South Korea / en 老司机直播 collaborates with Naver, Wattpad on AI research /news/u-t-collaborates-naver-wattpad-ai-research <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 collaborates with Naver, Wattpad on AI research</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/974A4773-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=-jZmYTsc 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/974A4773-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=DfZIJunA 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/974A4773-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=h3DcZia9 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/974A4773-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=-jZmYTsc" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rahul.kalvapalle</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2022-11-01T11:12:11-04:00" title="Tuesday, November 1, 2022 - 11:12" class="datetime">Tue, 11/01/2022 - 11:12</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p>Namsun Kim, Naver's chief financial officer, and Alex Mihailidis, 老司机直播's associate vice-president, international partnerships, recently met in South Korea to help launch a five-year research partnership (photo courtesy of Naver)</p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/rahul-kalvapalle" hreflang="en">Rahul Kalvapalle</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/industry-partnerships" hreflang="en">Industry Partnerships</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/artificial-intelligence" hreflang="en">Artificial Intelligence</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/computer-science" hreflang="en">Computer Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-information" hreflang="en">Faculty of Information</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/south-korea" hreflang="en">South Korea</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="text-align:justify; margin-bottom:11px">The University of Toronto will work with South Korean technology company Naver Corp. 鈥 and its Toronto-based subsidiary Wattpad 鈥 on artificial intelligence research aimed at harnessing technology to empower human creativity.</p> <p style="text-align:justify; margin-bottom:11px">Guided by a partnership framework agreement, Naver will collaborate with 老司机直播 on four research projects spanning subject areas ranging from human-computer interaction to natural language processing. Two of the projects will be carried out in partnership with Wattpad, a digital storytelling platform that was founded by 老司机直播 alumni and <a href="/news/match-made-heaven-allen-lau-naver-s-us600-million-acquisition-wattpad">acquired by Naver in early 2021</a>.</p> <p style="text-align:justify; margin-bottom:11px">The five-year research partnership 鈥 which would train dozens of master鈥檚, PhD and post-doctoral researchers 鈥 was recently announced following a visit by senior leaders from 老司机直播鈥檚 Office of the Vice-President, International to South Korea.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淭he partnership with Naver and Wattpad is a landmark corporate partnership,鈥 said <b>Alex Mihailidis</b>, 老司机直播鈥檚 associate vice-president, international partnerships. 鈥淚t allows us to pair the support of a Toronto-based business in Wattpad with the global ambitions of their corporate parent, Naver, all while combining two of 老司机直播鈥檚 greatest strengths in computing: artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction.</p> <p style="text-align:justify; margin-bottom:11px">鈥淭his partnership is multi-disciplinary, multi-party and multi-year. It is a great testament to the power of comprehensive expertise 鈥 something that 老司机直播 is uniquely positioned to deliver.鈥</p> <p style="text-align:justify; margin-bottom:11px">The project will see Naver, one of the largest companies in South Korea and a global powerhouse in AI research and development, provide funding for research projects led by <b>Anastasia Kuzminykh </b>and<b> Tony Tang </b>of the Faculty of Information, and<b> Daniel Wigdor</b>,<b> Fanny Chevalier</b>,<b> Frank Rudzicz </b>and<b> Gerald Penn </b>of the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science.</p> <p style="text-align:justify; margin-bottom:11px">The projects will address one of the biggest challenges in the field: how to establish an effective human-computer conversation architecture and realize the AI鈥檚 power in writing and social reading technologies 鈥 all while ensuring that diversity and fairness are incorporated into AI text recommendations.</p> <p style="text-align:justify; margin-bottom:11px">鈥淎I is a powerful technology, but its true value is only realized when paired with world class human-computer interfaces,鈥 said Jung-Woo Ha, head of Naver AI Lab. 鈥淲e are excited to be working with some of the foremost experts in these topics through the partnership with 老司机直播.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><img alt src="/sites/default/files/974A4799-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>From left: Namsun Kim, Suk-geun Chung, Jung-woo Ha, Sang-doo Yun, Young-ho Kim, Illan Kramer, Alex Mihailidis, Catherine Lee and Trevor Novak (photo courtesy of Naver)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">The announcement comes on the heels of <a href="/news/south-korean-president-yoon-suk-yeol-visits-u-t-ai-roundtable">South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol鈥檚 recent visit to 老司机直播鈥檚 St. George campus</a>, where he met with 老司机直播 President <b>Meric Gertler </b>and discussed the growth and applications of AI with leaders and luminaries in the field, including <a href="https://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards-funding/university-professors/">University Professor</a> Emeritus <b>Geoffrey Hinton</b>.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">The event included presentations on avenues for AI research and collaborations by South Korean tech companies, including Naver.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Kuzminykh says her research with Naver will examine how human perceptions of 鈥 and interactions with 鈥 conversational 鈥渁gents鈥 (like chatbots and virtual assistants) are affected by various aspects of 鈥渃onversational architecture,鈥 or the structure and flow of conversation.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淭he lack of understanding of these effects, [which are] critical for informing the agent鈥檚 speech synthesis, leads to shortcomings in the current human-agent interaction design,鈥 says Kuzminykh.