Land Rover's powerful Defender tackles Korea's terrain in style
On Thursday, The Korea Herald test-drove the Defender OCTA in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, on public roads and an off-road course, including high-speed taxi runs with a professional driver on steep slopes.
'Powered by a 4.4-liter twin-turbo mild hybrid V8 engine, it produces 635 PS and 76.5 kilogram-meters of torque. That's enough to take you from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in just 4 seconds,' said Robin Colgan, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Korea, ahead of the test-drive.
'(Thanks to its 6D Dynamics suspension system,) it actively reduces pitch and roll, giving the driver confidence and comfort whether on the highway or in more challenging terrain.'
JLR's focus on off-road performance is evident in the Defender OCTA's exterior design. While retaining the boxy silhouette and clean, rugged lines characteristic of the mid-size Defender 110, the OCTA features more angular bumpers designed to improve clearance on uneven terrain.
Its short front hood, a hallmark of the Defender lineup, combines with a 28-millimeter higher ground clearance than the standard model. This provided a stable, elevated driving position with enhanced road visibility during the test-drive, offering greater control than typical SUVs.
Off-road driving modes can be selected via a 10-inch touchscreen and physical controls, arranged in an intuitively recognizable user interface.
The screen displays real-time torque distribution across all four wheels, the activation status of the front and rear locking differentials and the current wading depth. These electronically controlled systems automatically adjust based on terrain type, enabling the driver to respond confidently in challenging situations while also allowing manual selection when desired.
With its hydraulic suspension system and advanced traction, the in-cabin experience remained comfortable and stable throughout the course, which simulated extreme off-road conditions.
During a 50-centimeter water wading test, the vehicle maintained a smooth, flowing motion despite the uneven and shifting terrain beneath. According to the company, the OCTA's rated water fording depth is 1 meter.
A crawling function also ensures steady, automatic progress through rocky, muddy or sloped terrain, with selectable speeds ranging from 3 to 30 kilometers per hour, allowing safe movement in conditions where vehicles could otherwise slip or tip.
Later, a dedicated taxi ride with the professional driver showcased the OCTA's dynamic potential.
With OCTA mode activated — a setting that enhances off-road control by optimizing suspension, braking and torque management — the 2,665-kilogram Defender OCTA surged up a 30-degree incline, briefly lifting all four wheels off the ground, then executed a sharp, sporty drift on sand without sustaining damage.
To further showcase the suspension's performance, newly applied to the Defender, the 40-minute road drive included steep, curving mountain roads, typical of routes to off-road locations in Korea.
Under professional supervision, the OCTA accelerated to nearly 100 kilometers per hour before entering a curve, maintaining significant speed throughout. Despite the sudden change in direction, the vehicle showed limited body movement, with responsive steering further enhancing stability.
The suspension also performed well on highways. Sudden acceleration, supported by one of the fastest zero-back responses among off-road vehicles, and braking were handled smoothly. The suspension minimized cabin shake, helping to reduce driver fatigue. The mild hybrid system with its 48-volt battery also contributes to a quieter, more comfortable ride.
During on-road driving, the gasoline-powered vehicle achieved approximately 7 kilometers per liter in fuel efficiency.
JLR Korea began delivering the Defender OCTA and a limited edition with enhanced luxury design, Edition One, starting in May. The price of the OCTA starts at 224.97 million won ($164,000), while the Edition One is priced at 242.57 million won.
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- Korea Herald
[Inside K-AI] How benchmarks shape AI battlefield -- and where Korea's models stand
Standardized tests offer reality check, separating marketing buzz from genuine AI performance The race for sovereign AI is intensifying, with countries rushing to build their own large language models to secure technological independence. Korea is no exception -- the government has tapped five leading companies to spearhead the creation of homegrown models tailored to national priorities. In this high-stakes contest, The Korea Herald launches a special series exploring Korea's AI industry and its standing in the global arena, and the rise of Korean-language-focused systems. This first installment looks at benchmarks -- the scorecards of the AI world -- and how Korean models measure up on the tests that are shaping the race. – Ed. AI has swept across the tech industry, powering chatbots, search engines and productivity tools. OpenAI's ChatGPT -- which first ignited the global buzz in November 2022 -- and other big tech models sit firmly in the top tier, but the surge of large language models shows no sign of slowing. Each new arrival is touted as the smartest or the first of its kind, outscoring the rest. That raises a key question: how are these models really evaluated, and which is the true leader? The answer lies in benchmarks -- the standardized tests that have become the AI world's scoreboard, where companies race to climb the rankings and prove their worth. In July, South Korea's Upstage pulled off an unexpected breakthrough when its 31-billion-parameter Solar Pro 2 became the only Korean model listed as a "frontier model" by UK-based benchmarking platform Artificial Analysis. It ranked just outside the global top 10 for intelligence and placed first in Intelligence vs. Cost to Run, a measure of how much capability a model delivers for its operating cost. The result prompted swift reaction from Elon Musk, whose AI company xAI is also a relative newcomer battling entrenched leaders. In