Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

Hyundai Motor Group will invest 9 trillion won ($6.3 billion) in Korea's Saemangeum, North Jeolla, to build the country's first dedicated robot plant and a large-scale AI data center.

The announcement follows a commitment made in November, when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited Seoul and pledged to supply Hyundai with 50,000 GPUs. Hyundai inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korean government on Friday, attended by President Lee Jae Myung and Hyundai Executive Chair Euisun Chung.

The group will allocate 5.8 trillion won to construct an AI data center designed to support autonomous driving systems and robotics training. The 50,000 GPUs secured from Nvidia will be deployed at the facility, with the construction slated for 2027 for a goal of completion in 2029.

Separately, a total of 400 billion won will be poured into building the country's first robot manufacturing plant, which will mass produce wearable and logistics robots. Construction will start in 2028 to be completed in 2029, but specific production plans — including whether humanoid models such as Atlas will be manufactured — have yet to be finalized.

"Korea's most pressing challenge is to sustain growth and development, yet the greatest impediment is the overconcentration in the capital area; provincial regions are withering away, while the capital itself is becoming so overcrowded that it risks reaching a breaking point," President Lee said during the event in Saemangeum on Friday.

"Despite those challenges, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude, on behalf of the Koreans, to Hyundai Motor Group for making what may have been a bold and risky decision in trusting the government. Founding Chairman Chung Ju-yung would be very proud."

Hyundai will also spend roughly 1 trillion won to install and operate the country's largest water electrolysis plant to produce and distribute green hydrogen. An additional 1.3 trillion won will be allocated to solar power facilities to supply renewable electricity to the electrolysis plant, a proposed AI hydrogen city and the data center.

A further 400 billion won will be deployed to cultivate an integrated urban and industrial ecosystem — spanning hydrogen production, AI-driven analytics and robotic applications — with the goal of transforming the waterfront district into a hydrogen-based, AI-powered future city.

The latest investment is projected to generate some 71,000 jobs and catalyze significant economic spillovers, including the arrival of global partner companies.

Relevant ministries and local governments have pledged to expedite permitting and improve residential and transportation infrastructure to ensure timely implementation and maximize regional growth.

"The next-generation industrial paradigm taking shape in Saemangeum will serve as the fulcrum of a great transformation, not only for North Jeolla but for the future of Korea," said Hyundai Vice Chairman Chang Jae-hoon. "With deep manufacturing expertise and robust capabilities across robotics, AI and hydrogen energy, we are prepared to build a cutting-edge industrial ecosystem."

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

Hyundai Motor Group will invest 9 trillion won ($6.3 billion) in Korea's Saemangeum, North Jeolla, to build the country's first dedicated robot plant and a large-scale AI data center.

The announcement follows a commitment made in November, when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited Seoul and pledged to supply Hyundai with 50,000 GPUs. Hyundai inked a memorandum of understanding with the Korean government on Friday, attended by President Lee Jae Myung and Hyundai Executive Chair Euisun Chung.

Saemangeum, with the world's longest 33.9-kilometer (21-mile) seawall connecting Buan and Kunsan, both in North Jeolla, is the country's largest government-led land reclamation project on Korea's west coast. The area is being developed as a strategic industrial, logistics, and renewable energy hub for future economic growth.

The group will allocate 5.8 trillion won to construct an AI data center designed to support autonomous driving systems and robotics training. The 50,000 GPUs secured from Nvidia will be deployed at the facility, with the construction slated for 2027 for a goal of completion in 2029.

Separately, a total of 400 billion won will be poured into building the country's first robot manufacturing plant, which will mass-produce wearable and logistics robots. Construction will start in 2028 to be completed in 2029, but specific production plans — including whether humanoid models such as Atlas will be manufactured — have yet to be finalized.

"Korea's most pressing challenge is to sustain growth and development, yet the greatest impediment is the overconcentration in the capital area; provincial regions are withering away, while the capital itself is becoming so overcrowded that it risks reaching a breaking point," President Lee said during the event in Saemangeum on Friday.

