Aju Press - Aasia News Hub

Journalist

Joonha Yoo유준하

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."

Latest by Joonha Yoo

Korean films reach Ivory Coast cinemas in rare west African expansion SEOUL, July 20 (AJP) - Two South Korean films have entered commercial release in Ivory Coast, marking the first time Korean historical and horror films have received regular theatrical releases in the West African country, the South Korean Embassy in Abidjan said Monday. The release represents a rare expansion of Korean cinema into sub-Saharan Africa, where commercial screenings of Korean films have remained limited despite the global rise of Korean popular culture. While Korean films have become increasingly familiar to audiences in North America, Europe and parts of Asia, theatrical distribution across much of Africa has been relatively uncommon. Leading the release is The King's Warden, director Jang Hang-jun's historical drama that attracted 16.9 million moviegoers in South Korea. The film opened July 16 at Pathé Cap Sud cinema in Abidjan as the opening title of the 2026 Korean Film Festival. Director Kim Soo-jin's horror film Noise also premiered at the festival, and both films have since moved into commercial theatrical release through a local distributor, giving Ivorian audiences access beyond the festival screenings. The festival was organized to mark the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Ivory Coast and drew about 500 guests, including Ivorian Culture Minister Françoise Remarck, government officials, diplomats and business representatives. Remarck noted that cooperation between the two countries had grown to span economic, educational, technological and cultural fields since diplomatic ties were established, calling film "an extraordinary vehicle" for bringing people closer together. South Korean Ambassador Chang Seo-ik said culture was "the most beautiful bridge" between nations and expressed hope that the festival would deepen mutual understanding and cooperation. Visitors also took part in Korean cultural activities before the screenings, including trying on hanbok, Korea's traditional attire, and having their names written in Hangul, the Korean alphabet. The festival opened a weeklong Korean cultural program in Abidjan that also included a Korean consumer goods expo and the Ivory Coast preliminary round of the K-pop World Festival. 2026-07-20 11:39:16
Former K-pop idols face tough job market once spotlight fades SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - K-pop's global rise has drawn a steady stream of young people hoping to become idols. But rising to stardom is only part of the story. When groups disband or contracts expire, many former performers must enter a job market where years of training and stage experience do not fit neatly into a conventional resume. They also face a difficult employment climate. As of February 2026, South Korea's employment rate for people aged 15 to 29 stood at 43.3 percent, down for a 22nd consecutive month, while the youth unemployment rate rose to 7.7 percent. Former idols may bring communication skills, discipline, teamwork and foreign-language ability, but employers do not necessarily view an entertainment career as a qualification in itself. Life after the stage Lee Sang-hyun, known by his stage name Q.L, debuted in 2014 with boy group BTL under Kiroy Company, later renamed Shinhu Entertainment. When the agency folded two years later, he returned to university, built a conventional resume and entered the corporate job market. After working in the sales and marketing division of hy, formerly Korea Yakult, Lee joined a major Korean conglomerate identified in local reports only as "Company S," where he now works on AI-related projects. He has since spoken publicly about the prejudice he faced after leaving the industry, saying employers often overlooked the skills he had developed as an idol. Song Chae-a, formerly Harin of the girl group Rusty, faced a different reality. After the group's activities stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said her agency pressured members into unpaid livestreams and treated them as if they owed the company money. She terminated her contract in 2021, and the group officially disbanded two years later. Since leaving the industry, Song has worked a series of temporary jobs before finding steadier work as a shopping-mall livestream host, though she still takes part-time work on days without broadcasts. The presentation skills she developed as an idol helped her transition into livestream commerce, but not without years of unstable employment. Not everyone finds even that. Jeon Chi-bin, formerly of boy group MASC, left the group after being assaulted by a bandmate, and said failed stock and cryptocurrency investments left him with about 180 million won in debt after his idol career ended. He now works as a livestreamer while repaying the loans. What employers actually see For recruiters, however, an idol background is neither an automatic advantage nor a disadvantage. An HR professional in her early 30s at a major Korean corporation, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss hiring publicly, said former entertainers receive no special consideration simply because they once worked in the industry. She said many former idols possess strengths such as presentation skills, teamwork and, in some cases, foreign-language ability, but those qualities are evaluated the same way as any other applicant's experience. "The most important factor is whether the person fits the organization," she said. "An idol career alone doesn't make someone more competitive, but neither does it work against them." Ultimately, an idol career is simply one part of a candidate's resume. Whether it becomes an advantage depends on how well applicants explain the skills they developed on stage and how those experiences fit the job they are seeking. 2026-07-16 17:47:42
