Google is teaming up with Samsung Electronics and eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to launch Gemini-powered smart glasses in South Korea and the U.S., expanding its AI services into wearable devices. The new lineup, unveiled on Friday, is available for preorder ahead of its release on Dec. 10. The Gentle Monster collection will be sold in both markets, while Warby Parker's version will be available only in the United States. The glasses feature a c

Five habitual prank callers have been reported to police for making a combined 8,710 nonemergency calls to the 119 emergency hotline over the past year, disrupting emergency response operations, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Friday. One caller alone made 2,661 phone calls and sent 2,886 text messages between September 2025 and August 2026. The city government said it repeatedly warned the callers to stop but filed criminal complaints after they continued

South Korea's rice production fell 0.9 percent to 3.51 million tons this year, marking a fifth consecutive annual decline and the lowest level since 2020, according to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Friday. Output dropped 31,000 tons from 3.54 million tons a year earlier, as the rice-planted area shrank 1.1 percent to 670,470 hectares amid government efforts to curb overproduction and encourage farmers to switch to alternative crops. The

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -Big Tech gains lifted the value of South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) U.S. stock holdings by 2.4 percent to $158.74 billion in the third quarter, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Thursday. The so-called Magnificent Seven added $5.5 billion in value, more than the portfolio’s overall $3.66 billion increase, as losses in other semiconductor holdings offset some of the gains. A stronger won neverthele

President Lee Jae Myung's job approval rating fell 2 percentage points to 39 percent, while disapproval remained unchanged at 50 percent, a Gallup Korea poll showed on Friday. Real estate policy was the most frequently cited reason for disapproval, accounting for 17 percent, followed by the economy and livelihoods at 15 percent and ethical issues and his avoidance of his own trial at 12 percent. Among supporters, the economy and livelihoods were the leading reas

Musinsa has partnered with Thailand's Central Group to make inroads into the country, expanding its Southeast Asian presence to five markets, the unisex fashion platform said on Friday. The move follows an exclusive distribution agreement signed last week with Central Marketing Group, an affiliate of the Thai retail giant, to open stores in major Thai shopping districts and develop products and marketing tailored to local consumers. Musinsa plans to leverage its

South Korea’s Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday it will respond with zero tolerance to cheating in the national college entrance exam on November 19, after this year’s top scorer in the state tax accountant exam missed just one of 160 questions, fueling suspicions that smart glasses were used. The office said it will quickly draw up government-wide measures to root out cheating using smart devices in state-run exams.

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -The New York Times has identified seven potential successors to Jensen Huang at Nvidia, highlighting the challenge of replacing a founder whose technical expertise and industry relationships helped shape the AI boom. Internal possibilities include Colette Kress, Nvidia’s chief financial officer and interim CEO, and Ian Buck, a vice president credited with developing the CUDA software foundation behind its AI computing business. Kress brings operational knowledg

Genesis BBQ has opened its first store in South Africa, marking its entry into the African market through a local franchise partner, the chicken franchise giant said on Friday. The outlet, located at Cresta Crossing Mall in Johannesburg's Randburg area, offers fried chicken alongside Korean dishes such as tteokbokki, bulgogi and bibimbap, as well as chicken burgers, pasta and salads. The opening, which follows an agreement signed with local Korean food distribut

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -U.S. President Donald Trump urged Jensen Huang to fight to keep his job in a phone call Tuesday, two days before the Nvidia chief resigned amid an unfolding espionage scandal, The New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the conversation. The call underscored Trump’s continued support for Huang, who had become a prominent ally and influential adviser on artificial intelligence. According to the newspaper, Trump maintained that backing even after U.S.

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -North Korea is unlikely to send another large contingent of troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine this winter, a former senior Ukrainian official said, despite President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent warnings of a planned deployment, according to U.S.-based outlet NK News. Andrii Kovalenko, former head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, wrote on social media this week that the thre

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -Former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have been asked to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next month as lawmakers investigate national security concerns surrounding Huang’s reported relationship with a suspected Chinese spy and exports of advanced AI chips to China. Committee Chairman Tim Scott requested separate appearances by Huang on Dec. 3 and Lutnick on Dec. 10. Huang resigned Thursday, ending his leadership o

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -The yen weakened to a two-month low as stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation fueled expectations of faster Federal Reserve rate increases and a wider interest-rate gap with Japan. It traded at 159.91 per dollar at noon in Tokyo on Friday, 0.21 yen weaker than the previous day, after slipping past 160 in New York for the first time since early September. The Bank of Japan is widely expected to raise rates at its Dec. 17–18 meeting, but caution over the economic

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -A global Microsoft outage disrupted Outlook, Teams and Copilot for tens of thousands of users across 74 countries from Thursday, with connectivity problems persisting for more than eight hours, the BBC reported. Reports of Outlook problems peaked at nearly 140,000, according to Downdetector. Microsoft said unexpectedly unavailable servers had strained its infrastructure across multiple regions and that a cyberattack was unlikely. Recovery remained uneven as the compa

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -Some of President Donald Trump’s top advisers are blaming Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for the political fallout from outgoing Nvidia chief Jensen Huang’s reported affair with a suspected Chinese intelligence source, The Wall Street Journal reported. Lutnick has drawn criticism over his efforts to stall chip export restrictions and his longstanding ties to Huang, according to people familiar with the discussions. The dispute extends the scandal into

SEOUL, November 13 (AJP) -U.S. envoys met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday before heading to Ireland for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Washington sought to revive stalled peace efforts, The Associated Press reported Friday. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, had brokered the first direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in nine months in Abu Dhabi earlier this week. Witkoff and Zelenskyy

South Korea has appointed Ki Hye-kyung as director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) for a three-year term starting Friday, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. Ki, a curator and Korean modern art historian, previously spent about 13 years at the MMCA before serving as director of the Busan Museum of Art and a senior official at Seoul's Buk Seoul Museum of Art. She has also taught at Hongik University since 2023. Culture M

Paris Baguette has opened its first drive-thru store in the U.S., the bakery chain said on Friday. The outlet, located in Moore, Oklahoma, is part of its efforts to expand the franchise business in car-dependent suburban markets. Customers can order coffee, sandwiches, cakes, pastries and bread without leaving their cars, and pick up any in-store item at the drive-thru window after placing an order online or through its app. Paris Baguette operates about 320 stores

South Korean stocks led gains across a mixed Asian market Friday morning, as bargain hunting lifted semiconductor shares in Seoul and Tokyo despite Nvidia's leadership turmoil, while Chinese markets slipped. The KOSDAQ climbed 3.56 percent to 721.32, outpacing the KOSPI's 2.09 percent rise to 5,454.30 as of 10:36 a.m. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.73 percent to 61,872.00, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.74 percent to 23,830.00 and mainland Chi

South Korea's junior KOSDAQ outpaced the main KOSPI Friday morning despite uncertainty surrounding Nvidia's leadership shake-up, climbing 3.59 percent to 721.53. The KOSPI gained 2.08 percent to 5,453.93 as of 10:19 a.m. Bellwethers SK hynix rose 2.79 percent to 1,289,000 won ($962) and Samsung Electronics gained 2.40 percent to 213,000 won. On the junior bourse, semiconductor equipment stocks Jusung Engineering and Wonik Holdings rose 5.47 percent and 7.24