Day: June 18, 2023

POSCO said Sunday it plans to collaborate with local developers to develop robots specifically designed for safety management.

Under an agreement with Withrobot Co., South Korea’s leading steelmaker will develop robots that move on wires to monitor accidents at its production lines, the company said.

The robots will utilize a range of visual, auditory and thermal sensors, effectively substituting for multiple security cameras.

POSCO also clinched a separate agreement with Aidin Robotics to develop advanced four-legged robots capable of accessing hard-to-reach areas and carrying out inspections of steelmaking facilities.

The company said the solution is significant considering that certain sections of the production lines present potential hazards to workers due to high temperatures during inspections.

“We plan to speed up the development of intelligent mobile robot solutions based on data, aiming to spearhead the digital transformation efforts that will establish safer working environments and enhance productivity,” the company said in a statement.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

The Seoul metropolitan government issued the first heat wave advisory of the year for Seoul on Sunday.

The advisory took effect across the entire city at 11 a.m., according to the city government.

A heat wave advisory is issued when the highest perceived temperature is expected to be 33 degrees or higher for two or more consecutive days or when significant damage is expected due to a sudden increase in perceived temperature or prolonged heat wave conditions.

Under the advisory, the city government will immediately activate its comprehensive support situation room and begin emergency duties to check weather conditions and reports of heat-related illnesses.

The authorities plan to make phone calls every two days to senior citizens living alone and patrol neighborhoods with a large number of homeless people to ensure no harm from the heat wave, among other measures.

Scorching heat nationwide led to the issuance of the first heat wave advisories of the year Saturday.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said these advisories came into effect at 11 a.m. Saturday in 13 regions across the country, including Gwangju and Daegu.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

South Korea plans to carry out its first in-depth inquiry into forced labor practices in North Korea through interviews with defectors who have arrived in South Korea over the past five years, sources said Sunday.

North Korean Human Rights Records Center will conduct the interviews through the end of the year to learn details of the forced labor practices taking place at North Korea’s detention facilities, schools and various social organizations, according to the sources.

The inquiry by the center affiliated with the unification ministry will look into changes in forced labor practices before and after the launch of the Kim Jong-un regime and the relevant laws and systems of forced labor. Kim took over North Korea in 2011 after the sudden death of his father and longtime leader Kim Jong-il.

The results will not be disclosed to the public and will only be used by the government to draw up policies on North Korean human rights.

Last year, the unification ministry conducted an in-depth inquiry into women’s rights and labor rights in North Korea.

In 2014, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry issued a report after a yearlong probe that stated North Korean leaders are responsible for “widespread, systematic and gross” violations of human rights.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Korea Seven Co., the operator of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said Sunday it plans to carry out another test run for robot delivery services in collaboration with a startup.

Under the plan, Korea Seven will offer delivery services with self-driving robots developed by Neubility in select areas in southern Seoul through October in its third round of tests.

The project is in line with the state-run Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement’s efforts to develop customized service robots.

In 2021, Korea Seven initiated the first pilot run of the robotic delivery service using the Neubie robot, which was followed by a second round of testing the following year.

Depending on the area, the delivery cost will be set at 1,000 won (US$0.78), with some locations asking for 3,000 won with a minimum order of 10,000 won.

With the aid of its self-driving system and advanced sensors, Neubie robots can navigate through urban environments, effectively avoiding obstacles. The robots are also designed to deliver goods even in adverse weather conditions, such as rain and snow.

Korea Seven also tested a drone delivery service in July 2022.

“After the COVID-19 pandemic, the short-distance delivery service by convenience stores has become more important, raising hopes for the robot delivery service,” a Korea Seven official said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Handed a depleted roster with a few key players out due to injuries and other circumstances, South Korea men’s football head coach Jurgen Klinsmann had little choice but to tinker with his lineup and even formation in a 1-0 loss to Peru on Friday.

With no reinforcements on the way, Klinsmann will likely continue with his experimentation in South Korea’s next friendly match, against world No. 75 El Salvador, kicking off at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, will be the venue for the final international match of the month for world No. 27 South Korea.

Three matches into his South Korea tenure, Klinsmann is still searching for his first win. Before getting blanked by Peru, South Korea played Colombia to a 2-2 draw and lost to Uruguay 2-1 in March.

