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Korea Herald
a few seconds ago
- Korea Herald
'My Daughter is a Zombie' lurches past 4.3 million admissions in record run
Webtoon adaptation holds No. 1 spot for 18 straight days as discount coupons boost theater turnout The zombie comedy "My Daughter is a Zombie" has topped the Korean box office for 18 consecutive days since its July 30 release, drawing 4.31 million viewers and grossing 40.8 billion won ($ 29,400) through Sunday, according to data from the Korean Film Council. The film crossed the 4 million mark over the Liberation Day holiday weekend on Aug. 15, becoming the first title of 2025 to reach that milestone. It has overtaken "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning" (3.36 million) and Korean crime thriller "Yadang: The Snitch" (3.38 million) to claim the top spot of the year. Based on the hit webtoon of the same name, the comedy-drama follows a single father trying to protect his zombified teenage daughter. The film stars Jo Jung-seok, Lee Jung-eun, Cho Yeo-jeong and newcomer Choi Yu-ri, with "The Hostage" director Pil Gam-sung at the helm. The film's box office run offers a rare bright spot in what has been a historically weak year for Korean theaters. Box office revenue plunged 33 percent in the first half of 2025, with no film breaking the 10 million admission mark that traditionally signals mega-hit status, according to the Korean Film Council's midyear report. Part of the film's momentum has been fueled by the government's 6,000 won ticket discount program, launched July 25. The coupons, capped at two per person and valid through Sept. 2, prompted a rush on theater websites and apps as soon as they went live. "F1," the Brad Pitt–led racing drama that opened June 25, also benefited from the program, mounting an unusual late surge to reach 4.1 million admissions on Saturday and move into second place for the year. "My Daughter is a Zombie" has also managed to satisfy fans of its source material, a feat other webtoon adaptations have struggled to achieve. Viewers praised the film's attention to the original webtoon's beloved details, from grandmother Bam-soon's yellow vest and topknot to the family's scene-stealing cat. Though the filmmakers chose a more hopeful ending than the webtoon's tragic conclusion, the central father-daughter bond remained intact. That stands in sharp contrast to "Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy," another webtoon adaptation that opened just a week earlier on July 23. Despite its 30 billion won price tag and star-studded cast, including Lee Min-ho and Jisoo, the fantasy epic drew just over 1 million viewers amid backlash from fans who felt the adaptation strayed too far from its source, with critics pointing to its overly compressed storyline and poorly altered characters as fundamental missteps.
Korea Herald
a few seconds ago
- Korea Herald
How a driving score turned road safety into a national game in Korea
In a country obsessed with rankings, the latest national competition isn't about grades. It's about who can drive the safest. Thirty-one thousand, three hundred and sixty-six. That is the number of traffic accidents South Korea's most widely used navigation app, Tmap, claims it has helped prevent between 2018 and 2020. The figure comes from an internal model comparing the accident rates of drivers with high 'driving scores' to those with lower ones, adjusted for distance driven. It is not the product of a government audit or a peer-reviewed study. In a country that records around 200,000 road accidents annually, it is a striking claim. "Sure, it's part of the company's PR," says Chun Ji-yeon, senior researcher at the Korea Insurance Research Institute's mobility center, "but that number is still a concrete, if imperfect, measure of how Korea's embrace of gamified driving scores might be nudging behavior in safer directions.' Since 2016, when Tmap rolled out its 'driving score,' the concept has spread to Naver Map in 2024, Kakao Map in 2022 and even rental-car platform Socar. The formula is simple: your phone tracks acceleration, braking, cornering and speeding; the smoother and more law-abiding your driving, the higher your score. Points translate into auto-insurance discounts, gift credits or both. According to Tmap last year, participation in the Driving Score program has surpassed 19 million drivers, of whom 10.1 million have scored well enough to secure insurance discounts. In most countries with usage-based insurance, the score is private and functional. In Korea, it is social. Scores are integrated into apps millions already use daily, displayed alongside rankings against other drivers. 'It is one of the few score-based competitions in Korea where everyone benefits when scores rise,' said Chun. 'Safer driving lowers accident risk, insurers save on claims, and drivers save money. It is a rare alignment of interests.' A carrot in a land of sticks For decades, Korea's road safety gains have come from stronger enforcement. Laws against drunk driving have tightened. Networks of unmanned speed cameras have expanded. Regulations in school zones, especially after the 2019 'Min-sik Law,' have sharply increased penalties for speeding near children. 'Enforcement and better technology are still the main drivers of change in road safety,' said Seo Beom-kyu, head of the traffic safety division at the Korea Road Traffic Authority. 'But the private-sector model adds something new. It rewards good behavior, which government programs struggle to do at scale.' Government data reflects the progress. Nationwide traffic accidents fell from 223,552 cases in 2014 to 198,296 in 2023. Over the same period, accidents per 10,000 vehicles dropped from 2.0 to 0.9, while fatalities per 100,000 people declined from 9.4 to 5.0. Modern car safety technology has also changed the baseline. Advanced driver assistance systems, such as automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping assist, are increasingly common even in budget vehicles. Crashes that once caused fatalities now result in minor injuries or are avoided altogether. Against that backdrop, driving scores are an extra nudge. 