AJU PRESS ASIA FIRST NEWS AGENCY

Journalist

Kim Hee-su
Kim Hee-su김희수
ReporterMinistry of Foreign Affairs, Seoul City Hall & Defense, Foreign Affairs
Kim Hee-su is a bilingual reporter at AJU Press, covering defense and foreign affairs. Before joining AJP in 2025, she worked at The Korea Times, where she wrote interview stories, including a profile of North Korean defector Kim Gum-hyok, and produced digital content. She also previously worked as a researcher for KBS News 9’s International News Department, supporting correspondents in 10 countries around the world. She graduated from the University of Toronto in Canada with a double major in Book and Media Studies and East Asian Studies. "I'm driven by storytelling."
Latest by Kim Hee-su
  • South Koreans detained in US immigration raid set to return home after delay
    South Koreans detained in US immigration raid set to return home after delay SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - Hundreds of South Koreans detained in a sweeping immigration raid in Georgia in the U.S. are expected to return home at last after their scheduled departure was unexpectedly delayed earlier this week. According to the Foreign Ministry, 316 South Koreans, along with about a dozen foreign workers, are set to board a chartered flight in Atlanta and arrive at Incheon International Airport on Friday. The ministry added that one South Korean chose to remain in the U.S. They were workers who were swept up in the largest single-site workplace raid in U.S. history by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Folkston, Georgia about a week ago. They had been working at a construction site for an electric vehicle battery plant being jointly built by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution. The raid last Thursday targeted about 475 workers, including around 300 South Koreans, mostly LG Energy staff, who were allegedly working at the site without valid work permits after entering the U.S. under either the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) or short-term B1 business visas. Having been detained at an ICE facility, they were scheduled to return earlier this week after agreeing to leave the U.S. voluntarily rather than face deportation. But their departure was suddenly delayed due to what the ministry explained were "U.S. circumstances." Some speculate that the U.S. required them to wear handcuffs on their way to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to board the flight, a common U.S. practice for those facing deportation, which would provoke anger here. The ministry also gave some baffling explanations that U.S. President Donald Trump urged these mostly "high-skilled workers" not to leave so they could train local staff. After talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who is in Washington to resolve the matter, asked the U.S. to allow the South Korean detainees to return home swiftly without "physical restraints" and arranged for their departure to be rescheduled. He added that he requested that the U.S. ensure they would not face any disadvantages with future reentry into the U.S. The two also discussed increasing visa quotas for South Korean workers or creating new visa types, along with other measures to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents, which Cho warned could cause "serious delays and disruptions" in South Korean businesses' U.S. projects involving massive investment. 2025-09-11 16:12:17
  • South Korea bets on return of Chinese visitors to fuel tourism boom
    South Korea bets on return of Chinese visitors to fuel tourism boom SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - South Korea is riding a banner year in tourism, fueled by the surging global popularity of K-pop, and expects further momentum from a visa-waiver program for Chinese travelers set to begin at the end of this month. As part of efforts to boost the tourism industry, the program will take effect on Sept 29, allowing short-term visa-free entry for Chinese travelers until June next year, following China's similar move in November last year, coinciding with China's "Golden Week" holiday, which begins early next month and falls just ahead of Chuseok, the country's biggest holiday of the year here. The last such waiver was offered during the 2018 Winter Olympics in the country's alpine city of Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province. Chinese group tourists, better known as "youke" in Chinese and known for their splurge at duty-free shops, once formed the backbone of South Korea's tourism industry. Before an unofficial boycott onouth Korean products over the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery from the U.S. in 2017, Chinese visitors who accounted for nearly half of all foreign arrivals here, sharply dropped. With relations easing, Seoul and Beijing have been steadily rolling back visa restrictions. The resumption of Chinese group travel is expected to boost South Korea's tourism rebound, already buoyed by the global popularity of K-pop and South Korean drams and shows including Netflix's latest hit anime "KPop Demon Hunters." The country's tourism industry is growing increasingly dependent on Chinese visitors, who account for about half of all foreign arrivals here. The number of Chinese visitors, which plummeted due to travel restrictions