INSPIRE revamps OASIS Gourmet Village with Korean, other Asian cuisines

The Korea Times - Oct 1, 2026

INSPIRE Entertainment Resort is betting on familiar Korean flavors and casual Asian dining as it reopens its OASIS Gourmet Village with five in-house restaurant brands this week. The Incheon resort began rolling out its revamped food court Thursday, with all five brands scheduled to be operating by Saturday as part of a broader push to create a more relaxed dining destination for domestic and international visitors. Chusu Sotbab, specializing in Korean pot rice, and Italian pizza restaurant Pizza Piazza opened Thursday, offering dishes including Hanwoo Grade 1++ pot rice, scallop pot rice, seafood pizza and steak pizza. Chinese casual restaurant Hongmiru is scheduled to open Friday with dishes including seafood jjampong (noodles in spicy broth), uni jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) and tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork). Jinji, which focuses on Korean soup-based dishes, and Japanese restaurant Tontonya will join the lineup Saturday, completing the five-brand roster. Jinji will offer special Hanwoo beef soup, Hanwoo and abalone seaweed soup and pork kimchi stew, while Tontonya will serve dish

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Gender equality minister says presidential office asked her to 'steady' ministry

Oct 1, 2026

Gender equality minister says presidential office asked her to 'steady' ministry

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

Poll finds prosecutors trusted more than police

Oct 1, 2026

Poll finds prosecutors trusted more than police

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 urges gov't to slash red tape stifling culture and tourism

Oct 1, 2026

Seoul city urges gov't to slash red tape stifling culture and tourism

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President keeps NK dialogue push amid DMZ mine dispute

Oct 1, 2026

President keeps NK dialogue push amid DMZ mine dispute

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Seoul prepares for driverless future with 500 autonomous buses by 2030

Oct 1, 2026

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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 appoints economic growth secretary as new policy chief

Oct 1, 2026

President appoints economic growth secretary as new policy chief

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University of Seoul's Extracurricular Festa offers hands-on extracurricular experiences

Oct 1, 2026

University of Seoul's Extracurricular Festa offers hands-on extracurricular experiences

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1 in 5 South Koreans aged 65 and older in 2026: data

Oct 1, 2026

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Court dismisses request to remove statue of ex-President Park Chung-hee in Daegu

Oct 1, 2026

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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

WINNER's Song Min-ho gets suspended prison term for negligence in mandatory service

Oct 1, 2026

WINNER's Song Min-ho gets suspended prison term for negligence in mandatory service

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Lee's approval rating remains unchanged at 43%: poll

Oct 1, 2026

Lee's approval rating remains unchanged at 43%: poll

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.

Gender ministry to focus on tangible improvements for everyday life

Oct 1, 2026

Gender ministry to focus on tangible improvements for everyday life

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

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