocks in which you have the most leverage,” said Frank Benzimra, head of Asia equity strategy at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. “It’s very difficult to say when will this selloff end, but at the moment, it’s definitely not the trade where we want to be.” The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 index dropped as much as 12.6 percent before trimming some losses to close down 6 percent, extending Tuesday’s near-11 percent rout. The slide has erased almost 40 percent of the index’s value from a …

Korea’s robot umpires reduce favorable calls for star players

Korea’s robot umpires reduce favorable calls for star players

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. When it comes to making fair calls, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) deploys robots. The nation’s professional league added a fleet of so-called robot umpires to the field during its 2024 season, hoping to even out the playing field. Called the Automatic Ball-Strike system (ABS), it utilizes pitch-tracking sensors and camera arrays to quickly analyze when a pitch crosses the strike zone—not uncanny machines wearing catcher’s gear. The ABS data is then presented to the human home plate umpire, who announces their call based on the additional analysis. ABS is designed to offer more accurate decisions while reducing overall bias in games, but did it deliver? Two years later, researchers at the University of Michigan (UM) say effects are already clear—although not necessarily …

The Download: South Korea’s hottest bachelors, and advancing eye transplants

The Download: South Korea’s hottest bachelors, and advancing eye transplants

Published by skeptic

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. South Korea’s hottest new bachelors are chip workers Baek, a 35-year-old manager at the South Korean semiconductor titan SK Hynix, was enrolled in a matchmaking company a year ago. In a move typical of anxious South Korean parents, his mother signed him up, hoping to find a good wife for her son. Lately, says Baek, he and his coworkers are having better luck finding dates—perhaps because of the dazzling bonuses they just got. Flush with eye-popping profits from the AI chip boom, SK Hynix agreed to pay 10% of operating profits to employees, which translates to an extra $476,000 per employee this year. Samsung workers received a similar deal this May. With their newfound wealth, chip workers like Baek have become the most sought-after bachelors and bachelorettes in South Korea.  Discover how AI chip profits are transforming South Korea’s dating market—and stoking anxieties. —Michelle Kim A device that revives eyeballs from …

The Download: South Korea’s hottest bachelors, and advancing eye transplants

South Korea’s hottest new bachelors are chip workers

Published by skeptic

In South Korea, matchmaking companies evaluate their clients on a long list of criteria such as education, job, income, looks, and family background, including whether their aging parents have saved enough for retirement. In an economy where housing prices and child care costs are soaring, competition for jobs is fierce, and the social safety net is thin, a good job is the ultimate dating credential—all the more coveted at a time when many young South Koreans are forgoing marriage and children altogether, seeing family life as an unaffordable dream. Every client at Sunoo gets a spouse rating, determined by an algorithm that assigns scores for each criterion. Since their hefty bonuses were announced, the job ratings of Samsung employees have risen from 80 to 84, while those of SK Hynix employees climbed from 78 to 82. Scores above 90 are reserved for doctors and lawyers. Long prized as paragons of prestige and wealth, they’re now close to being overtaken by chip workers. A score of 99, the highest possible rating, is earmarked for heads of …

New Museum and Korea’s Ulsan Art Museum Announce Partnership

New Museum and Korea’s Ulsan Art Museum Announce Partnership

Published by Jenni Sidey

Though separated by roughly 6,000 miles, the New Museum and Korea’s Ulsan Art Museum have never been closer. The two institutions today announced a multi-year partnership as part of the Hyundai Translocal Series, an initiative by the Hyundai Motor Company. The collaboration begins with a new commission by Singaporean multimedia artist and writer Ho Tzu Nyen. The work will be installed in the glass elevators of the New Museum’s recently inaugurated OMA redesign, and in Ulsan, a coastal city north of Busan.  Related Articles Ho is one of Singapore’s most visible living artists, having represented the city-state at the 2011 Venice Biennale with his multi-channel video installation The Cloud of Unknowing. The work interweaves South and Southeast Asian mythologies and histories with Western cultural touchstones—from canonical artists to sacred texts—often with a deliberate sense of unease. In 2024, he was awarded the Chanel Next Prize and was the subject of a mid-career survey at the Singapore Art Museum, which brought together two-decades worth of animation, film, and performance. In a joint statement, Regan Grusy, acting …

