[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Artificial intelligence has rapidly evolved from an emerging technology into a cornerstone of Hong Kong's economic transformation strategy. Under the Government's AI+ initiative, further reinforced by the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the HKSAR (2026-2030), the city is stepping up efforts to integrate AI across industries, public services, scientific research, healthcare, finance and...

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said Wednesday that inflation remains “too high,” after the the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released data showing that annual inflation remained above the central bank’s 2 percent target in August. “Inflation is still too high,” Kashkari told CNBC’s Steve Liesman at a Council on Foreign Relations...

Two are dead and one remains missing after a medical transport helicopter crashed off Catalina Island.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond hit a 24-year high during Thursday trading, forecasting higher borrowing costs for Americans.  The 10-year bond yield topped 5.34 percent early Thursday morning, the note’s highest mark since April 2002. That month, the yield reached a closing peak of 5.48 percent. The note has since decreased to...

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond hit a 24-year high during Thursday trading, forecasting higher borrowing costs for Americans.  The 10-year bond yield topped 5.34 percent early Thursday morning, the note’s highest mark since April 2002. That month, the yield reached a closing peak of 5.48 percent. The note has since decreased to...

Stefan Maier hopes to see millions of refugees in long-term displacement move beyond dependence on humanitarian assistance over the next nine years, under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) "50 by 35" vision. "By 2035, we want to halve the number of refugees who have been displaced for prolonged periods and remain unable to meet their basic needs without humanitarian assistance," Maier, deputy representative for the UNHCR in Korea, told The Korea Times in a recent written interview. "We live in an intensely interconnected world," the Austrian national said. "Forced displacement may begin locally, but its consequences rarely remain local. Conflicts and persecution can uproot millions of people and have repercussions far beyond the countries and regions in which they originate." He cited the arrival of around 550 Yemenis on Jeju in 2018. "I relate to that episode quite personally because I worked in Yemen from 2015 to 2017, at the height of a devastating war and humanitarian crisis," he said. "It illustrates how a conflict that may initially seem geographically dist

Sungshin Women's University is rethinking how it responds to the demands of the era of artificial intelligence (AI) — not by endlessly adding new departments, but by tearing down the walls between existing ones. President Yi Seong-keun said universities face constant pressure to keep pace with rapidly changing social and industrial needs, but warned that the reflexive response of creating new departments for every emerging field can simply replace old academic boundaries with new ones. “Society is constantly asking universities to respond to changing needs, but we cannot do that with rigid ways of thinking,” Yi told The Korea Times in a recent interview. “Just as students must adapt to a changing world, universities must evolve with them.” That approach is already reshaping Sungshin’s academic structure. The university has expanded into AI and other advanced fields through its AI Convergence Department and College of IT Convergence, while a new Department of AI Convergence and Semiconductor Engineering will begin admitting students in 2027. Enrollment in advanced fields unde

Behind Korea’s medal-winning athletes are companies that have been in the sports realm for decades, turning sponsorship into technology, training and long-term support. The approach reflects a major shift in how conglomerates are shaping their support for athletics: Sponsorship is increasingly being used to build a long-term relationship with a sport, rather than simply gaining exposure around major competitions. At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Korean fencing once again showed the value of that commitment. The national team won 10 medals across men’s and women’s sabre, epee and foil, including four golds. SK Telecom has been backing Korean fencing for 24 years, but its role has evolved far beyond financial support. As the Korean Fencing Federation’s lead sponsor since 2003, the telecom operator has invested 36 billion won ($26.5 million) in the sport, supporting training equipment, overseas competitions and international events. This year, it added artificial intelligence (AI) to that partnership. The Fencing AI Nexus system, developed by the company, uses computer vision an

Seoul and Washington unveiled plans for three investment projects in the United States — a $22.3 billion Texas gas-fired power plant for data centers, a framework to build eight large nuclear reactors and a review of an Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The projects are part of a $200 billion investment commitment under a Korea-U.S. agreement signed in November 2025, with the two governments seeking to expand cooperation in energy and other strategic industries while creating new openings for Korean suppliers in the U.S. market. "The colossal package of investments we are announcing today is a major step toward securing our critical energy supply chain, ensuring American energy dominance, and making our partnership with South Korea and the entire Pacific region stronger than ever before," U.S. President Donald Trump said during a press conference in Washington, Wednesday (local time). The Texas power plant project, dubbed Project Star, calls for a 6,472-megawatt combined-cycle gas power plant in Encinal to supply electricity directly to artificial intelligence (AI) data cent

