LS Eco Energy makes push for world's 1st mass production of samarium

The Korea Times - Nov 10, 2026

LS Eco Energy, a subsidiary of LS Cable & System, said Tuesday it will begin trial production of samarium metal in December, with the goal of becoming the world's first company to mass-produce the key material for permanent magnets using non-Chinese raw materials. The move is part of the company's efforts to establish a supply chain independent of China ahead of new U.S. restrictions on rare earth materials used in defense applications. According to the company, LS Eco Energy is investing 11.6 billion won ($8 million) to build a samarium metal production facility at its subsidiary LSCV in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The company plans to begin trial production in December before moving to full-scale mass production. The facility's annual output of 240 tons of samarium metal would be sufficient to produce approximately 700 to 1,000 tons of samarium-cobalt (SmCo) permanent magnets. Samarium is a key material for SmCo permanent magnets, which retain their magnetic strength at high temperatures. SmCo magnets are used in aerospace and defense applications, including fighter jets and missiles. St

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16 short-form playwrights to face off in Seoul Players' 10-Minute Play Festival

Seoul's international theater community prepares for battle once again, as the 10-Minute Play Festival (10MPF) takes to the stage to find this year's top playwright. This will mark the 13th year of the contest, brought to the stage at Dulwich College in southern Seoul by Seoul Players, a not-for-profit, volunteer-run English-language theater group founded in 2001. For this year's contest, they received 410 submissions sent in March and April from 354 playwrights based all over the world. The number of submissions has exploded in recent years, peaking at more than 500 for last year's festival in just two weeks, before submissions had to be closed early. "Last year, one of the board [members] felt that many of the hundreds of plays we got were AI-generated," said Lorne Oliver, a producer for Seoul Players. He didn't disagree with the assessment, but he explained why it didn't affect their final decisions: "I just thought most of them were not up to snuff." He added, "We did not bother to run them through an AI check; we just went with the assessment results, since cream floats." This year, th

16 short-form playwrights to face off in Seoul Players' 10-Minute Play Festival

Korea's economy is booming. Why isn't President Lee's popularity?

On paper, Korea's economy looks strong. Fueled by a semiconductor export boom, the country's annual exports are projected to top $1 trillion for the first time this year, making Korea only the fourth country to reach the milestone, after the United States, China and Germany. Forecasts from eight major investment banks put Korea's real gross domestic product growth at an average of 3.5 percent this year, with some expecting growth as high as 4 percent. Per capita gross national income is also expected to surpass $40,000 for the first time, potentially placing Korea sixth in the world by that measure. By those numbers, President Lee Jae Myung's approval ratings should be soaring. The economy, after all, is widely regarded as one of the biggest drivers of presidential popularity. Yet that is far from the case. A Realmeter survey of 2,528 adults nationwide, conducted from Nov. 2 to Friday for the Asia Business Daily, put Lee's approval rating at just 35.9 percent. His ratings have hovered between the high 30s and low 40s since October, a sharp decline from 67 percent seven months earlier. More

Korea's economy is booming. Why isn't President Lee's popularity?

String of drug busts shatters Korea's drug-free myth

A string of recent drug cases is eroding Korea’s lingering reputation as a drug-free country, highlighting how both Koreans and foreign nationals are being increasingly drawn into narcotics crime. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police said Monday that it referred 66 foreign nationals to the prosecution between March and October on charges including violating the Narcotics Control Act, with 30 of them being held in custody. Many of the suspects were Southeast Asian students who entered the country on D-2 student visas or D-4 language training visas. Of the seven separate cases, one involved drug manufacturing plans and another smuggling, while five involved distribution, purchase and use. One suspect set up equipment in a studio apartment to make ecstasy pills from powder and other materials smuggled into Korea, but was caught before obtaining them. Six others were arrested in succession after investigators found evidence that they had smuggled large amounts of ecstasy, ketamine and other drugs into Korea through international mail in March. They operated in isolated cells and took order