"Despite those challenges, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude, on behalf of Koreans, to Hyundai Motor Group for making what may have been a bold and risky decision in trusting the government. Founding Chairman Chung Ju-yung would be very proud."

Hyundai will also spend roughly 1 trillion won to install and operate the country's largest water electrolysis plant to produce and distribute green hydrogen. An additional 1.3 trillion won will be allocated to solar power facilities to supply renewable electricity to the electrolysis plant, a proposed AI hydrogen city and the data center.

A further 400 billion won will be deployed to cultivate an integrated urban and industrial ecosystem — spanning hydrogen production, AI-driven analytics and robotic applications — with the goal of transforming the waterfront district into a hydrogen-based, AI-powered future city.

The latest investment is projected to generate some 71,000 jobs and catalyze significant economic spillovers, including the arrival of global partner companies.

Relevant ministries and local governments have pledged to expedite permitting and improve residential and transportation infrastructure to ensure timely implementation and maximize regional growth.

"The next-generation industrial paradigm taking shape in Saemangeum will serve as the fulcrum of a great transformation, not only for North Jeolla but for the future of Korea," said Hyundai Vice Chairman Chang Jae-hoon. "With deep manufacturing expertise and robust capabilities across robotics, AI and hydrogen energy, we are prepared to build a cutting-edge industrial ecosystem."

This article is by Kim Won and read by an artificial voice.

K-pop, K-drama and now K-shaped economic growth — Korea has joined other countries experiencing a troubling trend signaled by uneven growth in the economy. Despite the Kospi surging past 6,000 to a record high on Wednesday, weak consumption and sluggish growth continue to hold the broader economy back.

K-shaped economic growth refers to an uneven trend in which some sectors and income groups recover and grow quickly while others continue to struggle or decline.

Korea's coincident index, which reflects current economic conditions, stood at 98.5 in December last year, remaining below the benchmark level of 100 for 19 consecutive months, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

In contrast, the leading index, which signals future economic trends, rose 0.6 points from November last year to 103.1.

The 4.6-point gap marks the widest spread since February 2000 at the height of the so-called dot-com bubble, a period when financial markets moved far ahead of real economic conditions.

The divergence suggests that market expectations have improved, while production, consumption and employment indicators remain subdued.

In fact, consumer spending continues to show weakness.

The retail sales index rose 0.5 percent last year, the first increase in four years, but the gain largely reflected the 11 percent jump in passenger car sales. Excluding automobiles, retail sales fell 0.7 percent, extending declines for a fourth consecutive year since 2022 and marking the longest downturn since data compilation began in 2010. Sales of goods such as clothing and footwear dropped 2.2 percent, while goods such as food and cosmetics fell 0.3 percent, shrinking for a third straight year.

Weak domestic demand has added pressure on small business owners and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

As of December last year, the delinquency rate on won-denominated loans at domestic banks reached 0.50 percent, returning to the 0.5 percent range for the first time since 2015. The rate has climbed for four consecutive years from 0.21 percent at the end of 2021. The delinquency rate on corporate loans rose to 0.59 percent, while small and medium-sized firms recorded 0.72 percent.

High interest rates and weak sales have reduced borrowers' repayment capacity.

The composite business sentiment index for all industries came to 94.2 in February, up 0.2 points from the previous month but still below the long-term average, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday. The composite business sentiment index is a survey-based indicator that measures overall business confidence across industries, reflecting how companies assess current conditions and their outlook for the near future.

Liquidity continues to flow into financial markets rather than the real economy.

The total amount of money available in the economy grew 3.2 percent in December last year, while funds managed by financial firms such as securities companies and insurers increased 12.3 percent, according to the BOK.

Economists warn that if capital continues to move into stocks instead of consumption and facility investment, recovery in the real economy could slow and asset gaps could widen.