Korea and the United States have formally selected a gas-fired power plant project in Texas as the first project under Seoul's $350 billion investment commitment to the U.S., the industry ministry said Thursday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources announced the three projects, including the Texas plant, after the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in November last year, under which Korea pledged to invest in the U.S. in return for lower U.S. tariffs on Korean imports. The formal announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday (U.S. time) announced Korea's investment plans at the White House. The investment will comprise $150 billion for shipbuilding cooperation and $200 billion for projects in various strategic sectors. "As taxpayers' money will be injected into the initiative, we have placed top priority on the commercial viability of the projects and the national interest to ensure that not a penny goes to waste," Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told reporters during a briefing. "We held consultations with the U.S. side while carefully exami

Korean companies are advised to expand their operations in the United States, as bilateral economic ties increasingly extend beyond trade to investment, technology and supply-chain resilience, the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) said Wednesday. The U.S. business lobby and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) discussed opportunities and challenges of Korean firms when they expand investment and operations in America during the eighth annual Doing Business in the U.S. Seminar. The seminar was held as part of a special program marking the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. AMCHAM Chairman James Kim said the economic relationship between the two countries is increasingly driven by the aforementioned sectors, rather than trade alone. “The next chapter of the U.S.-Korea economic partnership will be defined not simply by how much we trade, but by how much we build, invest, innovate and grow together,” Kim said. KCCI Executive Vice Chairman Kim Jeong-il emphasized the need for Korean companies to understand local regulations and business conditions, while buil

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday pledged to persistently seek practical ways to reduce military tensions with North Korea, even as the two Koreas are at odds over the recent blast of North Korean mines along the border. The president made the remarks on North Korea at a ceremony marking the 78th Armed Forces Day at the military headquarters in Gyeryongdae, South Chungcheong Province, following last week's explosions of two North Korean mines in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that left three South Korean soldiers wounded. "My administration will consistently pursue practical measures to reduce military tensions between the two Koreas," Lee said. "The knots in inter-Korean relations are extremely complex, but we will steadily, patiently strive to untie them, one by one," the president said. He said peace and prosperity must be forged with "our own hands," and that "the surest form of security is one that renders conflict unnecessary, in other words, one that creates peace." "For the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula, the two Koreas must find a way to win together and build trust," the

Korea on Thursday celebrated the 78th anniversary of the founding of its armed forces, unveiling a range of advanced military equipment, including its laser-based anti-drone system, to the public for the first time. The Armed Forces Day event kicked off on the runway of the military headquarters in Gyeryong, some 145 kilometers south of Seoul, involving some 3,600 personnel and around 70 pieces of military equipment, according to the defense ministry. This year, the military will showcase two laser-based anti-drone air defense systems, dubbed Cheongwang, in a demonstration of their ability to intercept drones. The anti-drone systems, which are capable of precisely striking small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), will be unveiled to the public for the first time. Other assets being displayed for the first time include drone swarms powered by artificial intelligence (AI), multipurpose unmanned ground vehicles and counter-drone interceptor UAVs. During the event, the government plans to award the Chungmu Order of Military Merit to late Lt. Col. Kim Oh-rang and late Ssg. Jung Seon-yeop for the

Gender Equality Minister Won Min-kyong said Thursday the presidential office has asked her to "steady" her ministry, apparently signaling her retention after the nominee to replace her withdrew amid political controversy. Won made the remarks after Rep. Yong Hye-in of the minor Basic Income Party withdrew her candidacy last month amid controversy over the former nominee's plans to keep her parliamentary seat if she was appointed as minister. When asked by reporters whether she would keep her post, Won responded that Cheong Wa Dae had requested that she "steady the organization" following Yong's withdrawal. "(I) will make efforts with the staff to steadfastly push for the policy tasks reported to the president and the public in July," she said in a briefing marking the first anniversary of the ministry's reorganization. The ministry was newly launched under a revised government reorganization law in October last year after facing possible disbandment under the previous administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The ministry has pushed for new projects under Won, including launching

