I don’t think someone can take credit for publishing a book when AI wrote it for them:

ISBN issuances surge in 2025 as AI accelerates publishing, but fears mount over flood of low-quality titles

It took me about an hour to produce a 50-page-long children’s book. All it required was a handful of prompts to ChatGPT.

The task was simple: Write a children’s story about a journalist living in the age of artificial intelligence, set at The Korea Herald, with a main character named Jane.

Readers can decide for themselves if the result is convincing enough to pass as something written by a human.

But this experiment shows just how quickly a book can be made with AI, something South Korea’s publishing industry is trying to cope with, for better or worse.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

South Korean Ambassador to the US Kang Kyung-wha (left) and Korea Heritage Service Administrator Huh Min attend an event installing a plaque at the consular section building of the Korean Embassy in Washington on Monday to mark the historic building as the site of the Asian country’s first-ever embassy. (Yonhap)

So when is North Korea going to apologize for their drone and balloon incursions into South Korea?:

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Tuesday expressed regret over a recent alleged drone incursion into North Korea by a South Korean civilian, marking the first expression of regret regarding the incident by a senior government official.

“I express deep regret to North Korea over the reckless drone intrusion that occurred recently,” Chung said during a congratulatory message delivered at a Mass for national reconciliation and unity at Seoul’s Myeongdong Cathedral.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Coupang data breach issue is far worse than originally suspected:

Choi Woo-hyuk, director general of the science ministry’s cybersecurity bureau, speaks during a press conference in Seoul on Feb. 10, 2026. (Yonhap)

A joint public-private probe into a major data breach case at the South Korean unit of U.S.-listed e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. has confirmed that over 33.6 million accounts have been exposed, the science ministry said Tuesday, suggesting the company may have sought to play down the incident by initially claiming only some 3,000 had been compromised.

The South Korean unit, Coupang Corp., also failed to promptly report the incident despite related regulations, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

“The science ministry concluded the incident as being a major breach case leading to a massive leak of information involving the country’s top online commerce platform,” Choi Woo-hyuk, director general of the ministry’s cybersecurity bureau, said during a press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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

You know things are bad on the North Korea engagement front when former President Moon’s point man on Kim regime appeasement, Moon Chung-in has largely given up on bilateral talks:

Prospects for inter-Korean dialogue are even more constrained, Moon said, noting that North Korea has formally labelled South Korea a hostile state and cut off nearly all communication channels. Symbolic or technical measures, he added, are unlikely to alter Pyongyang’s broader strategy.

“Suspending loudspeaker broadcasts or softening rhetoric will not change North Korea’s strategic calculus,” Moon said, “The problem is structural, not tactical.”

When assessing the Lee Jae Myung administration’s North Korea policy, Moon said that the government’s intentions matter less than the external environment that shapes Pyongyang’s choices. He pointed out that North Korea currently has little incentive to engage, given that it can withstand pressure with the backing of Russia and China.

“It’s not that Seoul is unwilling to talk,” Moon said. “North Korea simply does not feel the need to respond.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I have been saying for months that these attempts to start talks with North Korea are pointless. They have no reason to pursue talks with the ROK when the Russians are currently filling all their economic and security needs.

It looks like South Korea will soon have a lot of people signing up to become “researchers” in order to get out of their mandatory military service. This sounds more like a way for the rich and privileged to avoid serving in the military:

 President Lee Jae Myung held a meeting with young researchers and science students Thursday and discussed ways to expand alternative military service options as part of a broader reform to the military system.

During the meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said his administration was reviewing an overhaul of the military, including measures to substitute mandatory military service for other forms of service.

“As young men are obliged to serve in the military, they unavoidably face career breaks for a considerable period, which can become a source of conflict and lead to a sense of frustration,” he said.

Responding to a student’s suggestion that young men should be given more research opportunities during their service, Lee said the administration was reviewing such measures.

“On top of that, I plan to carry out major changes in the military,” Lee added, stressing he will seek to provide opportunities for young men to acquire expertise in cutting-edge technology and weapons systems during their service rather than wasting it away.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.