Journalist
Lee Hugh
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Report: GM Korea-Built Chevrolet Trax Crossovers Ship From Changwon to North America Masan Gapo New Port on April 29 was packed with finished vehicles lined up for export, with a large car carrier preparing to load. The cars had been built at a domestic plant and were awaiting shipment overseas. Most of the vehicles carried the Chevrolet badge. They were largely the Chevrolet Trax Crossover, a small SUV produced at GM Korea’s Changwon plant. Since its 2023 launch, the model has sold about 1 million units cumulatively and ranked No. 1 in South Korea’s passenger-car exports for three consecutive years from 2023 through last year, filling the port’s staging area. Standing near a Hyundai Glovis vessel, Kim Hyeon-uk, deputy head of the logistics team at GM Korea, said he takes pride in “vehicles made in Changwon meeting global customers.” He described the loading as “the final step” in a long value chain linking the Changwon plant, Masan Gapo New Port and overseas markets. At the port, the ship GLOVIS CAPTAIN was preparing to depart with 350 Trax Crossovers bound for the port of Benicia near San Francisco. The vessel can carry up to 4,700 passenger vehicles, and the day’s loading took about two hours. The cars are expected to reach the west coast of North America after a 15-day voyage. Son Yong-jun, North America team leader for Hyundai Glovis’ car-carrier business, said GLOVIS CAPTAIN was deployed on short notice after delays to a scheduled vessel. He added that a significant portion of passenger vehicles loaded are exclusively GM vehicles, contributing to South Korea’s auto exports. Cho Heung-je, head of operations at Masan Gapo New Port, said the port expects a record 300,000 vehicles shipped this year, with GM Korea accounting for about 55% of total cargo volume. Nearby, GM Korea’s Changwon plant was running at a brisk pace, with workers and robots producing finished vehicles. The facility includes stamping, body, assembly and paint shops. A banner at the assembly shop entrance read, “We will achieve our business plan,” underscoring the company’s focus on exports. Inside, a height-adjustment system moved vehicle bodies up and down to fit workers’ average height. In the body shop, welding is fully automated, with large arm-like robots moving continuously as sparks flew. The body shop has 627 industrial robots. Bok Im-seong, who oversees the assembly shop at GM Korea, said robots identify and follow four types of tires — including alloy and steel wheels — and install them on vehicles. He said GM is reviewing the approach for possible benchmarking globally after seeing GM Korea’s application. 2026-04-30 06:03:18 -
Battery Industry Veteran Lee Mi-yeon Pushes Hands-On Training for Technicians Lee Mi-yeon, chair of the Korea Battery Technicians Association, has spent more than 30 years in battery manufacturing and is known as a leader shaped by the factory floor. Since 2010, she has led Yujin Technology, building a reputation as a veteran with hands-on experience and a deep understanding of the industry’s structure. Born in 1976, Lee graduated from Chungcheong University with a degree in mechanical design. She later studied in the Department of Convergence Mechanical Engineering at Jungwon University and completed a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Kyung Hee University, followed by a master’s program at its graduate school of business. In 2010, she founded Yujin Technology in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. She has designed and operated precision presses, molds and battery process equipment, while also accumulating on-the-job experience as CEO. Yujin Technology specializes in batteries, producing parts and equipment for the notching process — the first step in battery assembly — as well as lead tabs used as materials in assembly. Its notching molds are supplied exclusively to some affiliates of South Korea’s three major battery makers, the company said, and it holds a 60% share of the domestic market. As association chair, Lee has focused on training technical workers and strengthening the industrial base for the battery and electric vehicle sectors. The association trains field-oriented specialists through education in battery performance evaluation, diagnostics, repair and fire safety. It has produced more than 1,200 battery professionals and built a cooperation network with about 50 organizations. It has also worked beyond training to develop a battery terminology dictionary and standards related to used batteries and fires, the article said. Lee, a female engineer and CEO with broad experience across the battery production floor, said securing “field-ready” talent is urgent for the industry’s continued growth. While battery technology and equipment are advancing quickly, she said, skilled workers who can understand and operate them remain in short supply. “Industrial competitiveness ultimately depends not on technology, but on people who understand the field,” Lee said. “More important than equipment are technicians who can handle it properly.” Reflecting that view, the association is focusing on developing practical technicians who can understand batteries accurately, handle them safely and make data-based judgments, the article said. “Going forward, securing talent with core capabilities such as battery safety and fire response will determine market competitiveness,” Lee said. “The association will work to build an ecosystem where technicians are properly evaluated and can play a central role in the industry.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-30 05:04:53 -