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">She noted current conversational user interfaces are dominated by transactional exchanges that convey information, rather than prolonged back-and-forth interactions. 鈥淚f agents are truly to be communication partners to human users and to provide meaningful input, their operations should support extended conversations, augmenting transactional interactions with social ones used to establish and maintain social relationships,鈥 Kuzminykh says.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Rudzicz, meanwhile, said his project with Wattpad will focus on disentangling linguistic information in modern language models so that the syntactic, semantic and rhetorical aspects of texts within neural networks are better understood.&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淭his will be applied to identify sources of bias in text and in the model, towards more fair machine learning,鈥 he says.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Headquartered in Seongnam, a satellite city of South Korea鈥檚 capital Seoul, Naver <a href="https://www.navercorp.com/en/service/featured">boasts several companies and services</a> including its eponymous search engine, the Line instant communications app, Naver Clova interactive AI engine and digital comics platform Webtoon.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">In early 2021, Naver acquired Wattpad, founded by 老司机直播 alumni <b>Allen Lau </b>and <b>Ivan Yuen</b>, for $600 million US. At the time, <a href="/news/match-made-heaven-allen-lau-naver-s-us600-million-acquisition-wattpad">Lau told <i>老司机直播 News</i></a> that the opportunity to tap into Webtoon鈥檚 digital comics audience was a key driver behind the acquisition, which he said would help take Wattpad 鈥渢o the next level.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淲e are very excited to partner closely with both 老司机直播 and Naver in developing research that will help us provide more innovative experiences to our users,鈥 said Brendan Cone, Wattpad鈥檚 head of engineering. 鈥淏etween Wattpad鈥檚 content platform, with millions of stories from diverse voices around the world, Naver鈥檚 impressive hyperscale AI technology, and 老司机直播鈥檚 comprehensive AI expertise, we hope to help our users find and create more of the content they love.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><b>Patrycja Thompson, </b>老司机直播鈥檚 partnerships officer and lead on the Naver relationship,<b> </b>said the collaboration between 老司机直播 and Naver will provide significant training opportunities for graduate and postdoctoral students.&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淲e hope that both Naver and Wattpad see this partnership as a launchpad to a long-term relationship with the university and will continue to leverage 老司机直播 innovations to further support their missions to empower human creativity.鈥</p> <h3><a href="https://bluedoor.utoronto.ca/">Learn more about industry partnerships at 老司机直播</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 01 Nov 2022 15:12:11 +0000 rahul.kalvapalle 177711 at South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol visits 老司机直播 for AI roundtable /news/south-korean-president-yoon-suk-yeol-visits-u-t-ai-roundtable <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol visits 老司机直播 for AI roundtable</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-Polina-Teif--13-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Y0qiQPcq 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-Polina-Teif--13-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KQtKeFQj 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-Polina-Teif--13-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=cjQy4gIA 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-Polina-Teif--13-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Y0qiQPcq" alt="South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with 老司机直播 President Meric Gertler outside of Simcoe Hall at the University of Toronto, St. George campus"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2022-09-26T10:02:18-04:00" title="Monday, September 26, 2022 - 10:02" class="datetime">Mon, 09/26/2022 - 10:02</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, left, shakes hands with 老司机直播 President Meric Gertler outside of Simcoe Hall (photo by Polina Teif)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/rahul-kalvapalle" hreflang="en">Rahul Kalvapalle</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/leah-cowen" hreflang="en">Leah Cowen</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/artificial-intelligence" hreflang="en">Artificial Intelligence</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cifar" hreflang="en">CIFAR</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/computer-science" hreflang="en">Computer Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/deep-learning" hreflang="en">Deep Learning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/geoffrey-hinton" hreflang="en">Geoffrey Hinton</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/meric-gertler" hreflang="en">Meric Gertler</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/robotics" hreflang="en">Robotics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/south-korea" hreflang="en">South Korea</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/vector-institute" hreflang="en">Vector Institute</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p style="margin-bottom:11px">The University of Toronto welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to campus last week to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) 鈥 its rise, potential applications and opportunities for further collaboration between 老司机直播 and South Korean partners.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">President Yoon hailed Toronto as an AI powerhouse, saying that Canada鈥檚 status as a world leader in AI and a centre of the global AI supply chain was the result of the country recognizing the potential economic and social impacts of the technology early on.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">He also said the tenacity and persistence of researchers such as <a href="https://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards-funding/university-professors/">University Professor</a> Emeritus <b>Geoffrey Hinton</b>, a pioneer of the AI field of deep learning, served as a 鈥渂enchmark鈥 for South Korean efforts to advance the technologies of the future, adding that he was delighted to visit 老司机直播, which he described as 鈥渙ne of the most prestigious universities in North America.