Journalist
Joonha Yoo유준하
joonhayoo94@ajupress.com
ReporterCOEX Sejong Center for the Performing Arts & Music, Culture, Entertainment, Automotive
Joonha Yoo is a bilingual journalist at AJU Press (AJP), covering music, culture, entertainment and Korea’s automotive industry.
Raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, he often writes from the scene, bringing firsthand detail to stories ranging
from BTS comeback concerts to unique cultural events that catch the world's eye. "I write from the scene, not from the sidelines."
Raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, he often writes from the scene, bringing firsthand detail to stories ranging
from BTS comeback concerts to unique cultural events that catch the world's eye. "I write from the scene, not from the sidelines."
Latest by Joonha Yoo
-
South Korea moves to make culture a larger part of foreign aid SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - South Korea plans to make culture a larger part of its foreign aid policy, using its experience in the arts and creative industries to support developing countries, the foreign and culture ministries said Tuesday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism signed an agreement at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul to jointly develop official development assistance projects focused on culture. Under the agreement, the ministries will identify and design new cultural aid projects, share information and coordinate programs involving development cooperation, public diplomacy and international cultural exchange, including the establishment and operation of Korean cultural centers overseas. The agreement forms part of the government's broader "K-Initiative," a policy framework that seeks to apply South Korea's experience in culture, industry, technology and democracy to international challenges while advancing its national interests. The plan comes as the government seeks to broaden an aid portfolio traditionally centered on infrastructure, health, education and public administration. Culture and artificial intelligence were identified as new areas of focus in South Korea's latest five-year development cooperation strategy. Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young said South Korea needed to expand its international role through cultural aid, noting that his ministry's ODA budget accounts for only 0.18 percent of total government aid spending. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said cultural aid should help developing countries improve access to arts and culture and build their own creative industries. He added that deeper cultural exchange could also strengthen South Korea's international standing. The ministries did not announce specific partner countries, projects or additional funding under the agreement. 2026-06-24 10:56:09 -
i-dle teams with Latin pop producers for new EP 'We Made' SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - K-pop girl group i-dle will release its ninth EP, "We Made," on July 6, Cube Entertainment said Wednesday. The group unveiled the six-track album's full track list through its official social media accounts. "Gimme Dat Love," the lead single, is a Latin pop-inspired track produced by Daramola and Samantha Cámara. Daramola has previously worked with Anitta, Becky G and Jason Derulo. Members Yuqi and Soyeon also took part in the album's production. Yuqi wrote "Love Is Pain," while Soyeon contributed lyrics to "Gimme Dat Love" and "Morning" under her producer alias, icebluerabbit. The EP will also include "Mono," featuring British artist skaiwater, which was released in January, and the pre-release single "Crow," unveiled June 15. A separate version of "Mono" will be available exclusively on the physical CD. The album's concept materials, released earlier, featured thermal imaging and X-ray visuals centered on love, instinct and physical sensation. "We Made" will be available on streaming platforms at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) on July 6. 2026-06-24 10:51:15 -
K-pop boy band Stray Kids to release 'RUN IT' ahead of world tour SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) -Eight-member K-pop boy group Stray Kids will release a new digital single, "RUN IT," JYP Entertainment said Wednesday. The song was written and produced by 3RACHA, the group's in-house production unit comprising Bang Chan, Changbin and Han. Built around brass, marching drums and world-beat rhythms, the track captures the group's drive and confidence as they head into a new tour cycle. Stray Kids earned their eighth No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the weekly U.S. album chart, with "DO IT" in late 2025, the most by any K-pop act. The single shares its name with the group's upcoming world tour, which opens with five concerts at KSPO Dome in Seoul on July 25, 26 and 29 and Aug. 1 and 2. The tour will continue at the National Stadium in Tokyo, followed by stops in Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok and Singapore. It follows the group's "dominATE" tour, which concluded on October of 2025 after 56 performances across 35 locations. "RUN IT" will also appear on Stray Kids' upcoming EP, "THIS & THAT," due Aug. 7. The release will be the group's first album of 2026 and its first in about nine months since "DO IT." Further details, including the track list, will be announced later. 2026-06-24 10:27:16 -