Battery Association Chief Warns Talent Shortage Threatens Korea’s Edge Despite a demand slowdown for electric vehicles, South Korea’s battery industry is looking for a rebound. On the factory floor, however, a shortage of job-ready workers is emerging as a new risk. Lee Mi-yeon, chair of the Korea Battery Technicians Association, said maintaining Korea’s “super-gap” advantage will depend on building a field-centered talent ecosystem. “What will determine competitiveness is how many practical technicians we can secure who can be deployed immediately, not theory-focused talent,” she said. In an interview Tuesday with Ajou Economy, Lee pointed to a workforce mismatch as the industry’s biggest problem. “The industry is growing fast, but the people needed on site are still in short supply,” she said, adding that companies repeatedly face inefficiency by hiring new workers and then retraining them because of a gap between education and workplace needs. She said the profile of in-demand workers is changing. Where the focus once was on employees who could follow fixed processes precisely, plants now need “judgment-based technicians” who can diagnose and solve problems using data. “The current education structure remains at ‘70% theory, 30% practice,’ but the field demands the opposite,” Lee said. “Without a shift to practice-centered training, the labor problem will continue.” South Korean battery companies are already facing severe shortages. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Battery Industry Association project domestic workforce demand in the secondary battery sector will rise rapidly and exceed 110,000 by 2032, implying that about 54,000 additional specialized workers will need to enter the industry. But the number of battery-related graduates and job-ready workers produced each year remains only in the thousands, she said. Shortages extend beyond research and development to production staff who run processes and manage yield. Global conditions are similar. The International Energy Agency said global energy-sector employment totaled 76 million in 2024, up more than 5 million from 2019. Jobs tied to electric vehicles and batteries led growth, increasing by about 800,000 in a single year. Companies, however, are struggling to secure workers with practical skills. In an IEA survey of more than 400 global energy companies, more than half cited labor shortages as their biggest management risk. Firms said their biggest hiring challenges were a lack of candidates with needed technical skills and intensifying competition for talent from rivals and other industries. Lee said overseas production bases are expanding quickly, but core engineers who can set up sites and manage quality are “absolutely” in short supply. To run global production lines reliably, she said, Korean engineers who can train local workers and lead technical work are becoming more important. She said plants are no longer looking for people who simply do what they are told. “The field wants technicians who make their own judgments and take responsibility,” Lee said, calling the ability to analyze battery conditions, interpret abnormal data and connect it to process improvements a key capability. Lee said talent development is directly tied to global competitiveness. She said China is ahead in scale and growth speed, but Korea has strengths in precision processes, quality and safety standards. Korea should respond with a strategy centered on advanced engineers, not just production labor, she said. The association focuses on training “immediately deployable” practical workers in batteries and electric-vehicle charging, including programs for specialized roles such as battery performance evaluators. It has recently expanded and reorganized as the incorporated Korea Battery Technicians Association, moving to strengthen the credibility of its certification system and to build a technician career-history management system. Lee said a key goal during her term is “standardizing technicians” by integrating differing company criteria and building a national standard curriculum and qualification system focused on diagnostics, evaluation and safety. She said the association cannot solve the problem alone. “Battery diagnostic equipment and safety training facilities are too costly for the private sector to build on its own,” Lee said, calling for national-level infrastructure support. She added that qualifications such as battery performance evaluator should be institutionally linked and recognized so they can be used in actual hiring standards. Lee also cited staffing shortages at regional manufacturing sites, saying the gap between the Seoul metropolitan area and other regions is widening and making it harder to secure skilled technicians. She called for a workplace-linked education model involving regional universities, companies and the association to create a virtuous cycle from “education → employment → settlement,” alongside better treatment of technicians and a stronger career-management system. “Ultimately, trust in an industry comes from people,” Lee said. “When trained technicians are sufficiently present on site, competitiveness can be maintained.” She said this year should be a starting point for building national education standards and hands-on training infrastructure, adding that the association will take the lead in building a field-centered talent ecosystem to help sustain Korea’s battery advantage.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-30 05:03:43 -