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">老司机直播 President <b>Meric Gertler</b>, for his part,<b> </b>said he was 鈥渄eeply honoured鈥 to welcome President Yoon, who, he said, 鈥渉as made it a priority to work closely with South Korea's allies and partners, advancing openness, human rights, democracy and the rule of law, with clear purpose and integrity.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_324S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and 老司机直播 President Meric Gertler stand in front of a sign welcoming the South Koreans in South Korean text at Simcoe Hall" src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-Polina-Teif--16-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Polina Teif)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">President Gertler noted that the South Korean delegation鈥檚 visit comes at a time when Toronto has emerged as the <a href="/news/toronto-quietly-experiences-massive-tech-boom-new-york-times">third-largest tech hub in North America</a>, with the city鈥檚 AI and machine learning ecosystem at the heart of this growth.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淭ogether with the Vector Institute, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), MaRS and other partners 鈥 all within a walking distance of this room 鈥 we have created one of the world鈥檚 richest pools of talent,鈥 President Gertler said.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">He added that 老司机直播, its local partners and South Korean organizations stand to learn much from each other when it comes to AI research, development, innovation and education.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淧artnering with Korea鈥檚 leading universities, innovative firms and exceptionally talented researchers is an extraordinary opportunity for all parties to benefit as we deepen our collective commitment to excellence and to tackling the world鈥檚 most pressing challenges.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_1273S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho speaks at the roundtable in Simcoe Hall. Alyssa Strome, Lisa Austin, President Yoon Suk-yeol, Garth Gibson, Meric Gerler and Leah Cowen are present at the table." src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-%2820%29-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">President Yoon鈥檚 visit to 老司机直播 took place during the first day of his two-day visit to Canada, which included a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa the following day.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">It also came less than two weeks after the government of Ontario concluded a trade mission to South Korea and Japan, led by Vic Fedeli, the province鈥檚 minister of economic development job creation and trade.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Fedeli, who attended the 老司机直播 event, said Toronto鈥檚 reputation as a global hub in AI was regularly impressed upon him during his time in South Korea.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淎t every single stop that we made, we heard people talk about Canada, AI, 老司机直播, the Vector Institute 鈥 they see Canada as a real leader in AI and they鈥檙e very eager to learn,鈥 Fedeli said.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">He noted there was a strong desire in South Korea to see more Korean students come to Canada to further their education in STEM fields, including in AI. 鈥淭hey want a bigger influx of Korean students 鈥 and we told them, 鈥楾he door鈥檚 open,鈥 because we really believe this is going to help society. We鈥檝e seen some examples of what AI has done and we鈥檙e very eager to continue to see the development of AI.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_4560S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with guests inside Simcoe Hall" src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-%2850%29-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Fedeli added that he hoped the high-level meeting would further strengthen the economic relationship between Ontario and South Korea, helping to spark AI advances that give both Ontarian and Korean companies a competitive edge on the global stage.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Held at Simcoe Hall, the meeting included a roundtable discussion titled 鈥淎I for the Better Future of Humanity,鈥 that featured AI leaders and luminaries, including Hinton and Lee Jong-ho, the Republic of Korea鈥檚 Minister of Science and ICT (information and communication technology).</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">The talk, moderated by <b>Leah Cowen </b>(pictured below), 老司机直播鈥檚 vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives, also included contributions from <b>Garth Gibson</b>, president and CEO of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence; <b>Elissa Strome</b>, executive director of Pan-Canadian AI Strategy at CIFAR; and Professor <b>Lisa Austin</b>, chair in law and technology at 老司机直播鈥檚 Faculty of Law and associate director at the <a href="https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/">Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society</a>.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_1983S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="Professor Leah Cowen speaks at the roundtable" src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-%2839%29-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Attendees watched demonstrations by 老司机直播 professors and graduate students from the 老司机直播 Robotics Institute, as well as presentations by South Korean companies, including Samsung and LG 鈥 both of which have expanded their presence and <a href="/news/samsung-chooses-u-t-s-sven-dickinson-lead-new-toronto-ai-centre">connections with Toronto</a> <a href="/news/lg-expands-research-partnership-u-t-focuses-ai-applications-businesses">and 老司机直播</a> in recent years 鈥 and was also used to announce a new 老司机直播 exchange program with the South Korean government鈥檚 Institute for Information &amp; communication Technology Planning &amp; evaluation (IITP).