"Favorable consumer sentiment and strong semiconductor conditions will likely lift this year's growth rate significantly compared to last year," said BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong.

Semiconductor exports reached $20.54 billion in January, up 102.7 percent from a year earlier. However, analysts caution that reliance on semiconductor exports could deepen disparities across industries and income groups, reinforcing a K-shaped recovery.

"I am not convinced that the rise in stock prices over the past year matches company profits and overall economic conditions," said Yang Jun-seok, an economics professor at the Catholic University of Korea. "Policymakers should think carefully about their next steps, including whether to raise interest rates, and curb too much bor...

Kwack Min-soo

The author is the director of the Korea Institute of Egyptology.

The ancient Egyptian civilization is generally dated to around 3100 B.C. Although the basic elements of the civilization — its cities, writing, social stratification, public architecture and long-distance trade — appeared somewhat earlier, Egypt's starting point is conventionally defined as the unification of the land by Narmer.

From that moment, Egyptian civilization continued for nearly three millennia. Its political history came to an end around 30 B.C., when the allied fleet of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony was defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium and Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.

Yet, the disappearance of an independent kingdom did not mean the end of ancient Egyptian culture. Cultural traditions continued to be reproduced and sustained long after political autonomy was lost. This cultural continuity lasted until roughly the late fourth to early fifth century A.D., when Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire and traditional religious practices were gradually suppressed.

In this sense, the ancient Egyptian civilization endured culturally for more than 4,000 years. This does not mean that nothing changed over that long period. However, the core elements of the culture maintained a remarkable degree of continuity and were repeatedly reused by Egyptians across generations.

Motifs that first appeared around 3000 B.C., for example, continued to be used with almost the same form and meaning, not only until the political end of Egyptian rule in 30 B.C. but also well into the early centuries A.D. Such persistence is one of the most distinctive features of Egyptian civilization.

This cultural durability was made possible by several factors. Stable natural conditions along the Nile ensured reliable agricultural production and a steady food supply, which in turn supported economic security and social stability. Equally important was the confidence of the Egyptians themselves, who believed that their land had been created in a perfect form at the beginning of the world.

These favorable conditions were further reinforced by a political system capable of managing resources and social order effectively over long periods.

Today, many societies aspire to stability and sustainability. For those seeking long-term continuity rather than short-term change, ancient Egypt offers a valuable point of reference.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

The author is the president of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.

The global surge in AI has intensified. Just two years ago debate centered on whether AI development should be restrained. Today, the world is in the midst of massive infrastructure investment and strategic competition for technological leadership.

Five hyperscale technology firms — Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle — plan to spend a combined $560 billion in capital expenditures this year alone. The scale is comparable to the GDP of a midsize economy.

AI itself is evolving rapidly. Beyond generative systems that write and draw, "agent AI" can now make decisions and perform sequences of tasks autonomously. More recently, the technology has expanded into "physical AI" deployed in manufacturing and robotics. Humanoid robots unveiled at this year's CES event triggered labor union concerns, with some observers warning of a new wave of worker resistance reminiscent of the 19th century Luddite movement.

Whether AI and robots will replace human labor entirely remains uncertain. Yet waiting for change to fully unfold before preparing would be risky. The trajectory of technological progress suggests the need for early and deliberate adaptation.

Technology has always evolved alongside the way humans create value. Economist J. Bradford DeLong classified human contribution into six domains: physical strength, manual precision, communication, calculation and control, creativity and emotional connection. Each wave of innovation has replaced or enhanced some of these functions.

Machines took over physical labor and repetitive manual work. Media and communications amplified the human voice. Computers extended cognitive processing. Creativity and empathy were long considered uniquely human, but AI is beginning to challenge even these boundaries through advanced reasoning and increasingly natural interaction.

Still, AI will likely follow the familiar dual path of substitution and complementarity. A joint study by the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of Korea estimates that about half of Korean workers will be directly affected. Of them, roughly half may face displacement pressure, while the rest could see higher productivity and income by working alongside AI.