YouTube launches AI-powered search feature for Premium users in the U.S. YouTube is rolling out a generative artificial intelligence search feature, accelerating its shift toward becoming a broader search platform and reshaping how users find information on the service. According to industry sources on the 29th, YouTube introduced an AI search tool called “Ask YouTube” for Premium subscribers ages 18 and older in the United States. The feature combines text and video in its results. When users type detailed questions — such as about travel itineraries or recipes — the AI first summarizes key points in text, then presents related videos and specific segments as clips in a step-by-step format. Unlike the previous approach of listing videos that match keywords, the tool puts an answer first and uses video to support it. That allows users to find needed information without scanning long videos. The move comes as information-seeking habits shift. According to CJ MezzoMedia’s “2026 Target Report,” released the same day, social media accounted for the largest share of information channels among people in their 20s. Among women, social media usage reached 62%. The share of information exposure through video channels was 44% for men and 41% for women, similar to or higher than portal-site search at 33% for men and 42% for women. YouTube’s influence is also evident in search behavior. Among people in their 20s, the share using YouTube to look up information was 47% for men and 39% for women. For men, YouTube ranked as a major channel after Naver at 52% and Google at 51%. Online video has become a central way people consume information. In internet activities among those in their 20s, “watching online video” was the top category at 67% for women and 52% for men. Average daily viewing time was about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Short-form video use reached 98%, and YouTube Shorts use was in the 80% range, the report said. Experts said the strategy reflects Google’s push to strengthen its position in search while maximizing the value of video content. Choi Byeong-ho, a research professor at Korea University’s Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, said the impact could be significant as learning, hobbies and even political activity increasingly center on YouTube. He said the shift could go beyond text-based search to enable video-driven connections such as extracting specific scenes, searching by people or style, and analyzing time-and-place context. He added that combining search AI with generative AI features could further increase users’ dependence on the platform.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-30 00:04:39 -
South Korea launches task force to prepare Major Crimes Investigation Agency opening The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Thursday it has launched an opening preparation team to support the planned October start of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency. The team is a dedicated unit meant to ensure a stable launch of the new agency, which is to be created on Oct. 2 as part of a broader overhaul of the criminal justice system aimed at separating investigations from prosecutions. The preparation team will be housed within the Interior Ministry. Vice Minister Kim Min-jae will serve as head, and Lee Jin-yong, second deputy chief prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors Office, will be deputy head. It will have three divisions — general affairs, investigative practice planning, and finance and facilities — with a staff of 64. Officials will be seconded mainly from the Justice Ministry and the Interior Ministry, as well as the prosecution and the National Police Agency. The ministry said the team will be built around personnel with hands-on investigative experience, including investigators, to help ensure continuity of casework after the agency opens. The team’s work will focus on four areas. First, it will lay the institutional groundwork for operations by revising and organizing laws, rules and other working-level regulations related to the agency, and by setting up investigative procedures and interagency cooperation systems. Second, it will design the agency’s detailed structure, staffing and placement standards, and personnel rules, and handle recruitment of public officials to work there. Third, it will prepare for the transfer of cases and investigative capacity from existing investigative bodies, including procedures for handing over cases and crime intelligence, processes for warrant applications and case referrals, and a phased transfer of personnel and expertise in key areas such as anti-corruption, economic crimes, narcotics and forensic science. Fourth, it will build the operational foundation, including offices and information systems. Plans include securing and remodeling headquarters and regional offices, creating interview and office space, and establishing electronic systems needed for work, including the Korea Criminal Justice Information System (KICS), an electronic approval system and a website. The ministry said the team will work closely with related agencies, including the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Justice Ministry and the National Police Agency, to carry out tasks in stages and launch the agency on Oct. 2 as planned. Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung said the launch of the preparation team puts key work — including securing office space, staffing and building systems — “on track.” He said the ministry will do its best to help the new agency take root as an investigative body that protects the public’s rights and earns public trust. 2026-04-30 00:03:19 -
