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 July 16, 2026

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 July 16, 2026

A cartel ingredient behind Korea's sticky prices SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - Even before the war in the Middle East reignited fears over higher food and fuel costs, South Koreans had grown accustomed to paying more at the checkout. Wars, supply-chain disruptions and inflation became familiar explanations every time prices climbed. Now, a wave of antitrust investigations suggests another force was also at work much closer to home. Regulators say some of the country's biggest food and fuel suppliers had been coordinating prices instead of co July 15, 2026

Homeplus goes dark, exposing the cost of Korea's biggest retail buyout SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Homeplus, once South Korea's second-largest hypermarket chain and a symbol of the country's modern retail boom, switched off the lights across its remaining stores on Monday after running out of cash, leaving roughly 12,000 employees, hundreds of suppliers and thousands of shopping mall tenants caught in what is becoming Korea's biggest retail collapse in decades. The nationwide shutdown marks the dramatic end of a company that once challenged E-mart for indus July 14, 2026

Gov't tightens household loans while mulling pension-backed borrowing options SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korea is tightening conventional household lending to contain debt growth while considering measures that could make it easier to borrow and invest against retirement savings, exposing a potential contradiction in its financial policy. One channel of household leverage is being restricted just as another could be opened. Household lending at the country's five largest banks - KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup - excluding government-backed loans r July 13, 2026

South Korea joins the world's new era of extreme summer SEOUL, July 12 (AJP) — South Korea has officially entered what meteorologists increasingly describe as the era of extreme summer, with authorities activating the country's highest-ever heat alert for the first time as scorching temperatures spread well beyond their traditional hotspots. The Korea Meteorological Administration on Sunday issued its inaugural Heat Wave Emergency Warning for Pohang and Gyeongsan after apparent temperatures were forecast to exceed 38 degrees Celsius follo July 12, 2026

Korea's rate hike to 2.75% in July seen unanimous in AJP poll SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea is expected to resume monetary tightening next week with its first interest-rate increase in three and a half years, according to an AJP survey of economists, with an overwhelming majority also expecting another rate hike before the end of the year. All 10 economists surveyed by AJP forecast the Monetary Policy Board will raise the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent from 2.50 percent at its July 16 meeting, marking the central ban July 10, 2026

SK hynix ADR: From rescued chipmaker to Wall Street's hottest foreign listing SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - SK hynix has gone from one of South Korea's biggest corporate rescues to Wall Street's biggest foreign share sale, raising a record $26.5 billion on Nasdaq just 14 years after SK Group acquired the struggling memory maker for roughly $3 billion. The blockbuster listing underscores how the artificial intelligence boom has transformed the once-troubled chipmaker into one of the world's most valuable semiconductor companies. The company has priced its landmark U. July 10, 2026

The mystery behind the near-flat Korea-U.S. sovereign yield gap SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - Foreign appetite for South Korean sovereign bonds has stayed firm this year even as investors dumped Korean equities, but that has not stopped bond prices from falling. The spread between Korean and U.S. 10-year government debt has narrowed to less than 30 basis points, even though the policy-rate gap between the Bank of Korea and the Federal Reserve remains wider than 100 basis points. As of midday Thursday, Korea’s 10-year government bond yielded 4.282 percent, w July 9, 2026

C/A data explains the mystery behind the stubbornly weak won SEOUL, July 08 (AJP) - The foreign-exchange formula used to be simple for South Korea. The current-account surplus set the tone for the Korean won against the U.S. dollar in the export-reliant economy. Strong exports bolstered the won, while a weaker won made Korean goods more competitive overseas. For foreign-exchange watchers, trade data mattered most. Not anymore. The Korean won has hovered around 1,500 per U.S. dollar since late last year. The dollar ended June at 1,549.4 won, compared w July 8, 2026