Time for another dump of interesting links from the past two months about Korean tech and society. Although I didn't pay attention to what day it was, so this list will really go up to around mid August. Think of it as a summer bonus of interesting content.
Interestingly, at lunch the other day, a coworker buddy commented about how crazy this summer weather has been. I ended up agreeing. I don't remember last summer being this hot. There were a few hot days, but we've had tropical nights here for what felt like an extended amount of time. Then the biggest rain downpour in 100 years. Stay safe out there, folks.
Links from June 2022 to July 2022
(and a few from August)
- Clova Note adds the “AI-based Summary” feature.
- 10원 Tips For Korean Liberation Day, add a Taegukgi virtual sticker to your KakaoTalk profile, Kakao will make donation to families of freedom fighters kakaocorp.com/page/detail/97…
- 10원 Tips Now through Sunday, Pokemon festival at Jamsil Sports Complex. If your kid (or you) want to catch a Pikachu in Pokemon GO, check it out. pocketmonsters.net/news/6027
- Create Hands-Free on Instagram and Facebook With Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Phones
- Apple’s Siri Criticized for Distorting Korean Modern History
- Man arrested for using 103.9 tril. won fake check
- 10원 Tips More from virtual AI influencer "YT" (와이티, short for "young twenties"), including a posting with "her" boss, the chairman of Shinsegae. These models are called 가상(virtual/fake)인간(human) in Korean.
- 10원 Tips In case you missed it, here's a short video of virtual AI influencer "YT" showcasing some fashions from H&M. She's not real so go ahead and sexualize her. No moral quandaries there. Right? instagram.com/p/CgQatGQJ08V/
- 10원 Tips KakaoMap brings real-time bus locations in Busan to its app, adding to Jeju, Ulsan, Chuncheon, Mokpo. zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20220…
- 10원 Tips The Tmoney stick-on cards for iPhone users were too big for large-camera phones like the iPhone 13. Good news: a smaller version comes out this month. More: 10wontips.blogspot.com/2022/01/using-…
- 10원 Tips SNL did a parody of Disney Channel shows where a mom visits Korea, is murdered in a river, and becomes a "Korean Water Ghost" aka "Mool-Gwishin" (물귀신). Nobody taught Cecily how to pronounce it though. youtube.com/watch?v=6qIdMr…
- 10원 Tips Forget the Cybertruck. I want this 1970s Hyundai Pony Coupe concept car. I would absolutely drive this around Seoul today. hyundai.com/worldwide/en/b…
- 10원 Tips Man posts "Assassinate Yoon Seok-yeol" manifesto online, gets busted, pulls out genius defense: "No not that Yoon, another one." Brilliant. fnnews.com/news/202208072…
- 10원 Tips Something amusing for the international girls who dream of their K-Oppa...
- 10원 Tips Forget the Cybertruck. I want this 1970s Hyundai Pony Coupe concept car. I would absolutely drive this around Seoul today. hyundai.com/worldwide/en/b…
- 10원 Tips Man posts "Assassinate Yoon Seok-yeol" manifesto online, gets busted, pulls out genius defense: "No not that Yoon, another one." Brilliant. fnnews.com/news/202208072…
- Gwisin Ransomware Targeting Korean Companies
- 10원 Tips Once again, Korean high schools win for best yearbook photos. That face says it all.
- Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com enters South Korea via acquisitions
- 10원 Tips Naver logo doodle for World Cat Day
- Danggeun market starts the part-time job-seeking feature.
- Forever young, beautiful and scandal-free: The rise of South Korea's virtual influencers
- Kakao T – South Korea’s Transportation Service Solution to Uber
- 10원 Tips Naver logo doodle for "입추," the traditional end of summer and beginnings of fall (sure doesn't feel like it yet...) by artist 이슬로 yislow. Artist Instagram link: instagram.com/slowslowyislow/
- 10원 Tips I tried those new Mojito flavored chips, and noticed the back includes "JMT". Went searching Naver. Apparently it's "jot-mat-tang" (좆맛탱), i.e. "fucking delicious." Wow. Honestly I thought they were so-so but still managed to eat the whole bag immediate anyway. Hmm.
