IT
Quadruped and humanoid robots show where Korea's physical AI is heading
Robots that sense their surroundings and decide how to move without a human operator are moving from the laboratory into everyday work in Korea. A locally developed four-legged robot is designed for indoor security patrols and inventory checks as well as outdoor surveillance, stocktaking and monitoring of industrial processes, while a humanoid counterpart is built to support operations at events and exhibitions.
Maum AI, a Korean company, combined its own AI models with on-device computing. Its officials say competing head-on with the United States and China is difficult given their large domestic markets, capital and industrial influence, so Korea should lean on its manufacturing base.
Experts say physical AI requires powerful AI models, the semiconductor technology to run them and real industries where the technology can be applied. Adoption is expected to come gradually, starting with sectors where the technology can already be put to use.
North Korea behind 6.3 billion dollar Binance heist that began with a fake job interview
North Korean hackers have been identified as the force behind one of the largest cryptocurrency heists on record, stealing more than 6.3 billion dollars from Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange. In a report released on Tuesday, Binance said the attack began in June and unfolded in several sophisticated stages, and cited the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in concluding that North Korea was responsible.
The breach started when a wallet developer downloaded a tool that hackers had tampered with. The developer replaced the device and changed login credentials after detecting the intrusion, but the wallet team's personal information had already been compromised. The attack escalated when another developer downloaded a malicious code repository during a second-round interview for a fake job created by the hackers, who had built trust by sharing social media accounts filled with personal photos. The hackers then used the engineers' computers to reach two other engineers' laptops.
North Korea denied the allegations through Kim Yo-jong, director of the Workers' Party's General Affairs Department and sister of leader Kim Jong-un, accusing Washington of trying to damage Pyongyang's reputation. Binance apologized to customers and said it had set aside funds to cover the loss.
SK hynix's New York chip plans hit snag over delayed U.S. equipment licenses
U.S. officials have reportedly held up approval of American chipmaking equipment that SK hynix needs to expand production in China, a delay that could complicate the Korean chipmaker's investment plans in the United States. Reuters reported that SK hynix is seeking U.S. export licenses for its plant in Dalian, arguing that higher output there would help finance its planned expansion in New York.
The U.S. Commerce Department has not yet approved the licenses. SK hynix's subsidiary Solidigm is reportedly considering investing about 45 billion dollars in two NAND memory chip plants in New York, with total investment potentially reaching 100 billion dollars over time.
Politics
Democrats projected to flip both chambers of Congress for first time since 2006
Democrats are projected to win control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the first time since 2006 that the party has taken both chambers and a major setback for the Trump administration. According to projections by NBC News as of 6 p.m. Korea time on Wednesday, Democrats will hold 54 Senate seats, including independents who caucus with the party, against 44 for Republicans.
In the 435-seat House, where 218 seats are needed for a majority, NBC projected 258 seats for Democrats and 177 for Republicans, a net gain of 44 seats. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton with 54 percent of the vote to become the state's first Democratic senator since 1988. Democrats also flipped Kansas for the first time since 1932 and South Carolina for the first time since 1998, and swept Ohio, Iowa, Maine and North Carolina.
Exit polls pointed to living costs and gasoline prices driven up by the U.S. conflict with Iran as decisive factors, with about 40 percent of voters naming the economy as their top issue and 60 percent opposing military action against Iran. President Donald Trump said he accepts the results and is open to working with Democrats, but vowed to veto Democratic bills once the new Congress convenes in January.
Democratic Congress to test Trump's foreign policy, with more pressure on Korea
With Democrats set to control Congress, attention is turning to what the change means for the last two years of President Donald Trump's term and for U.S. foreign policy. The war with Iran is likely to face the toughest scrutiny: Trump launched the campaign in February without congressional authorization, and the Pentagon estimates it has already cost more than 47 billion dollars.
Roughly six in ten voters told the AP Voter Poll that the United States was wrong to launch military action against Iran, and a third said the war was crucial to their vote. Democrats could demand testimony on the war's objectives and costs, scrutinize further deployments and challenge funding. On Ukraine, they could seek renewed military assistance and challenge Trump's easing of sanctions on Russian energy. They could also move to restrict the 3.8 billion dollars in annual military aid to Israel and oppose Trump's proposed 67 percent increase in defense spending to 1.5 trillion dollars.
