Author: GIKorea

Dried reservoir

The Hagok Reservoir in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, is seen nearly dried up, with most of its bed now exposed, on Aug. 2, 2026. (Yonhap)

Even without the small stones in it, this burger doesn’t sound to appetizing:

McDonald’s Korea ended sales of its new burger featuring locally produced corn after multiple customers reported biting into what they claimed to be small stones.

The global hamburger chain said on Sunday that it stopped selling the Chungju corn cheese croquette burger nationwide as of Thursday at 8 p.m.

Launched on July 9, the burger featuring a deep-fried cheese croquette filled with glutinous corn kernels from Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, was originally scheduled to remain on sale through Aug. 12.

A McDonald’s Korea official said company policy required sales to be suspended once three or more similar complaints had been received, adding that there were no plans to bring the burger back.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It is currently scorching hot in Korea:

Temperatures soared to a record high of 42.5 C in the southeastern city of Yangsan on Sunday, as a scorching heat wave continues to grip South Korea, the state weather agency said.

The mercury reached 42 C in Yangsan, about 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 1:16 p.m. and further rose to 42.5 C at 1:26 p.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

It marked the highest reading since modern weather observations began on the Korean Peninsula in 1904, based on records from the KMA’s 97 long-term observation stations.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.

It could soon become much more expensive for Korean students who graduated in the U.S. to find a job:

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering imposing a $100,000 fee on foreign students seeking to work in the United States after graduating from American universities, a news report said Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the administration is weighing the idea of attaching the fee to an “optional practical training (OPT)” program that allows foreign university graduates to work in the U.S. for one to three years on student visas.

The proposed measure, if implemented, could affect U.S. universities keen on attracting foreign students, as well as Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms that hire international college graduates for technical posts, the newspaper said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Ambassador Steel has a tough job ahead of her to get Korea to support the Trump agenda:

New U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel speaks to reporters after her arrival at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on July 30, 2026, to assume her post. (Yonhap)

Michelle Park Steel, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, on Friday called for joint efforts to write the “next chapter” in the Seoul-Washington alliance, stressing that the decadeslong partnership should remain “results oriented” and “forward leaning.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears the ROK Marine Corps was aware of the drone, but not the Army that nearly engaged it:

A warning sign in the border area of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, indicates that the surrounding region is a drone no-fly zone, in this file photo taken Jan. 11, 2026. (Yonhap)

A mix-up over a U.S. spy drone flying near the inter-Korean border has raised questions about a potential communication gap between the allies after South Korean forces mistook the drone for an enemy threat and had almost prepared to shoot it down.

On Thursday, the unmanned flying vehicle was spotted in the buffer zone, known as the Civilian Control Line, south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas.

The Army’s 1st Corps, responsible for front-line defense, activated Durumi, an anti-air defense alert system issued in the event of an enemy drone incursion, and used surveillance equipment, including thermal observation devices (TOD) and radar, to identify the drone.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) later said it was a U.S. military drone belonging to its Marine Corps carrying out an operation during a combined exercise with the South Korean Marines near the border.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.