&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_5118S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="Guests including Scott Mabury, Kelly Hannah Moffat and Wisdom Tettey applaud following remarks by Geoffrey Hinton" src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-Polina-Teif--41-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Polina Teif)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">On the subject of AI, Hinton said he believes the deep learning revolution is just getting underway and that he expects tremendous growth in the years ahead.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淲e now know that if you take a neural net and you just make it bigger and give it more data and more computing power, it鈥檒l work better. So even with no new scientific insights, things are going to improve,鈥 Hinton said during the roundtable discussion. 鈥淏ut we also know there are tens of thousands of brilliant young minds now thinking about how to make these networks better, so there will be many new scientific insights.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_2621S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="Geoffrey Hinton speaks at the podium at Simcoe Hall" src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-%2841%29-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">In the long-term, Hinton (pictured at the lecturn above)&nbsp;said he envisions a revolution in AI hardware led by advancements in 鈥渘euromorphic hardware鈥 鈥 computers and hardware that model artificial neural networks.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淚 think Korea may have a big role to play in this,鈥 Hinton said, noting one of the world鈥檚 leading experts in this area is Sebastian Seung, Samsung鈥檚 president and head of research 鈥 who attended the Simcoe Hall event.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">When asked to share his thoughts on how Canada achieved its leadership position in AI, Hinton cited three foundational factors: a tolerant, liberal society that encourages leading researchers to settle here; the federal government鈥檚 funding for curiosity-driven basic research; and CIFAR鈥檚 funding, in 2004, of the Neural Computation and Adaptive Perception program, which is credited with kickstarting the revolution in deep learning.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Following the discussion, event attendees, including 老司机直播 students, watched presentations on avenues for AI research and collaboration by representatives of five South Korean companies: LG, Samsung, Naver, KT (formerly Korea Telecom) and SK Telecom.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_3226S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="Brokoslaw Laschowski runs a robotics demonstration for Alex Mihalidis, President Yoon Suk-yeol and President Meric Gertler" src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-%284%29-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><b>Alex Mihailidis</b>, 老司机直播鈥檚 associate vice-president, international partnerships, then announced that 老司机直播 had signed a memorandum of understanding with IITP, based in Seoul, to launch a bi-national education program in AI.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">鈥淲e expect that in the fall of 2023, we will be accepting 30 students from Korea who will be going through a custom-made program around AI and its applications,鈥 Mihailidis said. 鈥淭his is a groundbreaking program that we expect will not only flourish here in Toronto but will grow 鈥 hopefully across our two great countries and around the world.鈥</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_3794S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="Xinyu Liu runs a robotic hand demonstration for President Yoon Suk-yeol and President Meric Gertler" src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-%289%29-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Earlier, Mihailidis and President Gertler led President Yoon and Fedeli through four demonstrations showcasing some of the cutting-edge technologies being developed by 老司机直播 professors and their graduate students.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">The technologies included: a wearable robotic exoskeleton for walking assistance and rehab demonstrated by Mihailidis and post-doctoral researcher <b>Brokoslaw Laschowski</b>; a sensory soft robotic hand for human-robot interaction demonstrated by Professor <b>Xinyu Liu </b>of the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering, graduate student <b>Zhanfeng Zhou </b>and post-doctoral researcher <b>Peng Pan</b>; a multimodal perception system for autonomous vehicles showcased by <b>Jiachen (Jason) Zhou</b>, a graduate student in robotics and aerospace engineering; and a nanorobot for precision manipulation under electron microscope that was demonstrated by <b>Yu Sun</b>, professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering and director of the 老司机直播 Robotics Institute.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span id="cke_bm_5676S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img alt="Professor Yu Sun shows President Yoon Suk-yeol an electronic device" src="/sites/default/files/2022-09-22-AI-Leaders-Roundtable-%2810%29-crop.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px"><em>(Photo by Johnny Guatto)</em></p> <h3 style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2022/09/356_336616.html">Read a story about the visit in the <i>Korea Times</i></a></h3> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 26 Sep 2022 14:02:18 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 176928 at 老司机直播's Centre for the Study of Korea takes centre stage with South Korean superstars at TIFF /news/u-t-s-centre-study-korea-takes-centre-stage-south-korean-superstars-tiff <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播's Centre for the Study of Korea takes centre stage with South Korean superstars at TIFF</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-1398193344-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1bkIAsre 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/GettyImages-1398193344-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=eUotDtGE 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/GettyImages-1398193344-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=s0JvhYBH 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-1398193344-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1bkIAsre" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2022-09-14T14:53:21-04:00" title="Wednesday, September 14, 