a post on X, he insisted his Grok 4 model "remains No. 1" and is "rapidly improving" -- a pointed defense that reflects how sensitive and strategic leaderboard positions have become in the global AI race. Launching its latest GPT-5 model last week, OpenAI also promoted the model as "much smarter" than earlier ones and cited scores in several key benchmarks measuring performance in areas such as math, coding and visual perception. "For engineers, benchmarks serve as a barometer for how the LLM they developed fares in the global competition, and as a compass for its future development," an official of an LLM startup said. Constant race to set new records Much like human IQ tests or university entrance exams, the benchmarks offer a structured way to measure various capabilities, from language comprehension and reasoning to code generation, under the same conditions. When an LLM tops a benchmark, it is deemed State-of-the-Art (SOTA) for that task -- a title that can quickly change as new models are released. MMLU, which is one of the most widely used benchmarks, poses more than 15,000 multiple-choice questions across 57 subjects. HumanEval and LiveCodeBench test coding ability, while AIME and MATH-500 gauge mathematical reasoning. For instance, OpenAI boasted that its new GPT-5 achieved SOTA in math, scoring 94.6 percent on AIME 2025 without tools; in real-world coding, scoring 74.9 percent on SWE-bench Verified; and in multimodal understanding, achieving 84.2 percent on MMMU, among others. Korean LLM firms are also working fiercely to set new records. Releasing its most up-to-date model Exaone 4.0 on July 15, LG AI Research promoted its strong performance in advanced benchmarks. In MMLU-Pro, the 32-billion-parameter model scored 81.8 percent, ahead of Microsoft's Phi 4 reasoning-plus with 76 percent and Mistral's Magistral Small-2506 at 73.4 percent. In AIME 2025, it also outperformed those rivals with a score of 85.3 percent. As LLMs advance rapidly, the benchmarks themselves are also evolving. MMLU now offers a Pro edition with more complex reasoning questions. In January, a coalition of 1,000 experts launched Humanity's Last Exam -- a 2,500-question test spanning classical literature to quantum chemistry. But what often confuses the public is the endless list of scores. Experts note that because LLMs can do so many different things, each has its own strengths -- making it difficult to declare one model "the best" based on a single benchmark. To make sense of the growing number of benchmark results, platforms like Hugging Face provide leaderboards that compile scores from multiple tests and rank models accordingly. The Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is another prominent one that aggregates results from eight advanced benchmarks -- including the MMLU-Pro, Humanity's Last Exam and AIME -- to produce an overall score. With strong scores across multiple benchmarks, LG's Exaone and Upstage's Solar Pro 2 were the only Korean LLMs to make the Artificial Analysis index in July. At the time of release, Exaone 4.0 ranked 11th globally in the Intelligence Index, standing shoulder to shoulder with big brands such as Google's Gemini, OpenAI's ChatGPT and Alibaba's Qwen. Upstage's Solar Pro 2 went a step further, becoming the only Korean model recognized in the leaderboard's Frontier Language Model Intelligence category -- reserved for the highest-performing systems at the cutting edge of research and development. It also topped the Intelligence vs. Cost to Run metric. 'It is fair to say Korean models are quite competitive, considering their rivals are often several times larger," an LG official said, explaining how models like Grok 4, which held the top spot in the July index, has a staggering 1.7 trillion parameters -- meaning it used far more resources in training to achieve the intelligence score. The list has since updated its benchmarks with more challenging tests and added newly released models such as GPT-5 -- which overtook Grok 4 for the top spot -- nudging the Korean models down slightly, though both remain in the global index. LG AI Research and Upstage have both been named among the government's five consortia tasked with leading the development of South Korea's proprietary AI foundation models, alongside Naver Cloud, SK Telecom and NC AI. Naver, which became the third company in the world to develop a hyperscale AI model with HyperClova in 2021, has since upgraded its foundation model and in June released HyperClova X Think. The company cites its model's strength in its deep understanding of the Korean language. Going beyond benchmarks The way benchmarks gain recognition is similar to how a new measurement scale in the social sciences becomes a standard. After being published in a peer-reviewed paper, it should be validated at a reputable academic conference and adopted by the global AI community, an industry official explained. As crowded as the AI field is becoming, with one LLM after another touting new benchmark scores, the results still serve an important purpose: they offer guidelines for engineers in measuring their progress. "Global big techs still lead, but players in countries like China, France and Korea are closing in, and the race is intense," an LG official said. "The presence of Korean companies on leaderboards and key benchmarks shows the country is not only catching up but is firmly in the game." At the same time, the rollout of GPT-5 shows that real-world user experiences are just as important as strong performances in advanced benchmark tests. Launched on August 7, the highly anticipated OpenAI model shot to the top in the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, but has faced backlash from users who claim it feels "downgraded," citing a blander personality and surprisingly basic mistakes. Lee Kyoung-jun, a big data analytics professor at Kyung Hee University, stressed that the true measure of an LLM's competitiveness lies in its practical utility. "Korean LLMs are making strides in benchmarks, but it's important to note that even major models like Exaone are having little impact on the general public for now," Lee said. "Efforts must continue to ensure these excellent models are adopted in real use cases and achieve widespread adoption." herim@
