South Korean won plunges amid woes of political instability

SEOUL, December 06 (AJP) - The South Korean won tumbled on Friday, as deepening political turmoil sent shockwaves through the currency market. The won’s value against the U.S. dollar fell sharply, briefly threatening to breach the 1,430 won level. The currency’s decline accelerated in the morning, fueled by concerns over the escalating political crisis. Calls for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, following a declaration of a state of emergency, have heightene

December 6, 2024

South Korea to ease regulations on bus terminal facilities to boost revenue

SEOUL, December 5 (AJP) - South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced plans, Thursday, to allow logistics warehouses, large retail stores, and indoor sports facilities to operate within urban planning facilities including bus terminals, in a bid to address financial challenges faced by regional transportation hubs. The regulatory reform will expand the number of urban planning facilities eligible for commercial development from 23 to 40 types, excludin

December 5, 2024

South Korea will focus R&D spending on chips, robots, AI

SEOUL, December 05 (AJP) - The South Korean government announced plans to significantly increase research and development investment in semiconductors, robotics, and artificial intelligence during the third Strategic Planning Investment Council meeting held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce in Seoul. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will expand its "ultra-gap projects" to include new technologies such as battery safety for electric vehicle fire prevention, next-

December 5, 2024

South Korea's economic growth slows in 3rd quarter amid weak exports

SEOUL, December 5 (AJP) - South Korea's economy grew by 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2024, marking the second consecutive quarter of sub 1 percent growth as exports declined and construction investment remained weak, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said on Thursday. The tepid growth was primarily driven by a 0.2 percent contraction in exports, the first decline in seven quarters, led by decreased shipments of automobiles and chemical products. While private consumption rose

December 5, 2024

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