Journalist
Lee Hugh
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South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and first lady take surprise walk in Hanoi, greet locals President Lee Jae-myung took a walk through central Hanoi and met Vietnamese residents, later stopping at a local restaurant with first lady Kim Hye-kyung for dinner of pho and fried rice. Lee, who is on a state visit to Vietnam, posted photos on Instagram from April 23 (local time) showing the couple walking the streets of Hanoi and greeting people. “Hanoi’s evening was truly beautiful, and as we walked around Hoan Kiem Lake and the alleys of the Old Quarter, we exchanged warm greetings with Vietnamese people,” Lee wrote. “It was even more meaningful because we could meet in everyday spaces, not in a formal schedule.” Hoan Kiem Lake is a major landmark in central Hanoi where residents relax and spend leisure time. Vietnamese residents welcomed the couple by calling out “Hello” and “Nice to meet you,” presidential office deputy spokesperson Ahn Gwi-ryeong said in a written briefing. Lee and Kim responded in Vietnamese, saying “Xin chao.” Lee patted the head of a Korean student attending elementary school in Vietnam and offered encouragement, while Kim said she was pleased to see a Korean-language sign posted on a shop wall. Lee sampled pork skewers and a sugarcane drink sold on the street and said they were “very delicious.” Kim described the sugarcane drink as “refreshing and impressive,” Ahn said. The couple also bought durian and shared it with aides. They then moved to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Ahn said Kim showed strong interest in local food culture, asking about ingredients after a vegetable similar to Korea’s dried radish greens was served with the fried rice. Posting a photo of the couple dining, Lee wrote, “They say you can’t go wrong at any restaurant in Vietnam, and that turned out to be true. Thanks to that, we’re enjoying a delicious dinner.” Lee added that the visit reminded him “hearts can connect even across different languages and cultures,” and said he would long remember the smiles and greetings they received. He said he hoped the two countries would continue building friendship and trust and expand exchanges. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 11:04:07 -
South Korea Industry Ministry Hosts Lecture on Industrial Park AI Shift, Calls for Proof to Cut Costs The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 24th held a special lecture for ministry staff, inviting Park Min-won, president of Changwon National University and head of the industrial complex AX subcommittee under the Manufacturing AI Transformation (M.AX) Alliance. The industrial complex AX subcommittee was launched on the 26th as the 11th subcommittee of the M.AX Alliance. On the 17th of this month, it held its first meeting after the chairs of 10 mini-alliances — the subcommittee’s implementation bodies — joined as members. The ministry said it planned the lecture after concluding that the industrial complex AX effort needs to move into full operation. The session, aimed at strengthening field-oriented policy capacity, was held under the theme, “Manufacturing, the heart of South Korea, opening the future with M.AX.” Park briefed staff on the historical context of M.AX, the urgency of the initiative and specific implementation plans. “As the global industrial order shifts, technology competition has intensified, and proof-of-concept demonstrations are needed so companies can reduce the investment burden when applying AI technologies,” Park said. He also called for sharing company interviews on demand for AX. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said the lecture would help narrow the gap between policy and the field and renew a sense of urgency in pushing M.AX policy, strengthening internal capabilities. He said the ministry would expand opportunities for policy officials to directly grasp the pace and needs on the ground through continued communication with field experts.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 11:03:17 -
Choo Mi-ae Pledges ‘One-Team’ Support to Boost Gyeonggi Semiconductor Cluster Choo Mi-ae, the Democratic Party candidate for governor of Gyeonggi Province, said April 24 she would work as a “one team” with the government and the ruling party to strengthen the global competitiveness of the region’s semiconductor cluster. Choo visited Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek campus, a Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH) site for a national industrial complex in Yongin, and SK hynix’s Yongin industrial complex. Calling the Gyeonggi semiconductor cluster “a core task that will determine the future of the South Korean economy,” she said she would “complete the world’s best semiconductor cluster” with speed and drive. She added that if she wins the June local elections, “the president, governor, mayors and lawmakers will be a solid one team,” and said she would “take responsibility to the end and prove it with results.” Accompanying her were Democratic Party lawmakers Hong Ki-won and Kim Hyun-jung from Pyeongtaek, and Lee Sang-sik, Son Myung-soo, Boo Seung-chan and Lee Eon-ju from Yongin, along with Pyeongtaek mayoral candidate Choi Won-yong and Yongin mayoral candidate Hyun Geun-taek, among other party candidates. At Samsung’s Pyeongtaek campus, Choo described the so-called “Su-Yong-Seong-Pyeong-O-I” semiconductor belt — linking Suwon, Yongin, Hwaseong, Seongnam, Anseong, Pyeongtaek, Osan and Icheon — as a key pillar of the nation’s industry, and said she would further strengthen it into a world-leading semiconductor cluster. She cited the Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML, which has manufacturing facilities in Dongtan, Hwaseong, and U.S. chip company Applied Materials, which plans to build a research and development center in Osan, underscoring her push to advance semiconductor technology centered on Pyeongtaek. At the SK hynix site in Yongin, Choo said South Korea needs a “mega-scale semiconductor ecosystem” combining private investment and public infrastructure, and said the Gyeonggi semiconductor cluster should be completed as a single, ultra-wide industrial belt. 2026-04-24 10:57:09 -
