China’s microdrama war heats up as Tencent, ByteDance fight for eyeballs

South China Morning Post - Oct 29, 2026

Shen Jiaoqi, a banker living in southern China’s Guangdong province, cannot stop watching microdramas. The shows are so addictive that she sometimes spends entire days gazing at her phone. One time, she even kept watching while she showered. “Honestly, I was watching for the eye candy rather than the plots,” she said. “The AI has really made the characters look stunning.” Shen is far from alone. Microdramas have exploded in popularity in China over the past few years, offering viewers a quick...

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Regional airports to expand international flights by 11.6% for winter season

Oct 28, 2026

Regional airports to expand international flights by 11.6% for winter season

Korea Airports Corp., which operates 14 airports nationwide, said Wednesday that airlines will operate 10,208 scheduled flights a week during this winter season, which runs from Oct. 25 through March 27, 2027. International services will account for 3,206 weekly flights, up 11.6 percent, or 332 flights, from the summer schedule, while domestic services will total 7,002 flights a week. The expansion comes as the government seeks to attract 30 million foreign visitors ahead of schedule, with additional airport slots at Gimhae and Cheongju allowing more takeoffs and landings. Gimhae International Airport’s hourly capacity will increase from 27 to 30 flights, while Cheongju’s will rise from eight to 10, the airport operator said. Southeast Asian routes will increase 32.7 percent from the summer schedule to 600 flights a week, while services to China will rise 17.5 percent to 844 weekly flights. New China routes include Gimhae-Xiamen, Gimhae-Guangzhou, Cheongju-Xiamen and Jeju-Shijiazhuang. Gimhae will also introduce daily charter flights to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport starting in December and

Hana Financial opens digital vocational classroom for students with developmental disabilities

Oct 28, 2026

Hana Financial opens digital vocational classroom for students with developmental disabilities

Hana Financial Group has opened a digital classroom at a special education school in Seoul to help students with developmental disabilities explore career options and practice workplace skills, the group said Wednesday. The classroom at Miral School in Gangnam District is designed to give students hands-on experience in settings modeled on real workplaces, such as restaurants and cafes. The space is equipped with a range of digital learning tools, including a humanoid robot that can interact through voice conversations, virtual reality devices for vocational training, multimedia kiosks, interactive LED whiteboards and tablets for design practice. The classroom is the first step in Hana Financial’s wider program to aid students with developmental disabilities prepare for working life through digital learning and vocational training. The group plans to establish similar facilities at two more special education schools in Incheon and Daejeon by the first half of next year. Hana is also offering support for teachers and other school staff, with programs aimed at strengthening their profess

Hyundai Motor rises to No. 29 in Interbrand's global brand ranking

Oct 28, 2026

Hyundai Motor rises to No. 29 in Interbrand's global brand ranking

Hyundai Motor rose to 29th place in Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2026 ranking, up two places from a year earlier, with its brand value reaching $25 billion, the automaker said Wednesday. The annual ranking by global brand consultancy Interbrand evaluates brands based on their financial performance, influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions and ability to build long-term loyalty. Hyundai also climbed to fourth among automotive brands from sixth in 2025, extending its streak of annual brand value growth to 17 consecutive years. Hyundai attributed the improvement to its strengthened vehicle lineup, investments in future growth areas such as physical artificial intelligence (AI) and software-defined vehicles (SDVs), and global marketing campaigns tied to major sporting events and cultural initiatives. “Seventeen consecutive years of brand value growth comes from customers who chose Hyundai and from the teams and dealer partners who earned that trust,” Hyundai Motor President and CEO Jose Munoz said. “Improving to fourth among automotive brands reflects both the strength of our

SK Broadband, LS Marine Solution team up to protect vital Asia cable link

Oct 28, 2026

SK Broadband, LS Marine Solution team up to protect vital Asia cable link

SK Broadband, the telecommunications unit of SK Group, is strengthening safeguards around a vital undersea cable linking Korea with Japan and Singapore, partnering with marine engineering specialist LS Marine Solution to speed up emergency repairs along vulnerable coastal stretches. The companies signed an agreement Tuesday to improve the reliability of the Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2) submarine cable system, SK Broadband said Wednesday. Under the agreement, the companies will maintain emergency response vessels and specialized equipment while standardizing technical data and repair procedures in advance. The goal is to coordinate the entire recovery process, from dispatching crews to retrieving damaged cables, reconnecting lines and precisely reburying them on the seabed, reducing the time needed to restore service. The partnership will focus particularly on shallow coastal waters off Busan, where large vessels have difficulty operating and emergency repairs require specialized marine expertise and rapid response. SK Broadband will contribute cable analysis data and monitoring cap

SK On passes large-scale fire test, bolstering ESS safety credentials

Oct 28, 2026

SK On passes large-scale fire test, bolstering ESS safety credentials

SK On, the battery manufacturing unit of SK Group, passed a major fire safety test for its energy storage systems (ESS), clearing a key hurdle as the company seeks to expand in the global market for grid-scale energy storage. The company said Wednesday that its ESS products met evaluation criteria under UL 9540A, a North American standard used to assess how thermal runaway in batteries can spread heat and fire to surrounding equipment. The large-scale fire test recreates conditions resembling an actual energy storage system fire, examining whether flames or dangerous heat spread to neighboring battery containers. The requirements were tightened in March to establish clearer criteria for assessing fire propagation. During the test, battery cells inside adjacent containers did not experience thermal runaway caused by heat from the container where the fire originated, and temperatures inside the containers remained within the evaluation limits, SK On said. The company attributed the result to a system design that releases heat gradually over an extended period, limiting sudden increases in h