String of drug busts shatters Korea's drug-free myth

Korea, US hold combined air resupply exercise for wartime readiness

Korea and the United States conducted Tuesday a combined aerial resupply exercise aimed at bolstering their capabilities for rapid airborne logistics supply in wartime scenarios, the allies' combined forces said. The exercise, led by the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), is designed to maintain rapid aerial sustainment capabilities using combined air transport assets when ground resupply routes are compromised during wartime, the CFC said in a release. The latest drills focused on air-drop operations delivering both heavy loads and light supplies. In particular, forces practiced cross-aerial resupply of military hardware and equipment around the clock and from varying altitudes of more than 3,000 meters, the CFC said. The exercise enhanced the survivability of transport aircraft during wartime and improved the retrieval rate of air-dropped supplies by ground units, it added. The drills brought together their key military units, including the Army Special Warfare Command, the 1st Logistics Support Command, and the Air Force Air Mobility and Reconnaissance Command from the Korean s

Korea, US hold combined air resupply exercise for wartime readiness

Korean NPU maker DEEPX's new chip wins CES Innovation Award

Korean neural processing unit (NPU) developer DEEPX's new artificial intelligence (AI) chip has been named a CES 2027 Innovation Awards honoree in the AI category, the company said Tuesday. The CES Innovation Awards recognize products based on their technological capabilities, design and innovation. The award-winning chip is DX-M2, an ultra-low-power generative AI chip designed to run large language models (LLMs) and vision-language models (VLMs) directly on robots and industrial devices. It is built on Samsung Electronics' 2-nanometer foundry process and designed to perform generative AI inference while consuming approximately 5 watts of power. While conventional on-device AI chips primarily focus on image recognition and object detection, the DX-M2 is designed to enable devices to understand their surroundings and make decisions using generative AI. DEEPX expects the chip to reduce reliance on cloud computing and expand AI applications in robots, smart devices and industrial systems. The DX-M2 completed its mask tape-out earlier this month, which is the process of transferring finalized

Korean NPU maker DEEPX's new chip wins CES Innovation Award

Students from 30 countries gather in Seoul to learn Korean language and culture

Ninety-two students and teachers from 30 countries wrapped up a five-day immersive camp hosted by the Ministry of Education. A group of 92 secondary school students and teachers from 30 countries completed a five-day immersive journey into Korean language and culture, concluding a nationwide youth camp organized by the Ministry of Education. To mark the end of the 2026 International Korean Education Youth Camp, the ministry and the International Korean Education Foundation held a celebratory ceremony Tuesday evening at Sarangjae, a traditional guest house on the National Assembly grounds in Seoul. Running from Friday to Tuesday across Seoul and Incheon, the camp brought together students enrolled in Korean language classes at their home schools. This year’s cohort welcomed its first-ever participant from Mexico, alongside students from Malaysia and Uzbekistan who were recently featured in a KBS documentary aired on Hangeul Day, the Oct. 9 national holiday celebrating the Korean alphabet. During the program, participants engaged in level-tailored Korean lessons leveraging artificial int

Students from 30 countries gather in Seoul to learn Korean language and culture

Ex-US diplomat says OPCON transfer may not move rapidly, cites 'no consensus' in Washington

A former U.S. diplomat said Tuesday that the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul may not move forward swiftly, citing "no consensus" on the key alliance issue in the United States. Speaking virtually at a forum, Joseph Yun, former acting U.S. ambassador to South Korea and special representative for North Korea, also said that there is no consensus in Washington over Seoul's push to secure rights to enrich uranium for peaceful civilian purposes and acquire nuclear submarines. Yun offered his forecasts over what will happen during the remaining two years of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, particularly in the wake of this month's U.S. midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. "I cannot imagine (the OPCON transfer efforts) moving very rapidly," Yun said during the forum hosted by the Korea-U.S. Parliamentarians' Union. "Same thing with nuclear issues. There is no consensus in Washington that Korea ought to have enrichment or nuclear submarines." South Korea and the U.S.