'Teach You a Lesson' tops Netflix for 3rd week; 'Husbands in Action' No. 2 SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Korean drama series "Teach You a Lesson" remained No. 1 on Netflix's non-English TV chart for a third consecutive week, while action comedy "Husbands in Action" debuted at No. 2 among non-English films, according to data released by Netflix on Wednesday. Teach You a Lesson drew 11.8 million views and 126.2 million viewing hours during the latest tracking period. Netflix calculates views by dividing total viewing hours by a title's running time. The series ranked No. 1 in 19 countries, including South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia, and made the Top 10 in 85 countries. Released June 5, the series went straight to No. 1 in its first week and has held the position since. Starring Kim Moo-yul, Lee Sung-min, Jin Ki-joo and Pyo Ji-hoon, Teach You a Lesson centers on a fictional government agency created to intervene in schools facing violence against teachers and disruptions to students' right to learn. The adaptation faced scrutiny before its release because the webtoon on which it is based had previously drawn criticism over its depictions of gender and race. The series' popularity has also revived interest in "Juvenile Justice," a 2022 Netflix drama directed by Hong Jong-chan and starring Kim. The earlier series returned to the non-English TV chart at No. 10, four years after its release. Meanwhile, "Husbands in Action," starring Jin Sun-kyu and Gong Myung, entered the non-English film chart at No. 2 in its first week. The action comedy follows a man and his wife's ex-husband as they reluctantly join forces to rescue her after she is kidnapped by a criminal organization. 2026-06-24 10:26:38 -
Netflix to stream entire Korea's Mise-en-scène festival films SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Netflix will stream all 44 competition films from the 22nd Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival in South Korea for two weeks beginning Wednesday. The films will be available through July 7, following the festival's six-day theatrical run at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Seoul, which ended Tuesday. Selected award winners will remain on the platform longer, with availability varying by title. The festival received 1,667 submissions this year before selecting 44 films across five genre-based sections covering social drama, romance and melodrama, comedy, horror and fantasy, and action and thriller. Every screening sold out after ticket sales opened, according to organizers. The streaming deal marks an expansion of Netflix's involvement with the festival. In 2025, the company offered 13 shorts comprising award-winning titles and films by members of the festival's executive committee. This year, Netflix served as a main sponsor and extended streaming to the full competition lineup. Launched in 2002, the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival organizes its competition by genre and has served as an early platform for emerging South Korean directors. Festival co-directors Yoon Ga-eun and Lee Sang-geun said the Netflix release would allow this year's films to reach audiences long after the festival's theatrical run had ended. 2026-06-24 08:48:58 -
Korea's leverage in humanoid as it becomes auto battle: CLSA SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - The race to build humanoid robots is no longer a contest over engineering prowess but a battle over who can manufacture them at scale and deploy them reliably. That gives automotive powerhouses such as South Korea a strategic advantage, according to Hong Kong-based Citic CLSA. The transition is pulling automakers and auto suppliers — including Hyundai Motor Group and Hyundai Mobis — into what was once viewed primarily as a rivalry among robotics startups and artificial intelligence companies. "Robotics momentum has largely been priced into Hyundai Motor shares, but not into the rest of the group," said Brian Lee, a research analyst covering humanoid robotics and autos at CLSA, during the brokerage's Northeast Asia Forum in Seoul on Tuesday. He noted that Kia owns a 17 percent direct stake in Boston Dynamics, while Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis each hold 11 percent stakes. All three companies could benefit through ownership, component supply or logistics, yet none has received a similar market re-rating. Global humanoid production totaled roughly 50,000 units last year. If current development roadmaps are met, annual output could rise to 400,000 units by 2028 and exceed 1 million by 2030, according to CLSA. The first mass market for humanoids is unlikely to be households. Homes remain messy, unpredictable environments where mistakes carry significant safety and legal risks. Factories offer a more controlled setting. Workspaces are confined, tasks are repetitive and safety zones can be clearly defined. Boston Dynamics is already testing Atlas inside Hyundai Motor Group facilities. Tesla is deploying Optimus in its factories. Figure AI has worked with BMW at its Spartanburg plant, while Apptronik is testing Apollo with Mercedes-Benz. These are no longer stage demonstrations. They are early industrial pilots tied directly to production lines, and the advantage increasingly belongs to companies that already operate giant factories. Tesla possesses large-scale manufacturing expertise and global supply chains. Hyundai