North Korea, DPRK, or Joseon? Seoul's naming dilemma SEOUL, July 03 (AJP) - Defined by its neighbor "hostile state," South Korea is rethinking how to address North Korea. The Unification Ministry said Friday that growing calls to refer to North Korea by its official name are part of a broader process of building public consensus, as a linguistic debate over inter-Korean relations moves from academic and religious circles into the center of national politics. At issue is whether South Korea should continue using the term "North Kor July 3, 2026

Tiny Seoul studio bets on brutal dungeon survival sim SEOUL, July 02 (AJP) - Battle games are familiar. Fantasy worlds are crowded. Escape-themed entertainment has faded from fashion. But blend dungeon crawling, settlement management and punishing survival together, and perhaps there is still room for something new. That is the wager of a six-person studio in Seoul. In a compact office tucked inside Seoul's Gasan Digital Complex, six desks sit shoulder to shoulder, three on each side of a narrow room. At one, a developer patiently places pix July 2, 2026

Not everyone in Korea stock-crazy. Some chase Pokémon cards instead SEOUL, June 30 (AJP) - For many South Koreans in their 20s and 30s, priced out of homeownership and wary of the stock market, a rare Pokémon card has become both a comfort and a hard-won luxury. Dozens, then hundreds, of collectors lined up outside a shop in Yongsan, downtown Seoul, long before its 10:30 a.m. opening. Ten minutes after registration began, 63 groups were already queued on the kiosk tablet, tapping their feet impatiently for the doors to open. Security guards kept the l June 30, 2026

The trillion-dollar chip project revives Korea's old Jeolla-Yeongnam rivalry SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Pork-barrel projects are always political. The debate becomes even hotter when the prize is the world's most coveted commodity — AI memory chips — and nearly $1 trillion in investment. A government-backed plan to steer hundreds of trillions of won in new semiconductor investment toward South Korea's southwestern Honam region has erupted into one of the first major political battles of President Lee Jae Myung's administration. The conservative oppo June 29, 2026

Hyperscalers run the infrastructure the AI world stands on a SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - The history of civilization has always been, in part, a history of whoever controlled the core infrastructure. The 19th century was completed by the railway and the steam engine; the 20th was driven by oil and electricity. If the internet and the smartphone reshaped daily life in the early 21st century, then today — with generative AI in full swing — the world stands once again in the middle of a vast civilizational shift. At its center sits a new kind of June 29, 2026

How leaders of two Koreas mark Korean War anniversary SEOUL, June 26 (AJP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un marked the 76th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War by overseeing "tests of major weapons," state media reported on Friday. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the tests were conducted the previous day to evaluate the accuracy and combat readiness of a 240-mm multiple rocket launcher system, a tactical ballistic missile and a 155-mm self-propelled howitzer, all of which have enough range to hit targets June 26, 2026

World Cup 26: Korea misses automatic berth, awaits third-place verdict SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - South Korea failed to secure automatic qualification for the Round of 32 after losing 1-0 to South Africa, leaving their World Cup fate to the ranking of third-placed teams. South Korea were beaten at Monterrey Stadium in Mexico on Thursday morning in Korea in their final Group A match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In the other Group A match played at the same time, Mexico defeated Czechia 3-0. Mexico finished top of the group with three wins from three matches, while Sou June 25, 2026

World Cup 26: More than a sporting event when identities are at stake  SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - From Norway's Viking Row to South Korea's AI anthem, the 2026 World Cup shows how nations perform identity — and how those performances now travel far beyond the stadium. Seconds after Norway secured a 3-2 win over Senegal at MetLife Stadium, Erling Haaland walked toward the stands. As Martin Ødegaard pounded a drum, the striker began pulling both arms back in unison — rowing, in the style of a Viking longship. The crowd followed until the entir June 24, 2026

Canada's sub project tests viability of 12-vessel fleet SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Canada's multibillion-dollar plan to acquire 12 advanced submarines is increasingly becoming a test of workforce capacity as much as military procurement, with the country's marine industry projected to face a shortage of more than 8,000 skilled workers by the end of the decade. The emerging labor crunch is raising questions over how Ottawa will staff two specialized submarine maintenance hubs planned for the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, just as it prepares to cho June 24, 2026

Cart before the horse: Seoul is moving SOX SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - The cart has come before the horse. Tuesday's 12 percent crash in Korean chip bellwethers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix reverberated across the Pacific, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) down more than 7 percent and pushing the Nasdaq more than 2 percent lower. It was a reversal of the traditional order in which Wall Street dictated sentiment in Seoul. This time, Seoul exported volatility to New York. The shift reflects how deeply South Korea h June 24, 2026