2022 - 14:53" class="datetime">Wed, 09/14/2022 - 14:53</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"> Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woo-sung attend the screening of "Hunt" during the 75th-annual Cannes Film Festival (photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy-0" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/film" hreflang="en">Film</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/south-korea" hreflang="en">South Korea</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/tiff" hreflang="en">TIFF</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/toronto-international-film-festival" hreflang="en">Toronto International Film Festival</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The&nbsp;Centre for the Study of Korea&nbsp;鈥 housed at the&nbsp;Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy鈥檚 Asian Institute&nbsp;鈥 is&nbsp;taking centre stage at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this week&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;University of Toronto scholars&nbsp;<strong>Michelle Cho</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Hae Yeon Choo</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Juwon Kim</strong>&nbsp;take part in conversations about South Korean film and popular culture.</p> <div class="image-with-caption left"> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/michelle-cho-crop.jpg" alt><em>Michelle Cho</em></p> </div> <p>Cho, an assistant professor of East Asian popular cultures and cinema studies in the&nbsp;department of East Asian Studies&nbsp;in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science <a href="/news/k-pop-fandom-and-bts-boys-u-t-researcher-brings-korean-wave-classroom">who teaches courses</a> on Korean film, media and popular culture, <a href="https://www.tiff.net/events/in-conversation-with-lee-jung-jae-jung-woo-sung">will moderate a discussion on&nbsp;Sept. 16 with two South Korean superstars</a>:&nbsp;Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woo-sung.</p> <p>Lee is best known for his work in&nbsp;<em>Squid Game</em>&nbsp;(2021),&nbsp;<em>Assassination</em>&nbsp;(2015) and&nbsp;<em>Thieves</em>&nbsp;(2012), and directs and stars in&nbsp;<em>Hunt</em>, which is being shown at this year鈥檚 festival. Jung, meanwhile,&nbsp;is featured in&nbsp;<em>Hunt</em>&nbsp;and his directorial debut,&nbsp;<em>A Man of Reason</em>,&nbsp;is also showing at TIFF. He is known for his work in blockbuster films such as&nbsp;<em>Steel Rain</em>&nbsp;(2017),&nbsp;<em>Cold Eyes</em>&nbsp;(2013), and&nbsp;<em>The Good, the Bad, the Weird</em>&nbsp;(2008).</p> <p>Cho, an expert in South Korean cinema and global media, said she is looking forward to&nbsp;leading a conversation with Lee and Jung about their careers, their friendship&nbsp;and the success of Korean filmmakers at home and internationally 鈥 just days after Lee <a href="https://www.emmys.com/bios/lee-jung-jae">won an Emmy</a>&nbsp;for best lead actor in a drama series for his role in&nbsp;<em>Squid Game</em>.</p> <p>鈥淭IFF invited six Korean films this year,&nbsp;following on the huge success of 鈥楽ummer of Seoul,鈥 a Korean film series hosted by the TIFF Lightbox Cinematheque this past summer,鈥 Cho said.&nbsp;鈥淚鈥檓 really fortunate that my research allows me to be a part of public events like this, which are only possible because of&nbsp;how much interest there is, locally, in cultural content from South Korea.鈥</p> <p>Choo, director of the Centre for the Study of Korea and an associate professor of sociology at 老司机直播 Mississauga, and Kim, a PhD student&nbsp;in East Asian studies, will also be taking part in the TIFF&nbsp;event and providing translation.</p> <p>鈥淎n event like this is a prime example of what our centre strives to do&nbsp;鈥 to support scholarship on Korea and make it meaningful for our communities in Toronto and beyond,鈥 Choo said.&nbsp;鈥淜orean cinema and other cultural creations are having a moment across the globe, which calls for an informed analysis based on in-depth knowledge of Korean culture, history, and society.</p> <p>鈥淧ersonally I grew up watching Lee Jung-Jae and Jung Woo-Sung from my teenage years and am excited to see them up close as an interpreter, together with Juwon Kim, a PhD student in East Asian Studies.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 14 Sep 2022 18:53:21 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 176538 at K-pop, fandom and the BTS boys: 老司机直播 researcher brings 鈥楰orean Wave鈥 into classroom /news/k-pop-fandom-and-bts-boys-u-t-researcher-brings-korean-wave-classroom <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">K-pop, fandom and the BTS boys: 老司机直播 researcher brings 鈥楰orean Wave鈥 into classroom</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-1146368849.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=86pmqiZq 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/GettyImages-1146368849.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=tmffoEgS 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/GettyImages-1146368849.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=MC8sC3cc 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-1146368849.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=86pmqiZq" alt="BTS performing at the billboard music awards"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2019-08-29T13:32:07-04:00" title="Thursday, August 29, 2019 - 13:32" class="datetime">Thu, 08/29/2019 - 13:32</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">BTS perform onstage during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas earlier this year (photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for dcp)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/alexa-zulak" hreflang="en">Alexa Zulak</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/east-asian-studies" hreflang="en">East Asian studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/culture" hreflang="en">Culture</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/south-korea" hreflang="en">South Korea</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>If you鈥檝e tuned into a late night show, listened to the radio or logged onto Twitter lately, it鈥檚 likely you鈥檝e heard of Korean boyband BTS, or at least come across the name.</p> <p>The K-pop darlings have performed on <em>Saturday Night Live</em>, sold out New York City鈥檚 40,000-seat Citi Field and topped the <em>Billboard</em> charts 鈥 &nbsp;all while inspiring a devoted, global and cross-cultural fan base.