K-pop impresario Park Jin-young to release new single later this month SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - K-pop singer and producer Park Jin-young will release a new single next week for the first time in about six years, his namesake agency JYP Entertainment said on Thursday. "WET," slated for release on July 23, marks Park's first seasonal release since "When We Disco," his 2020 duet with singer Sunmi, a former member of K-pop girl group Wonder Girls. The reggae-inspired track was also chosen as the main theme song for this year's "Waterbomb," one of South Korea's biggest summer music festivals. With the annual festival slated to be held in several cities featuring live performances by K-pop, hip-hop and EDM artists along with large-scale water fights, Park is scheduled to perform at the ones in Seoul and Busan. It will mark another outing for him after he drew widespread attention for his appearance last year with his vinyl outfit and dance moves. To promote his upcoming single, Park launched a dance challenge featuring part of the song on social media. The challenge has since drawn participation from several K-pop acts including 82MAJOR, Billlie, KickFlip, KISS OF LIFE, MADEIN and WJSN's Dayoung. He also shared a video of himself dancing with RESCENE member Minami. Park debuted in 1994 and founded JYP Entertainment, which has grown into one of South Korea's leading talent mills. Alongside his solo career, he has produced some of the biggest K-pop acts such as ITZY, NMIXX, Stray Kids and TWICE. 2026-07-16 17:01:06
BOK's rate hike sends KOSPI down 6% SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - South Korean stocks led declines across Asia on Thursday after the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its benchmark interest rate, while renewed selling in semiconductor shares deepened losses across the region. The benchmark KOSPI fell 6.37 percent or 463.81 points to close at 6,820.60, giving up the previous day's gains and slipping back below the 7,000 mark. The BOK raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent, its first rate increase in three and a half years. The decision came as semiconductor shares remained under heavy selling pressure. Foreign investors sold 1.38 trillion won (US$932 million) worth of KOSPI shares, while institutions unloaded 2.37 trillion won. Retail investors purchased 3.66 trillion won. A sell-side sidecar was triggered at around 9:10 a.m. after program selling accelerated. Semiconductor heavyweights led the decline. SK hynix tumbled 11.5 percent to 1,842,000 won, while Samsung Electronics dropped 8.8 percent to 255,000 won. Hanmi Semiconductor fell 10.0 percent as selling spread across the AI semiconductor supply chain. Hansol Technics and Daeduck Electronics also finished sharply lower. But not all sectors moved lower. Hanwha Ocean rose 5.7 percent after work officially began on the 390-megawatt Shinan Ui offshore wind farm, where the company will supply a wind turbine installation vessel and an offshore substation. Losses spread across the broader market, with electronics, manufacturing and machinery among the weakest sectors. Selloffs also pushed the benchmark back below the 7,000 level a day after it had reclaimed the mark. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ dropped 4.53 percent to close at 791.84 after trading between 786.59 and 816.47. Foreign investors sold 303.6 billion won and institutions unloaded 156.2 billion won, while retail investors bought 446.7 billion won. A sell-side sidecar was triggered at 10:20 a.m. as selling pressure intensified. Among KOSDAQ movers, Onconic Therapeutics surged 20.0 percent after announcing that research on its endometrial cancer drug candidate was published in an international medical journal. HLB gained 1.7 percent, bucking the broader market. Kolon TissueGene plunged 20.3 percent, while Jusung Engineering fell 10.3 percent. Wonik IPS lost 1.3 percent and PSK declined 4.5 percent as weakness spread across semiconductor equipment makers. The Korean won strengthened against the U.S. dollar, closing at 1,480.4 won. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.8 percent, while Shanghai's Composite Index lost 2.0 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.2 percent. Brent crude traded around $84.7 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate hovered near $79.5 a barrel as investors monitored developments in the Middle East. 2026-07-16 16:40:38