Motor Group, which acquired Boston Dynamics for about $1.1 billion in 2021, can leverage one of the world's largest automotive production networks. Both companies also have built-in demand. Their own factories provide an immediate market that smaller robotics startups cannot easily replicate. The economics are becoming difficult to ignore. The annual cost of employing a U.S. factory worker is approaching $100,000. CLSA estimates the annual operating cost of an industrial humanoid could fall to around $30,000 by 2030 and to $10,000 by 2035, potentially reducing labor costs by 60 to 70 percent. For manufacturers where labor accounts for roughly 10 percent of revenue, that could translate into nearly five percentage points of additional operating margin. Robots also do not work eight-hour shifts. Figure AI recently demonstrated a humanoid performing logistics tasks for 10 consecutive days at close to human productivity levels. On a 24-hour basis, that output could exceed what a single worker can deliver. CLSA projects the global humanoid market will expand to $69 billion by 2030, $320 billion by 2035 and more than $1 trillion by 2045. The next battleground is data. Every robot deployed on a factory floor generates operational data that can train the next generation of machines, creating a feedback loop that increasingly rewards scale. CLSA estimates that whichever company reaches annual production of 50,000 to 100,000 units first could lower manufacturing costs by 30 to 40 percent ahead of rivals while accumulating training data at a pace competitors would struggle to match. In effect, humanoids could follow the same playbook that propelled electric vehicles: scale lowers costs, lower costs accelerate adoption, and adoption generates more data. The dynamic could create an entirely new market for auto parts manufacturers. Actuators — the systems that power a robot's joints — account for an estimated 80 to 85 percent of a humanoid's manufacturing cost, according to CLSA. Each robot requires 30 to 50 units. Hyundai Mobis has secured an agreement to supply all actuator requirements for Boston Dynamics, CLSA said. Other suppliers, including HL Mando, Schaeffler and Bosch, are also preparing for the market. The opportunity is amplified by geopolitics. Many non-Chinese robot developers currently depend on Chinese suppliers for actuators. Potential U.S. import restrictions could create an opening for Korean and European manufacturers. That could turn the humanoid race into yet another industrial competition centered on supply chain resilience. The outlook remains far from certain. Current forecasts assume robot prices fall rapidly from $100,000-$150,000 today to $40,000-$50,000 by 2030. That may prove optimistic if production bottlenecks persist or key components remain expensive. Safety presents another challenge. Humanoids operating alongside humans must function reliably almost all the time. Breakdowns and maintenance costs could slow adoption even when the economics appear favorable. Labor regulations may also determine the pace of deployment. The United States and Europe may move faster because of acute worker shortages. The United States alone faced a shortage of roughly 400,000 manufacturing workers last year. South Korea and Japan, despite rapidly aging populations, could adopt humanoids more cautiously because of stricter labor protections. China, meanwhile, already produces more than two-thirds of global humanoid output and retains supply-chain advantages that will not disappear quickly. Major robot developers are expected to finalize supplier selections by the end of 2026 ahead of mass-production ramps targeted for 2028. The race remains young, but its trajectory is becoming clearer. The winners may not be the companies that build the smartest robots. They may be the automakers and suppliers that can manufacture them at scale, place them in real workplaces and improve them faster than everyone else. 2026-06-23 17:29:02 -
Netflix takes up nearly 60% of Korean mobile view time SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - Netflix accounted for 57.7 percent of the time South Korean smartphone users spent on major streaming apps in May, far exceeding its 37.8 percent share of users, according to data released Tuesday by app and payment data provider Wiseapp Retail. The gap suggests Netflix users spent considerably more time on the platform than users of rival services. The combined monthly active user count for major over-the-top video streaming apps reached 22.09 million in May, up 4 percent from 21.24 million a year earlier. The figure grew at an average annual rate of 5.7 percent over the past three years. Netflix led the services surveyed with a 37.8 percent user share. Coupang Play ranked second with 24.4 percent, followed by Tving with 17.8 percent, Disney+ with 6.7 percent and Wavve with 6.1 percent. The rankings shifted sharply when measured by time spent on each app. Tving placed second with 24.8 percent of total usage time, while Coupang Play fell to third with 6.5 percent despite having the second-largest user share. Wavve accounted for 5.4 percent of usage time, followed by Disney+ at 3.3 percent. Smaller services divided the remainder of the user market. Animation-focused platform Laftel held a 2.9 percent share, followed by U+ Mobile TV at 2.1 percent, Watcha at 1.3 percent and sports streaming service SPOTV NOW at 0.9 percent. The data was released as Tving, which ranked second in usage time, faces government scrutiny over a data breach involving an estimated 19.53 million users, more than 6.5 million above the government's initial estimate. The breach is the fourth-largest personal data leak in South Korea's history, behind Coupang, Cyworld and SK Telecom. The compromised information included login IDs, names, birth dates, passwords and bank account details used for refunds. Authorities are investigating whether the breach also covered former users, dormant accounts and accounts created through partner services. Tving has apologized and said it is cooperating with a joint public-private investigation into the cause, scale and impact of the breach. Wiseapp Retail said its estimates were based on a sample survey of South Korean Android and iOS smartphone users. 