Will America risk New York for Seoul?
SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and ordered scale-back in U.S.-South Korea military drills that anger Pyongyang and cost Washington heavily, reigniting a long-running question in Seoul: Should South Korea arm itself with nuclear weapons? Once taboo, the idea is gaining broader public acceptance. Sixty-five percent of South Koreans support the country possessing nuclear weapons, while 30 percent oppose it, according to the la
by Lee Jung-woo
Uzbekistan looks to its Islamic golden age to build a new future
SEOUL, September 02 (AJP) - The Center for Islamic Civilization, sprawling across a site roughly the size of 14 soccer fields, embodies in its glittering magnificence and grandeur what “New Uzbekistan” envisions: ushering a young, increasingly digital population into the AI age while keeping it firmly anchored in Islamic heritage and spirituality. The sprawling cultural and research complex cost about $161.8 million to build, according to a government construction directorate. Its t
AI spending binge steepens Korea's bond curve
SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) - As the race for AI supremacy sends government and corporate spending into the stratosphere, investors are demanding more to lend for decades — a shift showing up starkly in South Korea, where yields have risen progressively faster toward the long end of the government bond curve. The yield chart over the past year shows an increasingly steep repricing toward longer maturities. The 30-year yield has climbed the most, touching a record 4.751 percent in August, wh
Will AI contracts shield Korean chipmakers from boom-and-bust cycle?
SEOUL, September 02 (AJP) - Investment banks and market trackers are betting South Korea's memory giants can extend their red-hot earnings streak into a third year in 2027 and possibly beyond, as AI pushes the business away from the spot-price-driven boom-and-bust cycles that have long defined memory chips. Before the rise of AI, earnings at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were heavily exposed to prices for mass-market DRAM and NAND flash, commodities notorious for swinging between shortag
South Korea aims for 3rd-place finish at Asian Games
Teacher rights violations remain high despite recent decline
Seoul joins global arms race with record defense spending SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) - South Korea is joining a global rearmament push by packaging the largest military spending increase in nearly two decades.
Korea weighs asking chipmakers to prepay power for AI build-out SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) - South Korean memory makers envisioning an expansive build-out under government's ambitious push to turn the country into a chip republic involves more than billions of dollars for construction and purchases of land and equipment.
KOSPI loses cash and conviction SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) -The KOSPI's summer hangover has followed it into September. Money is leaving South Korea's stock market, retail investors are nursing losses and foreign funds remain hesitant.
Seoul draws line on labor strikes over profit and capex SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) -South Korean unions can no longer strike over demands for bonuses pegged to a share of operating profit or over opposition to new plants.