'International studies have proven that usage-based insurance can cut risky driving behaviors,' said researcher Chun. 'In Korea, I do have to say the evidence is more suggestive than conclusive. But it would be hard not to call it effective or successful." Insurers, though, have more than safety in mind. 'In Korea, as in the US, these programs are as much about brand positioning as accident reduction,' said Im Chae-hong, senior researcher at Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute. 'Once one company offers safe-driving discounts, competitors follow to avoid looking behind the curve.' For many users in Korea, the appeal is more than financial anyway. 'When I got a perfect 100 last month, I posted it online like a medal,' said Lee Ji-yeon, a 39-year-old office worker in Incheon. 'It made me think more about how I drive, even when no one is watching.' Others admit to gaming the system. 'If I have to drive in heavy traffic, I switch to Naver so my Tmap score doesn't drop,' said Kim Min-su, 32, who works in marketing in Seoul. 'It might sound silly, but last year it saved me almost 200,000 won on insurance.' Usage-based insurance exists elsewhere. In Japan, Yahoo! Car Navigation users can connect to Sony Assurance for premium discounts. In the US, insurers like Progressive and Allstate have been using plug-in devices or separate apps to monitor driving for a long time. But in most cases, the score is visible only to the insurer and the driver. Korea's model is embedded in mass-used navigation apps, with visible rankings and frequent prompts to check progress. That public element taps into what Hyun Chul-seung, head of the Traffic AI and Big Data Center at the Korea Road Traffic Authority, calls 'a deep familiarity with measurable performance.' 'From school grades to fitness apps to delivery driver ratings, we are used to seeing our performance compared to others,' Hyun said. 'Here, it has found a relatively healthy outlet.' Researcher Im from Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute explained that this model also sidesteps Korean insurers' earlier failed experiments in the early 2010s with plug-in monitoring devices, which Korean drivers disliked for their hassle, cost and 'surveillance' feel. When Korean navigation apps began doing the tracking directly, adoption soared, helped by the fact that Korea's car insurance premiums, at around 1 million won ($720) a year, are very modest by global standards. "The financial incentive is smaller than in the US, but the social reward of keeping a high score is stronger," Im said. Not perfect, but part of the puzzle The technology is not flawless. GPS drift can register false lane changes. Sudden braking to avoid another driver's mistake can lower a score. And because participation is voluntary, there is an inevitable element of self-selection. 'Any metric people value will invite workarounds,' Chun from the Insurance Research Institute said. Tmap is experimenting with more context-specific scoring, such as extra credit for obeying school-zone rules or coming to a complete stop before turning right. For now, the 31,366-accident figure remains a corporate claim, not an official statistic. But it reflects something visible on Korean roads: drivers who brake a little earlier, merge a little more politely, and share their score with pride. 'It is not the main reason Korea's roads are safer,' researcher Im said. 'But if you can get millions of people to think twice before speeding just because they want to keep a number high, that is a win worth noting.'
Local France
a few seconds ago
- Local France
Cheese recall, record-breaking heat and préfecture changes: 6 essential articles for life in France
You may have noticed that it has been quite hot in France over the last week. In fact it's been record-breakingly hot - numerous towns and villages have beaten their all-time temperature records over the past week. READ ALSO : MAP: Which French towns beat their heat records this August? Health authorities have linked a listeria outbreak that has killed two people to the consumption of cheese sold nationwide in several French supermarket chains, which have issued recall notices. There is a long list of cheeses and the supermarkets they are sold in that are subject to recall notices. People should not eat these cheeses if they have purchased them. READ ALSO : Deadly listeria outbreak prompts nationwide cheese recall in France Over the past few weeks, The Local has been grappling with the issue of citizenship for retirees - a process that used to be relatively uncontroversial, suddenly seems to have hit a roadblock, and numerous people have reported to us that their citizenship applications have been turned down, due to their income consisting of a pension from a foreign country. Finally, we managed to get answers from one préfecture, who confirmed to us that yes, the rules have changed. READ ALSO : 'Rules have changed' - Préfecture confirms they can refuse French citizenship to retirees It can sometimes be a challenge getting answers from French public officials, especially on immigration matters, but these problems are multiplied in August. Public offices frequently have slow responses as most of their staff are on holiday but they do stay open - many private companies close completely for a couple of weeks over the summer while their employees enjoy a break. Advertisement Contrary to popular belief, the entire country doesn't stop in August, but things certainly slow down. READ ALSO : What's open and what's closed in August in France There are a few more weeks of summer to enjoy yet - I've been swimming in the Seine and writing about it - but la rentrée looms. READ ALSO : OPINION: Seine swimming is part of a quiet revolution in Paris Very few people look forward to going back to work, but France's politicians have a very tough autumn ahead with various seemingly intractable problems facing the country. READ ALSO : 8 big problems that France faces this autumn
