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Korea's rice farmers struggle to keep a staple—and a livelihood—alive SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - Rice farming is a labor as old as Korea’s 5,000-year history, its harvest a staple of daily meals and an essential ingredient in the country’s cuisine. Yet the farmers sustaining that legacy face a difficult squeeze: aging hands, costly machinery and a changing appetite for the grain they grow. In Icheon, a city in Gyeonggi Province famed for its premium rice, autumn b
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Retail investors fight a losing battle as outflows from Seoul deepen SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - What goes up comes down, and the higher the climb, the steeper the descent. But for those swept up in the tailwind, that pedestrian observation can land hard.
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Korean batteries charge ahead as China retreats from US storage SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - Chinese batteries that long powered America's grid-scale storage yards are being squeezed out under stricter U.S. regulations, allowing greater room for South Korean producers like LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI.
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World Bank unveils first digital strategy at Seoul summit
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Korea pulls diplomats from Kyiv as POW dispute deepens
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Seoul vows stern response if Pyongyang switches on loudspeakers SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - South Korea will respond sternly to any North Korean provocation along the inter-Korean border, which would violate the armistice agreement, military authorities here said on Tuesday. -
South Korea's Navy plans nuclear-powered submarines, drone carrier SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - South Korea's Navy plans to develop nuclear-powered submarines and a drone carrier to strengthen its defenses against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the Navy said Tuesday. -
Samsung Bioepis wins 10-year rare disease drug deal in Brazil SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - Samsung Bioepis will be the sole supplier of a rare blood disease treatment to Brazil's government-run market for 10 years starting next year, the South Korean biosimilar maker said Tuesday. -
Ceragem founder turns CEO into family SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - In a country where corporate empires are often passed from one generation to the next, South Korean healthcare company Ceragem is taking an unusual approach: its founder has made a longtime professional manager his legal son to hand over the business.
ASIA Insight>
In Mongolia, school can mean leaving home at six: UNICEF representative SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - Few children like going to school, but for a six-year-old girl in rural Mongolia the reason can be more straightforward as going to one costs her time with her family for much of the year. For rural herders, sending children to school often means sending them away. More than 36,000 children in Mongolia live apart from their families for up to nine months of the school year, according to UNICEF. "The price they are paying for good education is a very high pric by Lee Jung-woo
Indonesia's rout revives Asia's crisis ghosts, but risks diverge
SEOUL, October 19 (AJP) — Indonesia’s stock market rout has reawakened the spectre of Asia’s 1997 financial crisis, but the diverging fortunes of neighboring markets suggest the turmoil has yet to become contagious. Indonesia is confronting a crisis of market credibility. South Korea is reckoning with the price of its AI boom. Both face the pull of higher U.S. bond yields, but economists caution against mistaking simultaneous market stress for a repeat of the financial contagi
AJP Focus>
Lee Soo-man puts a new label on a familiar K-pop playbook SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - Lee Soo-man, the septuagenarian pioneer of K-pop, did not retire from the idol business when he sold his stake in SM Entertainment in 2023. Three years after leaving the company he founded, he is back with two new groups, a familiar production formula and a fresh pitch for taking it global. The market has given him an early hearing. A2O LITE, a nine-member girl group introduced alongside the 15-member boy group A2O SOUL, topped Melon’s Top 100 chart with its de
Korea's own children, still waiting to belong
SEOUL, October 19 (AJP) - High school senior Kim Min-jeong is like many other university applicants in South Korea — hopeful about what comes next and anxious about getting there. For relief, she turns to her favorite K-pop group, ATEEZ. Her face lights up as she talks about the band and shows off its dance moves to their latest hit "BAD." Her family history is something she has been taught to share less freely. “My mother always tells me, ‘Never tell other people
