The enduring popularity of Myers-Briggs personality tests among younger South Koreans is changing the way they date. Some people are using mobile applications to figure out which personality types, indicated by a jumble of four letters like ISFJ or ENTP, would be most or least compatible with them. Hwang Da-in, a 25-year-old college student in Seoul and an ISTJ herself, says her ideal match is an ISFJ, based on chats she had with virtual characters of different personality types on an app called

Nearly one in five foreigners staying in South Korea are without a valid visa, latest government data shows. According to the Korea Immigration Service, as of July, a total of 395,068 foreigners were staying illegally, which is 19 percent of the country’s total foreigner population of over 2 million. The figure, which is up 4,665 from a year earlier, was the highest since September 2020, when the country estimated the illegal immigrant tally to be 396,728. The ratio of people overstaying t

Kim Jin-ahn, a marketer at a cosmetics company in Seoul, finds his Samsung Galaxy smartphone’s built-in call recording feature very helpful, as his job entails numerous conversations on the phone.  “I receive many work-related calls, especially when I work from home. I listen to the recordings whenever I get confused about the tasks,” he said. Recording phone calls is not illegal in South Korea, if the person recording is a party to the conversation. Quite to the contra

Supermarkets in South Korea engaging in a price war on fried chicken is a welcome development for consumers like Shin Kyung-ja (not her real name) amid the soaring cost of living.  The 64-year-old was among the 40 or so people standing in line outside an E-mart in Eunpyeong-gu, northern Seoul, an hour before its opening on Monday.  They were waiting to buy a bucket of fried chicken offered at a special price of 5,980 won ($4.50). Twice a day at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., the superstore has

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed.  The Dangun myth tells the story of how the first Korean kingdom Gojoseon was founded in 2233 BC.  A long, long time ago, a heavenly prince named Hwanung descended on the Korean Peninsula to rule over humans. A tiger and a bear, envious of people living so happily and peacefully together under his rule, prayed and prayed with wishes to become human.  Hwanung, mo

Late last month, residents of an apartment complex in Incheon were rattled by the discovery of a headless, mutilated torso, which turned out to be a silicone sex doll.  It was found in the building‘s parking lot, near a car that had a damaged roof. The vehicle’s owner, suspecting that the mannequin must have fallen from a height and landed on the car, reported it to the police. An investigation to identify the owner of the doll is currently ongoing.  The news of the inci

  Tech evangelists say artificial intelligence and robots will one day liberate humans from simple and repetitive physical or cognitive tasks.  But before we are all freed from the tedium of such chores, AI first needs an army of patient workers to teach it the subtleties of the real world, such as how to differentiate between a cat and a dog.  Known as data labelers or data annotators, these workers handle large amounts of raw data, made up of images, videos or audio record

Advances in artificial intelligence require countless hours of human work, not just from engineers and IT professionals, but also a massive input of lower skills.  But for the development of an AI-powered virtual dressing room, hardly any skills were required. All you are asked to do for a daytime gig as an AI fashion model is to bring yourself and 10 pieces of your own clothes or other fashion items for a photoshoot.   On Aug. 3, I was among several female models who had a pho

Traditional Korean medicine boasts centuries of history, with herbal remedies and holistic treatments focused on patients‘ autogenic healing power. Practitioners of herbal medicine are called “han-uisa” in Korean, and their clinics are “han-uiwon.” They are rarely ever confused with conventional doctors and clinics that practice Western medicine, known as “auisa” and “uiwon.”  A controversy is raging over the English terminology afte

The age of digital avatars is coming. Soon, there will be countless virtual humans taking up various roles, such as store clerks, brand models and social influencers.  Ordinary people, too, will have digital versions of themselves, though not necessarily similar looking, deployed for everyday interactions on social media and online spaces, says Jin Seung-hyuk, founder and CEO of KLleon, a Seoul-based startup specializing in technology to create virtual humans.  “I don’t