Congress's leverage has limits. Senate filibuster rules generally require 60 votes to end debate, and overriding a presidential veto needs two-thirds in both chambers. For Korea, the 350 billion dollar investment commitment remains the central bilateral issue, and analysts expect Trump to press Seoul harder to expand investment in high-tech and strategic industries. Talks on a nuclear-powered submarine program, uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing remain largely with the executive branch, although Democrats have traditionally emphasized non-proliferation.
Korea, Türkiye agree to deepen nuclear cooperation and expand trade
President Lee Jae Myung and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed at a summit in Seoul on Tuesday to deepen cooperation in nuclear energy and expand trade. The meeting at the Blue House came a year after their first bilateral talks in Ankara, and Erdoğan's three-day state visit opened with a welcome ceremony that included a taekwondo demonstration, the first of its kind at such an event.
Nuclear energy was the central focus, particularly Türkiye's planned plant in Sinop, where Korea is seeking a construction role. The two countries signed a nuclear cooperation agreement during Lee's state visit to Türkiye last November and have since conducted site assessments and feasibility work. On Tuesday they signed a memorandum of understanding on financing cooperation for nuclear power projects to support Korean companies' participation. Erdoğan told Yonhap News Agency before the summit that Korea is a strong potential partner for Sinop but that Ankara is weighing other countries based on its national interests.
The leaders also agreed to address trade imbalances, import restrictions and customs delays. Bilateral trade reached a record 11 billion dollars last year, and they discussed ways to meet a 15 billion dollar target in a balanced way, with Erdoğan raising the possibility of updating the free trade agreement in force since 2013. Türkiye exported about 1.1 billion dollars of goods to Korea in 2025 while importing more than 10 billion. Three more MOUs covered natural resources and mining, energy, and science and technology.
Economy
Korea's foreign reserves rise for first time in two months in October
South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose in October, the first increase in two months. Data from the Bank of Korea on Wednesday showed reserves stood at 443.16 billion dollars at the end of October, up 2.6 billion dollars from a month earlier.
Reserves jumped by a record margin in August before falling in September. The central bank attributed the rebound to gains from foreign currency asset investments and deposits held by financial institutions. Korea ranked ninth in the world in reserves at the end of September, up two places from the previous month.
Oil falls as markets bet on Middle East diplomacy
Global oil prices fell on Tuesday as investors grew hopeful that diplomacy could ease tensions in the Middle East. December Brent crude settled down 1.12 percent at 103 dollars and 60 cents a barrel on London's ICE Futures Exchange, while December West Texas Intermediate fell 0.38 percent to 96 dollars and 9 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent closed at its lowest level since October 7 and WTI at its lowest since October 14. Traders are watching for renewed talks between Washington and Tehran. A spokesperson for Qatar's Foreign Ministry, which has been mediating, said progress had been made in indirect negotiations and that both sides were reviewing proposals from the mediators.
Russia and Ukraine are also preparing another round of trilateral talks with the United States in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. Military tensions in the region remain high, however, after reports that the United States attacked Iran's strategically important Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier.
Korail adds three languages as foreign rail passengers jump 72 percent
Korea Railroad Corporation expanded foreign-language services on its website and mobile app from seven languages to ten on Tuesday, adding French, German and Mongolian. The company said the new languages were chosen based on visitor numbers and average length of stay in Korea.
Foreign rail passengers reached nearly 7.8 million through September, up about 72 percent from a year earlier, and Korail expects the figure to surpass 10 million for the first time by the end of this year. Easier train travel and ticket reservations are expected to keep inbound demand growing.
Society
Appeals court upholds suspended prison term for former President Yoon
The Seoul High Court on Wednesday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for making false statements during his 2022 presidential campaign, upholding a district court ruling from July.
The court found Yoon guilty of two counts of false statements as the People Power Party candidate ahead of the March 2022 election. The first was a claim in a televised debate in December 2021 that he had introduced a lawyer to a former tax official. The second was a January 2022 interview remark that a party official had introduced him to shaman Jeon Seong-bae, while denying that he and his wife had met the shaman together. The court said the statements contradicted objective facts and that Yoon knew they were false.
Under the Public Official Election Act, presidential candidates who win or receive at least 15 percent of the vote are reimbursed for campaign expenses in full. If a candidate is ultimately convicted of an election-related offense and fined at least 1 million won, the election is invalidated and the party must return the reimbursed funds. If the conviction is finalized, the People Power Party will have to return about 39.7 billion won, or roughly 29 million dollars.
Spanish striker dies after on-field collision; federation postpones matches
Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel has died after a collision during a match. The 30-year-old collapsed after the opposing goalkeeper rushed out to clear a long ball and struck him in the chest with his knee, and later died of cardiac arrest.
