news highlight

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  K-zombies are fast, vivid — and in "Colony," finally thinking SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - Summer heat in Korea brings horror season, and this year's bar-raiser is "Colony," Yeon Sang-ho's latest zombie thriller, which drew more than 2.1 million admissions in its first six days. The film claimed 39.9 percent of advance reservations across 1,858 screens nationwide, prompting inevitable comparisons to Yeon's 2016 breakout "Train to Busan," which sold 11.5 million tickets and pushed Korean zombie cinema onto the global stage. Yeon, May 27, 2026
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  AJP Watch: Liquidation frequency flags deep retail loss in Korea's stock craze SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - KOSPI is on fire, surging more than 93 percent so far this year. But the bonanza has hardly been evenly shared. On Wednesday, decliners overwhelmed gainers 826 to 75 even as the benchmark index closed near a record 8,330, underscoring how narrowly concentrated the world's best-performing rally has become. The imbalance also helps explain why South Korean retail investors were forced to dump borrowed stocks on one out of every six trading days over the past six months, May 27, 2026
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  BTS opens comeback awards year with three-trophy sweep at 2026 AMAs SEOUL, May 26 (AJP) - BTS launched their comeback awards run in style on Monday, claiming three trophies at the 2026 American Music Awards in Las Vegas — including a second Artist of the Year win — in their first major awards showing since returning from a nearly four-year hiatus. The haul arrived less than a year after all seven members completed South Korea's mandatory military service, an obligation that effectively suspended full-group activity for roughly two years. Monday& May 26, 2026
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  AJP Watch: Union divide and distrust deepen ahead of Samsung Elec vote SEOUL, May 26 (AJP) - The AI windfall powering record earnings and soaring stock prices is increasingly turning into a curse in disguise for Samsung Electronics, as wage negotiations meant to share the rewards of the semiconductor boom instead expose widening internal disparities and threaten the company’s long-cultivated “One Samsung” ethos. Just days before a crucial ratification vote on the tentative wage agreement, divisions between labor groups escalated into open legal c May 26, 2026
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  BOK to hold rate for yearlong this week and hike growth target SEOUL, May 26 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea is widely expected to hold the benchmark rate at 2.50 percent, unchanged for a year, while sharply raising its 2027 growth outlook to around 2.5 percent from 2 percent to lay the groundwork for eventual tightening against mounting inflationary pressures from elevated energy prices, rising wages and overheated asset markets as the AI boom cushions the economy from the prolonged Gulf crisis. An AJP poll on economists found unanimous expectations for a rate May 26, 2026
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  AJP Focus: Asia's energy shock far from over despite Hormuz reopening talks SEOUL, May 26 (AJP) - South Korea and other Asian economies heavily dependent on Gulf energy supplies are bracing for prolonged disruptions even as diplomatic momentum builds toward a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with analysts warning that supply chains, refining operations and shipping flows could take months to normalize. Iran is expected to allow commercial shipping through the strait about 30 days after a peace agreement with Washington is finalized, Nikkei reported Monday, May 26, 2026
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  AJP Watch: Shinsegae vows to make amends "regardless of cost" over Starbucks Korea blunder SEOUL, May 26 (AJP) - Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin on Tuesday delivered a second public apology within a week over Starbucks Korea’s controversial “Tank Day” promotion, bowing repeatedly in a televised appearance and pledging to restore public trust through action rather than words after what the group described as a “serious” failure in historical awareness. Speaking at the Josun Palace hotel in Seoul, Chung bowed deeply three times during a five-minute May 26, 2026