Foreign tourists boost visits to Seoul's historic royal palaces SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - A surge in foreign visitors helped offset a slight decline in domestic visitors to South Korea's royal heritage sites in the first half of the year, pushing overall admissions up 6.6 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the Korea Heritage Service on Thursday. A combined 7.41 million people visited the capital's royal palaces including Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Gyeongbokgung, as well as the Jongmyo Shrine between January and June. The increase was mainly driven by foreign visitors. Their visits jumped 29.1 percent from a year earlier to 2.27 million, while domestic visits edged down about 1 percent to 5.14 million. Foreign visitors made up 30.6 percent of total visitors, up from 25.3 percent last year. Gyeongbokgung, Seoul's most visited historic site, attracted 3.65 million visitors, up 10.7 percent from a year earlier. Foreign visitors increased to 1.63 million, more than offsetting a 4.5 percent decline in domestic visitors to just over 2 million. Deoksugung attracted 1.75 million visitors, followed by Changdeokgung with 1.05 million and Changgyeonggung with about 611,000. Jongmyo, the royal ancestral shrine of the Joseon Dynasty, welcomed nearly 350,000 visitors. Visitor numbers have continued to recover since the coronavirus pandemic, when the four palaces and Jongmyo Shrine attracted fewer than 7 million visitors combined for the entire year of 2021. Last year, total admissions surpassed 17.8 million for the first time, buoyed by a recovery in inbound tourism and growing global interest in Korean culture. The Korea Heritage Service said Changdeokgung, Jongmyo and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty will remain open free of charge through July 19 to mark the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which opens in Busan on July 19. Jongmyo, which normally operates only through guided tours, will also allow self-guided visits through August. 2026-07-16 16:10:01
Korean Folk Village wins Red Dot award for improving visitor access to heritage SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - Korean Folk Village, an open-air museum and cultural theme park on the outskirts of Seoul, has won this year's Red Dot Design Award for its mobile platform, it said on Thursday. Its platform was recognized for its digital services, which make exploring the heritage site more convenient and engaging for visitors. It received a Winner award in the Brands & Communication Design category for integrating various services into a single app including QR-code admission, GPS-based navigation, an online docent guide, recommended walking routes, 360-degree virtual reality content, and an online gift shop. The award was given in recognition of the village's efforts to expand access to traditional Korean cultural content through a user-centered digital platform that links visitors’ online and on-site experiences. Organized by Germany's Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, the Red Dot Design Award is regarded as one of the world's leading international design competitions, alongside Germany's iF Design Award and the U.S.-based International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Winners are selected each year by an international jury across product design, brand and communication design, and design concept categories. The winning project will be featured on the Red Dot website and in the Red Dot Design Yearbook. The award ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 6 at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, the village recreates everyday life during the country's ancient Joseon Dynasty through traditional homes, artisan workshops and live cultural performances. It has long served as a filming location for period dramas and has expanded in recent years with seasonal festivals and interactive programs aimed at domestic and international visitors. The village said it plans to further expand its digital services to make its traditional cultural offerings more accessible and interactive for visitors. 2026-07-16 13:57:49
Red Velvet ready for full-group return with sold-out concerts SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - K-pop girl group Red Velvet's upcoming concerts have all sold out, SM Entertainment said on Thursday. The now-five-member group, which originally debuted as a quartet, will hold three concerts from July 31 to Aug. 2 in Seoul. The group initially planned to hold shows only on Aug. 1 and 2, but both sold out during presales opened for their fans, prompting SM Entertainment to add another show on July 31 which also quickly sold out. The concerts will be their first performance together as a complete five-member lineup in about two years. After the concerts, Red Velvet will continue their momentum with their new EP, "Velvet Summer," which is slated for release on Aug. 3 and contains five songs including the title track "Surfin' Boy." The members are also scheduled to return with a new season of their reality series "Level Up Project," which began in 2017 and follows the members on one-day getaways featuring various team missions. The three-episode series is slated for release on Aug. 14, airing weekly on Fridays at 8 p.m. on Mnet and Wavve. It will also be available on Red Velvet's YouTube channel one week after each broadcast. 2026-07-16 11:34:13
