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Hanwha's Philly Shipyard wins U.S. missile test vessel contract tied to Golden Dome
SEOUL, July 18 (AJP) - Hanwha Philly Shipyard has been selected to build two next-generation missile range instrumentation vessels (MRIVs) for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), marking a major defense contract that will support the Trump administration's planned Golden Dome missile defense system. The U.S. shipbuilder, acquired by South Korea's Hanwha Group last year, said on Saturday it had b
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Samsung's rebate drive sparks estimated $2.9 bln sales, doubles voucher payout
SEOUL, July 18 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics' nationwide rebate campaign, launched as part of its pledge to share the benefits of its semiconductor windfall with the public, generated an estimated 4 trillion won ($2.9 billion) in sales, industry estimates showed Friday, prompting the company to more than double the value of vouchers it plans to distribute. Samsung is expected to issue more than 800 billi
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Small-, mid-cap stocks outperform as chip rout weighs on Korea's blue chips
SEOUL, July 18 (AJP) - South Korea's small- and mid-cap stocks outperformed large caps this month as a sharp selloff in semiconductor shares weighed on the broader market and prompted retail investors to rotate into theme stocks and defensive sectors. The KOSPI large-cap index fell 20.6 percent between July 1 and July 16, underperforming the benchmark KOSPI's 19.5 percent decline over the sam
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TSMC lifts forecasts as AI demand cools peak fears
SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - TSMC reported record second-quarter earnings and raised its annual revenue and capital spending forecasts, signaling confidence that artificial intelligence demand will keep powering the chip industry and tempering fears that the AI boom is nearing a peak. The world's largest contract chipmaker said Thursday that net profit for the April to June
Seoul, one of Asia's richest cities, leaves one village behind
SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - The journey takes barely two minutes. Yangjae-daero, a six-lane boulevard cutting through southern Seoul, is little more than another busy artery carrying commuters toward Gangnam's gleaming office towers and luxury apartment complexes. Thousands cross it every day without giving the road a second thought. Yet few roads in South Korea separate two different economic realities more starkly. On one side stand apartment towers where homes now sell for more than
by Han Jun-gu and Joonha Yoo
A very Korean dream hatched in the country's most unlikely place
SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - Before Cheon Young-hwan tells visitors about Guryong Village, he tells them about his sons. Forty years ago, he walked down the hill from the cluster of shacks where his family had settled after being displaced by Seoul's redevelopment drive and knocked on the door of a stranger living across Yangjae-daero. He was not asking for money. Nor was he asking for food. He was asking to borrow an address. Without one, his two boys could not enroll in school. "I beg
Former K-pop idols face tough job market once spotlight fades
SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - K-pop's global rise has drawn a steady stream of young people hoping to become idols. But rising to stardom is only part of the story. When groups disband or contracts expire, many former performers must enter a job market where years of training and stage experience do not fit neatly into a conventional resume. They also face a difficult employment climate. As of February 2026, South Korea's employment rate for people aged 15 to 29 stood at 43.3 percent, down for
Seoul aims for AI's top two, plans nationwide model this year
SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - South Korea's technology chief announced the country would push to break into the world's top two artificial-intelligence powers, buoyed by an international assessment ranking it third, and vowed to build a frontier model rivalling those Washington now guards as strategic weapons. Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, told a presidential briefing on Thursday at the Cheong Wa Dae that a second round of model evaluations due in Augus
Policy chief rules out delisting single-stock leveraged ETFs
Samsung remains South Korea's only global top 10 tech brand
