SouthKorea

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  S. Korea to recycle more than 20% of discarded materials from ocean by 2027 SEOUL -- In an effort to recycle more than 20 percent of waste materials collected from the ocean by 2027, South Korea's maritime ministry will launch a committee that manages various types of ocean waste. Such materials can be recycled and efficiently used as raw materials for eco-friendly products such as clothes, bags and shoes. According to data released by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 2021, more than one million tons of ocean waste were collected across the coun 2022-12-12
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  S. Korea to lead international standardization of liquid hydrogen fuel tank technology SEOUL -- South Korea's standardization proposal for liquid hydrogen fuel tank technology was adopted as a draft standard at an international conference. Fuel tanks that store hydrogen in a liquid state are crucial components for urban air mobility vehicles. Liquid hydrogen is created by cooling hydrogen gas to an extremely low temperature of about minus 253 degrees Celsius (minus 423 Fahrenheit). The liquified form has about ten times more energy density than the vapor state. 2022-12-12
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  Seoul to renovate popular riverside areas to prevent accident by unexpected heavy rainfall SEOUL -- To establish a safe waterfront environment for Seoulites, the capital city will renovate popular stream and riverside areas by installing safety equipment and replacing outdated facilities with a new model. Safety facilities and disaster monitoring systems will be set up to remotely block access to riverside footpaths and bicycle roads in case of sudden heavy rainfall. In August 2022, Seoul experienced a life-threatening downpour, inundating homes, cars, buildings, and sub 2022-12-08
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  Blockchain technology support center to open in southern port city SEOUL -- A blockchain technology support center will open in the southern port city of Busan to efficiently assist blockchain companies. The center will provide various services including consulting, legal and marketing-related advice, and educational programs. Companies can demonstrate various blockchain-based platforms inside the center size of about two football fields. Blockchain is basically a virtual ledger network system that is de facto unhackable. When a change is made to 2022-12-07
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  SK Group chairman Chey secures legal approval to divorce wife SEOUL -- Chey Tae-won, a business tycoon who controls South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group, secured legal approval to divorce his wife, seven years after the 62-year-old revealed his extramarital love affair and the existence of a child out of wedlock. The ostensible reason for the breakdown of their 34-year-old relationship was differences in personality. A family court accepted their divorce on December 6, ruling that Chey should pay a symbolic amount of 100 mil 2022-12-06
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  3D printing tech used to develop famous Buddha statue-themed haptic educational tool SEOUL -- Using three-dimensional printing technology, South Korea's national heritage institute has developed a haptic braille book and an educational tool in the theme of a famous eighth-century Buddha statue. The man-made Seoukguram Grotto is Korea's iconic rock cave temple established in 774 in Gyeongju, the former capital of the ancient Silla kingdom (57 BCE – 935 CE), some 385 kilometers (177 miles) southeast of Seoul. The Buddha statue, regarded as one of the mo 2022-12-01
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  Government approval for development of next-generation space launch vehicle SEOUL -- The proposed development of a next-generation launch vehicle capable of thrusting bigger payloads for lunar or Mars exploration secured government approval after President Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled a space roadmap to land a spacecraft on the moon in 2032 and on Mars in 2045. The Ministry of Science and ICT said that the development of a two-stage projectile codenamed "KSLV-III" passed a preliminary feasibility study on November 29. The KSLV-III project would cost som 2022-11-30
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  Seoul receives state approval to build tram network by 2025 SEOUL -- A tram line that connects a planned new town area in southeastern Seoul to a satellite city of Seongnam will be built to reduce traffic congestion and popularize urban trams that disappeared in 1968. Wirye, a new town area with a population of some 100,000, was established to solve the capital city's overpopulation problems. Trams powered by batteries will run on a track near parks and other greenbelt zones in the area. After the first tram line started its operation i 2022-11-29
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  Busan to work with global coffee barista community for coffee certification business SEOUL -- South Korea's southern port city of Busan partnered with the Specialty Coffee Association, a nonprofit organization that issues global barista certificates, to nurture the city's coffee industry by establishing big data of green, unroasted coffee beans that baristas can access to choose the most ideal type of coffee for their shops. Visiting coffee shops has become an everyday culture in South Korea. It is common to see young students studying or chatting with fri 2022-11-25
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  Firefighters test various tactics against EV battery fire through simulated drill SEOUL -- To educate and train firefighters to become better at battling electric vehicle battery fires, emergency headquarters in the southern resort island of Jeju carried out a simulated drill for the test of various fire-snuffing techniques for lithium-ion batteries. Two Hyundai Genesis EVs were immolated to simulate the EV fire. Jeju with a population of about 634,200 has the country's highest ratio of registered EVs of 28,790 as of November 2022. Many Jeju EVs are rental c 2022-11-23