KOSPI climbs back above 7,000 as foreign investors snap up semiconductor shares SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - South Korean stocks led gains across Asia on Wednesday as softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data and ASML's stronger earnings, higher guidance and chipmaking capacity expansion plans fueled broad-based buying, with foreign investors piling into semiconductor shares. The benchmark KOSPI surged 6.24 percent or 427.58 points to close at 7,284.41, rebounding above 7,000 just two days after falling below the level earlier this week. Foreign investors bought a net 2.32 trillion won (US$1.56 billion) worth of shares, while institutions purchased a net 182.3 billion won. Retail investors sold a net 2.47 trillion won. A buy-side sidecar was triggered minutes after the opening bell as program buying accelerated. Buying gathered pace after U.S. consumer inflation came in below market expectations, easing concerns over additional Federal Reserve tightening. Semiconductor shares also gained after ASML reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings, raised its 2026 revenue forecast and announced plans to expand production capacity for EUV lithography systems. Semiconductor heavyweights led the advance. SK hynix climbed 8.8 percent to 2,082,000 won after its U.S.-listed ADR surged more than 27 percent overnight, while Samsung Electronics gained 6.3 percent to 279,500 won. Hanmi Semiconductor soared 29.9 percent as buying spread across the AI semiconductor supply chain. Hansol Technics advanced 23.7 percent after reporting a 96 percent subscription rate for its rights offering, while Daeduck Electronics gained 22.0 percent. The rally extended across the broader market, with 711 KOSPI-listed stocks advancing and 169 declining. Electronics equipment, communications equipment and semiconductor-related companies were among the day's strongest performers. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ climbed 5.80 percent to close at 829.43. Foreign investors bought a net 23.1 billion won and institutions purchased 108.5 billion won, while retail investors sold a net 140.7 billion won. HLB finished at the daily limit, while Jeju Semiconductor rose 20.9 percent. Peptron gained 18.2 percent, Amotech climbed 20.8 percent, and GigaLane jumped 29.9 percent after the National Information Society Agency said Korean-developed Open RAN equipment and AI-based network solutions would be deployed in demonstration projects in Japan. Semiconductor-related companies including TLB, Simtech Holdings and Wonik IPS also posted double-digit gains. The Korean won strengthened for a seventh consecutive session against the U.S. dollar, closing at 1,487.8 won. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.5 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.4 percent. China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5 percent after second-quarter gross domestic product grew 4.3 percent from a year earlier, below market expectations. Brent crude traded above $85 a barrel as renewed tensions involving Iran kept supply concerns in focus. 2026-07-15 16:44:49
Hyosung bucks trend with recruitment drive exclusively for humanities majors SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - Hyosung Group on Wednesday launched a hiring drive open exclusively to graduates who majored in the arts and humanities. Job seekers with bachelor's or master's degrees in fields like history, philosophy, aesthetics, and language and literature can apply until July 22. The move is the first of its kind since the multi-industry conglomerate's founding in 1966, as many of South Korea's major companies are scaling back entry-level recruitment, with new hires increasingly concentrated in fields such as IT and engineering. Hyosung said the latest drive is intended to bring in candidates with strong humanities backgrounds and language skills. Applicants willing to work at overseas sites will be preferred, and once hired, they will not be restricted to a single job category. The company cited its heavy reliance on overseas markets, which account for more than 80 percent of sales, as a key reason for seeking candidates with language skills and the ability to work across different markets. The initiative also reflects chairman Cho Hyun-joon's long-standing emphasis on the importance of humanities education. Cho, who studied in the U.S. and Japan and speaks English, Japanese and Italian, has said in previous interviews that technology alone is not enough to succeed, and that the ability to embrace change and seize the right opportunities comes from the humanities. Meanwhile, an analysis by hiring platform Catch in December last year found that full-time entry-level job openings at major companies fell 43 percent from a year earlier, from 3,741 to 2,145. The decline continued into this year, with job postings down 45 percent year-on-year as of March. The trend comes as companies increasingly turn to artificial intelligence (AI) to handle routine tasks once handled by junior employees like research, drafting reports, and basic coding, pushing hiring toward more experienced workers instead. 2026-07-15 16:27:51