with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, has been gradually recovering, reaching about 4.6 million last year after peaking at 8.07 million in 2016. According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), about 602,000 Chinse came in July, well ahead of those from Japan (300,000), Taiwan (199,000), the U.S. (132,000), and Hong Kong (64,000). The state-run tourism organization expects the program, along with other promotional measures such as K-pop-themed events, cultural performances, and shopping discounts, to attract even more travelers from China. Tourist numbers have also been surging. Foreign arrivals surpassed 10 million by July, up 23.1 percent from a year earlier and nearly 120 percent higher than in July 2019, before the pandemic. Seoul welcomed a record 1.36 million foreign visitors in July alone, pushing the total tally for the first seven months of this year to an all-time high of 8.28 million. The visa waiver for Chinese group tourists could help South Korea reach its target of 18.5 million foreign arrivals in the second half of the year, although it remains to be seen. "It is still difficult to predict whether the number of Chinese tourists will rise during China's upcoming holiday," Seo Ho-seok, a KTO official, told AJP on Wednesday. "But we hope to attract more Chinese travelers and return to pre-pandemic levels with the visa-waiver program and other government-led efforts to boost tourism." Duty-free retailers are among the most hopeful after years of weak traffic and spending by Chinese tourists. Hyundai, Lotte, Shilla, and Shinsegae all posted losses in 2024, hit by the downturn in Chinese group travel and changes in foreign travelers' shopping patterns. Industry officials expect an increase in Chinese group arrivals from the third quarter to boost the industry. Local travel agencies, hotels, and other lodging businesses are already gearing up for an influx of Chinese visitors. They are busy preparing Chinese-language flyers, arranging interpreters and other staff to assist Chinese customers, and trying to meet their changing tastes and shopping patterns. Chinese visitors often flocked to Seoul's shopping district of Myeong-dong, spending most of their money there, but with an increase in repeat visitors, they are now exploring other popular areas and trendy neighborhoods such as Seongsu-dong, known for its fashion boutiques and eateries. 2025-09-10 18:00:02
  • South Korea maintains top spot in higher education among OECD countries
    South Korea maintains top spot in higher education among OECD countries SEOUL, September 9 (AJP) - More than half of South Koreans hold college or higher degrees, according to a report released by the Ministry of Education on Tuesday. About 56.2 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 in the country had completed higher education, maintaining the top spot for 17 consecutive years among the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), whose average stood at 41.9 percent. The gap becomes even more pronounced among those aged 25 to 34, with the rate reaching 70.6 percent, the highest among OECD members and 11 other countries surveyed. Canada came in second at 68.86 percent, followed by Ireland at 66.19 percent. Although South Korea has been among the top-ranked countries in terms of the proportion of university graduates since 2008, many of them struggle to find jobs, suggesting that higher education increasingly fails to pay off and that the skills of advanced-degree holders are being wasted. Meanwhile, educational spending per student amounted to $19,805 as of 2022, up 24.9 percent from the previous year, slightly above the OECD average of $15,023. The figure includes all expenditures on education by the government and private sectors, excluding what parents spend on private crammers for their children. 2025-09-09 17:53:00
  • [K-Pop] Soundtrack from K-pop anime remains atop Billboard Hot 100
    [[K-Pop]] Soundtrack from K-pop anime remains atop Billboard Hot 100 SEOUL, September 9 (AJP) - One of the main theme songs from Netflix's hit South Korean anime has remained atop the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week. According to Billboard on Monday, "Golden" from the soundtrack of "KPop Demon Hunters" took the No. 1 spot on the chart for the second consecutive week and its fourth week overall, since its release in late June. Alongside "Golden," other songs from the soundtrack such as "How It's Done," "Soda Pop," and "Your Idol" also made the top 10 chart. The American music chart hailed that the 100-minute animation "has also become the first soundtrack to generate four simultaneous Hot 100 top 10s over the chart's 67-year history." The catchy song, by South Korean-American singer-songwriter Ejae along with American singers Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, went viral thanks to the popularity of the anime, which tells the story of fictional K-pop superstars with "secret powers to protect their fans from supernatural threats." With the latest feat, "Golden" surpassed K-pop juggernaut BTS' megahit "Dynamite," which spent three weeks at the top in 2020. It remains to be seen whether the song will break the record set by the septet's another hit song "Butter," which held the top spot for 10 nonconsecutive weeks at the time of its release in 2021. 2025-09-09 15:45:40