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  ​S. Korea to deploy more electric double-decker buses to help commuters in Seoul metropolitan area SEOUL -- South Korea will accelerate the adoption of electric intercity double-decker buses to help commuters travel more conveniently from Seoul to surrounding cities, and back. The two-story buses can carry more passengers on a single trip because it has 70 passenger seats while conventional buses have about 40 seats. In 2019, about 1.3 million people commuted from Gimpo, a western satellite city of Seoul, and the western port city of Incheon to the capital city using public tran 2022-11-22
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  ​Seoul seeks to popularize traditional markets through one-day delivery service SEOUL -- In an effort to popularize old marketplaces, Seoul City will establish digital-based logistics centers in three major traditional markets in the city to demonstrate various delivery services including instant and one-day delivery services. According to Seoul City, there were a total of 315 traditional marketplaces with some 55,000 stores as of 2020. The marketplaces thrived until the early 2000s and maintained their iconic role as the main source of groceries for Seoulites 2022-11-21
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  State-run startup agency to issue $74.5 mln green bonds for startup companies go carbon-neutral SEOUL -- Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), a state-funded startup-supporting agency, will issue green bonds worth 100 billion won ($74.5 million) to support small and medium-sized startup companies achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. Funds will be raised to help smart factories adopt new equipment and commercialize various types of green technology. Green bonds are intended to encourage sustainability and to support climate-related or other types of special environme 2022-11-18
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  Researchers discover cancer metastasis inhibitor by co-culturing Antarctic fungi with microorganisms in S. Korea's eastern island SEOUL -- Researchers discovered a novel candidate material that suppresses cancer metastasis from the soil of Ulleungdo, a South Korean island located between the Korean peninsula and Japan, and developed technology to increase its amount by co-cultivating it with microorganisms found in Antarctica. The new material candidate can help doctors treat intractable diseases such as various cancer. Researchers led by Jang Jae-hyuk, a natural products chemist at Korea Research Institute o 2022-11-17
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  Saudi crown prince voices strong desire to make S. Korea crucial partner for Vision 2030 SEOUL -- Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed his strong desire to make South Korea a crucial partner for his initiative to transform the desert kingdom from an oil-dependent economy to a knowledge-based economy. Many South Korean companies showed their sincere interest in the proposed construction of a Neom smart city powered by renewable energy on the coast of the Red Sea. At talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on November 17, Salman c 2022-11-17
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  KAL's 2014 'nut rage' woman allowed to divorce husband with alimony SEOUL -- Cho Hyun-ah, a former Korean Air vice president known for a "nut rage" incident in 2014, was allowed to divorce her husband who filed a divorce suit four years and seven months ago with accusations of family violence and verbal abuse. Cho, 48, should pay 1.33 billion won ($994,233) in property division, but she acquired her legal status as a caregiver for her children. In its ruling on November 17, a family court in Seoul accepted a divorce suit filed by Cho and 2022-11-17
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  Almost half of S. Koreans are okay with remaining unmarried : survey SEOUL -- A survey showed about half of South Koreans are not serious about marriage. Many young people are less interested in tying the knot with their beloved due to costly expenses and unstable employment. In a 2022 survey of some 36,000 people aged more than 12, conducted by the national statistics office, 50 percent said that marriage is necessary, down 1.2 percent from two years ago. 43.2 percent said being married or not married does not really matter, and 3.6 percent said th 2022-11-16
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  ​Private high school with unique educational model to be opened in S. Korea in 2023 SEOUL -- When Minerva University headquartered in San Francisco opened in 2012 the school's unique educational model captured the eyes of parents and educational specialists around the world. Some watched with curiosity while some had doubts about the school's teaching model in which all seminars are conducted as online seminars capped at 19 students to maximize the students' memory skills through 2022-11-16
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  Seoul to provide personal danger monitoring service for taxi passengers SEOUL -- A personal danger monitoring service will be demonstrated in Seoul to help taxi passengers safely return home. By entering the destination and boarding time before getting on the taxi through a smartphone app called "Ansimi," users can share their location information with the service's control tower in real-time and ask for help in case of an emergency. Ansimi is a smart safety app that connects about 70,000 closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) in 25 2022-11-16
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  Traditional Korean board game earns title of National Intangible Cultural Heritage SEOUL -- Yut Nori, a traditional Korean dice-stick board game, was designated as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The board game that was passed on from the first century is also enjoyed by families of the current generations during traditional New Year celebration festivities. The traditional board game consists of four dice-like sticks called "Yut" and a rectangular board called "Mal-pan," which is normally made of cloth or hard paper. There are four s 2022-11-11