GoKawiil
Tech News
South Korean data-center startup Elice saw its stock fall as much as 36% in afternoon trading on its first day as a publicly listed company in Seoul. The sharp decline came despite the company's AI-infrastructure focus, an area that has generally drawn strong investor interest.
South Korea's industry ministry approved a regulatory sandbox exemption allowing 20 bipedal robots from robotics firm Robros to operate alongside human workers without the barriers normally required under industrial safety rules. The robots will be deployed at Nepes, Sungwoo Hitech, HD Hyundai Samho, and Delivery Lab, performing tasks like cleaning semiconductor components, positioning car parts, stacking brackets, and moving logistics packaging. The trials will follow additional safety standards, and data from them will inform a broader revision of robot safety regulations.
Nature Index figures for 2021-2025 show global biomedical-engineering output growing 70%, faster than the database overall, with the field's share of all tracked papers rising from 2.4% to 2.7%. China's contribution to that output jumped from 28.9% to 50.9%, while the US and Germany held second and third place with roughly steady shares. The analysis also highlights South Korea, Switzerland, Canada and the Netherlands as countries with distinct patterns of specialization, growth or international collaboration in the field.
South Korean authorities say they are investigating whether AI agents were used to carry out cyberattacks on the country's banks. The disclosure indicates officials are examining automated tools as a potential factor in recent security breaches affecting financial institutions.
Hackers targeted major South Korean banks using an open-source AI security agent to assist in breaching the financial institutions' systems. The incident marks a notable instance of AI tools being incorporated into a real-world attack on banking infrastructure.
South Korea's Financial Services Commission held an emergency meeting after cyberattacks hit several major banks, confirming a data breach at Shinhan Bank and incidents at Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank. Reports say Shinhan leaked data on 25,000 customers and Kookmin exposed credit card details of 119,000 clients, while Hana suffered a limited breach of its sales-support system. President Lee has ordered a full investigation into data leaks at financial and public institutions.
Public opposition to data center construction, initially concentrated in the US, is now affecting projects across Europe and parts of Asia. STL Partners research cited by CNBC estimates roughly $42 billion in European data center investment has already faced delays or cancellations, compared with about $77 billion in the US. The European Data Center Monitor counted more than 70 rejected or restricted projects between January and April 2025, exceeding all of 2024.
Soldiers conducting a routine search in South Korea discovered a metal object they initially suspected was a landmine, which experts later identified as an antique firearm estimated to be around 600 years old. Researchers say the find could push back the known timeline of firearm use in Korea by roughly a century, though the exact dating remains disputed among specialists.
A faulty test firmware update pushed by Samsung to some smart refrigerator models in South Korea left units frozen mid-update, disabling features like auto-open doors, interior lighting and temperature control. The malfunction struck days before the Chuseok holiday, when many households had stocked up on food, and repair technicians were reportedly unable to reach some customers until October 1 or 7 due to the holiday schedule.
A faulty firmware update caused Samsung's roughly $4,000 Bespoke AI 4-Door refrigerators to shut down across South Korea, according to Star News Korea. Affected units displayed an error message and stopped cooling even after being unplugged and restarted, and the failure hit just before the Chuseok holiday, forcing some owners to discard food. Samsung reportedly told customers the earliest repair appointment was October 1.
South Korea's K-pop industry is increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence and robotics into aspects of music creation and live performance. The move has drawn scrutiny from fans and performers who have voiced concerns about the technology's role in an industry built on human artistry.
Rapid7 reports that a stealthy espionage campaign has compromised South Korean automotive and media companies since early 2025, with medium-confidence attribution to North Korean APT37 based on overlapping command-and-control infrastructure. The attackers exploited the open-source HAProxy load balancer to install a custom Linux toolkit called TED, granting them visibility into and control over victims' network traffic.