2026-06-23 11:36:23 -
Korea to finance upgrading of local sports venues for K-pop concerts SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - South Korea will spend 12 billion won ($7.8 million) this year to upgrade six regional sports and multipurpose facilities for K-pop and other live music concerts, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday. The program is aimed at addressing the country's shortage of dedicated concert venues by upgrading existing public facilities rather than waiting for new arenas to be built. Many large music events in South Korea are held at stadiums and gymnasiums designed primarily for sports. Such venues often lack the acoustics, seating, backstage facilities and other infrastructure needed for live music performances. The ministry will select one facility from each of six regions: the Seoul metropolitan, Gyeongsang, Jeolla, Chungcheong, Gangwon and Jeju regions. Each selected facility will be eligible for up to 2 billion won in central government funding. Applicants must operate a sports or multipurpose venue with at least 1,000 seats. Municipal governments, public institutions, local public enterprises and universities may apply for the program from Tuesday through July 24. Funding may be used to install retractable seating, soundproofing and acoustic materials, stage lighting, dressing rooms and safety equipment. Sports venues may also receive support for restoring turf or other facilities after concerts. Selected operators must match the government contribution, covering at least 50 percent of the total project cost. They will also be required to complete the upgrades within the project period and host at least one ticketed opening concert. The ministry said the program could help bring more concerts outside the Seoul metropolitan area and attract overseas K-pop fans to regional cities, generating tourism and local spending. "This project is an important first step toward building performance infrastructure that matches K-pop's global stature," said Choi Sung-hee, the ministry's director general for content and media industries. She said using existing facilities would allow the government to respond more quickly to demand while providing audiences with safer and more comfortable concert environments. Application details are available through the Korea Creative Content Agency. 2026-06-23 11:30:33 -
BTS' 'ARIRANG' lands on 4 midyear best-album lists ahead of European tour SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - BTS' fifth studio album, "ARIRANG," has been named one of the best albums of 2026 so far by four major music and culture publications in the United States and Britain, the group's agency BigHit Music said Tuesday. U.S. pop culture outlet Complex included the album on its midyear list on June 11, followed by British daily The Telegraph on June 13, Rolling Stone on June 15 and British music magazine NME on June 16. Released on March 20, "ARIRANG" marked BTS' return to full-group music following the members' completion of their mandatory military service. Its title refers to Korea's best-known traditional folk song, which is closely associated with the country's cultural identity. Rolling Stone described BTS' comeback as one of the biggest developments in global music this year and praised the group for expressing its Korean identity through the album. NME called BTS "the world's biggest boy band," while The Telegraph described the seven-member act as "the face of K-pop." The recognition comes as BTS moves into the European leg of its "ARIRANG" world tour. The group performed two shows in the southeastern port city of Busan on June 12 and 13. BTS will open the European leg with shows in Madrid on Friday and Saturday. The group is scheduled to perform 10 concerts across five European cities. 2026-06-23 11:29:03 -