Which jobs disappear and which survive depends less on occupations than on tasks. AI is rapidly absorbing structured work such as basic translation, entry-level coding, data organization and contract review. Jobs composed largely of such tasks face higher risk. Where work includes complex judgment, coordination or client interaction, AI can instead become a powerful tool.

History offers a useful example. When automated teller machines were introduced, many expected bank teller jobs to vanish. Economist James Bessen found that overall employment did not decline. Routine cash handling fell, but tellers shifted toward customer service, loan consulting and financial guidance. Task composition changed, not employment itself.

Concerns have also emerged that AI could eliminate entry-level work and weaken the "experience ladder" for young workers. A recent Stanford University study found a 16 percent decline in employment among U.S. college graduates in their twenties in AI-exposed occupations. Yet early research also suggests that AI can narrow performance gaps by helping less experienced workers improve their output.

More fundamentally, some worry that AI could shift the balance between labor and capital. Philosopher Michael Polanyi described "tacit knowledge" as the skills people know but cannot fully explain. Traditional automation struggled to capture this. AI, however, can learn from data and observation, potentially transferring workers' skill into corporate systems. Such a shift could reinforce the concentration of income and wealth long associated with capital-intensive technologies.

The original Luddites were not simply opponents of machinery. Skilled artisans protested technol...

Park Su-ryon

The author is the deputy editor of Content Division Three and the head of corporate research at the JoongAng Ilbo.

President Lee Jae Myung has been paying close attention not only to housing prices but also to consumer prices. On social media, he has scrutinized items that weigh heavily on household budgets — including sanitary pads, sugar, flour and school uniforms — and suggested instances of possible collusion.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has quickly answered the president's call to mobilize administrative authority. This month alone, it announced the investigation results of two suspected cases of collusion involving sugar and flour.

As the president noted, collusion is a serious threat to a market economy. While the immediate damage from price-fixing by sugar refiners or flour millers falls on businesses such as bakeries and beverage makers, customers bear the ultimate burden, having to pay more for or give up purchases altogether.

But consumers currently have no direct avenue to request compensation. Instead, the FTC can impose surcharges of up to 20 percent of relevant sales. Emphasizing policy effectiveness and public accountability, Lee has urged the commission to take stronger action, including the use of "price redetermination orders," a measure that has not been used in two decades due to strict conditions and voluntary price cuts by companies during investigations.

Under existing FTC guidelines, companies subject to such an order must submit new price plans to the government themselves. The intent is to demonstrate corrective action through price adjustments. However, there is no rule specifying how much prices should be lowered.

The reason is simple. In a market economy, the government does not set prices. Even firms found guilty of collusion are expected to determine their own prices after corrective measures.

The administration is now considering revising the guidelines to allow more explicit intervention. At a televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lee said authorities should not simply urge companies to cooperate but should order them to lower prices to specific levels and consider sanctions to ensure compliance. He also called for expanding FTC staffing to strengthen enforcement.

Direct government involvement in price setting, however, risks crossing a line. Once the state begins determining prices, the allocation of resources in the market may become distorted. Efforts to eliminate harmful practices should not weaken the broader functioning of the market itself.

Practical challenges also remain. Can the government accurately calculate what prices would have been in the absence of collusion? If authorities impose reductions based on rough estimates, companies and shareholders are likely to resist. And even if a price level is determined, questions remain about how to reflect changing costs, such as exchange rates, wages and profit margins, and how long companies would be required to maintain the new prices.

The concern is not about protecting firms that engage in collusion. Excessive intervention may instead prompt companies to recover losses through other means, shifting hidden costs to consumers, workers or suppliers. Correcting market failure requires adherence to market principles.

There is also a limit to case-by-case intervention driven by presidential attention to specific items. Companies may respond cautiously in the short term, but such oversight cannot be sustained indefinitely.

