Waning West-centric voice in media means opportunities for Asian narratives

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - The waning influence of Western-centric narratives in global media presents a critical opening for Asian news platforms to assert their own voice, said Sohn Jie-ae, visiting professor at Ewha Womans University and former CNN Seoul bureau chief, at a forum in Seoul on Tuesday. Citing a recent New York Times column, Sohn said the United States' global narrative has grown "incoherent" and its brand "toxic," arguing that the shift mar

December 2, 2025

South Korea's daily inflation nears 3% in November on steep won weakening

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - South Korea’s inflationary pressure strengthened in November, with daily living costs hovering near 3 percent as a sharply weaker won pushed up fuel and import prices while discouraging overseas travel and spending, government data showed Tuesday. According to the consumer price index (CPI) released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, headline inflation rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier, matching October’s on-year gain. Fuel prices

December 2, 2025

KAI strengthens space portfolio with new satellite launch

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said Tuesday the country's new multipurpose satellite was successfully launched at 2:21 a.m. local time from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana aboard a VEGA-C rocket. KAI played a key role in the mission, jointly developing and assembling the satellite with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). Officials said the launch significantly strengthens South Korea’s precision earth-observation capa

December 2, 2025

South Korea holds world's first contest to counter AI hacking

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - South Korea has wrapped up the world’s first AI Hacking Defense Contest (ACDC), an event designed to test emerging cybersecurity threats and defense techniques in the era of artificial intelligence. The competition was hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and organized by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) in partnership with the Korea Information Security Industry Association (KISIA). The contest examined three major domains

December 2, 2025

Korea's only commercial small-satellite platform firm targets global growth with planned IPO

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - Nara Space Technology, South Korea’s only commercial provider of small-satellite platforms, is preparing to list on the KOSDAQ market as it seeks to scale its global business on the back of growing demand for earth-observation data. At a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday, CEO Park Jae-pil said the company aims to become a world-class small-satellite developer, leveraging the “space heritage” it has accumulated through successful laun

December 2, 2025

AJP addresses trust gap in bias-driven news landscape

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - The media's role of ensuring fairness and trust has become increasingly vital as audiences and readers grow either selective or evasive in consumption of news, and as societies shift from institution-based to network-driven structures, media veterans and scholars said in a forum hosted by Asian news agency AJP on Tuesday. The forum, held to commemorate AJP's first anniversary, featured Sohn Jie-ae, visiting professor at Ewha Womans University, Park

December 2, 2025

South Korea's Hanwha Ocean wins $255 million order for two large oil carriers

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - Hanwha Ocean said Tuesday it has secured an order for two very-large crude carriers (VLCCs), valued at 375.3 billion won ($255 million). The VLCCs will be built at the company’s Geoje shipyard. Company officials say improved conditions in the international oil market are fueling new orders. Rising production and exports by OPEC members have lifted VLCC freight rates, while the aging of the global tanker fleet is accelerating replacement demand

December 2, 2025

Korean auto parts firms follow global automakers to pull back from China

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - South Korean auto parts suppliers are taking steps to restructure their supply chains as global automakers scale back operations in China. The rapid shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) in the Chinese market and rising export costs triggered by tariffs are pushing companies to seek new manufacturing bases. According to industry officials, wheel-bearing producer A Corp. earlier this year relocated part of its Jiangsu, China, plant to Gyeongju in sout

December 2, 2025

CJ CheilJedang strikes retail partnership with Thailand's largest store operator

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - CJ CheilJedang has signed a supply agreement with Thailand’s largest retailer, CP Extra. CP Extra operates more than 2,700 outlets under its Makro wholesale chain and Lotus supermarkets, providing CJ CheilJedang with broad access to Thailand’s mainstream retail channels. The partnership will target increased sales of Bibigo fried noodles, kimchi, dumplings, K-street foods and Korean-style sauces. Makro will handle bulk and B2B-oriented p

December 2, 2025

Made-in-Korea brands epitomise the rise of Asia's integrated value chain

SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - A Samsung Galaxy phone can no longer be described as “made in Korea” in any literal sense. Battery materials mined in Indonesia, memory chips manufactured in Korea, components sourced from Japan and final assembly in Vietnam or India all feed into a device that takes weeks to complete and crosses multiple borders before reaching a consumer. The smartphone illustrates how Samsung Electronics has secured its position at the premium end of the g

December 1, 2025