South Korea, Vietnam Expand Cooperation on Urban and Transport Infrastructure The South Korean government said it will step up cooperation with Vietnam on urban and transport infrastructure, including a contract to supply metro rail cars and efforts to identify local infrastructure development projects, following President Lee Jae-myung’s state visit to Vietnam. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Kim Yun-deok, the land minister, met on April 21 with Vietnam’s construction minister, Tran Hong Minh, and asked for strong interest and support from the Vietnamese government for South Korea’s participation in the development of a new town in southeastern Bac Ninh province. Kim said he “deeply sympathizes” with Vietnam’s push to devolve central authority to local governments, adding that he hopes the Korea Land and Housing Corp. and Vietnamese local governments can work together and “grow together” in areas such as new-town development. He also introduced South Korea’s high-speed rail technology and discussed ways to support participation by South Korean companies in Vietnam’s North-South high-speed rail project. The ministry said the two sides also discussed strategic cooperation on infrastructure modernization, transportation and urban development projects at a “Korea-Vietnam Co-Prosperity Development Cooperation Forum” held the same day. On April 22, Kim attended a completion ceremony for a mixed-use complex in Starlake City in Hanoi and encouraged construction officials. The Starlake City project is an urban development venture that South Korea and Vietnam have worked on since 2006. The newly completed complex is a large-scale facility combining offices, a hotel and commercial space, and was developed by South Korean firms including Daewoo Engineering & Construction from planning through operations. On April 23, during a Korea-Vietnam business forum, major government bodies and companies from both countries signed a contract to supply metro rail cars for Ho Chi Minh City’s Line 2, and KIND signed an MOU with the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam and Hana Bank. The ministry said the Ho Chi Minh City Line 2 contract marks the first entry into Vietnam’s rail-car sector. It added that KIND plans to work with BIDV, a key state-owned bank, to identify promising projects in Vietnam and link them to financial support to strengthen the foundation for South Korean companies’ expansion there.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 10:53:40 -
KB Kookmin Bank Revamps Mobile Retirement Pension Trading Service KB Kookmin Bank said on the 24th it has revamped its non-face-to-face retirement pension product trading service within KB Star Banking. The update focuses on a customer-centered design, allowing users to view their holdings at a glance from the retirement pension home screen in the app. Through a link with KG Zeroin, a fund evaluation and consulting firm, the bank also added real-time ETF quote lookups to support investment decisions based on market information. The step-by-step transaction guide was improved as well, showing each stage of the buy-and-sell process so customers can track progress. The bank said it plans a second update in the first half of the year to strengthen personalized asset management features. A bank official said the overhaul will make it easier and more intuitive for customers to manage pension assets, adding that the bank will continue expanding convenient and reliable services as a trusted partner in asset management.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 10:52:51 -
IBK Industrial Bank, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund to Provide 500 Billion Won for Startup Financing IBK Industrial Bank of Korea said Thursday it signed a business agreement with the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund to provide 500 billion won in financial support aimed at helping innovative startups grow and expanding productive finance. The program targets early-stage startups that have strong technology but struggle to raise funds. Under the agreement, IBK said companies that receive KODIT guarantee certificates will be eligible for benefits including interest-rate cuts of up to 1.5 percentage points and a 0.5-point discount on guarantee fees. An IBK official said the support was designed for innovative companies facing financing difficulties despite solid technology, adding the bank will continue to back small and midsize companies through each stage of growth and work to invigorate the startup ecosystem.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 10:52:08 -
NH NongHyup Bank, Vietnam’s Agribank sign MOU on digital agricultural finance NH NongHyup Bank said Thursday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s Agribank in Hanoi on a “strategic partnership for digital agricultural finance.” Agribank is Vietnam’s top agricultural commercial bank. NH NongHyup Bank said the agreement deepens existing cooperation in areas including digital finance and investment. The MOU calls for cooperation on building an integrated farming and finance platform, launching a card-based overseas remittance service, developing card products tied to K-content, and working together on Agribank’s privatization. NH NongHyup Bank said it will support Agribank’s agricultural finance platform using its experience with the NH All One Bank platform. It also cited NH Oneul Nongsa, an agriculture-focused platform launched by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation in 2021, which offers rural labor matching, real-time local food sales and settlement inquiries, and real-time wholesale crop price checks. The two banks, which the lender described as leading agricultural finance institutions in South Korea and Vietnam, have expanded cooperation in areas such as staff exchanges since signing their first MOU in 2013. “This has strong symbolic meaning as cooperation between the leading agricultural finance institutions representing our two countries,” Kang said. “We will expand overseas the agricultural and digital finance achievements built in Korea and, through cooperation with Agribank, strengthen our global competitiveness by contributing to the development of agriculture and rural communities.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 10:51:19 -
