news highlight

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  AJP Korea-India Essay Contest Winner: Bronze Prize SEOUL, May 15 (AJP) - As someone working at a facilities management corporation in Korea, the things I face most often are not the shining exteriors of buildings, but the invisible foundations and chains of safety measurements that support them. People often measure a city’s growth by the height of its skyscrapers. But from an engineer’s point of view, the true quality of a city is not about how high its buildings rise. It is about how safely those buildings can stand ov May 16, 2026
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  K-Art: Contemporary art in display at SETEC SEOUL, May 15 (AJP) -The '5th Seoul Art Fair (SAF),' diagnosing the present and envisioning the future of Korean contemporary art, opened at SETEC in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The event features 160 gallery and individual exhibition booths with approximately 1,200 artists participating. Beyond a simple exhibition, it presents a new type of art market based on a clear direction of being 'artist-centered.' This year, artists from May 16, 2026
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  AJP Deep Insight: US-China Summit: Missing are the voices of Russia and EU No sooner had President Donald Trump concluded his summit with President Xi Jinping and departed China on May 15, 2026 than news emerged that Russian President Vladimir Putin would arrive in Beijing almost immediately afterward. On the surface, such a visit may not appear extraordinary. Putin has traveled to China many times before, and Sino-Russian summits have become familiar features of the geopolitical landscape. Yet this visit feels fundamentally different. The timing May 16, 2026
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  Asia Deep Insight: North Korea mention between Trump and Xi, what next? SEOUL, May 16 (AJP) -The spring of 2026 may well be remembered as a turning point in the strategic history of Northeast Asia. In Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping sat face to face once again, navigating the uneasy frontier between rivalry and coexistence. Beneath the ceremonial grandeur and diplomatic choreography lay a reality far more consequential: the North Korean question had returned to the center of global geopolitics. May 16, 2026
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  ASIA INSIGHT: Why Xi Jinping's table moves world Lleaders What is the oldest surviving language of international politics? It is not the language of armies. Nor is it the language of money. More often than we admit, it is a bowl of noodles, a slice of roast duck, a cup of tea. China has understood this for centuries. As Confucius taught in The Analects, “In the practice of ritual, harmony is the most precious.” Long before diplomacy became communiqués, sanctions and summit statements, Chinese civilization learned May 16, 2026
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  AJP Market Watch: Black Friday's reality check as the spread has spoken SEOUL, May 16 (AJP) -There is one number that explains Friday better than any index chart. On May 15, the yield gap between Korea's 10-year government bond and its U.S. equivalent compressed to roughly 27 basis points. That is historically thin. An emerging market sovereign with Korea's energy-import dependence, household debt burden, and geopolitical exposure normally commands a meaningfully larger cushion above U.S. Treasuries. A thinning of that cushion can be a warnin May 16, 2026
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  President Lee warns proxy revenge is serious crime SEOUL, May 16 (AJP) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned through a social media post on Friday that both requesting and carrying out private revenge through third parties constitutes a serious criminal offense. The statement addresses a growing trend of illegal retaliation services coordinated through encrypted messaging platforms. The direct warning from the president signals an intensified government crackdown on digital-age vigilantism. Lee emphasized that modern state May 16, 2026
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  South Korea's labor minister to meet Samsung management to avert strike SEOUL, May 16 (AJP) - In a bid to mediate a labor dispute that threatens an unprecedented general strike of Samsung Electronics workers, South Korean Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon is scheduled to meet with Samsung executives as early as Saturday. The move follows a high-level meeting between the minister and union leadership to discuss demands that could fundamentally reshape the company's compensation structure. The National Samsung Electronics Union plans to launch an 18-day May 16, 2026
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  Veteran columnist publishes book on South Korean cultural diplomacy SEOUL, May 16 (AJP) - Veteran South Korean columnist Choe Chong-dae has published a collection of essays spanning nearly half a century of international dialogue, chronicling South Korea's evolving global presence. The book, titled "Bridging Cultures: The Korea Times Columns of a Citizen Diplomat (1979~2025)", captures his experiences as a cultural advocate and lifelong researcher since he began writing in 1979. The volume explores diplomatic history, democratization May 16, 2026