South Korea

The “ADEX 2025” arms fair has been opened, featuring unmanned systems and AI-powered weapons from over 600 global firms; The show highlights Seoul’s push to modernise its defence industry, amid rising regional security tensions

A nationwide ban on smartphones in elementary, middle, and high schools will start on 1 March 2026 to curb youth addiction and improve focus; it prohibits the use of phones in class, with exceptions for emergencies or approved educational purposes

Police raided HYBE, the agency behind BTS, the globally famous K-pop group, as part of a probe into alleged unfair share trading by chairman Bang Si-hyuk; He’s accused of misleading investors before HYBE’s 2020 IPO, the initial public offering of stock

In Incheon’s Songdo district, a 63-year-old father allegedly shot and killed his son at a birthday party with a crude homemade gun and fled; Police arrested him in Seoul and found 15 improvised explosives at his home, forcing evacuation for 100 residents

After a 17-month boycott over the government’s plan to boost med school admissions, medical students announced their return to classes; They urged academic support and reforms in training, while trusting Parliament and the government to guide improvements

Full support for AI as a key growth driver was pledged by President Lee Jae Myung, who launched a major data center project in Ulsan with SK Group and AWS, part of an “AI highway” to help make Korea a global AI leader, backed by tax breaks and reforms

New liberal President Lee Jae‑myung won a snap election, pledging to revive democracy and restart the economy, tackle cost‑of‑living pressures, deregulate markets, and pursue pragmatic diplomacy, strengthening U.S. ties engaging North Korea and China

54,9% of South Koreans are in a state of prolonged resentment, 12,8% severe, with nearly 70% of respondents answering that they believe the world is unfair, according to latest survey by Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Health