In the plaza of the Lapak ticket office, there is a photo zone containing the original figure of Seung-hwan Oh, Ja-wook Koo, and Tae-in Won (famous professional baseball players). To build on this idea, the Samsung Lions worked hard to create a new photo zone to capture the meaning of the team while also adding a bit of fun at the same time ahead of the season.  

In the past, there have been cases in which one or two Korean actors participate in a Hollywood movie as supporting actors. And while famous Korean directors have made some global hit films, such as Bong Joon-ho's 'Snowpiercer' (2013) and Park Chan-wook's 'Stalker' (2013), they mainly collaborated with foreign actors. It is rare for a foreign director to make a film with Korean actors as the main characters. However, this year, foreign-directed films starring Korean actors have been released one after another. 

Korea and Israel will open the ‘Korea-Israel Light House Program’ and jointly invest $5.3 million in technology development in the field of robots. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a ‘Korea-Israel Lighthouse Program Launch Conference’ with the Israel Innovation Agency in Tel Aviv, Israel on the 12th and announced such a technology cooperation program. 

Since Gangnam Style took the world by storm in 2012, weird and wonderful news stories about South Korea pop up every week. We decided to take a dive into why the world is obsessed with Korea. 

In Episode 6 of Korea hit-show Squid Game, Mi-nyeo becomes the odd one out as nobody wants to pair with her. However, it turns out that she was not eliminated as she was dubbed the “Kkakdugi” or the weakest link in the English version. But why was she dubbed a Kkakdugi? Directly translated, it means radish kimchi. But when playing games, it takes on a whole different meaning. 

Have you ever had an idea for a webcomic but do not know where to start? Toonit, a Korean startup launched in 2021, has developed a platform where users can easily create their original webcomic content without having any drawing or illustration skills. 

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 12th of July 2021 that it will operate the 'Cooling Road', which lowers the road temperature and reduces airborne particulates, until October of 2021. Learn more about how South Korea handles their burning hot roads in the midst of summer. 

'Hybe' was selected as one of the '100 Most Influential Companies' announced by TIME, an American weekly magazine, for the second year in a row. Time selected Hybe as the leader in THE POP POWERHOUSE category and had seen expansion of the company during the height of COVID-19 when many others were facing challenges. 

South Korean product, Prinker M is the world’s first digital temporary tattoo device that allows you to design and apply water-resistant tattoos in no time! Learn more about the technology here.  

On the 30th, LG Electronics will operate the 'ThinQ Room Escape Cafe' at the 'Cafe Grandfather Factory' in Seongsu-dong, Seoul from the 7th to the 24th of next month. It will be created as an exhibition space where you can experience the innovative functions of various products and four themed spaces: kitchen, living room, study, and laundry. 

Have you ever heard of finger heart? It is one of the Korean hand gestures that has grown into popularity worldwide. Before you hop on the plane to Korea, you may want to familiarize yourself with some important points of Korean culture, society, and customs including these hand signs. 

The government will continue to invest in the Korean version of the New Deal to maintain the momentum of the national transition to a digital and green economy one step ahead of other countries. Learn more about their efforts here! 

Korean’s 8282 (ppalli ppalli) culture is all about going faster. This culture has come from the fact that Koreans have for the last several decades been pushing for things to get done faster. But today, after decades of rushing, there are calls for a more leisurely lifestyle. Learn more about why it is called the 8282 culture and how the rushing culture of Korea was both beneficial and detrimental to the country. 

The esteemed former Jisu elementary school has been reborn as the new K-Entrepreneurship Center. Entrepreneurs and young people are the catalyst for continuing the future success of Korea. Learn more about their renovation project here. 

If you come across any Korean name, chances are their surname is probably Kim (김) which makes up 21.5% of South Korea’s population. Compared to the United States, the most popular last name is Smith, yet it only makes up 1% of their total population. Learn more about how one surname consists of almost a quarter of the country’s population. 

The South Korean government announced that it will begin its transition back to normalcy soon. Park Hyang from the Central Disaster Management Headquarters remains hopeful that the nation will be able to return to a time before COVID-19. Some experts, however, are critical of the government’s approach. Learn more here. 

Heard of Net Zero? SK Trading International announced that it plans to purchase up to 200,000 barrels of net-zero oil each year for five years from US-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. Learn more about what net-zero is and what SK is planning to do with this oil. 

The use of high-tech gadgets and artificial intelligence (AI) in raising cattle and growing crops is rising in popularity among farmers around the world, saving both time and money with the aid of sensors and self-educating AI that analyzes data to maintain an optimal environment. 

The constant motion of the ocean’s waves has the potential of 3 TW, higher than the global annual energy demand – Injin has a solution to capture that power. 

“Hyper Casual” Game developers stress fun and engagement over hyper-detailed games with spectacular graphics.  Lion Studio helps support them with business and growth tactics.   

E2ON has developed an AI technology that can help process enormous amounts of data to help identify incidents, assist with predictive analytics, and make people safer. 

Modular urban farms can provide safe, delicious food in any setting. 

You have seen horoscope tests that tell you about your romantic compatibility and future prospects. But did you know that some people will ask you about your blood type to determine your future? Learn more about how South Korea’s desire to know one’s blood type contributes to the way they think in terms of love and work. 

A cobot, or collaborative robot, is a robot intended for direct human-robot interaction within a shared space. Cobots, are the more accessible descendants of traditional industrial robots and are designed to work alongside humans. Over the last year, cobots saw an increased market size in Korea by 33%. Learn more about how cobots are changing the South Korean workplace. 

Food companies move to invest in edible insect startups. Did you know that there are already products out there such as cricket powder and beetle protein bars? At home and abroad, there is a new interest in edible insects. Learn more about how market expansion in alternative protein is expected due to value consumption trends and inflation. 

The year 2022 is set to take fashionistas “back to the future.” Fashion from the past — Y2K, or Year 2000 — is expected to make a return. Learn more about South Korea’s exploration of Y2K Fashion here.

Korean startups and companies have been dominating the global market with innovation and technology. Learn more about some of the highest growth companies in Asia Pacific according to the Financial Times (FT) and the global market research firm Statista. 

South Korea dominates the E-sports landscape because of the gaming culture, availability for scrimmage and tournament play, and the number of available resources. Learn more about how an American company is helping to find South Korean players jobs. 

Still relying on google to solve math problems? Google has recently invested in a Korean ed-tech startup that uses AI to help students with their math homework. Learn more about Mathpresso here.