Category: Korea-General Topics

Here is what is coming up next for the $15 minimum wage crowd, restaurant automation:

The food and beverage industry here has seen an increasing use of robots to serve food and beverages and even complete basic tasks such as making noodles in less than a minute. 

Industry officials said Sunday that more robots will be used in restaurants with the development of robotic technologies and soaring demand to utilize robots for routine and repetitive tasks, replacing human employees.

LG Electronics said it has deployed a robot chef called the CLOi Chefbot to a Seoul branch of VIPS restaurant in cooperation with the family restaurant chain operator CJ Foodville.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out:

The nation’s human rights watchdog has recommended a nightclub to stop denying entrance to foreigners based on their race or skin color. The owners of the facility, however, refused to accept the recommendation, saying they have had numerous “problems” involving foreign customers.

According to the National Human Rights Commission Korea (NHRCK), Wednesday, an Indian American filed a petition last year after he was barred from entering the nightclub due to being a foreigner while his Korean American friend was not.

The NHRCK said it concluded that the club’s rejection of his entry was clear discrimination based on the petitioner’s race and skin color, as the staff of the club did not check ID cards showing nationalities and allowed the entry of the Korean American.

In July, the commission recommended the club stop deciding customers’ entry based on their race and skin color.

However, the club said it would not follow the recommendation.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Not a good look for ex-president Chun considering he is claiming he has dementia:

Video footage of former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan playing golf, who has been avoiding attending a defamation trial claiming dementia, has sparked public anger.

He has been accused of defaming late Rev. Cho Bi-oh regarding the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.

Justice Party Vice Chairman Lim Han-sol on Friday released a video clip of Chun playing golf with his companions.

Civic groups, including the May 18 Memorial Foundation, immediately released a statement condemning Chun.

“This is an insult and mockery of history. We can’t really tell how outraged we are now,” read the statement.

“Chun has cited dementia as an excuse to avoid the trial. But the footage clearly reveals that’s false. The court shouldn’t be lenient.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

The Korean taxi lobby is trying to take out another ride sharing company:

A taxi industry body urged Tada, a ride-hailing service, to terminate its business on Tuesday, a day after prosecutors indicted the company’s heads on charges of running a transportation business without a license and declared the app-based business illegal. 

In a joint press conference with independent lawmaker Kim Kyung-jin, Kook Chul-hee, chief of the Seoul Private Taxi Association, said “the prosecution’s indictment brought the illegality of these taxi operators to light.”

Kim and Kook also asked the government to suspend Tada’s operation, which it claims has made a mockery of law and order, saying it would be dereliction of the government’s duty if it did not do so.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.