In practice, the most effective way to discipline corporate misconduct is financial accountability. As large-scale consumer harm from collusion or data breaches increases, calls have grown to introduce U.S.-style class action lawsuits. Concerns about excessive litigation have been overshadowed by repeated corporate wrongdoing.

Alongside stronger corporate self-regulation, what is needed is a balanced government approach that restores fair competition without undermining the foundations of the market e...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un used the Workers' Party's Ninth Congress, which closed on Wednesday, to dismiss the Lee Jae Myung administration's outreach as a "clumsy deception," stating there was nothing to discuss with South Korea, which he called the most hostile entity. He also warned that any act that harms the security of the North, a nuclear state, could not rule out "the complete collapse of the South," invoking the prospect of a nuclear strike. Ahead of the congress, Pyongyang also showcased a 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher billed as a weapon for use against the South.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has acknowledged how hard it has been to restart inter-Korean talks. His government has tried to draw a response with pre-emptive steps, including restoring the Sept. 19 inter-Korean military agreement and scaling back Korea-U.S. joint exercises, but Kim's message suggests those concessions are not working.

Pursuing dialogue with North Korea, including denuclearization, to build peace on the Korean Peninsula is a responsibility every administration inherits. But policy must reflect the other side's strategic posture. Lee's "peacemaker" and "pacemaker" framing at last year's Korea-U.S. summit was an attempt to ground engagement in alliance coordination: Washington would take the lead, and Seoul would support and sustain the effort. However, Kim, while demanding recognition as a nuclear state and an end to what he calls a hostile policy, still left room for talks with the United States, implying he sees Washington, not Seoul, as the primary counterpart.

That is why it is troubling when parts of the government appear to push unilateral conciliation and allow friction with the United States to surface. Saying one thing and doing another can erode trust in the alliance and weaken leverage in any negotiation. For Pyongyang, Seoul's goodwill is likely to be read less as an attempt at peace and more as a vulnerability.

Any durable North Korea policy also requires public consent. It is difficult to expect confidence in an engagement drive when the North is issuing nuclear threats against the South. Lee cited on Thursday the proverb that a spoonful of rice does not fill the belly, stressing persistence in dialogue and cooperation to build trust. But while persistence matters, trust depends less on effort than on a sound direction, clear principles and deterrence.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

This article is by Cho Jung-woo and read by an artificial voice.

As smoke thickens on a subway platform, an orange-and-black, four-legged robot pads into view.

It strides confidently through the turnstiles, descends the stairs and scans the platform with its camera, searching for a person who may have collapsed. As it identifies someone lying on the ground, a warning rings out from its speaker: "This is a dangerous situation. Please evacuate to a safe place immediately."

On Thursday, reporters viewed a rare demonstration at the Seoul Metropolitan Fire Academy in Eunpyeong District, northern Seoul, where the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters showcased a four-legged robot and a newly developed low-floor fire truck.

The voice comes out as a firefighter who is standing at a safe distance and operating the machine remotely with a hand-held controller presses a button. The controller's screen livestreams what the robot sees. Through the controller, the firefighter can broadcast evacuation warnings or speak directly to people at the scene.

Scenes like this may soon become more common in Seoul. The city is expanding its use of robots and specialized vehicles to handle fires and medical emergencies in places that are too dangerous or too confined for firefighters to enter first.

A robot that goes in first

During the demonstration, the robot navigated a smoke-filled, darkened space meant to simulate a site at risk of collapse. Using its thermal camera, it approached a person lying on the floor. When the firefighter spotted the figure on the controller screen, he spoke through the robot's onboard radio, asking whether help was needed. Moments later, firefighters entered with a stretcher and carried the person out.

The four-legged robot, equipped with thermal imaging, LiDAR sensors and detectors that can measure eight types of gases, is designed to enter hazardous environments before human firefighters do. It can operate in darkness, heavy smoke and confined underground spaces, identifying collapsed structures, toxic gases and people in need of rescue.

The robot measures 1.1 meters (3.6 feet) in length, 56 centimeters in width and 60 centimeters in height, reaching up to 85 centimeters with its camera attached.