- Kakao says emoji subscription purchases fell by a third due to Google’s new in-app policy
- Instagram Surpasses Naver BAND to Become Most Widely Used Social Media App
- Ad With Woman Seducing a Garlic-Headed Man Causes a Stink in South Korea
- 10원 Tips KakaoMap has a new "My Log" feature, a running timeline history of all your map app activity, including trips, distance, reviews, stats, etc. Bit similar to Google Maps' Timeline.
- 10원 Tips People in their 20s have become the most active users of Naver Blog. Glad to see it; blogs are still the best destination for real, on-the-ground, detailed info. Though I wonder if 20s are biggest because others' usage declined.
- Kakao Entertainment sues Booktoki over illegal content distribution.
- Kakao changes its chatbot for enterprise as a free charging model.
- 10원 Tips Love eating Shrimp Chips ("Saeugang" 새우깡) but also getting drunk? Enjoy new Shrimp Chip beer.
- 10원 Tips Sounds like those Afghan refugees are definitely enjoying a real, authentic Korea life experience. > "One refugee said, 'I'm unable to access certain websites, file complaints or open bank accounts.'" english.chosun.com/site/data/html…
- AI 'poet' SIA ready for debut with first collection of poems
- 10원 Tips Rainy morning, 6am, in Gwangju, police respond to man running nude in public. Approach him, he screams I AM FROM DA FUTURE, I AM DA TERMINATOR, police tase him. Likely mental illness. lawtalknews.co.kr/article/IPCD49…
- 10원 Tips If you're interested in this "scandal" of the teen UK guy from "Korean Englishman" Youtube and his Korean female lovers, here you go. ggilbo.com/news/articleVi…
- Installation of 6,500 additional free WiFi hotspots citywide this year
- Negligence outstrips alcohol as leading cause of road deaths
- Gov’t to Develop Pedestrian Navigation Service for the Disabled
- Free drinking water with the “Oasis Seoul” project
- EVs top 1%
- National Police Agency Begins Issuing Digital Driver’s Licenses
- Hancom Arowana Foundation's coins were seized...Up to 50M can be sale for compensation ...
- Korea Tourism Organization names virtual human its new ambassador
- Virtual AI plays supporting character in webdrama 'Bad Girlfriend'
- Book Publisher Unveils ‘Waterproof Book’
- LG Electronics ties up with SoundHound to develop advanced voice AI technology for in-vehicle infotainment systems
- Mobile Driver's Licenses Issued from Thursday
- Meta withdraws plan to deny access to users refusing to accept new privacy policy update
- Zigbang Completes Acquisition of Home IoT Business from Samsung SDS
- Discounts on car insurance
- 10원 Tips KakaoPay now available on Apple Watch - You'll need the standalone KakaoPay app; not the "inside KakaoTalk" way. - It's not "tap to pay"; it just generates the KakaoPay QR code on your watch zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20220…
- As Seen in KT’s ‘Attorney Woo’ Experiment, Telcos Making Big Leaps into Content Business
- Hancom picks data over robot for future growth after selling Hancom MDS - Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea - Pulse News
- Netizens marvel at 11 year old North Korean YouTuber who speaks fluent English
- 10원 Tips In news that ought to shock absolutely nobody, it turns out senior citizens don't actually enjoy talking to "smart" AI speakers. Gee who would've thought? This idea (using these to stimulate/interact/remind the elderly) is so stupid. bloter.net/newsView/blt20…
- SKorea to lift ban on NKorea TV, newspapers despite tensions
- More delights from the South Korea 2022 stamp program
- 10원 Tips Weverse + V Live makes a "super app," combines live, VOD, SNS, social commerce. Ultimate destination for K-pop content, fan-artist interaction, fan groups, merch. Via zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20220…
- 10원 Tips This medallion is a working T-money card and you can buy it at 7-11. fnnews.com/news/202207200…
- Seoul city under fire for alleged discrimination against foreign brides in transport subsidy
- Motels becoming haven for teens playing PC games at night
- The New V-Live integrated “Weverse” is now live.
