Foreign arrivals to Korea near 2 million in June SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - Nearly nine in 10 foreign visitors to South Korea in June traveled for tourism, driving monthly arrivals to nearly 2 million while business, official and study-related travel remained comparatively subdued, the Korea Tourism Organization said Thursday. Korea received 1,993,128 foreign visitors during the month, up 23.1 percent from 1,619,220 a year earlier. The total reached 135 percent of its June 2019 level, before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international travel. July 23, 2026

Korean firm launches AI-ready museum archive platform SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) -Korean technology firm Indik said Thursday it has launched a platform that converts museum exhibition catalogs into curator-verified digital archives. The launch comes as museums prepare AI and digital transformation projects for 2027, with budget planning set to begin in September. Based in Jeonju, Indik has developed museum exhibitions, catalogs and cultural heritage content using public data. The platform, called ARTFACT, extracts artifact records, images and exhibiti July 23, 2026

KOSPI vaults past 7,000 as foreigners chase chips SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - Seoul's KOSPI retested 7,000 mark at Thursday's open on as foreign investors kept up buying position for the second session, mostly pivoted toward semiconductor and chip-component names. The index rose 3.4 percent 7,031.09, with foreigners the lone net buyers as individuals and institutions sold into the advance. Foreigners bought a net 680.5 billion won of shares in early trade, against individual selling of 640 billion won as retailers took the foreign return July 23, 2026

Korea's Q2 GDP slows, but annual growth stays above 3% on chip demand SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) -South Korea’s economy grew 0.6 percent in the second quarter, with quarter-on-quarter growth nearly halving from a surprising 1.8 percent jump in the first three months of the year, but maintaining a robust annual pace and staying on track to meet the government's 3.0 percent growth target on strong semiconductor demand, preliminary data showed Thursday. According to the Bank of Korea, gross domestic product expanded 3.7 percent from a year earlier, little change July 23, 2026

Foreign investors' return lifts KOSPI ahead of key big tech earnings SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) - Foreign investors extended their buying streak to a third consecutive session on Wednesday, helping lift the benchmark KOSPI higher despite caution among investors ahead of U.S. big tech earnings, which could determine whether the recent rally in artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks can be sustained. The KOSPI rose 0.74 percent to close at 6,797.70 points after surging as much as 6 percent during the session, but gave up most of its gains in late trading. The junio July 22, 2026

Lee to court AI giants before South America diplomacy on five-nation tour SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will begin a five-nation overseas trip on Friday with meetings in Silicon Valley alongside the world's leading artificial intelligence executives before heading to South America for summit diplomacy aimed at expanding South Korea's economic and strategic partnerships with the Global South. The trip, running from July 24 to Aug. 3, will take Lee to San Francisco, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Germany, the presidential office anno July 22, 2026

Incheon Airport to open departure gates early during summer peak SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) - South Korea will open some departure gates at Incheon International Airport earlier and increase immigration screening staff during the peak summer travel season, the Ministry of Justice said Wednesday. The special immigration measures will be in place from Thursday through Aug. 8, as the country enters one of the busiest periods for overseas travel. At Terminal 1, departure gate No. 2 will open at 5:30 a.m., while departure gate No. 4 will open at 6 a.m. At Terminal 2, July 22, 2026

S&P lifts Samsung outlook as AI memory boom gathers pace SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) — Global ratings agency S&P Global Ratings has made its call on Samsung Electronics, betting that an AI-driven memory supercycle will drive at least two more years of strong earnings growth. The agency revised its outlook on the chipmaker to positive from stable, saying favorable industry conditions, including strong demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and a prolonged supply shortage, are likely to support memory prices through 2027. "The positive outlook July 22, 2026

AI to cut 256,000 jobs annually in S. Korea: Report SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) - Artificial intelligence is expected to eliminate roughly 256,000 jobs a year in South Korea within a decade, a report released by the Korea Development Institute showed Wednesday. AI will concentrate pressure on professionals, office workers and sales staff rather than on the manual work that earlier waves of automation displaced. The scale is easier to read against what the institute expects the labor market to do otherwise. In its outlook published earlier this year, th July 22, 2026

Richest income rise while the rest 80% Korean families see fall Q1 SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) - South Korea’s top-income urban households gained purchasing power in the first quarter as public and private transfers increased, while real incomes fell across the remaining 80 percent amid weaker employment and business earnings. Real income, which adjusts household income for inflation, declined from a year earlier in each of the bottom four income quintiles, according to Ministry of Data and Statistics figures available through the Korean Statistical Information July 22, 2026