Sorry isn't enough: When corporate apologies fail to save a brand SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - "It is a management error, but the entire staff has to pay the price. It's like the whole family being forced to attend an alcohol awareness class after the father gets caught drinking and driving," one Starbucks Korea employee grumbled. More than 2,000 Starbucks Korea stores closed early at 3 p.m. Monday for a crash course in democracy history to make amends for last month's "Tank Day" blunder. The self-imposed remedial measure suspended operations for around six hours across the country's largest coffee chain. Its parent, Shinsegae Group, dismissed the head of Starbucks Korea, ordered a companywide review of marketing procedures and arranged history and social sensitivity training for Chairman Chung Yong-jin and executives from more than 10 affiliates. The response was swift, visible and expensive. Whether it will work is a different question — and for some of the people most affected by it, the answer is far from clear. The wrong people in the room Outside a Starbucks in Gwanghwamun on Monday, Kim In-su, 52, was waiting for a friend when he learned the store would be closing early. He knew about the training. He was not convinced it was reaching the people responsible. "The Tank Day promotion was made by the marketing people up top," he said. "Why are the baristas — the ones who make the coffee — the ones being called in while stores are shut down? It's strange." Kim also questioned whether recorded lectures could meaningfully improve historical awareness. Still, he was not dismissive of the issue itself. "Gwangju is a painful wound for this country," he said. "People need to understand it properly, and something like this must never happen again." Kim Su-jin, 21, a university student from Yongin, said she had been a regular Starbucks customer before the controversy. She still visits, but less often. "It's a historical wound for our country, and they used it casually for marketing," she said. "Then people higher up simply waved it through without thinking carefully. That's what put me off." The practical calculation has changed as well. "There are so many good coffee places in Korea now," she said. "As a student, a 2,000-won coffee does the same job as a 4,500-won Starbucks. I've been thinking about that more lately." She drew a parallel to a separate controversy involving fashion platform Musinsa, which faced backlash after a campaign was perceived as trivializing the memory of democracy activist Park Jong-cheol. "One more moment of thought would have prevented it," she said. "That's what's frustrating. It's the people at the top whose historical awareness needs to change." Their skepticism points to a broader question that extends well beyond Starbucks Korea: when a company causes this kind of harm, what does a credible response actually look like? The evidence from past cases is not especially reassuring. The D&G case: When saying sorry made things worse The most frequently cited reference point is Dolce & Gabbana's collapse in China in 2018. That November, the Italian fashion house released a promotional video showing a Chinese model awkwardly attempting to eat Italian food with chopsticks while a patronizing voiceover narrated the scene. The backlash was immediate. Tmall, JD.com and other major e-commerce platforms pulled D&G products within hours. More than a dozen celebrities terminated endorsement contracts. A Shanghai runway show, months in the making, was canceled on the very day it was scheduled to open. Co-founders Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana issued a personal video apology within days. It did not help. YouGov data showed the brand's health score plunging from positive 3.3 to negative 11.4 even after the apology was released. D&G's Asia-Pacific revenue contribution fell from 25 percent in fiscal 2018 to 22 percent the following year. Its number of boutiques in greater China shrank from 58 in 2018 to 47 by 2021. The problem was not the apology itself, but the context surrounding it. Private Instagram messages in which Stefano Gabbana appeared to insult China had already circulated widely. The sequence — private contempt followed by public remorse — made the apology appear transactional rather than genuine. The D&G episode is an extreme example, but the underlying pattern is remarkably consistent with crisis management research. Studies have repeatedly found that a full apology — one that acknowledges wrongdoing, expresses regret and outlines corrective actions — is more effective in rebuilding trust than denial or vague expressions of regret. Researchers have identified four recurring elements that determine whether an apology resonates: regret, reason, reparation and reaffirmation. Consumers are not merely evaluating what a company says. They are judging whether the company explains what went wrong, repairs the damage and demonstrates that the same mistake is unlikely to happen again. Measured against those criteria, Starbucks Korea's response contains several favorable elements. The promotion was withdrawn quickly. The head of the Korean operator was dismissed. Companywide training was announced publicly and carried out with visible disruption to normal operations. But the consumers interviewed Monday raised the same questions highlighted by crisis management research: who is being held accountable, and does the remedy reach those most directly harmed? May 18 is not a generic issue of cultural sensitivity in South Korea. It marks the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju uprising, during which military forces deployed tanks and armored vehicles against pro-democracy demonstrators, leaving hundreds dead or injured. The use of tank imagery on that date was not an abstract mistake. Victims' families and civic groups in Gwangju have called for a direct response. The mechanics of rebuilding trust are therefore different. Sincerity is measured not by what a company says, but by what it does next — and how directly it addresses the people who were harmed. The company has closed its stores for six hours, but whether that's enough for Gwangju citizens, it remains to be seen. 2026-06-22 17:58:11