EXO's Kai and Sehun to debut as duo SEOUL, November 11 (AJP) - K-pop boy group EXO's member Kai and Sehun will debut as a new duo, EXO-KASE, with their first mini-album "Waking Up The City" on Dec. 1, SM Entertainment said Wednesday. The seven-track album will feature a title song of the same name alongside individual solo tracks by both members, marking their first joint release as a separate unit. Born in 1994, Kai and Sehun have long been known to fans for their contrasting performance styles. Th November 11, 2026

RESCENE sets first headlining concert in 2027 SEOUL, November 11 (AJP) - K-pop girl group RESCENE will hold its first headlining concerts in Seoul next February, following a surge in popularity that has lifted the group's music charts and album sales, organizer Coupang Play said Wednesday. The five-member group will stage "NOTES : BLOOMING" at Olympic Hall in Seoul's Olympic Park from Feb. 19 to 21, 2027. The three-day event will be jointly organized by Coupang Play and the group's agency, The Muse Ente November 11, 2026

Hyundai, Samsung SDI co-design EV battery pack SEOUL, November 11 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor, Kia and Samsung SDI have moved beyond a buyer-supplier relationship to jointly design an electric vehicle battery pack, according to patent records from the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS). The patent, made public on Oct. 22, places gas vents on the underside of each battery cell and channels the searing gases released during thermal runaway out through a passage built into the pack's lower cover. The l November 11, 2026

KOSPI rebounds after early losses amid US rate hike concerns SEOUL, November 11 (AJP) - Seoul shares turned higher on Wednesday after opening lower, as investors weighed concerns that stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation could lead to further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed to 5,245.95 at around 10 a.m., while the KOSDAQ also advanced on buying in chip equipment and battery stocks. Foreigners sold a net 88.9 billion won (US$66.4 million) of KOSPI shares, one ses November 11, 2026

KAIST rewrites file system to unclog next-generation flash storage SEOUL, November 11 (AJP) - Next-generation flash storage can run up to three times faster with a software fix alone, KAIST researchers have found, after tracing the technology's performance bottleneck to the computer's central processor rather than the storage hardware itself. KAIST said Wednesday that a team led by Won You-jip, a professor in its School of Electrical Engineering, identified the software chokepoint and developed a new file system technology called GAZE to November 11, 2026

South Korean, Ukrainian FMs meet amid friction over POWs SEOUL, November 11 (AJP) - Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has met with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers' meeting in Paris, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said on Wednesday. According to the ministry, Cho stressed during the meeting previous day that mutual respect and trust are "prerequisites" for developing relations between the two countries, in an apparent reference to the handling of two North Kore November 11, 2026

Korean biotechs pitch cancer drugs at BIO-Europe ZURICH, November 10 (AJP) - South Korean biotech firms are pitching cancer treatments, liver disease drugs and drug-delivery technologies to global pharmaceutical companies at BIO-Europe in Cologne, seeking partners to finance development and reach overseas markets. Licensing, joint development and investment discussions continued Tuesday as the three-day event entered its second day. No Korean company had announced a signed agreement by then, according to the Korean media report November 11, 2026

BTS' track included in Apple Music's year-end playlist of best songs SEOUL, November 11 (AJP) - K-pop juggernaut BTS' song "SWIM" has been included in Apple Music's year-end playlist of the best songs of this year. According to the group's agency BigHit Music on Wednesday, the title track from BTS' fifth full-length album "ARIRANG" was included in the playlist released last Saturday, marking the first time a South Korean act has been featured on the list. The playlist features 100 songs selected by the Ameri November 11, 2026

Spain weighs TikTok suspension over child abuse content ZURICH, November 10 (AJP) -Spain’s youth ministry has asked the country’s data protection authority to temporarily suspend TikTok after an investigation identified more than 26,000 accounts suspected of involvement in child sexual exploitation on the platform. Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego announced the request Tuesday after meeting TikTok representatives, escalating a warning issued a day earlier. The ministry also asked the company to consider voluntarily s November 11, 2026

Korean envoy seeks French support for Korean business ZURICH, November 10 (AJP) -South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has asked France to help ensure a stable business environment for Korean companies in Europe as the two countries deepen ties in their 140th year of diplomatic relations. The envoy made the appeal during talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in Paris on Monday afternoon on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers’ meeting, South Korea’s foreign ministry said Tuesday. November 11, 2026