Nearly half of Koreans say they trust the prosecution more than the police, highlighting the challenge facing the police ahead of the official abolition of the Prosecutors’ Office on Friday. In a poll conducted in September by Media Tomato of 1,035 adults nationwide, 47.5 percent of respondents said they trusted prosecutors more, compared with 28.4 percent who chose police officers. Another 24.1 percent said they were unsure. The prosecution led the police in public trust across every age group except those in their 60s, where the gap was still within the survey’s margin of error. Among respondents in their 20s, 54.1 percent chose the prosecution and 17.2 percent picked the police. The comparable figures were 60.5 percent and 18.3 percent for people in their 30s. The prosecution also held an edge among those in their 40s and 50s — age groups viewed as a key support base for the liberal governing bloc. Among those in their 40s, 43.7 percent chose the prosecution, compared with 33.3 percent for the police. Among those in their 50s, the figures were 42.9 percent and 34.4 percent, res

Seoul city officials have formally petitioned the central government to dismantle three bureaucratic hurdles that they argue are stalling the capital’s push to become a top-tier global cultural and tourism hub. The proposal, submitted Thursday by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to the Office for Government Coordination, targets outdated administrative requirements spanning international concert permits, online hotel verification and virtual reality content classification. Municipal leaders argue these rules impose unnecessary delays on local creative industries and undermine tourist trust. At the center of the push is a long-standing mandate requiring pre-approval from the Korea Media Rating Board for any live show featuring non-Korean performers. Under current law, even a single foreign guest artist on stage subjects the entire event to review, punishable by up to three years in prison or fines reaching 30 million won ($22,077). While intended to police foreign performers, the rule routinely entangles classical, traditional Korean music and K-pop concerts. Officials pointed out tha

President Lee Jae Myung pledged Thursday to continue taking practical steps to reduce military tensions with North Korea and urged Pyongyang to join efforts to restore dialogue. The message, delivered in his Armed Forces Day address, signaled that Lee intends to keep his engagement policy intact despite renewed friction over the latest land mine incident in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). “The knots in inter-Korean relations are extremely complex, but we will steadily, patiently strive to untie them, one by one,” Lee said during a ceremony marking the 78th Armed Forces Day at Gyeryongdae, the military headquarters in South Chungcheong Province. “I hope that the North joins us now on the path of restoring trust and resuming dialogue, following a long interruption,” he added. The president went onto say that Seoul would “consistently pursue practical measures to reduce military tensions between the two Koreas,” stressing that the surest form of security is creating peace that makes fighting unnecessary. Lee’s remarks came a day after the South Korean military formally blamed Nor

In a move that could permanently reshape urban transit in one of Asia’s most densely populated metropolises, Seoul city officials announced an ambitious strategy, Thursday, to integrate 500 fully autonomous buses into regular city transit routes by 2030. The initiative took a major step forward when the Seoul Metropolitan Government signed a landmark agreement with Hyundai Motor Company and the Seoul Bus Transportation Business Association at City Hall. The tripartite partnership aims to bridge the gap between niche technological trials and full-scale public utility, laying the groundwork for driverless Level 4 automation across the city's bus network. Under the agreement, Hyundai will engineer and manufacture specialized 11-meter buses designed specifically for autonomous integration. Unlike standard vehicles retrofitted with aftermarket sensors, these factory-built models will feature electronic steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems, redundant safety controls and cyberattack defenses, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. "Seoul is taking the lead in connecting cutting-e

President Lee Jae Myung named senior presidential secretary for economic growth Ha Joon-kyung as his new policy chief, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday, filling a post that had remained vacant for a month. Ha, an economist who has served in the presidential office since Lee began his term in June 2025, will oversee a broader range of economic and social policies in his new role. He replaces Kim Yong-beom, who stepped down on Sept. 1 amid criticism over the introduction of high-risk single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds and other controversial economic policies. “Ha is a leading scholar who has incorporated fair growth and efforts to reduce polarization into his growth strategy,” senior presidential secretary for public relations and communications Seong Ghi-hong said during a press briefing. “We expect him to bring about tangible changes in areas directly linked to people’s lives, including welfare, jobs, education and housing.” The presidential press secretary said Lee named Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Moon Shin-hak to take over Ha’s former post. Moon has