- Korea Seven releases smart integrated card with shape of traditional horse pass
- 10원 Tips Here's how out of the loop I am in the Kpop related field. I thought V Live was still part of Naver. I keep calling it "Naver V Live." Turns out it's now part of Weverse, i.e. part of HYBE entertainment. allkpop.com/article/2021/0…
- 10원 Tips Go on a virtual blind date with 16 different MBTI type "people" (really just chatbots tuned to respond in ways their given MBTI would speak) to see who you'd be most compatible with. Had no idea chatbots are so good these days. storyplay.com/story/54
- S. Korea Ranks 40th in Accommodation of Foreigners
- Tesla's Sales Plunge 32%p in Korea in 1H22
- [Herald Interview] Seoul’s English-language radio faces existential crisis: CEO
- 10원 Tips Higher education campuses in Korea are ditching Google's G suite. Price is too high, storage too low. Shame because sounds like several big name schools were customers. No longer. etnews.com/20220714000209
- 10원 Tips Interesting to see JTBC programming being aired on Disney+. https://t.co/WySCzWXCG7 Quoted tweet from @INTHESOOP_TV: #IN_THE_SOOP : Friendcation Official Poster 1 ✔️Premieres July 22 ➡️JTBC : 7/22(금) 밤 9시 첫 방송 (KST) ➡️Disney+ : 7/22(금) 밤 11시...
- Four New Korean Disney+ Original Series Announced
- 10원 Tips Another entry in the young female AI 'virtual influencer' world. This time Paris Baguette released their own AI model named YT (와이티), short for "young twenties." fnnews.com/news/202207151…
- 10원 Tips Another entry in the young female AI 'virtual influencer' world. This time Paris Baguette released their own AI model named YT (와이티), short for "young twenties." fnnews.com/news/202207151…
- 10원 Tips Naver logo doodle for tomorrow (Saturday, July 16 2022)'s "chobok," the official start of the dog days of summer.
- 10원 Tips Not all AI virtual humans are cute young females. Some are wealthy male athletes. Meet a virtual copy (deepfake?) of soccer star Son Heung-min. (L is fake, R is real) businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleVi…
- 10원 Tips If you were at Gyeongju World yesterday, you probably had a bad time. This rollercoaster got stuck (auto-safety shutdown) for an hour up top. Riders evacuated with emergency stairs. n.news.naver.com/article/277/00…
- 10원 Tips What the hell? Remember the Youtuber 영국남자 (Korean Englishman)? He brought UK teens to ROK, 1 teen boy used dating app to hook up with 30yo (!) Korean woman, she buys him luxury gifts, he fucks off back to UK. Who "groomed" who? Big juicy scandal. chosun.com/national/natio…
- 10원 Tips Followed this weird zebra striped car to work today. Had special temp plates so was curious. Coworker says probably an unreleased model doing test drives. Interesting.
- South Korea’s largest telco to launch crypto wallet
- SK Telecom in Talks to Launch Metaverse Service ifland in N. America, Europe
- Apple Map Falsely Lists Mt. Paektu’s Entire Cheonji Crater Lake Area as Part of Chinese Territory
- Google Brings BTS Memories to Street View
- Young Koreans Turn to Blogs to Share Personal Stories
- 10원 Tips Young woman enters unmanned arcade room filled with those doll-grabbing claw games, takes a steaming dump in the corner, checks herself in the mirror, casually walks out. fnnews.com/news/202207071…
- That Woman’s Final Supper
- Kakao Gives up Outlink Payment Method Opposed by Google
- 10원 Tips Interesting use of CCTV. Scared to walk home alone at night? Activate the Seoul Safe app and rest easy knowing the CCTV along your route is monitoring you. Any funny business, cops can move in. ssa.seoul.go.kr/Ansimi_API/ko/…
- 10원 Tips "쓴웃음" is one of the funniest Korean words. Like 눈치, it's easy to comprehend but hard to explain well. Easier to just give examples and let the listener infer the meaning from there.
- 10원 Tips Lotte Home Shopping's own AI virtual human, 29 year-old "Lucy"
- 10원 Tips iHerb takes Naver Pay now, in addition to Payco and Kakao Pay
- 10원 Tips Naver Map app now shows real-time subway arrival times for select lines, no longer just relying on scheduled timetable info. blog.naver.com/naver_search/2…
- Kakao falls victim to Google's in-app payment policy
- Kakao Enterprise Tops Global AI Facial Recognition Test
- UK signs its first data sharing deal post-Brexit, with South Korea
- Google Play blocks Kakaotalk updates due to the policy violation.
