Flitto CEO: AI is breaking down language barriers

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - "By 2025, the language barriers people experience today will be significantly reduced," says Lee Jung-soo, CEO of Flitto, predicting that an influx of new services will transform various aspects of society and economy. Speaking at the launch of the Asian news platform AJP in Seoul's FKI Tower on Tuesday, Lee outlined how artificial intelligence is dismantling language barriers that humanity has long struggled to overcome. Lee envisions a fu

December 4, 2024

BOK to increase short-term liquidity to stabilize financial market

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea (BOK) announced on Thursday that it would increase short-term liquidity in the market by purchasing non-regular repurchase agreements (RPs). This move, aimed at stabilizing financial markets, comes after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a state of martial law on Tuesday night. Typically, the BOK supplies liquidity through regular RP purchases. However, to address the extraordinary circumstances, the central bank expanded the range of

December 4, 2024

LG AI Research develops method to slash cancer diagnosis time

SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - LG AI Research has developed a new pathology foundation model called “EXAONEPath” on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure, capable of analyzing cancer tissue pathology images and reducing genetic testing time from two weeks to under one minute. The model, unveiled at AWS re:Invent 2024 in Las Vegas, achieved 86.1 percent average accuracy across six benchmarks for image patch classification. Built on AWS's SageMaker inference chi

December 4, 2024

South Korean won plunges after martial law declaration, recovers slightly

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - The South Korean won tumbled to its weakest level since October 2022 after a brief martial law declaration rattled financial markets, with the currency hitting 1,442.0 won per dollar in early Asian trading on Wednesday. The won had partially recovered to 1,416.1 won per dollar by 10:10 a.m., after the martial law was lifted early in the morning, though market participants said volatility would likely persist amid heightened political uncertainty. Korean

December 4, 2024

Exports continue rising streak with record semiconductor shipments

SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - South Korea's exports rose by 1.4 percent in November, extending a growth streak to 14 consecutive months. Exports totaled US$56.35 billion, up 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said on Sunday. Led by robust semiconductor shipments, the country's exports maintained the longest streak of growth since October last year, despite setbacks in the automotive sector caused by reduced production and weather-rela

December 1, 2024

Tariff cuts not main cause for Korea trade deficit: US Congress

SEOUL, November 29 (AJP) - A recent report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) suggests that the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) has not been the primary driver of the growing U.S. trade deficit with South Korea. The report, titled "U.S.-South Korea FTA and Bilateral Trade Relations," states that while the U.S. trade deficit with Korea has fluctuated since the FTA's implementation in 2012, it has not been directly correlated with tariff reducti

November 29, 2024

Merger of Korean Air, Asiana Airlines expected next month

SEOUL, November 29 (AJP) - The long-awaited merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines is poised to finalize next month, following the European Union's final approval. The European Commission announced Thursday that all conditions for the merger have been met, concluding the review process. With this, 13 of the 14 countries involved in the review have given their green light. The United States is the sole remaining country to provide a decision. Unlike other competition

November 29, 2024

South Korea gears up for AI digital textbooks

SEOUL, November 28 (AJP) - South Korea’s Ministry of Education is set to introduce AI digital textbooks in March 2025 for grades 3 to 4 in elementary schools and first year students in middle and high schools, focusing on English, mathematics and information technology. The AI education technology sector has shown significant growth, with startups like FastCampus CIC expanding their AI-based lectures from 36 to approximately 150 courses over the past year. Riiid, another ed

November 28, 2024

Lotte Chemical shares jump as group offers landmark tower as collateral

SEOUL, November 28 (AJP) - Shares in South Korean petrochemical maker Lotte Chemical rose 4.37 percent to 69,200 won (US$49.6) on Thursday, after its parent Lotte Group pledged its landmark skyscraper as collateral amid growing concerns over the company's financial stability. The move comes as Lotte Chemical, which held about 4 trillion won in liquidity as of October, failed to meet some of its bond covenant requirements last week, triggering fears of possible default. Korea&

November 28, 2024

Bank of Korea unexpectedly cuts interest rate to spur economic recovery

SEOUL, November 28 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea (BOK) took a step unexpectedly to stimulate economic growth by slashing its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a row on Thursday. This move, aimed at countering slowing exports and uncertainties arising from the new Trump administration, underscores the central bank's commitment to reviving economic momentum. In a surprising decision, the BOK's monetary policy committee reduced the key rate by 25 basis points to

November 28, 2024