Police opened a routine investigation, required by law for any death not considered natural. Spain's football federation postponed all of Tuesday's matches, and the UEFA president said in a statement that the sport had searched for words and found only silence.
Two helicopters collide near Everest base camp, killing Indian tourist
An Indian tourist was killed when two helicopters collided while trying to land near Mount Everest base camp. Footage showed the rotor blades of the two aircraft clipping each other as they came in to land at more than 4,000 meters above sea level.
Another passenger and a pilot were injured. Aviation officials said the helicopters appeared to have been trying to land at the same spot.
World
Kremlin confirms three-way Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi
The Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday that Russia will hold three-way peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, will lead the Russian delegation.
It will be the first U.S.-brokered round of talks since February. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said the talks will cover post-war security and de-escalation.
U.S. strikes Iran's Qeshm island before midterms as Tehran says ball is in America's court
The United States struck Iran's strategically important Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening, hours before polls opened for the U.S. midterm elections. U.S. officials described the attack as defensive and said that, unlike earlier in the war, smaller-scale strikes are no longer publicly announced.
President Donald Trump did not rule out resuming combat operations after the election, though he told reporters on Monday that Washington had not been fighting for months and that he was in no rush to step up strikes. He also announced a new deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under which Washington would stop 4 billion dollars in annual funding to Israel after this year while continuing to sell it weapons.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Tehran's demands had been stated clearly and that the ball was in America's court to prevent war. Iranian officials say Washington must address seven conditions for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. Qatari mediators visited Tehran earlier on Monday to discuss a draft framework between Washington and Tehran, and Iran is also holding talks with Saudi Arabia on a new regional security arrangement.
Bomb threats disrupt seven flights and a cruise ship in Europe
At least seven flights and a cruise ship in Europe received bomb threats on Tuesday, disrupting airports in Poland, Bulgaria, Italy and Spain. No explosive devices were found.
An airport near Warsaw was briefly closed, and the Italian Air Force escorted one flight to Rome. In Greece, authorities searched an Israel-bound cruise ship. No one has claimed responsibility. The threats followed this week's hacking of supermarket fridges across Europe, and some experts say both could be part of a pattern of low-cost, deniable disruption.
Culture
Seoul Metropolitan Opera revives La Bohème at Sejong Center
The Seoul Metropolitan Opera's production of La Bohème returns to the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday for the first time in two years, running through Sunday. A hit in 2024, it was the only locally produced opera to rank among the top 10 classical performances on Korea's integrated performing arts box office system.
For this revival the production team focused on refining musical detail and the dynamics between characters. It kept the book-inspired set of wooden library frames, added new large-scale puppets and brought together more than 100 performers to give the crowd scenes greater visual impact and musical depth.
Sopranos Hwang Su-mi and Park Hye-sang are among the singers sharing the roles of Mimi and Rodolfo. Hwang describes the couple's romance as an intimate passion in which a single glance can spark a deep connection, while Park sees a relationship built on emotional fulfillment in which the two become a source of inspiration and happiness for each other. A curtain that opens and closes like the pages of a book, delicate lighting and stage projections draw the audience into 19th-century Paris.
BTS becomes first K-pop act to earn FIMI platinum certification in Italy
BTS has become the first K-pop act to earn a platinum album certification in Italy. The group's agency said Wednesday that its fifth studio album, ARIRANG, released in March, received the certification from FIMI, Italy's music industry association.
The platinum award goes to albums that reach the equivalent of 50,000 units through physical sales, digital downloads and streaming. BTS had previously earned gold certifications in Italy for five albums. The group continues its world tour in Taiwan before stops in Southeast Asia and Australia.
Autumn walks at Mungyeong Saejae, 6.5 kilometers of old road
Mungyeong Saejae, once a gateway on the road to the capital, is drawing visitors who come to take in Korea's autumn colors. Scholars carrying bundles on their backs once climbed this mountain pass on their way to the state examination in Hanyang, the Joseon Dynasty capital that is now Seoul, and three historic gates still stand along the trail.
Beyond the first gate, a broad red-earth path winds through the forest, with sunlight filtering through the leaves and a stream running alongside. Visitors stroll at their own pace and stop for photographs. A stone path offers a barefoot foot massage for those who take off their shoes, walk across the stones and rinse their feet.
The trail stretches about 6.5 kilometers one way from the first gate to the third. Some press on from gate to gate while others linger in the cool shade of the forest. There is no rush, just an autumn walk.