▲ This image provided by a reader shows South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo being identified as North Korean territory on a weather application featured on smartphones made by Samsung Electronics Co. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Samsung smartphone-Dokdo

Samsung weather app identifies Dokdo as N. Korean territory

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- A weather application featured on smartphones made by Samsung Electronics Co. is erroneously identifying South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo as North Korean territory.

The weather application pre-installed on Galaxy devices showed Dokdo as being located in North Gyeongsang Province in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the North's official name.

The error appeared only on devices running Samsung's latest operating system, One UI 8.5.

One UI 8.5 comes with the latest flagship Galaxy S26 series and has also been distributed to older models, including the Galaxy S25 and S24 series, as well as the foldable Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, through software updates.

Samsung said the error stemmed from an issue involving external weather data provided by The Weather Channel (TWC).

"We operate the weather service using data provided by TWC, and the error occurred on the provider's side," a company official who asked not to be named said. "We are aware of the issue and are taking corrective measures."

Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between South Korea and Japan, as Tokyo continues to lay claim over the islets in policy papers, public statements and school textbooks.

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