- 10원 Tips Want to be part of the trial group for T-money tagless "walkthrough" payment on Seoul's subway lines? Fill out this Google Doc (!). Seriously. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…
- 10원 Tips KakaoTalk latest update rejected by Google Play for not following their in-app payment policy. zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20220…
- 10원 Tips Daum Blog will end service in 2 months, being folded by Kakao into Tistory blogs. If you have Daum blog, you can have it moved to Tistory. magazine.daum.net/daum_notice/62…
- KT Strengthens Benefits for Foreigners Residing in Korea
- Tagless payment introduced for pilot operation at subway stations in S. Korea
- Naver expands its mobility feature via the Map application.
- Korean Police prepare for dystopian future with plans for power armor, robot dogs
- 10원 Tips Are you a SKT subscriber? Have the T Membership app? Use it to get a coupon for 20% off at No Brand this week. I could easily save 20k won with this. Too bad I'm with KT.
- 10원 Tips Fans of Lululemon clothing, their biggest Asian branch (outside China) is opening in Itaewon. magazine.hankyung.com/business/artic…
- 10원 Tips Korea's own PIZZA MARU (피자마루) opens branch in Toronto, Canada instagram.com/pizzamaru_cana…
- 10원 Tips Naver logo doodle for "Day without single-use plastic bags" by artist Daye Kim (instagram.com/iamdykim)
- Colorful Google Meet backgrounds by artist Deborah Lee
- Gangwon Province gets special autonomous status
- [Lifehacks] Keep solo living spotless with these home cleaning apps
- Locally Vaccinated Travelers to Verify Status in EU through COOV
- Seoul City Announces Crackdown on Obstruction of EV Charging Stations
- 10원 Tips Seems unfair that some mom and pop "슈퍼맨 태권도장" gets a takedown order, but 슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다 reruns air. Or will DC go after KBS too? lawtalknews.co.kr/article/VNHZ0U…
- 10원 Tips Malltail expanding to wider international audiences zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20220…
- Vietnam overtakes Korea as #1 consumers of ramen
- Meta, Seoul National Univ. launch joint research center
- Seoul foreign residents' activity broken down by race, ethnicity
- 10원 Tips Interestingly (to me), the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety provides extensive RSS feeds and seems to have changed their links to download an RSS feed reader to direct users to Feedly.
- International Students Keep Korean Literature Graduate Programs Afloat: Data
- Cyworld launches ‘digital inheritance’ service
- Softbank opens metaverse store on the ZEPETO platform.
- Meth Found in All Major Sewage Treatment Plants in S. Korea
- SpaceX's plan to launch Starlink service in Korea next year draws mixed reaction
- 11Street strengthens its delivery with “Shooting Delivery”.
- Korea successfully deploys precision navigation satellite to boost GPS accuracy, flight safety
- 10원 Tips SK's own AI assistant, confusingly named "A." ("ay-dot" 에이닷), now available on iOS and Android. Ties together all SKT's apps. I dislike every company having their own AI assistant (Naver/KT/Kakao/Samsung/SK) but hardly a Korean thing (Google/Siri/Alexa...)
- 10원 Tips Naver logo doodles for the launch of the domestically produced Nuri rocket
- 10원 Tips Naver logo doodle for 장마, the official start of the summer rainy season. By artist Kim Journey (김져니). Artist Instagram: instagram.com/kimjourneydiary
- 10원 Tips Today in "don't rely too much on online translators": Google translates 백수인생 (unemployed life, bumming around, being a loser/failure) as "white man". Whoops. Guess somehow it's just seeing "백X인X"
- Less than 2 out of 10 S. Koreans have paid for online news content: report
- 10원 Tips Interesting mobility stats: • For taxi hailing, Kakao T dominates. • For map navigation, Naver Map wins but T-Map close. Surprised KakaoMap (my preference) is so low! • For bike/scooter rental, Seoul city's Ddareungi (따릉이) tops.
- T Map to Provide Location Information on Fire Hydrants Across S. Korea
- 10원 Tips Search "자동차 경고등" (car warning lights) on Naver to get immediate onebox results showing what all your dashboard warning lights mean.
- Calling an elevator through the Apple Watch
- Drunk bicycling on rise amid nighttime cab shortage
- Installation of 12,000 new EV chargers to meet citizens’ demand
- Tombstone Set Up in Memory of Internet Explorer
- Gyeongbok Palace to Offer Guided Tours in Spanish
- Samsung Pay Killed to Make Room for Samsung Wallet
- Colonial-era apartment block to be torn down
- 10원 Tips Different internal kernings in Korean characters can make fun waving lines. Kind of simple hangul ASCII art. 으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으
- Galaxy Z Flip3 Works Properly After Being Folded 420,000 Times
- KakaoMobility expands to international flight reservations.
