{
  "id": 727929,
  "title": "At 11:30 a.m. on the 30th, President Lee Myung-bak had a 20-minute conversation with four reporters at the Blue House. During the conversation, which was not pre-announced, President Lee burst out laughing at a certain question.\n\nThe scene was as follows. A reporter asked, “So did ‘that person’ mention the quantum (computer)?”\n\nPresident Lee, who had been sipping coffee, suddenly burst out laughing at the reporter’s question.\n\nThe reporter continued, “I heard that at the dinner meeting with the staff on the 28th, you mentioned that you had talked with ‘that person’ about quantum (computer).”\n\nPresident Lee, who had been holding back his laughter, could not help but show his burst of laughter.\n\nThe reporter then asked, “Did you really have a conversation about quantum (computer)? And what did ‘that person’ say?”\n\nPresident Lee, still smiling, replied, “No, I was just making conversation. I was just saying that I had heard about it.”\n\nWhen asked, “Who is ‘that person’?” President Lee replied, “You know who I mean.”\n\nThe reporter pressed, “Is it the person who was elected as the Nobel laureate in Physics?”\n\nPresident Lee just smiled and did not respond further.\n\nThe reporters who witnessed the scene said, “President Lee seemed to enjoy the conversation a lot.”\n\nAnother reporter said, “President Lee seemed to be in a very relaxed mood, which was a rare sight.”\n\nOn the 28th, President Lee had dinner with his staff at a restaurant in Hongdae, Seoul. At the dinner, President Lee reportedly mentioned that he had talked with a renowned physicist about quantum computers.\n\nIt is not confirmed who the person is, but it appears that the reporter was referring to the Nobel laureate in Physics, Dr. Gerard ‘t Hooft, who visited Korea on the 27th.\n\nDr. ‘t Hooft, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999, visited Korea to attend the 2011 Seoul Science Festival.\n\nOn the 27th, Dr. ‘t Hooft had a short conversation with President Lee at the festival.\n\nAt the meeting, President Lee reportedly mentioned that he had been paying attention to the development of quantum computers.\n\nDr. ‘t Hooft is known to have expressed his interest in cooperating with Korea in the development of quantum computers.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/story-727929",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-13T01:42:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hankyoreh",
    "slug": "hankyoreh",
    "url": "https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/politics/politics_general/1272700.html"
  },
  "original_language": "ko",
  "account": null,
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}