At least for the two earlier matches, Klinsmann had the services of his top guns, such as talisman and captain Son Heung-min and sturdy center back Kim Min-jae.

Neither played Friday night, with Son recovering from sports hernia surgery and Kim away to complete his mandatory military training. Kim’s trusted center back partner, Kim Young-gwon, was also sidelined with a hamstring injury.

With these absences, four players earned their first international caps Friday, with right back Ahn Hyun-beom doing so in a start. Ahn, though, struggled mightily under Peru’s high pressing and even suffered a right shoulder sprain that will keep him out for up to four weeks.

Klinsmann let on that he gets “angry” when he doesn’t win matches, but he put aside his personal feelings for the bigger picture.

“This is the opportunity where we see a lot about the quality of our players and how they express themselves,” he said. “I am thankful that I get this opportunity to bring new players in and give them a chance. Obviously, I’d like to have Min-jae and Sonny. But overall, this is a great group of players to work with. I’m impressed with their discipline, with their work ethic and with their focus.”

As starting center backs against Peru, Park Ji-su and Jung Seung-hyun mostly held their own after conceding the first-half goal to Bryan Reyna, which ended up being the lone marker of the match. Unheralded 23-year-old Park Kyu-hyun made his international debut off the bench in the second half, after getting some reps next to Park Ji-su in training. He may get a longer look than the 10 or so minutes he had at the end of Friday’s loss.

Things could be more chaotic up front.

Without the versatile Son, the offensive engine of the team, Klinsmann started Oh Hyeon-gyu and Hwang Hee-chan in the two-forward setup. Lee Jae-sung and Lee Kang-in started on the wings, and they even switched places during the match, with the left-footed Lee Kang-in playing on his off side.

In the second half, Cho Gue-sung was brought in for Oh and became the lone striker up top. New midfielder Hong Hyun-seok also came off the bench, and Hwang was moved to the left wing.

Hong and starter Hwang In-beom took on an offensive role in the midfield, leaving Won Du-jae — and later Park Yong-woo after Won was hurt — as the lone defensive midfielder.

Klinsmann then made a bold move by replacing Ahn with attacking midfielder Na Sang-ho. South Korea kept pushing for an equalizer that never came, with only two defenders holding the fort in the final stretch.

Ideally, South Korea won’t have to try to claw their way back into the match after falling down early, the way they did against Peru.

Lee Kang-in, unleashed under offensive-minded Klinsmann, was South Korea’s best player against Peru, flashing creativity and vision matched by few others on the national team. Lee found Cho for two close-range headers in the second half, taking fans back in time to November last year when Lee assisted on both of Cho’s two header goals against Ghana at the FIFA World Cup.

Son was noncommittal Friday night when asked about his status for Tuesday, saying there was still a lot of time left and he would have to monitor his progress.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

South Korea’s consumer prices are expected to grow at a 2 percent level around June or July, the finance minister said Sunday, amid signs of eased inflationary pressures.

“In general, consumer prices are gradually finding stability,” Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said during a program aired by KBS. “I think the inflation will hit the 2 percent level this month or the following one.”

Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 3.3 percent in May from a year earlier, compared with a 3.7 percent on-year advance in April, according to a recent report from Statistics Korea.

The growth fell below 4 percent for the first time in 14 months in April. The latest figure also marked the lowest level since the 3.2 percent growth tallied in October 2021.

South Korea’s inflation has been on a downward trend with some ups and downs after reaching a peak of 6.3 percent in July last year.

“We are approaching the end of the tunnel of economic hardships,” he added.

Touching on the country’s utility fees, Choo noted that although the global price of energy resources has stabilized, it will take “years” for state-run companies to overcome their deficits.

The prices of utility services shot up 23.2 percent on-year in May amid the prolonged jitters in the global energy supply over the Russia-Ukraine war, which induced the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. to raise rates. South Korea depends heavily on imports for its energy needs.

Choo also expressed hopes that local food manufacturers would adjust the price tags on their products, including instant noodles, to reflect the latest decline in the global cost of flour.

Concerning the looming diplomatic tension with Beijing, Choo said China is nevertheless the top trading partner of South Korea, pointing out that such cooperation should continue.

“(South Korea and China) must maintain their economic relationship based on mutual respect and benefits,” Choo added.

The finance minister, meanwhile, reiterated the government is not considering an extra budget, despite the calls from the main opposition Democratic Party.

Source: Yonhap News Agency