This week’s record rainfall wreaked havoc not only on the lives of many people, but also some animals.  Social media saw a flurry of postings about stranded animals on flooded streets such as wild ducks, feral cats and dogs.  One Instagram post uploaded on Tuesday by user @assa_candy shared a plea for help from a pet owner whose puppy got swept away in the heavy rain.  "My puppy was swept away in the rain at the Catholic University of Korea. It’s hard to know

    The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories, a Korea Herald series exploring subway stations and their surrounding areas across the city. – Ed.  On a recent Wednesday, a square near exit No. 2 of Sinchon Station was packed with people, predominantly young and female.  The crowds were for Enhypen, a rookie boy band from Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS, who was holding a fan meet-and-greet event there.  While the septet said hello to fans one b

  Tall, handsome and sweet -- Theo is everything a girl wants.  He is the boy next door with curly hair, smiley eyes and an adorable and vibrant personality. He is effortlessly stylish and loves food and cooking. He also knows a thing or two about cool Korean stuff, as he is half-Korean and half-Brazilian.  Theo is a virtual human created by a Brazil-born K-pop fan-turned-entrepreneur in Seoul, with an aim of bridging the two worlds as Brazilians’ fascination with Korea g

Last week, another corpse thought to be of a North Korean was recovered from the South Korean side of the Imjin River, which flows from North Korea and crosses the border. The deceased, a woman, was wearing a badge with portraits of the North’s two former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, according to local police investigators. It was the fourth time in July that a body suspected to be of a North Korean was found washed up in the South. The three other bodies wore no badge to indica

   With its rugged granite peaks, leafy forests, streams and walking trails, Bukhansan is an oasis of greenery in the bustling metropolis of Seoul. And it has rightly been receiving attention from foreign residents and visitors. The only drawback is that it is not a leisurely walk but one that requires proper hiking gear.  To address this and support foreigners who want to explore Bukhansan but don‘t have the right shoes or outfits, the Seoul Hiking Tourism Center offers

On May 5, the Gangdong-gu District Office in eastern Seoul received a call reporting a damaged road pole posing safety risks to drivers. It was not residents nor police officers on patrol who found the hazardous situation on the road, but a 2-year-old female poodle named Oh-gu.  “Oh-gu suddenly moved closer to the median strip while walking on a crosswalk with me. She usually likes to sniff everywhere. It was her curiosity that made me spot the damaged pole,” said Cho Mi-you

  Under the beaming sunlight, vacationers enjoy beach time at Songjeong Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, one of the country’s most popular summer travel destinations, on Saturday. Some people take a rest in the shade of pine trees to escape from the blistering heat wave. As the scorching weather continued over the weekend, holidaymakers have been flocking to beaches to frolic in the cool, clear waters. Children enjoy swimming at Dolmeori Beach Dolmeori Beach in Hampyeong, South

  The hit drama series “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” presents the story of rookie lawyer Woo Young-woo (played by Park Eun-bin), who is on the autism spectrum.  Showing Woo tackle difficult cases as she grows as a lawyer, while overcoming adversity and prejudice, the 16-part legal drama from television channel ENA was the most watched non-English TV show on Netflix during the week of July 11-17. For most viewers in Korea, where the show is set, the life and career of the

A K-pop idol-turned-actor recently turned himself into police, claiming he was tricked into working for phone scammers.  The 32-year-old, who turned himself in to a police station in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, said he thought he was hired for a simple job of collecting money from someone on behalf of his employer and wiring it to them. After meeting the person he was supposed to receive the money from, however, he realized that he was lured into assisting a voice phishing scam and that t

Last month, a Korean Navy sergeant was beaten up by a group of seven fellow servicemen for more than two hours at a unit in Donghae, Gangwon Province. The victim suffered severe ligament tears and bruises all over his body, which required four weeks of medical treatment. About a month before that, four high school girls in Cheonho-dong, southeastern Seoul, were caught by police for assaulting one of their classmates at a construction site.  The two cases may seem unrelated, but they have