Ex-US diplomat says OPCON transfer may not move rapidly, cites 'no consensus' in Washington

Seoul plant hospital admits 10,000 potted patients since 2023 opening

A city-run hospital for houseplants? Welcome to modern Seoul. Seoul’s dedicated emergency room for sickly flora has administered 10,886 diagnoses, treatments and house-call consultations since opening its doors in 2023, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday. Nestled inside the Seoul Agricultural Technology Center in Seocho District, the Companion Plant Hospital functions like a full-scale medical center for dramatic greenery. Resident plant doctors diagnose bug infestations and mysterious wilting, prescribing everything from targeted pesticides to emergency repotting. Plants needing intensive care can even be admitted for up to three months of inpatient recovery, while anxious plant parents leave with tailored home-care prescriptions. The hospital often handles high-stakes, emotional cases. In one instance, a resident rushed in a wilting Chinese money tree — the final gift from their late mother. The facility immediately admitted the botanical heirloom into critical care, nursing it back to life. In another success story, a Rhaphidophora tetrasperma — the trendy "mini monst

Seoul plant hospital admits 10,000 potted patients since 2023 opening

Army temporarily grounds Apache helicopters amid US inspection for possible defect

The Korean Army has temporarily grounded its Apache military helicopters as U.S. authorities began inspections on the fleet over a possible malfunction of their transmission system, an Army official said Tuesday. The grounding of the AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters has been in place since early October, after the Army received a safety advisory from the U.S. military regarding the transmission component, Army spokesperson Capt. Bae Seok-jin said in a press briefing. "As a safety precaution, the Army temporarily grounded the fleet in early October (for the U.S. side) to conduct technical inspections in phases," Bae said. "Operations will resume sequentially based on the inspection results." While routine training flights are paused during the grounding, the helicopters usually stand ready for an immediate operational launch in the event of a contingency. "There are currently no issues with our readiness or operational posture," the Army spokesperson added. Manufactured by Boeing, the Apache helicopters serve as a key asset for air-to-ground defense for the Korean military, which

Army temporarily grounds Apache helicopters amid US inspection for possible defect

Special counsel suspects NEC forged vote tally sheet in Gyeonggi education chief election

A special counsel team said Tuesday it suspects a National Election Commission (NEC) employee concealed and forged a vote tally sheet during the election for education superintendent of Gyeonggi Province in June. Investigators were sent to the Gyeonggi provincial election commission and the election commission in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, earlier in the day to execute a search and seizure warrant and verify the suspicions, according to the team led by independent counsel Lee Tae-han. The team suspects the employee of the Gwangju election commission concealed and forged the vote tally sheet, which the local commission sought to cover up, leading to an incorrect final tally. Lee's team has been investigating various suspected irregularities involving the NEC after it was launched in early September to look mainly into what led to the unprecedented ballot shortages in June's nationwide local elections.

Special counsel suspects NEC forged vote tally sheet in Gyeonggi education chief election

Top court schedules another deliberation for ex-PM's martial law trial, raising likelihood of release

The Supreme Court on Tuesday scheduled another deliberation session on former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's appeal on insurrection charges, raising the likelihood of his release when his detention period runs out next week. The top court said it would hold the second deliberation round on Han's appeal on Nov. 19, a day before his six-month detention period expires over his role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid. Given the schedule, Han, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison by an appellate court, is likely to be released when his detention period runs out as it can no longer be extended. Supreme Court proceedings for Han's appeal have been drawn out after the court referred the case to its full bench in August, citing the public's high interest and its historical importance. A Seoul district court sentenced Han to a 23-year prison term in January after convicting him of multiple charges, including playing a key role in an insurrection under Yoon's short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. An appeals court reduced his sentence to 15 years in May aft

Top court schedules another deliberation for ex-PM's martial law trial, raising likelihood of release

PPP urges Lee to veto special counsel bill on alleged fabricated indictments

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Tuesday called on President Lee Jae Myung to veto a recently passed bill on a special counsel investigation into alleged fabricated indictments targeting Lee and others. The PPP made the appeal as they held a general meeting of its lawmakers outside the presidential office, slamming the bill as a measure aimed at canceling all indictments against Lee. "The special counsel bill marks the final step in a project to free Lee Jae Myung from prison," PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said. "It is a jailbreak bill designed to get Lee, who should be behind bars, out of jail." The legislation calls for appointing an independent counsel to investigate suspicions the prosecution under former President Yoon Suk Yeol fabricated evidence or induced false testimonies to build cases against then opposition leader Lee and others. "We must resume all trials and make Lee face the judiciary's judgment before his crimes are wiped away," Jang added. Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig, the party's floor leader, also warned, "The project to free Lee from prison will only lead to an ear

PPP urges Lee to veto special counsel bill on alleged fabricated indictments

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