Yoon Suk Yeol Gets 7 Years in Appeal Ruling; Lee Reviews Fuel Aid Use; Trump Pressures Iran; Coupang, Unification Minister Updates Yoon sentenced to 7 years in arrest-obstruction appeal Yoon Suk Yeol, a former president, was sentenced to seven years in prison on appeal for charges including obstructing an arrest. The Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 1, which handles insurrection-related cases and is led by Presiding Judge Yoon Sung-sik, handed down the seven-year term on April 29 for charges including special obstruction of official duties and abuse of authority to interfere with the exercise of rights. The sentence fell short of the 10 years sought by the special prosecutor but was longer than the five-year term imposed at the first trial. President Lee orders review to allow fuel aid at gas stations with 3 billion won-plus sales President Lee Jae-myung on April 29 ordered a review of allowing the high fuel price relief payment to be used at gas stations with annual sales of 3 billion won or more. In an interview aired that afternoon on KBS Radio’s “All Politics in the World,” presidential spokesperson Lee Kyu-yeon said Lee directed officials to consider loosening the restrictions, saying that because it is relief for high fuel prices, people should be able to buy gasoline with it. The payment has been limited to small merchants such as traditional markets and neighborhood shops, and can be used only at businesses with annual sales of 3 billion won or less. Complaints have been raised after some gas stations were excluded. Trump says Iran “still hasn’t come to its senses,” steps up pressure on talks U.S. President Donald Trump stepped up pressure on Iran over end-of-war negotiations, saying it “still hasn’t come to its senses.” Trump wrote on social media at about 4 a.m. April 29, Eastern time, that Iran “had better understand the situation quickly,” adding, “They don’t even know how to sign a denuclearization agreement.” He also posted an image titled “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” showing Trump wearing sunglasses and holding a gun as bombing appears in the background, in what was seen as an effort to raise the pressure. FTC names Coupang chair Kim Beom-seok as controlling person for first time South Korea’s competition watchdog designated Coupang Inc. Chair Kim Beom-seok as the company’s controlling person, triggering Fair Trade Act obligations such as disclosure of related parties. Kim, a U.S. citizen, had avoided the designation since 2021, when Coupang was classified as a large business group, because relatives were not involved in management. However, after it became known last year that Kim’s younger brother, Kim Yu-seok, was serving as a Coupang vice president, calls grew to designate Kim as the controlling person. Unification minister Chung criticizes opposition’s dismissal motion as “excessive pro-U.S. deference” Unification Minister Chung Dong-young pushed back against the People Power Party after it filed a motion calling for his dismissal over remarks about nuclear facilities if a structure is built, saying the party’s deference to the United States was excessive. Speaking to reporters after attending the launch of the third 2030 Youth Advisory Group and a dialogue with young people at Odusan Observatory in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on April 29, Chung said, “Is the People Power Party a member of the U.S. Congress?” He added that if it is South Korea’s National Assembly, it should represent the public and defend national interests. The People Power Party filed the dismissal motion the previous day, citing Chung’s remarks last month during a National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee session. 2026-04-29 21:42:19 -
Democratic Party’s Ha Jung-woo Launches Campaign at Busan Market, Meets Han Dong-hoon and Lee Jun-seok Ha Jung-woo, a former senior presidential secretary for AI future planning, began full-scale political activity on April 29 by joining the Democratic Party and making his first field visit to Gupo Market in Busan, where he had brief encounters with Han Dong-hoon and Lee Jun-seok. Ha visited the market starting at 5:20 p.m. to hear from voters. He is widely expected to win the party’s nomination for the June 3 parliamentary by-election in Busan’s Buk-gu Gap district. The seat was held by Jeon Jae-soo, the Democratic Party’s Busan mayoral candidate; Ha and Jeon are alumni of the same high school, with Jeon six years ahead. If Ha wins, he would become the Democratic Party’s only lawmaker from Busan. Explaining