South Korea plans to send a letter to the president of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) calling on North Korea to apologize for last month's land mine blast and take responsibility for its violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement, the foreign ministry said Thursday. The South Korean military concluded the Sept. 21 blasts in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) were caused by North Korean mines planted south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). The incidents injured three South Korean soldiers, two of them seriously. "The letter will explain that the blast was caused by land mines planted by North Korean troops in violation of the Armistice Agreement, demand an apology and responsible action from Pyongyang, and call for dialogue to prevent further escalation and restore trust," ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said during a regular press briefing. The letter will also seek to "draw attention to Pyongyang's recent attempts to characterize South Korean troops' legitimate military activities along the MDL as provocations and shift responsibility for rising tensions onto South Korea," P

Daewoo Engineering & Construction (E&C) is expanding artificial intelligence (AI) and digital management systems across its construction sites, deploying translation tools and quality-control software to reduce administrative workloads and improve communication with foreign workers. The construction firm rolled out AI translation and tablet-based training systems across its domestic construction sites last month. Its AI-powered translation system supports 16 languages, converting site managers' spoken Korean instructions into text and speech in foreign workers' native languages in real time. The company said the system recorded 94.6 percent accuracy in Korean speech recognition during preliminary testing. It is designed to reduce communication errors on construction sites, where clear instructions are essential for workplace safety, particularly as the number of foreign workers continues to increase. Daewoo E&C has also introduced a tablet-based system for safety training and related paperwork, such as worker registration, health screenings and training reports. The company is also develop

Combined vehicle sales by Korea's leading automaker Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia fell 1.7 percent in Europe last month from a year earlier, amid a lack of new models, industry data showed Thursday. Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 96,258 vehicles in the common market in September, down from 97,907 in the same one-month period in 2025, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). "The lack of new models, particularly electric vehicles, in Hyundai Motor's lineup affected its sales performance for the month," a company spokesperson said by phone. Hyundai Motor's sales fell 17.5 percent to 39,821 units from 48,253 a year earlier, while Kia's sales rose 13.7 percent to 56,437 units from 49,654. As emissions regulations in Europe become increasingly stringent, the two automakers are focusing on expanding sales of environmentally friendly vehicles, including the gasoline hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of Hyundai's Tucson, its all-electric Kona, and Kia's pure electric EV3 and Niro plug-in hybrid. Last month, Hyundai and Kia together accounted for 7.

JB Financial Group is expanding into Central Asia through the planned purchase of two Kyrgyz financial firms, broadening an overseas business portfolio built largely around Southeast Asia, the company said Thursday. JB Woori Capital, its consumer finance subsidiary, has agreed to buy Korky Credit and Korky Leasing from their parent, Epoche. The deal covers all shares in both companies and is expected to close before year-end, subject to regulatory approval and registration in Kyrgyzstan. The acquisitions would give JB Financial a presence in a fifth overseas market. Its existing businesses include commercial banking in Cambodia, microfinance in Myanmar and securities services in Vietnam. The group also secured Indonesian regulatory clearance in September to purchase an 85 percent stake in KB Bukopin Finance, a local financing company. JB Financial’s interest in Kyrgyzstan is driven primarily by the country’s young population and rapid economic growth. About 70 percent of its population is reportedly under 40. Its economy expanded 11.1 percent last year, according to the Internationa

The Korean government has issued a nationwide security alert to businesses and website operators over critical vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language widely used to build websites and web services, as the flaws spark widespread alarm across the globe amid concerns that they could rank among the most severe software vulnerabilities in history. Experts warned that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual business owners operating websites without dedicated cybersecurity personnel could be particularly vulnerable. They strongly recommended prompt security updates, noting that a vulnerability in one company's website could also affect other businesses whose websites are hosted on the same server. In a statement released Thursday, the Ministry of Science and ICT urged domestic companies and institutions operating PHP-based websites to immediately apply security updates. “The latest PHP vulnerabilities could affect a vast number of websites in Korea. An extremely urgent response is required as exploit code is already publicly available," Deputy Prime Minister and Min

The Seoul government held off on responding Thursday to remarks by the U.S. Eighth Army commander suggesting that American troops stationed here should be prepared for missions beyond countering North Korean threats. Cheong Wa Dae, the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) did not comment when asked about Lt. Gen. Joseph Hilbert’s email interview with the South China Morning Post on the Eighth Army’s readiness for broader regional operations. According to sources familiar with the South Korean military, the lack of comment reflected a reluctance to publicly interpret Hilbert’s remarks, rather than an articulated government position on a broader U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) role. The sources noted whether deployments beyond the Korean Peninsula would require prior consultation between Seoul and Washington has yet to be clarified. In an email interview published by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday, Hilbert said it would be “irresponsible to focus myopically” on threats within the Korean Peninsula or assume that being stationed in South Korea preven

A court on Thursday found 34 student activists guilty of trespassing on the then presidential compound and a U.S. military base between 2022 and 2024. The Seoul Western District Court sentenced a senior leader of the Korean Progressive University Student Union (KPUSU) to a suspended four-month prison term and ordered 32 other members to pay fines ranging from 1 million won ($756) to 6 million won. One other member received a deferred sentence of a 1 million-won fine. Two others were indicted but acquitted. The students faced multiple charges, including trespassing on a U.S. military installation in Korea in August 2022 and March 2023 to stage rallies against joint military exercises between Korea and the United States. In January and October 2024, they attempted to illegally enter what was then the presidential compound in Seoul's Yongsan Ward to demand the resignation of then President Yoon Suk Yeol and a special counsel investigation into then first lady Kim Keon Hee. The court ruled that the defendants did not act on impulse but conspired in advance, such as by sharing picket signs wit

South Korea and the United States on Thursday held joint river-crossing drills aimed at enhancing interoperability as part of the annual Hoguk military exercise, the South Korean Army said. Some 540 troops from the allies took part in the drills along the Namhan River in Yeoju, about 65 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The drills mobilized some 130 pieces of equipment, including 10 KM3 amphibious bridging vehicles, ribbon bridge systems and about 50 combat vehicles, such as K2 tanks and K21 armored vehicles. During the drills, the allied forces jointly installed and crossed a bridge spanning a 280-meter section of the river. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Kim Gyu-ha and U.S. Brig. Gen. Robert Brown, commanding general of the 2nd Infantry Division/South Korea-U.S. Combined Division, observed the drills.

A Seoul court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for a man in his 70s suspected of setting fires at two buildings in southern Seoul earlier this week, leaving 19 people injured. The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant on charges of arson resulting in injuries, saying the man is a flight risk. The suspect was taken into custody hours after setting fires at two patent firms in separate buildings in Seoul's Gangnam district Tuesday. The fires left 19 people injured, including one who was rushed to a hospital in cardiac arrest. Police suspect the man held a grudge against the firms as he claimed they had defrauded him by issuing fake patent registration certificates. The suspect told investigators that he had bought two jerrycans, a lighter and flammable materials near his home in western Seoul on Friday, according to the police. Police are examining the suspect's psychiatric records and considering additional charges of attempted murder based on testimony that he had been looking for a specific person before setting the fires. The suspect was previously sentenced to two and a ha

I am a PHP developer myself. For years, I have heard the familiar joke that “PHP is dead.” Yet the language continues to power websites, online stores, and business applications that people depend on daily. For many Filipino developers, PHP has been a practical entry point into building software. Its accessibility and widespread hosting support