Brian Kim (center), founder of Kakao Corp., leaves the Southern District Court in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Billionaire Kakao founder cleared in stock manipulation case
The acquittal allows Kakao to refocus on stabilizing its sprawling businesses, which ranges from messaging and fintech to mobility and entertainment.
A sample of monazite, a mineral used in the rare-earth industry to extract elements such as cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium, is displayed at the Geological Museum of China in Beijing on Oct. 14.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
'They can shut us down in two months': Carmakers race China's rare-earths curbs
Most motors that don't rely on rare earths are years away, as are efforts to develop new rare-earth mines and processing plants outside China, industry experts say.
Artemis II crew members, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, Mission Specialist Christina Koch of U.S., Pilot Victor Glover of U.S. and Commander Reid Wiseman of U.S., give a shout out to the NASA Crew-11 crew and their upcoming mission to the International Space Station during a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 30.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
NASA opens SpaceX moon-lander contract to rival bids after Starship delays
The move paves the way for rivals such as Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to snatch a high-profile mission to land the first astronauts on the moon in half a century.
Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, during the Bitcoin Asia conference in Hong Kong, China, in August. Japanese policymakers are taking a more positive view of crypto as U.S. President Donald Trump’s embrace of the assets bolsters the industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Japan's FSA may allow banks to invest in crypto assets if risks are managed
The Financial Services Agency is also considering allowing banking groups to apply for licenses to operate cryptoexchanges, according to a source.
An Amazon Web Services Data Center known in Ashburn, Virginia, on Monday
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Amazon's AWS nears recovery after outage disrupts apps and services worldwide
It was the largest internet disruption since last year's CrowdStrike malfunction hobbled technology systems in hospitals, banks and airports.
AWS provides on-demand computing power, data storage and other digital services to companies, governments and individuals.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 20, 2025
Many websites and apps go dark as Amazon's cloud unit reports global outage
AI startup Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood attributed the outages to AWS.
In Japan, 55% were “equally concerned and excited” about the rise of AI in daily life, while 28% were “more concerned than excited.”
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 20, 2025
Japan leads in in-depth AI awareness, new global study finds
The survey also found that In Japan, 55% were “equally concerned and excited” about the rise of AI in daily life, while 28% were “more concerned than excited.”

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.