Recent Blog Posts
CSAT Smart Glasses Policy: Wearing Them Voids Your 수능 Exam
South Korea's Ministry of Education confirmed on November 9 that wearing smart glasses in the exam room counts as cheating on the 2027 College Scholastic Ability Test (수능, suneung), even if the device is never switched on. The exam takes place on Thursday, November 19, and the rule arrives as the pool of test-takers who are no longer in high school reaches its largest size in 23 years.
G-STAR Set to Open in Busan Without Nexon, NC and Netmarble
G-STAR 2026, Korea's largest game show, opens at BEXCO in Busan on November 19 without booths from Nexon, NC or Netmarble, the trio Korean media call the N3, and Kakao Games is also absent from the public hall. Chinese and Japanese studios, a new global showcase and an AI chat startup as main sponsor fill much of the space they left. The show runs through November 22, so the first visitor numbers will test whether it can hold its audience without the companies that built it.
Busan Fireworks Festival Draws 1.2 Million and a Fee Debate
About 1.2 million people watched the 21st Busan Fireworks Festival at Gwangalli Beach on November 7, according to city officials cited by Yonhap, the third year in a row above one million. The turnout is no longer the story. Paid seating has grown to about 17,000 seats, with 8,000 of them reserved for foreign tourists according to KNN, and the city pays Hanwha a production fee that Hanwha does not charge in Seoul.
“What K-Drama Are You Watching Lately?” | Easy Korean Speaking ep7
I asked Koreans in Seoul what Korean dramas they’re watching.
You’ll hear how Koreans actually speak – the words and grammar they use, the speed they speak at, and their pronunciation – in my series “Easy Korean Speaking.” Let me know if you have any requests for questions I should ask next!
Gym Closures Hit Record High, Beating COVID Years
South Korea recorded 577 gym closures in 2025, the highest annual total since the Ministry of the Interior and Safety began tracking the figure in 1990. The number is higher than in 2020 and 2021, when COVID-19 rules restricted indoor exercise, and 2026 is on pace to exceed it.
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When Does Korean Finally Start Feeling Natural? | Into Korean
It takes a long time for Korean to finally “click” and make sense… or does it ever actually “click” at all? And what is “natural” Korean anyway? We share how long it took for Korean to click and feel natural, as well as what habits make someone’s Korean sound and feel more natural.
Korea’s Hangang Supercomputer Goes Live in Daejeon
South Korea's sixth national supercomputer, Hangang (한강), went into operation on November 2 at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) in Daejeon. The system has a theoretical peak performance of 614 petaflops, about 24 times that of its predecessor, Nurion, and the government expects it to place among the world's ten fastest machines when the next global rankings are released this month.
Hangang is currently running a trial service, with official service for universities, research institutes, and companies set to begin on December 16.
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KT Wiz and Samsung Lions Meet in the 2026 Korean Series
The 2026 Korean Series, the best-of-seven championship of Korea's professional baseball league, opened on November 3 with the KT Wiz hosting the Samsung Lions in Suwon. It is the first time the two clubs have met in the postseason, and it pairs the league's oldest franchise with one of its youngest. Samsung has been in the KBO since its founding season in 1982, while KT is in only its twelfth year in the top division.
Halloween in Korea Passes Safely Under Tight Crowd Controls
Halloween weekend in Seoul ended without any major crowd-related incidents, even though up to about 157,000 people packed Hongdae and Itaewon on Saturday night, October 31. It was the fourth Halloween since the 2022 crowd crush in Itaewon (이태원) killed 159 people, and the first since then to fall on a Saturday.
AI Smart Glasses Cheating Prompts Tougher Korean Exam Rules
South Korea's Ministry of Education announced on October 29 that students caught cheating with AI-equipped smart glasses on the national college entrance exam will be referred for criminal investigation. The plan follows cases this month at two Seoul universities and comes three weeks before the College Scholastic Ability Test, or Suneung (수능), on November 19.
North Korea Linked to $6.3 Billion Binance Hack
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, lost about $6.3 billion in digital assets in a hack on October 29, and blockchain analysts say North Korean state hackers are the likely culprits. It is the largest crypto theft on record, roughly four times the $1.5 billion taken from the exchange Bybit in February 2025. In Korea, Upbit (업비트), Bithumb (빗썸) and Coinone (코인원) posted warnings on October 30 for customers who send coins to Binance.
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How to Level up from Intermediate to Advanced Korean
Leveling up from Intermediate Level to Advanced Level is a giant step – larger than going from Beginner to Intermediate – so we share all of our tips for how you can do it more quickly and easily, as well as what you should expect.
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