Coupang users and spending stronger than pre-data leak SEOUL, September 09 (AJP) -Coupang’s grip on South Korean consumers appears largely intact despite a massive personal-data leak and regulatory crackdowns, as shoppers continue to choose speed and convenience over lingering privacy and ethical concerns. Estimated credit and debit card payments on Coupang reached 4.930 trillion won in August, up 12.6 percent from 4.378 trillion won a year earlier, according to Mobile Index operated by AI data technology company IGAWorks Wednesda September 9, 2026

'Dave the Diver' tops 10 million in a Korean first SEOUL, September 09 (AJP) - South Korean studio Mintrocket said that its diving-and-sushi adventure "Dave the Diver" has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, the first domestic single-player packaged game to cross that mark. The milestone announced Tuesday comes as Korean developers, long dominant in free-to-play online titles, increasingly bet on premium single-purchase games for console and PC. "Dave the Diver," released in full in mid-2023, casts pla September 9, 2026

Hanwha Ocean picked as preferred bidder for Thai frigate project SEOUL, September 9 (AJP) - Hanwha Ocean has been selected as the preferred bidder for a frigate project for the Royal Thai Navy, after beating defense companies from Spain, Singapore and Turkey, the shipbuilder said on Wednesday. The project, worth 16.73 billion baht (US$509 million), covers the construction of a 4,000-ton-class frigate, along with related equipment and integrated maintenance and logistics support. The selection of Hanwha Ocean as the preferred bidder allows the September 9, 2026

Ransomware gangs turn on each other, Group-IB says SEOUL, September 09 (AJP) - Rival ransomware crews are increasingly fighting among themselves, weaponizing supply chains and enlisting artificial intelligence, in a shift South Korea felt early when one breach exposed dozens of its banks. Ransomware groups logged 2,393 attacks on their public leak sites in the first quarter, up 4.5 percent from the previous quarter, across 79 active groups, according to Group-IB's 2026 ransomware ecosystem report released Tuesday. The structu September 9, 2026

Public Home Shopping faces origin-fraud probe over seafood sales SEOUL, September 09 (AJP) - State-run Public Home Shopping is under investigation over suspicions that it sold about 9,935 packages of skate and flatfish labeled as domestic but believed to be foreign-caught, earning roughly 284 million won ($211,923). The Gunsan Coast Guard in North Jeolla Province searched the shopping network's offices on May to examine suspected country-of-origin violations, after notifying the company of the concern in late February and questioning official September 9, 2026

POSCO begins first-ever strike with 48-hour partial walkout SEOUL, September 9 (AJP) - Unionized workers at POSCO began a partial strike on Wednesday, marking the steelmaker's first strike since its founding in 1968. The 48-hour strike comes despite several rounds of talks between the union and management to narrow differences over wages and other labor conditions. The strike halted all production lines at a pickling plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, and some lines at a steel sheet plant in Pohang, North Gyengsang Province. T September 9, 2026

Naver courts France in widening global AI push SEOUL, September 09 (AJP) - Naver proposed that French companies join it in building artificial intelligence computing complexes for the European market, widening a drive that has carried South Korea's largest internet firm into India and Saudi Arabia this year. Chief Executive Choi Soo-yeon made the pitch at a Korea-France business roundtable in Paris Monday (local time), held during President Lee Jae Myung's state visit. "We want to combine France's stable ener September 9, 2026

Lee, Macron pledge efforts to restore Strait of Hormuz SEOUL, September 9 (AJP) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung agreed with French President Emmanuel Macron to coordinate closely on international efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and stabilize global supply chains during their summit in Paris on Tuesday. In a joint press conference after the summit at the Élysée Palace, Lee said South Korea and France would continue close coordination to help restore freedom of navigation in the st September 9, 2026

KOSPI closes below 7,000 as higher oil prices wipe out chip-led gains SEOUL, September 8 (AJP) - South Korean stocks gave up a strong early gain on Tuesday, with the country's benchmark index closing below 7,000 points as higher oil prices and caution ahead of U.S. inflation data offset gains in chip stocks and hopes for U.S. investment projects. The KOSPI closed at 6,954.52, down 0.58 percent from the previous session. The index opened above 7,000 and climbed steadily through much of the morning, reclaiming the level intraday for the first tim September 8, 2026

Korea's data breaches get personal as latest exposes cosmetic choices SEOUL, September 8 (AJP) - South Korea has grown accustomed to large-scale data breaches. The latest one is also unusually personal. Nearly 220,000 users of Gangnam Unni, a platform for comparing cosmetic procedures and clinics, were affected by unauthorized access discovered last week. The affected users included about 160,000 in South Korea and roughly 48,000 in Japan. Exposed information could include names, phone numbers, email addresses, clinics and doctors users contacted, September 8, 2026