</p> <p>So it鈥檚 no wonder that <strong>Michelle Cho</strong>, an assistant professor in the University of Toronto鈥檚&nbsp;department of East Asian studies in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, is captivating students with her courses on Korean film, media and popular culture.</p> <p>鈥淭he really unique thing about East Asian studies is that it鈥檚 interdisciplinary by design,鈥 says Cho. 鈥淵ou have students coming from all across the arts and sciences. My courses attract students who have an interest in Asian pop culture.鈥</p> <p>It鈥檚 not only students who are interested. North Americans in general have demonstrated a growing interest in&nbsp;Korean pop culture in recent years, part of the global 鈥淜orean Wave.鈥</p> <p>In her courses exploring fandom and transmedia 鈥 storytelling across multiple platforms 鈥 Cho allows her students to bring their own expertise as fans to the classroom, which&nbsp;she says has been useful as a researcher of fandom culture.</p> <p>At its most basic level, the term 鈥渇andom鈥 is used to describe a subculture or community formed around a collective love of something in the pop culture sphere. Whether it鈥檚 a sports team, TV show, book series, movie franchise or band, fandom is a shared love of something that builds community 鈥 often online 鈥 and becomes a significant part of a person鈥檚 identity.</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/michelle-cho.jpg" alt></p> <p><em>Michelle Cho is an assistant professor&nbsp;in 老司机直播鈥檚&nbsp;department of East Asian studies</em><em> (photo courtesy of Michelle Cho)</em></p> <p>Cho鈥檚 research addresses a phenomenon that鈥檚 becoming more engrained in our modern lives.</p> <p>鈥淵ou see fandom culture becoming much more important in the way that people define themselves in a media landscape that can seem very fragmented,鈥 says Cho. 鈥淚n a way, everybody has their niche little worlds online, or on media platforms.鈥</p> <p>It鈥檚 the idea of finding likeminded people online that makes way for fandoms to blossom.</p> <p>鈥淲e have this sort of infinite seeming choice of what kind of media we consume. I think it makes a lot of sense that the communities that form around those choices become much more significant,鈥 Cho says.</p> <p>鈥淔andom helps people to find a form of collective identity that seems more open and expansive than the kinds of group identities that are ready-made like national identity or generational identity.鈥</p> <p>While the stereotypes of fans haven鈥檛 changed much since the days of Beatlemania 鈥 think hysterical young women and geeky young men 鈥 Cho says K-pop fans are more diverse than you might think. And she says it鈥檚 even more surprising that they tend to be self-reflexive in a way that contradicts what鈥檚 been understood historically about fandom.</p> <p>鈥淩eflexive awareness is thought to make you less emotionally invested and more neutral,鈥 says Cho. 鈥淪o self-critical consumers of popular culture should be a completely different group than the fangirls and teens swooning at concerts, right? But they're not. They're the same group.</p> <p>鈥淚鈥檓 really interested in looking at how self-reflexivity makes fans more invested in their love object.鈥</p> <p>Cho also looks at the types of media technologies that enable K-pop fans to communicate with others in their community, as well as feel a sense of intimacy with their idols 鈥 even if that intimacy doesn鈥檛 really exist.</p> <p>Take, for instance, V Live.</p> <p>It鈥檚 a popular app 鈥 and one that the members of BTS use regularly 鈥 that mimics Apple鈥檚 FaceTime or other livestreaming apps that create a kind of digital intimacy between users.</p> <p>Except unlike FaceTime, there鈥檚 no back-and-forth conversation. It鈥檚 a way for K-pop stars to open their lives up to their fans in a way that makes them seem ordinary and approachable, even if they鈥檙e not.</p> <p>The tactic is&nbsp;used outside the world of K-pop as well.</p> <p>Cho says you can even see U.S. politicians following suit by using their social media channels to create a sense of intimacy with followers.</p> <p>U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one high-profile example. The young Democratic congresswoman 鈥 &nbsp;known for her progressive views 鈥 made headlines during her first months in Washington for talking directly to her 3.2 million followers on Instagram Live while assembling IKEA furniture, making chili and drinking wine.</p> <p>It鈥檚 that direct-to-camera intimacy 鈥 feeling like you鈥檙e chatting with a friend 鈥 that Cho says K-pop stars have become known for when it comes to fan interaction.</p> <p>As for whether we have K-pop stars like BTS to thank for Korea鈥檚 increased visibility in the North American zeitgeist, Cho says they certainly play a part.</p> <p>鈥淚 think that the rising interest in Korean language, culture and history 鈥 and just Korean studies in general 鈥 is coming from the increased visibility of Korean pop culture,鈥 said Cho. 鈥淲hen I was growing up in the U.S., and even in college, a lot of people didn't actually know that Korea was a separate country from Japan or China, which is hard to believe now.</p> <p>鈥淏ut that just says something about Korea鈥檚 visibility. And the fact that it's in people's consciousness, whether or not they have anything to do with Asia or know any Koreans. It has a lot to do with media representation.鈥</p> <p>While Cho鈥檚 research into K-pop fandom will continue, this year she鈥檚 returning to her research roots by teaching a course on Korean cinema, as well as a first-year foundation seminar that explores how media producers and fans engage with media worlds in East Asia.