Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water) signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday with Austin, Texas, to cooperate on artificial intelligence (AI) water management, meeting with a delegation led by Michael Rogers, the city’s assistant city manager. The pact aims to share data-based smart water management solutions in response to the climate crisis and the growth of advanced industries, while strengthening a sustainable global water cooperation network. Key areas include sharing best practices and technologies, holding joint seminars to build smart water management capabilities, and identifying and implementing joint proof-of-concept projects for local application. Discussions began in January at CES 2026, when the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce expressed interest in K-water’s technologies. Following exchanges that included K-water’s August attendance at the Central Texas-Korea Summit, the Austin delegation’s Korea visit and the signing of the agreement have laid the groundwork for substantive cooperation. Austin Water, the city’s water utility, has recently shown

The Korean medical drama “Doctor X: Mafia in White” has become the latest target of political controversy over how fictional works portray history, after a National Assembly petition demanded a halt to its airing over its depiction of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising. The petition, posted Saturday on the National Assembly’s petition website, calls for a review of the drama’s production and a halt to its broadcast. It has gathered the 100 supporters required to be made public. The petitioner said Episode 6, which aired Saturday, depicted the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju despite its having no connection to the plot. “The uprising remains a political issue, with the ruling and opposition parties and the left and right divided on some aspects,” the petitioner said. “Broadly, no one would dispute that it is a painful chapter of history, but it is hard to accept a drama abruptly using the uprising, which is still politically contested in its details.” The episode featured a character suffering the effects of a gunshot wound to the head sustained during the uprising, along w