LG Uplus, Ecolab Korea team up to set AI data center cooling standards

Oct 28, 2026

LG Uplus, Ecolab Korea team up to set AI data center cooling standards

As artificial intelligence (AI) servers pack more computing power into less space, the heat they generate is becoming a critical challenge for data centers, prompting LG Uplus and Ecolab Korea to develop standards for liquid cooling systems. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday at LG Uplus’ headquarters in Seoul's Yongsan District, to improve cooling system operations and establish procedures for managing coolant quality. The partnership combines LG Uplus’ expertise in building and operating AI data centers with Ecolab Korea’s water treatment and cooling fluid management technologies. The growing use of high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) has increased heat output in data centers, driving interest in liquid cooling, which can remove heat more efficiently than conventional air cooling. But coolant that deteriorates or equipment that is poorly maintained can undermine cooling performance and lead to hardware failures, making consistent monitoring and operating standards essential. LG Uplus will provide a large-scale liquid cooling test environment b

Bithumb, Mirae Asset, Daishin join growing list of cyberattack victims

Oct 28, 2026

Bithumb, Mirae Asset, Daishin join growing list of cyberattack victims

Cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, asset manager Mirae Asset Global Investments and Daishin Securities have become the latest victims of cyberattacks sweeping Korea’s financial sector, industry officials and financial authorities said Wednesday. Daishin Securities said in a press release earlier in the day that personal and credit information belonging to 38,490 customers had been leaked. The brokerage said it detected signs of unauthorized access by a hacker on Oct. 17 to a server linked to online securities account openings for discretionary investment services. Bithumb discovered Tuesday that personal information had been leaked following unauthorized access to its internal mobile groupware system. It is examining the scope of the breach, including whether customer information was compromised. A hacking incident was also reported at Mirae Asset Global Investments, prompting financial authorities to investigate the extent of the damage and the circumstances of the breach. The latest incidents came after Mirae Asset Life Insurance detected unusual activity in some of its systems Sunday

SK hynix pledges to return $75 bil. to shareholders

Oct 28, 2026

SK hynix pledges to return $75 bil. to shareholders

SK hynix on Wednesday announced a 100 trillion won ($75 billion) shareholder return plan for this year, in order to address the mismatch between its sluggish share price and record-breaking earnings performance. During its third-quarter earnings call, the company said it plans to return 100 trillion won to shareholders, including at least 30 trillion won in cash dividends and more than 60 trillion won through share buybacks and cancellations. “We believe our shares are undervalued, as their current price does not fully reflect the profits and cash flow the company is generating," the company said. "Under these circumstances, we believe repurchasing and canceling our shares is an effective way to increase value per share." "We plan to continue repurchasing shares every quarter within our annual buyback plan," it added. "The board will determine the size of quarterly repurchases after considering share prices, valuations and cash flow." The plan includes the recently completed 40 trillion won share buyback program, with the repurchased shares scheduled to be canceled soon. At a board meet

Pioneer to outsider: Lucentblock CEO fights for survival in Korea's STO market

Oct 28, 2026

Pioneer to outsider: Lucentblock CEO fights for survival in Korea's STO market

An unprecedented investment boom swept the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by abundant liquidity. Amid the frenzy, a new investment method known as "fractional investing" quickly gained traction. The emerging industry attracted a wave of entrepreneurs who helped shape its standards and practices. Among them was Lucentblock CEO Huh Se-young. His platform allowed investors to buy and sell fractional stakes in properties worth tens of billions of won. Since launching the business in 2018, he has attracted 500,000 customers and raised approximately 30 billion won ($22.65 million) through the platform. While many players exited the industry amid an investment slump and regulatory intervention, Huh stayed the course. He has seen three presidents and six finance ministers come and go. Huh navigated regulatory reviews and put investor protection safeguards in place under the government's sandbox program. He also persuaded financial institutions to adopt a structure in which trust companies would hold the underlying real estate assets and issue beneficiary certificates, while his sta

Meta’s Muse AI agent is now available in Singapore’s shopping apps and travel platforms

Oct 28, 2026

Meta’s Muse AI agent is now available in Singapore’s shopping apps and travel platforms

Early partners that work with Muse include Shopee, Grab, Singapore Airlines, Agoda, ShopBack, Klook, Trip.com, and Lazada.

Apple responds to iPhone Duo owners with cracked screens

Oct 28, 2026

Apple responds to iPhone Duo owners with cracked screens

Apple says a small number of its iPhone Duo units are affected.

ByteDance accelerates robotics commercialisation with new recruitment drive

Oct 28, 2026

ByteDance accelerates robotics commercialisation with new recruitment drive

ByteDance is accelerating its push into embodied artificial intelligence, stepping up recruitment for robotics talent as it seeks to move cutting-edge research out of the laboratory and into physical hardware. The Beijing-based owner of TikTok and Douyin is hiring for around a dozen robotics positions across hardware and software within its Seed team, the internal unit dedicated to AI research and large language model development, according to postings released on the company’s career website...

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