Hong Kong Leader Apologizes for Deadly Apartment Building Fire

New York Times - Oct 29, 2026

John Lee, the city’s chief executive, said his housing secretary would step down, but he vehemently defended the government.

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Comedian Kim Shin-young recommends alternatives to chicken breast

Oct 29, 2026

Comedian Kim Shin-young recommends alternatives to chicken breast

Comedian Kim Shin-young shared an unexpected protein source as one of her dieting tips. On the Oct. 23 episode of MBC’s “I Live Alone,” actor Cha Woo-min, who has lived alone for seven years, appeared on the show and shared a glimpse of his daily routine. To bulk up, Cha prepares chicken breast with olive oil and seasoned salt and roasted it in an oven. “I eat only chicken breast like this for breakfast almost every day,” he said. After watching him, Kim advised, “You can sprinkle cheese on that, too. Even if cheese contains fat, eating cheese alone won’t make you gain weight. It’s really good for bulking up.” Kian84 responded with a laugh, saying, “Of course you’ll gain weight. You’re talking nonsense.” Kim countered, “I’m someone who has lost 44 kilograms myself.” She went on to recommend squid, saying, “Squid has more protein than chicken breast. You should eat squid.” Kian84 questioned the suggestion, saying, “Why would you eat squid? I’ve never heard of anyone bulking up with squid.” Kim stood her ground, replying, “It’s just expensive, b

Man swallows earbud in his sleep, hears it beeping from his stomach

Oct 29, 2026

Man swallows earbud in his sleep, hears it beeping from his stomach

Click here for more articles by Kormedi.com. A man accidentally swallowed a wireless earbud while sleeping at night in a frightening incident that led to its eventual removal through a colonoscopy. After turning on the alert sound to locate his missing earbud, the man heard beeping coming from his abdomen and went to the hospital. The case was reported by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Raebareli and the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh, India. According to the report, the 33-year-old man fell asleep while listening to music and woke up with the sensation that something was stuck in his throat. The discomfort disappeared after he swallowed several times, although he vaguely remembered swallowing something. When he got up in the morning, he noticed that one of his earbuds was missing. He immediately activated the Find My Earbuds feature on his smartphone. To his surprise, he heard a beeping sound coming from inside his abdomen. He rushed to the emergency department. The man arrived at the emergency department about six hours after he was believ

Changyeong Palace brings its history to life through smartphone audio guides

Oct 29, 2026

Changyeong Palace brings its history to life through smartphone audio guides

Visitors to Changyeong Palace can now explore its royal history through their smartphones, with a new audio guide offering stories of the historic site in multiple languages and making its cultural heritage more accessible. The Changyeong Palace Management Office, part of the Korea Heritage Service’s Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, launched the service Thursday in partnership with Shinhan Bank, a corporate supporter of cultural heritage preservation. Visitors can access the guide by scanning QR codes on information boards at Honghwamun, the palace’s main gate, and at major points along the grounds. The codes connect users to Shinhan Bank’s Beautiful Shinhan website, where audio commentary is available in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, alongside sign-language videos for visitors with hearing disabilities. The service combines basic explanations of the palace’s history and architecture with dramatized accounts of historical events, offering visitors a more engaging way to understand the site. Professional voice actors, along with actors Kim Young-min and Kim Hyun-joo, lend t

Seoul market festival draws 50,000, generates $82,000 in sales

Oct 29, 2026

Seoul market festival draws 50,000, generates $82,000 in sales

A two-day celebration of Seoul’s traditional markets drew about 50,000 visitors and generated 110 million won ($82,000) in sales, offering merchants a rare chance to reach new customers and showcasing how neighborhood commerce can become a destination for food, culture and nightlife. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday that the 2026 Seoul Market Fair, held Saturday and Sunday around Cheonggye Plaza, marked the return of its signature traditional market expo after a seven-year hiatus. The festival brought together 38 businesses from traditional markets and neighborhood shopping districts across the city, including Namdaemun Market in Jung District and Baengnyeon Market in Gangbuk District, alongside emerging commercial areas such as Syarosu-gil in Gwanak District and Hoegirang-gil in Dongdaemun District. Organizers divided the event into daytime and evening programs, inviting visitors to shop for local specialties during the day before returning for street food, live music and nighttime performances beside Cheonggyecheon. Stalls offered everything from tteokbokki, grilled ch

Seoul design exhibition wins global gold award as visitors pass 1 mil.