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:32:07 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 157946 at 老司机直播 expert on the politics of precarious labour and democracy in South Korea /news/u-t-expert-politics-precarious-labour-and-democracy-south-korea <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 expert on the politics of precarious labour and democracy in South Korea </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-11-02-korea-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1ekKb4Rr 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-11-02-korea-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Xk990sBj 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-11-02-korea-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=oyxOjbEt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-11-02-korea-resized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1ekKb4Rr" alt="Photo of Yoonkyung Lee"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rasbachn</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-11-03T00:00:00-04:00" title="Friday, November 3, 2017 - 00:00" class="datetime">Fri, 11/03/2017 - 00:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Yoonkyung Lee in Toronto's Koreatown on Bloor Street West (photo by Jaclyn Shapiro)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/diana-kuprel" hreflang="en">Diana Kuprel</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/south-korea" hreflang="en">South Korea</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><div class="featured-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;sans serif&quot;; font-size: 18px;"> <p><strong>Yoonkyung Lee</strong> is an associate professor of sociology in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science who studies labour politics, social movements and political representation.</p> <p>She was appointed to the University of Toronto in 2016, and holds the Korea Foundation Chair in Korean Studies.</p> <p>She spoke with <strong>Diana Krupel </strong>about the uniqueness of political life in South Korea, and why we have to be careful not to judge the country and its democratic experience through a Western lens.</p> <p>鈥淧olitics in [South Korea and Taiwan] cannot be understood without the historical legacies of colonialism, war and national division, which have set a different terrain for the creation of democratic politics,鈥 she says.</p> <hr> <p><strong>You trace the historical formation of political opposition in South Korea. What is unique about South Korean society and political life?</strong></p> <p>Our understanding of democratic politics is hugely pre-defined by the political experience of Western societies. We work with presumed notions, such as modern political systems emerging with industrialization, political pluralism exercised by political parties, and civil society buttressing micro-level democratic processes. By doing so, we often make the mistake of assuming that if something is 鈥渄ifferent鈥 from the 鈥淲estern standard,鈥 democracy is an aberration and deficient.</p> <p>Over the years of my comparative study of political development in non-Western societies like South Korea and Taiwan, I have come to learn that they need to be approached on their own terms. Politics in these societies cannot be understood without the historical legacies of colonialism, war and national division, which have set a different terrain for the creation of democratic politics. My task as a scholar is to identify the different trajectories and to explain what this 鈥渄ifference鈥 adds to our knowledge of politics, democracy and social change.</p> <p>In this sense, South Korea presents an intriguing case, with a strong state, a contentious social movement, and relatively weak political parties. These three actors have formed a unique political dynamic under which political stability and predictability are hard to come by. The political force that seizes state power strives to use the overarching authority. Vocal social movements mobilize to contest the excessive state. And political parties are unable to harness the conflicting interests into the formal political process. It is this very dynamic that creates sporadic historical moments when people mobilize, become politically enlightened, directly participate, and make a drastic change in the course of politics. The phenomenal protest that occurred in South Korea over several months in 2016 and 2017 led to the formal impeachment of the incumbent president Park Geun-hye 鈥 there is no better example that shows the unique political dynamic of Korea.</p> <p><strong>What does your research tell us about the rising socioeconomic inequality in East Asia and how labour is reacting to it?</strong></p> <p>East Asian countries like South Korea and Taiwan are often praised for achieving both economic affluence and political democratization in just a few decades after their devastating experience of colonialism and war. Yet, workers and labour unions have never been fully embraced as legitimate actors. Military dictatorships that led economic development repressed labour for two reasons: to keep labour costs low in order to spur the success of export-oriented industrialization, and to inhibit workers from becoming a collective force for political opposition. Political democratization in the late 1980s could not overturn the weakness of labour, and the neoliberal change in the 1990s worsened labour鈥檚 position.</p> <p>In a sense, rising economic disparity in South Korea is a result of weak labour and its lack of political voice, which in turn further undermines the bargaining position of labour. About half of the South Korean labour force is known as 鈥渋rregular鈥&nbsp;workers who have few protections under labour law or social welfare. Fewer than 10 per cent of all paid employees are unionized. In short, South Korean workers are placed under a highly exploitative system without proper channels of intermediation. Workers who are pushed into an extreme corner resort to an extreme form of protest, like protesting in a high-altitude structure (such as industrial cranes and transmission towers) for days and months. Precarity and poverty have reached a point where it is no longer a class issue but a social issue that requires a serious political intervention.</p> <p><strong>As we look at our own society in North America, are there lessons that can be drawn from East Asia and to which we should pay heed?</strong></p> <p>The starting point of addressing issues of inequality is to understand the reality of the rising economic gap and its distinctive features. My concern for Canada is that there isn鈥檛 enough recognition and discussion about worsening inequality despite the fact that income gaps have been rising in the past 20 years. Racial and ethnic dimensions are important features of inequality that require public and scholarly attention, too. If a serious social issue is unspoken, it will never be addressed.</p> <p><strong>You came to Toronto from the United States to take up the Korea Foundation Chair in Korean Studies. What attracted you to the University of Toronto?