People aged 65 and older took up over 20 percent of Korea's population this year amid rapid aging and the ultralow birthrate, data showed Thursday. The number of elderly people stood at 11.12 million in 2026, accounting for 21.6 percent of the country's 51.6 million population, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The proportion makes Korea a "super-aged society," and is to rise further to 30 percent in 2036 and over 40 percent in 2050, according to the ministry. The number of households headed by older adults came to 6.5 million, accounting for 28.8 percent of all households in the country. Of the 6.5 million households, 38 percent were single-person households, which has been increasing since 2015. Households led by seniors are forecast to rise further to account for 50.6 percent of the total households in the country in 2052. The remaining life expectancy for those aged 65 was estimated at 21.7 years on average as of 2024, with the figure for men coming to 19.5 years and 23.7 years for women. The net assets of households headed by seniors came to 493 million wo

A regional court on Thursday dismissed a request to remove a statue of late former President Park Chung-hee installed outside a train station in the southeastern city of Daegu. The Daegu District Court dismissed the case filed by the Korea National Railway, a state-owned rail infrastructure management company, against the Daegu metropolitan government, some 21 months after the statue was erected on the plaza outside Dongdaegu Station. The railway corporation had argued that the municipal government installed the statue on state-owned property without proper prior consultation. The city government countered that it holds lawful administrative authority over the plaza and that targeting Park's statue while permitting other structures on the site was unfair. The statue was erected under former conservative Mayor Hong Joon-pyo as a tribute to the former conservative leader, who ruled the country for 18 years following a 1961 military coup until his assassination in 1979. Its presence has divided activists and the local community as conservatives praise Park for driving the nation's rapid indu

A Seoul court sentenced Song Min-ho, a member of K-pop boy band WINNER, to a suspended prison term Thursday on charges of repeatedly failing to show up to work during his alternative mandatory service. The Seoul Western District Court handed down a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for Song after finding him guilty of violating the Military Service Act. Song faced charges of failing to appear at his duty station for 102 days, inconsecutively, when he served as a social service agent at a facility in western Seoul from March 2023 to December 2024. "Military service is a duty to ensure the security and existence of the state, and must be faithfully fulfilled. Social service agents are no exception," the court said. Prosecutors had sought an 18-month prison term for Song. Before the ruling, Song said he felt regret for his actions and was apologetic to those who have cared for him. He did not respond to questions about whether he planned to serve his mandatory duty again. All able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve at least 18 months in the military. Others are either e

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating remained unchanged at a record low of 43 percent this week, a poll showed Thursday. In a National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted from Monday to Wednesday, Lee's disapproval rating rose 2 percentage points to 50 percent from the previous poll conducted three weeks earlier. It marked Lee's highest disapproval rating in an NBS poll. When asked about the direction of state affairs, 43 percent said the Lee administration was heading in the right direction, while 50 percent said it was moving in the wrong direction. Support for the ruling Democratic Party fell 4 percentage points to 35 percent, while backing for the main opposition People Power Party stood unchanged from the previous survey at 25 percent. The poll, conducted on 1,000 people aged 18 and older, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced Thursday that it will roll out a range of measures aimed at bringing tangible changes to everyday life. The ministry was expanded and reorganized on Oct. 1 last year with a broader mandate to promote gender equality for both women and men and ensure equal rights and opportunities regardless of gender. “Over the past year, we focused on rebuilding the foundation for gender equality policies and bringing government support closer to those in need,” Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung said. “In our second year, we will focus on delivering tangible changes that people can feel in their daily lives.” The ministry will prioritize protecting victims’ rights amid changes to the criminal justice system, including by expanding free legal assistance from the early stages of investigations. It will also step up efforts to combat digital sex crimes, including deepfake sexual abuse material. It plans to strengthen regulations across the entire process, from the distribution and use of tools used to create such content to its

South Korea has been ordered to pay nearly $50 million in compensation to U.S. hedge fund Elliott Investment Management over the 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, the justice ministry said Thursday. An international tribunal ordered the South Korean government Wednesday to pay $48.49 million in damages to Elliott over a dispute stemming from the controversial merger, according to the ministry. The ministry did not give figures for other costs also ordered by the tribunal, including delayed interest. The tribunal recognized a causal relationship between Seoul's intervention for the approval of the merger of Samsung C&T Corp. and Cheil Industries Co. and losses to Elliott, it said. A tribunal administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration had ordered Seoul to pay the same amount in damages in an earlier decision in 2023, the ministry said. Following Wednesday's ruling, Elliott welcomed the decision in a release, noting the tribunal granted about $113 million, including damages, interest and other costs. Elliott filed the case in 2018 seeking compensation of $770 million over losses