- Sex Scandals of Far Left Activists-turned Democratic Party Lawmakers Im Jong-seok, Song Young-gil, Woo Sang-ho, Yun Ho-jung While Visiting Vietnam
- 10원 Tips Anyone else think "Ana" looks sort of half-Korean? Definitely more realistic looking than some of the other AI-generated humans. "Krafton releases teaser image of first hyper-realistic virtual human 'Ana'" ajudaily.com/view/202206131…
- Taxi-hailing Platforms Can Share Passengers Beginning Wed.
- Online shopping mall 'Musinsa' presents a virtual AI brand ambassador 'Mu Ah In' inspired ...
- Instagram Under Fire for Arbitrary Same-name Account Deletion
- Krafton releases teaser image of first hyper-realistic virtual human 'Ana'
- Use of iPhone in Presidential Office Building Expected to be Facilitated
- 10원 Tips Top "Utilities" apps for iOS in Korea: #4 is mobile drivers license app, #5 is Naver cloud storage app, #6 is Korea gov porn blocker bypass app. (#1~2 is Chrome/Google, #3 a scroller)
- 10원 Tips Here's a diagram that makes the new right-on-red rule a little more clear. Looks like rumors are right: NO right turns allowed when pedestrian light is green whatsoever. Just sit and wait until their light is red. Tricky for intersections where you can't see their light clearly.
- 10원 Tips If anybody needs the Rail+ sticker card, here's a helpful step-by-step guide to setting it up via the companion app. Guide is in Korean, but generous and clear screenshots. kepper.tistory.com/1349
- 10원 Tips In addition to the T-money sticker, the Rail+ card (a similar nationwide transportation card but issued directly by Korail so works for real trains) is available as an add-on sticker for iOS users. No need on Android as NFC already integrated.
- 10원 Tips Artificial/virtual versions of real actors. Popular for "adolescent roles" -> freeze his appearance in time via AI modeling? Virtual version stays youthfully handsome while real actor ages out of desirability? Not sure I like that.
- 10원 Tips Guy engages in obscene/disturbing texting with an AI chatbot. Claims he didn't know real humans would ever read it. They do. Oops. lawtalknews.co.kr/article/VTC0SJ…
- 10원 Tips Wow, one of the latest updates to Naver Whale browser is "[Windows] Improved Internet Explorer mode (plug-in compatible mode)" blog.naver.com/whaleteam/2227…
- 10원 Tips Only in Korea: an e-cigarette with "AI" functionality to track your smoking habits and alert you of important messages. Smoke break is no excuse to be disconnected! etnews.com/20220608000231
- 10원 Tips Look at how cute Kakao's "Colorverse" (컬러버스) metaverse is. #KakaoFriends
- 10원 Tips TIL: Kakao Entertainment has squads of English, Chinese, Indonesian speakers who scour the international web for pirated webtoons. Google, Facebook, Telegram all actively searched. zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20220…
- 10원 Tips IU takes on a grungy look in new movie "Broker" (브로커) about a young woman facing the hard choice to give up her baby. Almost didn't recognize her here. Big departure from her usual classy look.
- 10원 Tips We're entering the last official week of the Internet Explorer era. IE11 officially dies June 15. Those 1.15% of Koreans still using it, better switch to Edge (which maintains IE11 back-compatibility with whitelisted sites) english.etnews.com/20220603200002
- 10원 Tips Naver Pay users can pay via Apple Watch in S. Korea. *Not* via Apple Pay/Wallet, so no "tap to pay". Naver App will generate QR code to be scanned by cashier. pickool.net/naver-pay-user…
- 10원 Tips In Korea but heading to Singapore? Grab a ComfortDelGro taxi and pay via Kakao Pay. techcrunch.com/2022/06/08/sin…
- Autonomous Cars In Seoul: How To Take A Ride
- Hancom Office shifts weight to the cloud... To introduce a new subscription model in the ... - ETNEWS
- Naver Pay users can pay via Apple Watch in S. Korea.
- Kakao takes on Google, rejecting Play payment rules
- Self-driving Cabs to be Available in Parts of Gangnam from Aug.
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