By measuring combustible gases from leaks and fires, the robot can help firefighters assess the risk of explosion and determine whether an area outside the scene is safe, a spokesperson at the headquarters said. The goal, the spokesperson added, is for robots to explore high-risk zones in advance and provide information that supports on-site command decisions.

"That allows us to decide how much risk firefighters may need to take before they enter," a spokesperson said.

The robot transmits real-time video not only to the firefighter's controller but also to a larger screen mounted on the exterior of a fire department vehicle, allowing commanders to monitor conditions from a distance.

It has not yet been deployed to an actual disaster scene, a spokesperson said, but it is ready to be dispatched at any time, particularly in large-scale incidents such as building collapses or major gas leaks.

The headquarters plans to evaluate data collected from the robot's use and determine whether additional units should be introduced. The spokesperson also said they intend to establish standardized procedures and field protocols for how firefighting robots are deployed and operated during disasters.

A fire truck built for tight spaces

An orange, squat and notably compact fire truck rolled into the parking garage.

Built for places ordinary fire trucks cannot reach, the low-floor vehicle is designed to slip into underground parking garages, where low ceilings have long posed a problem for firefighters. The truck is a redesigned version of the K351 small tactical vehicle developed by Kia. At just 2.15 meters tall, it can squeeze into spaces with height limits as low as 2.3 meters — the standard limit for an underground garage.

At...

This article is by Lee Jae-lim and read by an artificial voice.

The AI features on Samsung Electronics' new Galaxy S26 series make one thing clear: The idea of "having a personal AI assistant in your hand" is no longer just marketing rhetoric. With Galaxy AI now capable of sorting through your schedule, media library and even hailing a ride with a simple voice command, the catchphrase feels closer than ever to everyday reality.

Samsung is also debuting a clever new feature called Privacy Display with its Ultra model, a mode that's sure to appeal to discreet users who want to keep their screen to themselves.

The upgrades might make up for the price hikes for this series if all the AI features are as impressive as they sound to be — but the jury is still out, as a brief hands-on demonstration for journalists left little time to give it a full spin. The prices of all three models have been raised after the electronics maker kept the S25 series on par with the S24.

With base storage set at 256GB, the Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at 1,797,400 won ($1,260), which is 99,000 won higher than the S25 Ultra. The gap grows wider with the 1TB option, which is 423,000 won more than the S25 version at 2,127,400 won. The Galaxy S series can no longer be called a cheaper alternative to the iPhone, as there's not much of a price difference between the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max with 1TB of storage, going for 2.39 million won.

Another point of contention is whether the base and plus models, equipped with Samsung's in-house Exynos 2600 processors, can deliver stable performance without the issues that dogged earlier Exynos-mounted devices, particularly under the strain of the new AI capabilities. The company has received its fair share of complaints from users who got Exynos-loaded devices, with consumers voicing dissatisfaction with overheating, a shorter battery life and performance throttling compared to models fitted with Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips. This led Samsung to drop the Exynos entirely for the S25 series, but this year, the chip has returned.

As with the S25 lineup, Samsung is once again adopting a dual-chip strategy for the base and plus variants, meaning some regions will receive Exynos-powered models while others get Snapdragon versions. The Ultras, however, are all integrated with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

AI assistant at hand

The Galaxy S26 series showcases cool new AI features as well as meaningful upgrades to existing ones. One of the new features is called Now Brief. When the user adds an appointment to their calendar and receives a message seeking a meeting at a time that overlaps with the original plan, the AI reminds the user of the prior engagement. Integration with third-party messengers such as KakaoTalk or WhatsApp has yet to be confirmed.

The series can also run on multiple AI agents. Samsung's Bixby is the default agent, but users can customize their handset to include Gemini or Perplexity as well. With a voice command or the press of a side button, the agents are ready to get to work. What makes this particularly cool is the scenario Samsung gives to paint a clear picture of what the feature can do: On a busy weekday morning when you're running late, you can summon Gemini with a voice command and have it check whether a ride can be reserved via ride-hailing apps such as Kakao Taxi. With your approval, the AI locks in the booking and voila — your ride is confirmed.