SK hynix said Thursday it is reviewing various funding options for its U.S. subsidiary Solidigm but that no decision has been made, reiterating its previous position on reports of a possible U.S. listing. Reports circulated that Solidigm is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States as early as next year that could value the subsidiary at up to $150 billion. "We are reviewing various measures to strengthen Solidigm's competitiveness, but our position remains unchanged and that nothing has been decided," the South Korean chipmaker said in a press release. SK hynix said it continues to review the need for investments to secure Solidigm's production capacity and technological competitiveness. "Capital utilization plans related to Solidigm will be reviewed comprehensively, taking into account the company's overall investment plans, financial condition and capital allocation," the company said. SK hynix added that it would "carefully review potential impacts on existing shareholders and evaluate necessary measures to protect their interests."

LS Electric Co., a Korean electrical equipment maker, said Thursday it has secured a 180 billion-won ($133 million) contract to supply ultra-high-voltage transformers to a major U.S. technology company. The company said it will supply 345-kilovolt transformers for a hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) data center project being developed by the unidentified U.S. company and scheduled for completion by 2030. Investment in power infrastructure across North America is rapidly increasing amid rising electricity demand driven by the expansion of AI and cloud computing, LS Electric said. The U.S. market for data center power infrastructure is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 16 percent, from 13 trillion won in 2025 to 56 trillion won in 2035. "The latest contract is expected to help the company win further deals in the North American market," a company official said.

With a discrepancy emerging between Korea and the U.S. over a proposed investment of more than $50 billion in the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, questions are growing over whether the project can generate sufficient commercial returns for Seoul. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said Wednesday (local time) Korea would invest about $54 billion (73.4 trillion won) in the Alaska LNG project, as part of Seoul's $200 billion investment package to Washington. The White House presented the project as a committed investment, while Korea has maintained that participation remains subject to further review of its “commercial reasonableness.” The gap is significant because Alaska LNG has spent more than a decade struggling to demonstrate that it can compete economically with LNG projects closer to major markets. The project would transport natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope through an approximately 1,300-kilometer pipeline to Nikiski, where it would be liquefied and exported primarily to Asian markets. Glenfarne Group owns 75 percent of the project alongside the state-ow

Shinhan Bank apologized Thursday after personal information belonging to about 25,000 customers was leaked in a data breach, as financial regulators launched an urgent inspection into the incident. According to the bank, the leaked information includes customers' names, phone numbers, annual income and loan eligibility limits, as well as other personal and credit information submitted for loan applications. The data also included 66 cases involving resident registration numbers and 97 cases involving connected information. The breach occurred as an unauthorized external party gained access to some of its services through an abnormal method that bypassed authentication. Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk apologized and said the bank will take full responsibility for any losses. "We take full responsibility for the fact that an information breach occurred at a financial institution entrusted with protecting our customers' valuable assets and information," Jung said in a statement. "I sincerely apologize for causing concern and inconvenience to our customers. We will devote all resources to addr

Paris Croissant, the parent company of global bakery giant Paris Baguette, has nominated Kang Shin-bong, a former Samsung Electronics vice president, as its next chief executive, turning to leadership with experience spanning consumer businesses, digital platforms and global operations as it seeks to reshape its business and find new sources of growth. Kang, who most recently led Samsung Electronics’ Direct-to-Consumer Center, is expected to be formally appointed after approval by the company’s board. His career includes stints at Boston Consulting Group, eBay, Delivery Hero Korea and Samsung Electronics, giving him experience in strategy, e-commerce, platform businesses and international operations. At eBay, Kang oversaw cross-border trading in the Asia-Pacific region and helped expand its international e-commerce business. He later served as chief executive of Delivery Hero Korea, which operated food-delivery platform Yogiyo, where he focused on organizational and operational changes while pursuing business growth and management innovation. At Samsung Electronics, Kang led the globa