Oct 29, 2026

Seoul design exhibition wins global gold award as visitors pass 1 mil.

An exhibition designed to help people see Seoul not just as it is but as what it could become has earned international design recognition, with more than 1 million visitors passing through its doors in less than nine months. My Friend Seoul Pavilion, an interactive exhibition space introducing the capital’s current landscape, future vision and urban policies, received a Gold rating in the exhibition category of FRAME Awards 2026, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday. The pavilion opened Feb. 5 and had attracted about 1 million visitors by the end of October, reflecting strong public interest in its presentation of the city’s development plans and ambitions. Organized by FRAME, a Dutch magazine specializing in interior design, the awards recognize work across 31 categories spanning architecture, interiors and exhibitions. The Seoul pavilion was among six finalists for Exhibition of the Year before receiving its Gold rating in the final judging announced Oct. 22. City officials said the recognition highlights how exhibition design and digital content can make complex urban po

Seoul launches building block sets of Gwanghwamun Square, Hangang bus

Oct 29, 2026

Seoul launches building block sets of Gwanghwamun Square, Hangang bus

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will release limited-edition building block sets featuring Gwanghwamun Square and the Hangang Bus on Thursday, in collaboration with Korean building block brand Oxford. The SeoulCity Series consists of two sets designed to let residents and tourists experience Seoul’s landmarks and changing city life by assembling them, the city said Wednesday. The Gwanghwamun Square set includes Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbok Palace, statues of naval hero Adm. Yi Sun-sin and King Sejong, the inventor of the Korean alphabet, and the Garden of Gratitude. It is the first time the garden, a memorial honoring the 22 nations that supported South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, has been made into merchandise. The garden drew 500,000 visitors within 160 days of its opening. The Hangang Bus set features the city’s ferry service on the Han River along with one of its docks. The city said it focused on making the assembly process itself an experience, moving away from traditional souvenirs that are sold already finished. The Gwanghwamun Square set costs 62,900 won

Danyang's traditional market embraces Dracula theme to pitch local garlic

Oct 29, 2026

Danyang's traditional market embraces Dracula theme to pitch local garlic

Count Dracula might want to reconsider his weekend travel plans. Danyang Gugyeong Market in North Chungcheong Province is turning into a garlic lover’s paradise — and a vampire’s worst nightmare — from Friday to Saturday for the 2026 Danyang Garlic Festival Season 2: Count Dracula’s Secret Shop, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said Thursday. Organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the KTO, the event fuses local six-clove garlic with gothic fantasy to create an unforgettable traditional market experience. Last year’s Dracula Garlic Night drew nearly 8,900 brave souls, but this year's sequel promises to raise the stakes. Local shopkeepers are dressing up as immortal shopmasters, offering rich culinary delights while turning the market aisles into a haunted gauntlet. Visitors can embark on a ghostly stamp tour, creeping through secret shops decorated with cobwebs and bats to claim exclusive souvenirs. For foodies dying to satisfy their appetite, the festival features the Secret Banquet, a prebooked four-course fine dining experience showcasing local gar

Korean traditional arts take center stage on European tour

Oct 29, 2026

Korean traditional arts take center stage on European tour

Korea’s traditional rhythms, masked dances and epic storytelling are heading to European stages next month in a three-country tour designed to bring the energy of its intangible cultural heritage to international audiences. The National Intangible Heritage Center, under the Korea Heritage Service, said Thursday that “K-Intangible Heritage Festival: Pungjang Korea” would stage performances in Budapest on Wednesday, Podgorica on Nov. 8 and Ankara on Nov. 13. More than 20 performers, including practitioners of nationally recognized intangible heritage and contemporary artists, will combine traditional music, dance and theatrical performance in a production making its European debut. The tour is intended to raise the international profile of Korean cultural heritage while introducing audiences unfamiliar with its traditional arts to the exuberance and communal spirit at the heart of these performances. The program unfolds across four scenes, opening with “Mungut,” a ritual that launches the performance, followed by “Saemgut,” which invokes life and well-being. “Jisinbapgi” d

