South Korea

38 North | English | AcademicThink | July 11, 2025 | North Korea

In spring 2025, North Korea's Amisan Automotive Technology Service Center was unveiled by Kim Jong Un as a specialized comprehensive service base, symbolizing more than urban transportation improvements. The transformed facility, formerly the Hwasong Vehicle Maintenance Center, anchors a state-controlled car rental system that involves multiple government bodies including the Central Committee's Economic Department and the Ministry of State Security. This system monetizes mobility through state-run enterprises, generating foreign currency, while enabling limited personal vehicle access for wealthy individuals and government officials under strict regulations.

The car rental system introduces new social dynamics in Pyongyang by offering unprecedented, though controlled, personal freedom. It allows select citizens—mainly from the entrepreneurial donju class and wealthy officials—to rent vehicles for private use, with daily fees around $100 and tight background checks. This arrangement both sustains state revenue and reinforces social control, restricting broader population access. It also enables businesspeople to gain competitive advantages through faster transportation and fosters lifestyle changes, such as young couples using cars for leisure and women quietly defying traditional gender roles by obtaining drivers licenses and starting private taxi businesses.

Despite rising interest in automobiles, private vehicle ownership remains limited by stringent legal and bureaucratic hurdles requiring proof of state-approved foreign currency income. Even approved car owners face movement restrictions enforced by the regime’s No. 10 security checkpoints, which control inter-provincial travel. To circumvent these barriers, many resort to registering vehicles under enterprises or renting license plates, paying fees to maintain relative freedom of movement. This creates a paradox wherein cars symbolize personal freedom but are tightly controlled by the state.

Drivers licenses have taken on deeper cultural significance in North Korea, representing markers of autonomy within an authoritarian system. Long waiting times for license tests reflect widespread demand for limited personal agency. The surge in car rentals and licenses signals subtle social shifts, particularly as women, youth, and entrepreneurs claim new physical and symbolic spaces through mobility. These incremental changes challenge entrenched hierarchies and highlight everyday struggles for freedoms often overshadowed by the regime's overt human rights violations. The emergence of car culture in North Korea thus reveals complex tensions between state control and individual aspirations, suggesting that small acts of autonomy may form the basis of gradual social transformation.

38 North | English | AcademicThink | July 11, 2025 | Geopolitical Conflict and Disputes

Demolition of the Mt. Kumgang Tourist Area in North Korea continues at a slow and unhurried pace, indicating it is not a top national priority. Over the past six months, several small buildings, including the South Korean-owned gas station, have been removed, and demolition of the Kumgang Family Reunion Center is ongoing but gradual. There is no clear indication that Kim Jong Un plans to redevelop the area into a domestic tourist zone at this time.

The Mt. Kumgang Tourist Area was originally developed as a symbol of North-South Korean cooperation in the early 2000s, catering to South Korean tourists through facilities like a golf course, hotels, and commercial buildings. The site closed following a fatal shooting incident in 2008, and political tensions and sanctions have since prevented its reopening. Kim Jong Un visited the area in 2019 and signaled the need for an overhaul, but demolition work since then has been sporadic.

Current efforts focus mainly on the Kumgang Family Reunion Center, a 12-story hotel constructed in 2008 that hosted family reunions between 2009 and 2014. Although previously untouched, demolition preparations began in 2022 with the removal of furnishings, and by July 2025, visible demolition has concentrated on the building’s roof and surroundings.

The Ananti Golf Resort and Spa, once a prominent attraction in the zone, has now been completely razed to its foundation, with the floor plan clearly visible. Nearby accommodation buildings were demolished several years ago. At the port area, the cargo ship moored since October 2024 remains in place but has been moved occasionally. The South Korean-built gas station there was removed in early March 2025.

"피지컬AI+SW가 대한민국 새 먹거리"

ZD Net Korea | Local Language | News | July 11, 2025 | UndeterminedTech Development/Adoption

The 8th session of the AI G3 Advanced Nation New Technology Strategy Breakfast Forum was held on July 9, 2025, at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in South Korea, focusing on the theme of security and control in AI. Organized by lawmakers Jung Dong-young and Choi Hyung-doo, the forum involves about 20 experts from government, academia, industry, and research sectors, aiming to position South Korea as a global leader in AI. The government has recently included the Physical AI leading project in the second supplementary budget, securing 40 billion won this year to promote comprehensive R&D in Physical AI.

Alchera CEO Hwang Young-gyu presented on AI security and control, emphasizing that AI control solutions are vital for safety across multiple industries such as military, traffic, disaster management, and healthcare. Alchera’s AI video recognition technology is widely deployed, with clients numbering over 2,600 and users exceeding 160 million for authentication solutions. The AI-based video control market is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 30.6%, reaching 242 trillion won by 2030, surpassing the semiconductor memory market. Hwang called for centralized AI control under the Ministry of Science and ICT, advocating for expanded subsidies, consolidated departments, and enhanced overseas market expansion.

Professor Jang Young-jae of KAIST discussed Physical AI as a new growth engine, defining it as technology enabling moving intelligence beyond simple information processing. He highlighted the Hyundai Motor factory in Singapore as a model where robots and humans collaborate, aiming to develop AI-based factory design automation technology by 2025. Once developed, this technology will be offered free to South Korean factories to boost competitiveness. Jang stressed the need for standardizing protocols for parts and sensors interfacing with Physical AI, presenting a significant opportunity for South Korea amid global manufacturing shifts.

Participants emphasized the critical need for opening large volumes of video data held by public sectors to the private sector for AI learning, with multiple industry leaders calling for measures to facilitate this data sharing while ensuring privacy and proper security. Regulatory concerns were raised, with calls for freer data use to foster innovation and survival in the AI industry, while balancing societal impact as AI decision-making grows in influence. The forum also highlighted the need for standardization in AI services and improved public sector expertise and control towers to coordinate R&D and industry efforts effectively.

Park Yoon-gyu, President of the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, underscored the importance of teamwork and proposed nationwide expansion of data safe zones linked with AI computing centers to create an AI superhighway. He advocated for appointing AI experts across ministries and reforms in governance terminology and roles to improve cooperation. Song Sang-hoon from the Ministry of Science and ICT announced expansion plans for AI CCTV demonstration projects using local government data, with a public institutions demonstration budget expected to rise to 100 billion won in the near future, supported by relaxed regulations through sandboxes to enable freer use of original video data for AI learning.