Seoul, one of Asia's richest cities, leaves one village behind SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - The journey takes barely two minutes. Yangjae-daero, a six-lane boulevard cutting through southern Seoul, is little more than another busy artery carrying commuters toward Gangnam's gleaming office towers and luxury apartment complexes. Thousands cross it every day without giving the road a second thought. Yet few roads in South Korea separate two different economic realities more starkly. On one side stand apartment towers where homes now sell for more than 200 million won per 3.3 square meters, their values climbing alongside an artificial intelligence boom that has turned semiconductor companies into the country's most valuable businesses and is expected to propel South Korea's nominal economic growth to its strongest pace in three decades. Cross the road, however, and another Seoul emerges. The pavement gives way to dirt paths almost immediately. Wooden shacks patched together with corrugated iron, plywood and plastic sheeting line narrow alleyways barely wide enough for one person to pass. Coal briquettes remain stacked beside homes waiting for another winter. Rainwater has stained roofs covered by tarpaulins and old blankets. Hand-sized spiders spin webs across footpaths while mosquitoes rise from knee-high weeds left untended through the humid summer. This is Guryong Village. It is Seoul's last remaining shantytown, a settlement that was never intended to survive into the twenty-first century but now stands as perhaps the clearest physical reminder that South Korea's extraordinary economic ascent has never been experienced equally. The contrast is all the more striking because it exists not hundreds of kilometers from the capital but within Gangnam itself, the district synonymous with wealth, private education and some of Asia's most expensive real estate. From almost every point inside the village, residents can see the apartment towers that symbolize modern Seoul's prosperity. They are close enough to dominate the skyline, yet distant enough to feel like another country. What appears at first to be a simple story about poverty gradually becomes something more complicated after spending several days walking the settlement. The village does not resemble an abandoned place so much as one waiting to disappear. The first thing newcomers notice is not the housing but the suspicion. "Reporter?" The question comes before any greeting. When the answer is yes, conversations often end immediately. "We've seen many reporters," one elderly resident says with a dismissive wave. "Nothing changes." The skepticism is understandable. Residents have watched journalists arrive after fires, politicians before elections and redevelopment officials carrying new master plans. Television crews have repeatedly filmed what they describe as Seoul's last slum before leaving a few hours later. The village remains exactly where it was. Only after returning repeatedly do doors begin to open. Residents who initially refused interviews begin offering greetings. Someone points toward another alley worth seeing. Others quietly explain which homes were destroyed in the latest fire, which residents have moved into public housing and which houses now stand permanently empty. Walking through Guryong Village becomes less like touring a neighborhood than reading layers of Seoul's history. Boarded-up homes bear handwritten notices warning against trespassing after their occupants moved away or died. Children's bicycles lean against walls beneath weeds that have grown tall enough to swallow them. A rusted swing stands almost invisible under wild grass, its empty frame marking the place where children once gathered before their families gradually left in search of better schools, stable jobs and ordinary apartments elsewhere. Further uphill, the smell changes with every turn. Damp timber mixes with household refuse, stagnant summer water and the lingering scent of coal briquettes. Homes assembled from recycled wood, corrugated iron and plastic sheets appear to lean against one another for support. Electricity reaches most houses, but many still rely on improvised repairs accumulated over decades because redevelopment has remained perpetually just over the horizon. The January fire that swept through District 4 remains visible months later. More than 100 pyeong of ground is still covered by blue tarpaulins, while one half-burned house stands open to the weather. Inside, scorched books, blackened appliances and even an old cassette tape remain exactly where the flames left them. Residents speak about fires almost matter-of-factly. The houses are packed too closely together, the roads too narrow and the building materials too combustible for anyone to believe the next blaze can be entirely prevented. Each disaster briefly returns the village to the evening news. When public attention fades, the burned houses remain. 2026-07-15 13:54:46