Hong Jin-hwon awarded Korean Artist Prize 2026

Oct 29, 2026

Hong Jin-hwon awarded Korean Artist Prize 2026

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) said Thursday it has selected Hong Jin-hwon as the winner of the Korean Artist Prize 2026. A former journalist, Hong has used photography, video, web programming, as well as other forms of media, to probe the social and political power relations embedded within images, according to the MMCA. Hong's recent work, "The Highest Form of the Image Is Armed Struggle," examines the language of past revolutions with scenes of modern rallies and the process through which arenas of resistance are transformed into images that can be anticipated and controlled. Charmaine Toh, acting head of curatorial at Tate Modern, who was one of the six-member jury, said Hong's work "reveals the tension between social practice and the process through which it is represented as images and questions the visual systems through which we see and understand reality." Since 2012, the national art museum has co-sponsored the Korean Artist Prize with the SBS Culture Foundation to recognize outstanding artists with keen insight into society and art. An MMCA exhibition

Pokémon card craze draws even seniors to store 'open runs'

Oct 29, 2026

Pokémon card craze draws even seniors to store 'open runs'

“I waited five hours from 8 a.m. just to get inside. They said the wait had gotten shorter, so I didn’t have to stay up all night…” At a Pokémon card shop in Seoul’s Yongsan District on the afternoon of Oct. 23, college student Park, 19, smiled awkwardly as he showed off a newly purchased box of cards. On the screen of a waiting-list registration machine beside him, a notice read, “151 groups waiting, estimated wait time: 181 minutes.” Some customers appeared startled by the long wait and turned away. The popularity of Pokémon cards, featuring characters from the Japanese manga and animation franchise “Pokémon,” shows little sign of waning. At the Yongsan store in I’Park Mall, the outdoor garden on the seventh floor, where customers wait to enter, is packed every morning with people hoping to buy cards. Although there are no exact figures, more than 100 buyers routinely lay out mats and cover themselves with blankets as they wait for the store to open. A security guard said some people even arrive at 9 p.m. the previous night to secure a spot. Most endure the cold

Ex-UN chief urges green transition to drive growth, boost competitiveness

Oct 29, 2026

Ex-UN chief urges green transition to drive growth, boost competitiveness

Ban Ki-moon, president and chair of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), urged countries on Thursday to accelerate the shift toward a greener economy to secure long-term growth and strengthen their global competitiveness. Speaking at the Global Green Growth Week (GGGW) Summit, the former U.N. secretary-general identified technological innovation, large scale capital mobilization and stronger international cooperation as three priorities for turning green transition commitments into tangible, measurable results. “The green transition is an economic imperative, a strategic investment and an opportunity to create green jobs, strengthen energy security, improve public health and build more resilient societies,” Ban said in his welcoming remarks at the summit’s opening ceremony. “The countries that move decisively today will be better positioned to compete tomorrow.” Ban called for a substantial increase in funding for the green transition, saying developing countries often struggle to turn viable projects into reality because they lack affordable financing and the expertise t

Gov't to pursue criminal punishment, 3-year exam ban for CSAT cheaters using AI glasses

Oct 29, 2026

Gov't to pursue criminal punishment, 3-year exam ban for CSAT cheaters using AI glasses

The education ministry said Thursday it will seek criminal prosecution of anyone caught cheating on the annual college entrance exam using artificial intelligence (AI) glasses, while disqualifying cheaters from the exam for three years, up from the current one year. The ministry announced these measures, pledging to deal sternly with cheating using AI glasses during the annual College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) as an act aimed at "intentionally and systematically obstructing the normal operation of national examinations." Cheaters using AI glasses will face criminal punishment on charges of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means, the ministry said, adding it is also pushing to lengthen the exam ban for CSAT cheaters from one to three years. The ministry said it will actively recommend universities apply the same rules to their own entrance exams, where cases of cheating using AI glasses were recently caught. Starting with this year's CSAT scheduled for Nov. 19, one designated inspector will be assigned to each test site to check for AI glasses, according to the plan. The

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