It seems trying to use an ear piece to cheat would be challenging without also have a camera to relay what is on the test? If the person had to speak to relay what is on the test that would be highly suspicious. No wonder they got caught:

Police said Tuesday they have apprehended about 10 people suspected of either taking the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) on behalf of others for money or using advanced equipment, such as tiny earpieces, to relay answers to test-takers.

Most of them are Chinese nationals based in China who are believed to have promoted cheating on TOPIK through Chinese social media, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA).

TOPIK is a language proficiency test for foreigners whose native language is not Korean.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The North Koreans have done it again where they have released water from their Imjim Dam without letting the ROK know:

Authorities on Tuesday upgraded a flood alert to a full warning for the Imjin River near the border with North Korea as water levels rose sharply due to heavy downpours and the North’s release of water.

The Han River Flood Control Office upgraded the alert from an advisory at 3:30 p.m. shortly after the water level at Imjin Bridge in Yeoncheon County, about 60 kilometers northeast of Seoul, reached 10.3 meters, rising 0.1 to 0.2 meters every 10 minutes. (…….)

The bridge’s water level has been on a sharp rise as heavy rainfall pounded the county and North Korea appeared to have released water from a dam near the inter-Korean border without giving prior notice.

The environment ministry said late Monday that satellite imagery confirmed the release of water from the Hwanggang Dam on the upper reaches of the Imjin River. (…..)

In 2009, North Korea agreed to notify South Korea in advance when it plans to discharge water from the Hwanggang Dam, following an accident that killed six South Koreans after the North discharged water from the dam without notice.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The money the Kim regime has made selling tungsten has made up 1/3 of its exports to China this year:

North Korea earned a windfall from soaring tungsten prices, largely thanks to China’s tighter export controls on the mineral in the first half of this year, but the gains were too small to offset a sharp slide in its currency and rising inflation, a report showed.

Between January and May, North Korea’s exports to China rose to $287 million, up 68 percent on-year from about $171 million. Tungsten ore accounted for $88 million, or nearly one-third of the total, according to a report released last week by the US-based monitoring website 38 North.

According to the report, North Korea’s tungsten exports by value showed an almost tenfold jump year-on-year. The mineral also overtook wigs and false hair to become the country’s largest export to China.

The increase, however, was driven mostly by higher prices rather than greater shipments.

Tungsten export volume rose only about 15 percent, while the average unit value surged from around $8 to nearly $70 per kilogram. The report estimated that higher prices accounted for about 98 percent of the increase in export earnings.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Has anyone seen the new Korean blockbuster Hope yet? The article is claiming that it is getting very mixed review, either you love it or hate it:

Everyone is talking about “Hope.” Nobody seems to agree on it.

Na Hong-jin’s big-budget creature farce blew past 2 million admissions Sunday afternoon, five days into its run and faster than any film released this year, according to Korean Film Council data. Its running total stood at 2,129,723 as of Monday morning.

That pace beats “The King’s Warden,” which opened earlier this year and went on to sell 16.9 million tickets, becoming the highest-grossing Korean film ever made. It also outruns Yeon Sang-ho’s “Colony,” which took until the evening of its fifth day in May to reach 2 million. (…….)

ut whether audiences actually like the movie is a different question. So far, the answer depends entirely on whom you ask. Reactions have split into two camps, with little in between, making “Hope” the most polarizing Korean release in recent memory.

Naver’s audience score, drawn from ticket-verified viewers, splits down the middle, with 53 percent of raters handing out 9s and 10s while another 23 percent went with 1s and 2s. On the review platform Watcha, ratings are just as divided, averaging out to a middling 3.1 out of 5.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Coupang just continues to take major hits and this horrible fire may soon get even worse for them:

The fire at the Incheon Coupang logistics center has continued for three days, with hundreds of logistics warehouse robots, which pose risks of explosion during fires, located on the fifth floor directly below the sixth floor where the fire initially broke out. Fire authorities are making all-out efforts to prevent the spread of the fire.

Heo Seok-kyung, head of Incheon Seobu Fire Station, said during a briefing near the site of the Incheon Coupang logistics center fire on the 20th, “There are hundreds of logistics warehouse robots using lithium batteries on the fifth floor of the center,” adding, “We are intensively responding by deploying firefighters to prevent the fire from spreading to this area.”

Heo explained that the amount of lithium batteries in the logistics warehouse robots on the fifth floor is equivalent to that of 20 regular electric vehicles.

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The employees of Starbucks Korea have decided to unionize in affiliation with the violent, North Korean spy infiltrated, and illegal immigrant friendly KCTU:

Starbucks Korea workers have formed the first labor union at a domestic coffee franchise, joining the Korean Chemical, Textile & Food Workers’ Union (KCTFU), an industrial union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

According to the KCTFU on Sunday, employees of Starbucks Korea, the local unit of the global coffee chain, joined the union on Thursday and established a Starbucks Korea chapter.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.