</strong></p> <p>Around the time I was getting my tenure and promotion to associate professor at Binghamton University in the United States, I was looking for an opportunity to move to an academic institution that offers a more diverse and vigorous intellectual community. I was familiar with a number of 老司机直播 faculty in sociology, political science, East Asian studies and anthropology, and I admired their scholarship. Then I saw the job posting for a Korean studies social scientist. Equally attractive was the city. I had been to Toronto for conferences before, and I could definitely see the vibrancy of the city. Toronto has so much to offer, from cultural diversity to unlimited culinary choices, as well as a perfect mix of metropolitan features, traditional neighbourhoods and natural landscapes. Now that I am here, I am excited to be a part of this incredible intellectual community in such a beautiful city.</p> <p><strong>What are your goals as the Korea Foundation Chair in Korean Studies?</strong></p> <p>I want to fully realize the potential of the existing resources by encouraging collaborations between faculty and graduate students at the University of Toronto and York University. We have so many excellent scholars across different disciplines at these two institutions that exciting and innovative scholarly projects can readily be launched by working together.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 03 Nov 2017 04:00:00 +0000 rasbachn 120850 at 老司机直播's Citizen Lab finds faulty South Korean child-monitoring app returns /news/u-t-s-citizen-lab-finds-faulty-south-korean-child-monitoring-app-returns <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播's Citizen Lab finds faulty South Korean child-monitoring app returns</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-09-12-korea-children-getty.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=GQo4LCX9 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-09-12-korea-children-getty.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YtwVXLTG 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-09-12-korea-children-getty.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LuW3u86y 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-09-12-korea-children-getty.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=GQo4LCX9" alt="Photo of children using smartphone"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-09-12T11:46:56-04:00" title="Tuesday, September 12, 2017 - 11:46" class="datetime">Tue, 09/12/2017 - 11:46</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">A new Citizen Lab report focuses on a South Korean smartphone app that monitors and censors children's online behaviour (photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/citizen-lab" hreflang="en">Citizen Lab</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/south-korea" hreflang="en">South Korea</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Citizen Lab researchers have found&nbsp;that a South Korean child-monitoring smartphone app removed from market in 2015 because of security flaws was&nbsp;reissued under a new name and continues to put children at risk.</p> <p><em><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/rogue-korean-child-monitoring-app-is-back-researchers-say/2017/09/11/7f9f794e-96ee-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html?utm_term=.3c7dee3752b3">The Washington Post</a></em> published an Associated Press report on the findings from Citizen Lab, which is located&nbsp;at 老司机直播's Munk School of Global Affairs.</p> <p>鈥淪outh Korean authorities believe monitoring and censoring children鈥檚 smartphone use is part of the state鈥檚 duty to protect teenagers against harmful content such as pornography,鈥 the article stated.&nbsp;鈥淭here is broad public support for the government to stop online behaviour that is deemed to be an addiction. The government spends public money to help users break habits of excessive computer gaming and Internet use.鈥</p> <p>South Korea is the first jurisdiction in the world to require&nbsp;minors have content filtering applications installed on their mobile phones.&nbsp;One of the most popular child-monitoring apps was Smart Sheriff, which was developed by the Korean Mobile Internet Business Association (MOIBA) with extensive funding from South Korea's telecommunications regulatory body,&nbsp;<a href="https://citizenlab.ca/2017/09/safer-without-korean-child-monitoring-filtering-apps/">according to Citizen Lab's latest report on the findings</a>.</p> <p>In 2015, the internet watchdog group&nbsp;<a href="https://citizenlab.ca/2015/09/digital-risks-south-korea-smart-sheriff/">first&nbsp;identified 26 security vulnerabilities</a>&nbsp;with Smart Sheriff that could be used to collect sensitive information from users, take control of user accounts, and disrupt service operations.&nbsp;Following the report, MOIBA released a new version of the application, but it too was&nbsp;found to contain&nbsp;security flaws, at which point&nbsp;MOIBA removed Smart Sheriff from the&nbsp;market.</p> <p>Citizen Lab says that Cyber Security Zone, which was released as a replacement to Smart Sheriff,&nbsp;is&nbsp;鈥渋n fact,&nbsp;a rebranded version of Smart Sheriff鈥&nbsp;and has many of the same security issues, leaving children's private information vulnerable to hackers.</p> <p>鈥淥ur research shows that the Korean government has sponsored applications that fail to meet basic privacy and security standards, the functionality of the apps go beyond the requirements of the mandate, introducing privacy risks, and the vendor of the apps, MOIBA, has not been transparent with the Korean public about security and privacy issues,鈥 the Citizen Lab report states.</p> <p>The Associated Press&nbsp;reports that&nbsp;MOIBA has denied that the two systems are the same, and an official of the group said a review by the government&nbsp;found security was satisfactory with Cyber Security Zone.</p> <p>Citizen Lab co-authored the report with Cure53, a German auditing firm, and civic group OpenNet Korea.&nbsp;</p> <h3><a href="https://citizenlab.ca/2017/09/safer-without-korean-child-monitoring-filtering-apps/">Read the Citizen Lab report</a></h3> <h3><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/rogue-korean-child-monitoring-app-is-back-researchers-say/2017/09/11/7f9f794e-96ee-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html?utm_term=.3c7dee3752b3">Read the story in the<em>&nbsp;Washington Post</em></a></h3> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 12 Sep 2017 15:46:56 +0000 ullahnor 115504 at