why he chose the market for his first stop, Ha said he saw it as “the most symbolic place” and that it was only right to greet local residents first, saying, in effect, that “the son of Buk-gu has returned.” While touring the market, Ha met Han, who has declared his candidacy in Buk-gu Gap as an independent. In an encounter lasting about 10 seconds, Han told Ha, “It’s been a while. Let’s do well.” Ha later said they exchanged greetings and told each other to stay healthy because campaigning “takes a lot of stamina.” Ha also ran into Lee, the leader of the New Reform Party, who was touring the market with the party’s Busan mayoral candidate Jeong Yi-han. Lee asked Ha whether he was entering politics, and after Ha replied in the affirmative, Lee offered encouragement, saying, “If you’re here, you should win.” After finishing his market visit, Ha told reporters he wished he had arrived earlier to meet more merchants and voters. “Today I couldn’t meet many because of time constraints, including time with reporters,” he said, adding that he would return repeatedly to hear merchants’ concerns and help address them.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-29 21:06:23 -
Fire Breaks Out at Insulation Factory in Namyangju; Level 1 Response Issued A fire broke out at an insulation manufacturing plant in Namyangju, south of Seoul, prompting fire authorities to issue a Level 1 response and begin firefighting operations. The Gyeonggi Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters said the fire was reported at about 7:27 p.m. Tuesday at a factory in Yeonpyeong-ri, Jinjeop-eup, Namyangju. Authorities deployed equipment and personnel and issued a Level 1 response at about 7:49 p.m. A Level 1 response mobilizes crews and gear from up to four nearby fire stations. The fire has spread to two or three factory buildings, and crews are focusing on preventing it from expanding further. Earlier, Namyangju City sent an emergency text alert saying a fire had occurred at a factory near 390 Yeonpyeong-ri, Jinjeop-eup, and urging nearby residents to use caution because of heavy smoke. Fire authorities and police said they plan to investigate the cause and the extent of damage after the blaze is fully extinguished. 2026-04-29 20:33:15 -
Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young Slams Ruling Party’s Push to Oust Him Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young on Tuesday criticized the People Power Party for filing a motion calling for his dismissal, saying its “pro-American stance has gone too far.” Jeong made the remarks after attending the launch ceremony for the third 2030 Youth Advisory Group and a minister-youth dialogue at the Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. He told reporters the opposition party should act as South Korean lawmakers, not U.S. lawmakers, and represent the national interest. The People Power Party filed the motion the previous day, citing Jeong’s remarks last month during a National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee meeting in which he mentioned Kusong City. Jeong said he had also referred to Kusong City as the location of a uranium enrichment facility during a confirmation hearing last year, but People Power Party members on the committee raised no objection at the time. He said they only began reacting strongly after the United States took issue with his comments. The United States has reportedly argued that Jeong’s remarks disclosed classified information shared by Washington and has moved to restrict the sharing of satellite intelligence on North Korea. Jeong and the Unification Ministry have rejected the claim, saying the information about Kusong City’s uranium enrichment facility is based on publicly available sources, including overseas think tank reports. Jeong criticized the People Power Party’s move, saying it is in South Korea’s national interest to press the United States to quickly lift what he called an unreasonable restriction on intelligence sharing about North Korea. 2026-04-29 19:57:21 -
S&P Affirms South Korea’s AA Sovereign Credit Rating, Citing Electronics Strength Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday affirmed South Korea’s long-term sovereign credit rating at AA. Yonhap News Agency reported that S&P also kept the country’s short-term rating unchanged at A-1+ and maintained its outlook at “stable.” S&P said volatility in global energy markets had posed a risk to the South Korean economy, but that the country’s strong competitiveness in the electronics sector and supportive fiscal policy helped cushion the headwinds. The agency said South Korea is expected to post a higher average growth rate than most high-income countries over the next three to four years. It added that trust in political stability was somewhat damaged by the 2024 declaration of martial law, but that the swift lifting of the measure, the response that followed and the launch of a new government through elections helped limit the negative impact. After the assessment, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said that despite elevated domestic and external uncertainty, including the situation in the Middle East, positive overseas assessments of the South Korean economy remain firmly in place. It said it would do its best to keep the country’s credit standing stable. 2026-04-29 19:36:16