Meanwhile, Circle to Search has gotten an upgrade, which should be useful for fashionists. For instance, a user curious about a celebrity's style can circle the star in a photo in one motion and the AI provides information on the pieces worn from head to toe.

New try at obscuring the screen

An exciting new feature exclusively available on the Ultra is the Privacy Display mode. Admittedly, there were some discrepancies between what the real function can do and earlier rumors. What fell a little below par was the level of filtering. Anticipation that the scre...

This article is by Kim Ji-ye and read by an artificial voice.

Blackpink's Jisoo is set to step into her first romantic comedy role with Netflix's upcoming series "Boyfriend on Demand," setting her sights on earning the ambitious title of "rom-com goddess."

"This is my first romantic comedy and also my first drama project set in modern times," said Jisoo during the series' press conference held in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Thursday. "As I read the script, I found a lot of it relatable since my character is around my age, and there were many fun elements as well. I really enjoyed building the character while connecting with her."

When asked about her goal of earning the title, she answered without hesitation. "I want it."

Director Kim Jung-sik also expressed strong confidence in Jisoo's rom-com potential, saying, "It makes me wonder why she's only now doing a rom-com."

The series follows Mi-rae, a webtoon producer, who escapes her worn-out reality through a subscription-based virtual dating simulation program that offers custom-made fantasy scenarios tailored to users' tastes. The service itself is called "Boyfriend on Demand." While she enjoys dates with her virtual boyfriends, in reality, she is exhausted from her office life and carries emotional scars from a past relationship.

In the series, Jisoo plays Mi-rae alongside actor Seo In-guk, who takes on the role of Park Kyeong-nam, her colleague and office rival.

Director Kim shared that the series started off from a simple question: What if dating could be something you subscribe to?

"The story follows a protagonist who has been hurt in real life and heals through experiencing dates with the 'Boyfriend on Demand' service," Kim said.

"I also believe that something like this could actually be in development somewhere right now, so viewers can get a glimpse of the near future," he added.

The concept's sense of realism was also what drew Jisoo to the project, saying, "From the moment I first read the script, the idea of a subscription-based virtual service didn't feel like something far-off in the future."

Jisoo shared that while portraying Mi-rae, she envied her wide range of experiences, as she goes on "all kinds of dates" across different times, professions and even locations in the virtual world.

As part of these varied dating simulations, she revealed that she wore around 250 outfits throughout the series.

"I don't think I've ever worn this many outfits before," she said. "There are so many different looks and themes, which I think will definitely make the show more fun to watch."

The series also features a star-studded lineup of virtual boyfriends, from Seo Kang-jun, Lee Soo-hyuk, Ong Seong-wu, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Hyun-wook, Jay Park, Kim Young-dae, and Lee Sang-yi.

"The casting was driven by our desire to present romance across a variety of settings and dynamics," director Kim said, adding that each actor was cast to best suit the specific scenario.

Seo, taking on the role of Mi-rae's rival, builds a tense yet compelling dynamic with her. Despite being a lead character, Seo hinted that his character's true charm emerges later in the story.

Seo, while trying to avoid spoilers, teased that a "huge twist" awaits viewers, which he and the director put a lot of effort into.

With the story largely centered on Mi-rae's journey between reality and the virtual world, Jisoo carries the majority of the narrative, about 95 percent of the show, according to the director. Ahead of its release, however, she has faced skepticism over her acting, following criticism of her previous performances.

Addressing the concerns, Kim emphasized Jisoo's dedication, saying he saw that "hard work can beat talent."

He said, "While viewers will be able to see the character's growth within the story, I also believe they'll witness Jisoo's growth as an actor through the series."

The series "Boyfriend on Demand" will debut on March 6 on Netflix.