The Download: the first brain implant power user and South Korea’s AI obsession

The Download: the first brain implant power user and South Korea’s AI obsession

Published by skeptic

This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US says it restricted Anthropic AI over foreign intelligence risksCommerce chief Lutnick said he acted over national security fears. (Reuters $)+ Following the ban, Anthropic disabled access to its new models. (BBC)+ Both sides are increasingly desperate for a resolution. (WSJ $) 2 DeepSeek just became China’s most valuable startupIt raised $7 billion, the largest-ever first-round funding for an AI startup. (The Information $)+ The deal values DeepSeek at over $50 billion. (WSJ $)+ Its unusual structure preserves founder control. (Reuters $)+ DeepSeek’s new flagship model has caused a stir. (MIT Technology Review) 3 Alibaba has unveiled AI models for robots amid a shift from chatbotsIt’s joined a global race to move AI into the physical world. (SCMP)+ AI is learning to understand its surroundings. (MIT Technology Review) 4 Fox is buying …

North Korea’s Kim Voices Full Support for Russia, Sends National Day Message to Putin, KCNA Says

North Korea’s Kim Voices Full Support for Russia, Sends National Day Message to Putin, KCNA Says

Published by Sam Flores

SEOUL, June 12 (Reuters) – North Korean ⁠leader ⁠Kim Jong Un ⁠sent a congratulatory message to Russian President ​Vladimir Putin on Russia’s National Day, voicing full support for ‌Moscow’s domestic and foreign ‌policies, state media KCNA said on Friday. Kim ⁠said ties ⁠between North Korea and Russia were strengthening into ​an alliance based on a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, and pledged to “always be with” Russia, KCNA reported. Separately, Russian and ​North Korean officials visited a monument and cemetery of ⁠fallen ⁠Soviet Army fighters to ⁠mark ​Russia’s National Day, while Russia’s embassy hosted a reception for ​North Korean ⁠senior officials, KCNA said. Ties between the two countries have been deepening amid North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. Officials in ⁠Washington and Seoul have accused Pyongyang of supplying artillery shells, ⁠missiles and other military materials for use in Ukraine, though Moscow and Pyongyang denied arms transfers. The two countries signed the strategic partnership treaty during Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June 2024, and also agreed to open a key …

Bodhisattvas in South Korea’s National Museum : NPR

Bodhisattvas in South Korea’s National Museum : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

The National Museum of Korea is a short walk from my home, set among bamboo groves and pagodas. Inside, the Room of Quiet Contemplation houses two of the nation’s most treasured artworks. This gilt-bronze bodhisattva statue from the early seventh century sits along with one other bodhisattva dating to the sixth century. Both are placed on a round platform in the dimly lit room. Ambient sounds suggesting deep outer — or inner — space play in a loop. The statues’ graceful outlines and cascading folds of clothes all radiate elegant simplicity. Their eyes are half shut, mouths in a faint smile, with two fingers resting on their right cheeks. Their right legs are folded, while their left legs descend toward the floor. Their eyes evoke deep contemplation of the transience of life. The smiles, according to experts on Buddhism and Buddhist art, suggest a realization of truth, and the legs represent a transition into action, to liberate all sentient beings. Visitors can scan a code to hear Blackpink singer Jisoo offer her understanding too: “This …

Exit Polls Suggest Landslide Win by South Korea’s Ruling Liberal Party in Local Elections

Exit Polls Suggest Landslide Win by South Korea’s Ruling Liberal Party in Local Elections

Published by Sam Flores

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Exit polls suggested that South Korea’s ruling liberal party was projected to win a landslide victory in Wednesday’s mayoral and other local elections, a result that if confirmed would give President Lee Jae Myung a firmer political mandate to advance his agenda. A victory by Lee’s Democratic Party had been widely expected because its main rival, the conservative People Power Party, remains in disarray after President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office and sentenced to life in prison over his martial law debacle in late 2024. The joint exit polls by South Korea’s three major TV stations — KBS, MBC and SBS — showed the Democratic Party was forecast to win at least 11 of the 16 mayoral and provincial gubernatorial posts up for grabs in Wednesday’s elections. The polls suggested the PPP had a clear lead in only one race, while the other four races were too close to call. “The conservatives’ support base has been fractured and weakened in the wake of Yoon’s impeachment, while the liberals’ …