Korea Herald
29-07-2025
- Korea Herald
Malaysia optimistic about ties with Lee Jae Myung administration: envoy
FTA at final stage, says envoy, calling on Korean firms to tap halal market and diversify across ASEAN Malaysia is committed to fulfilling the economic and strategic pledges of Korean companies made during the visit of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to South Korea last year, said Malaysian Ambassador to Korea Dato Lim Juay Jin Khalid in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. Ibrahim stressed the need for the two countries to uphold their commitment to continued cooperation following the start of the Lee Jae Myung administration in June. 'We're looking forward to working closely with the Lee Jae Myung administration," Khalid told The Korea Herald, describing the strategic partnership as more than transactional. He noted that Malaysia was one of the first countries President Lee engaged with, pledging with his counterpart to deepen ties. The nearly finalized Malaysia–Korea FTA is expected to be signed by year's end, boosting trade and regional connectivity. Lee spoke by phone with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on June 23, making Ibrahim the seventh leader to speak with the new South Korean president. Malaysia and South Korea upgraded their ties to a strategic partnership in 2024 to deepen cooperation in ESG-based investment, digital and green tech, and the halal ecosystem. Both sides aim to conclude an FTA by 2025 to benefit businesses and SMEs and boost the digital economy, bioeconomy and supply chain resilience. Bringing up the combined $7.6 billion in investment pledges by Korean companies, according to Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Khalid stressed that realizing the pledges depends heavily on South Korea's political stability under the Lee administration, implying that without it, major bilateral agreements risk stalling. Hyundai Motor plans to invest nearly $480 million from 2025 to upgrade its Malaysia plant with partner Inokom, boosting production of MPVs, minivans and SUVs. Starting at 20,000 units annually, the Korean auto giant aims to serve Malaysia and Southeast Asia to support the growth of the local electric vehicle ecosystem. 'After the visit, I have been working very hard to ensure that these pledges are realized by the companies,' he said, referring to expectations that political stability under the new Lee administration will lead to the fulfillment of pledges and bilateral agreements. With over 400 Korean companies operating in Malaysia across various sectors, Khalid said, 'We definitely encourage Korean companies to diversify investment destinations.' He considers Malaysia a halal hub for South Korean exports globally, not just to countries with large Muslim populations. 'Many Korean companies are still unaware of this potential,' he pointed out, highlighting Malaysia's strength in the financial sector and the potential for joint ventures. Khalid said he hopes for the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan of Action for the ASEAN–South Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreed at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, calling it 'another key milestone.' 'We believe development should be both inclusive and sustainable,' he said, citing Malaysia's 2025 ASEAN chairmanship and its theme of 'Inclusivity and Sustainability." 'We want ASEAN to be an environmentally safe zone, and we're keen to work with South Korea on this,' he said, referencing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and encouraging Korean companies to play active roles in maritime security, climate resilience, digital connectivity and green technology. The envoy also cited cultural exchange and ASEAN links as a growing priority. 'I want Malaysians' culture, food and values to be more familiar to Korean society,' Khalid said, noting tourism potential in regions such as Sabah, Sarawak, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and his home state of Terengganu. sanjaykumar@
Korea Herald
28-07-2025
- Korea Herald
Korean expertise vital for Egypt's sustainable aviation: minister
Egypt is eyeing closer cooperation with South Korea for the country's transition to a sustainable and smart aviation system, said Sameh El-Hefny, Egypt's minister of civil aviation, in an interview with The Korea Herald. El-Hefny visited Incheon to attend the International Conference on Aviation Cooperation (CIAT 2025), Korea's leading triennial aviation conference for global cooperation and the future of air transport. 'South Korea possesses advanced expertise in smart technologies and transport systems," said El-Hefny, expressing his willingness to work with Korean companies to modernize Egypt's aviation system. Referring to Egypt's progress toward green infrastructure, he cited Borg El Arab International Airport, located 40 kilometers southwest of Alexandria, Egypt, as a 'pioneering model' for environmentally friendly development in the region. Borg El Arab serves as the main international gateway for Alexandria, Egypt's northern coast and the Nile Delta, with capacity to handle 3.5-4 million passengers and 10,000 tons of cargo annually. El-Hefny highlighted the airport's focus on reducing carbon emissions and generating solar energy, calling it a key step toward sustainable infrastructure, featuring advanced technology and reinforcing Egypt's role as a global aviation hub. According to El-Hefny, partnering with South Korea will enhance tourism, boost regional connectivity and advance Egypt's Vision 2030 for sustainable development. El-Hefny was in South Korea to attend CIAT 2025 last week, hosted by South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. On the sidelines of the event, he held bilateral talks with his Korean counterpart, Transport Minister Park Sang-woo. He described the visit as 'a manifestation of civil aviation diplomacy,' highlighting Egypt's push for digital transformation and sustainability while strengthening aviation ties with South Korea.