Lee Jae-myung says capital gains tax cuts for nonresidents encourage housing speculation President Lee Jae-myung said April 24 that cutting capital gains taxes simply because someone bought a home for investment and held it for a long time, without living in it, is not a housing protection policy but “a policy that encourages housing speculation.” He also criticized attacks over a bill introduced in the National Assembly to limit the special deduction for long-term holding, saying it is unrelated to the government but is being “manipulated” to look like a presidential proposal. Lee, on a state visit to Vietnam, posted on X, formerly Twitter, alongside an article saying markets were confused by controversy over “abolishing” the long-term holding deduction. His post was titled, “Where there is income, there are taxes. People pay earned income tax on wages, so it is natural to pay capital gains tax on housing sales income.” Lee said he agrees there is a need for capital gains tax relief tied to how long a person actually lives in a home. But he said it is wrong to cut taxes for those who do not live there and bought it as an investment simply because they held it for a long time. “Who are the people who spread ‘buy one prime home’ speculation centered on Seoul’s Gangnam, driving a chain reaction of surging home prices — and who are the people shielding them?” Lee wrote. “Is it a ‘tax bomb’ to normalize the abnormal practice of cutting taxes because someone speculated for a long time on a home they don’t live in?” He also criticized opposition to scaling back long-term capital gains tax benefits, saying, “It seemed quiet for a while, but it looks like forces that encourage real estate speculation are starting to move again.” Lee said a bill proposed by some opposition lawmakers to limit the long-term holding deduction is being portrayed as his initiative. “To properly protect housing for single-home owners, it would be right to reduce tax relief for nonresidency holding periods and increase relief for residency holding periods by that amount,” he wrote. Calling “normalizing the abnormal” and escaping real estate speculation “this country’s final survival strategy,” Lee added, “Home prices must stabilize so people can build a home, get married, and have and raise children.” He asked readers to share their views in comments. Separately, Lee’s approval rating, which had dipped slightly, rebounded in a week to a new high, the report said, citing the KOSPI index hovering around 6,500 and first-quarter economic growth of 1.7%. Gallup Korea said April 24 that in a survey of 1,001 voters nationwide aged 18 and older conducted April 21-23, Lee’s approval rating rose 1 percentage point from the previous week to 67%. The poll was conducted through computer-assisted telephone interviews. At a 95% confidence level, the margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. More details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 10:48:57 -
White House Accuses China-Based Groups of Trying to Steal U.S. AI Technology The White House publicly accused China of attempting to steal U.S. artificial intelligence technology, saying China-based entities tried to extract the performance of American AI models on an industrial scale. The dispute has again highlighted U.S.-China tensions over AI and semiconductors ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China. Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote on X on April 23 that the United States has evidence that foreign entities, mainly based in China, are running “industrial-scale distillation campaigns” to steal U.S. AI and that Washington will take steps to protect American innovation. Distillation refers to training on large volumes of outputs from a high-performing AI model to boost another model’s performance. A memo released the same day by the Office of Science and Technology Policy echoed that assessment, saying there is information that foreign entities primarily based in China are involved in deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns to distill America’s most advanced AI systems. The White House said the entities used tens of thousands of fake or routed accounts to evade detection and used “jailbreaking” techniques to expose proprietary information, aiming to mimic core capabilities of U.S. AI models at low cost. The administration signaled follow-up steps, saying it will share relevant information with U.S. AI companies and support coordinated private-sector responses. It also said it plans to develop best practices to identify, mitigate and recover from industrial-scale AI distillation activity and will consider ways to hold foreign actors accountable. China pushed back. The Chinese Embassy in Washington told Reuters it opposes “groundless accusations” and said China values intellectual property protection. The announcement came ahead of a planned summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Reuters reported the issue could also affect whether Nvidia will be allowed to export AI semiconductors to China.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-24 10:46:18 -
Gwanghallu Pavilion, setting of Korea's Romeo and Juliet tale, eyes national treasure status SEOUL, April 24 (AJP) — Gwanghallu Pavilion in Namwon, a southwestern city immortalized as the backdrop to Korea’s Romeo-and-Juliet-like love story, has been preliminarily designated as a national treasure, the Korea Heritage Service said Friday. The move marks an upgrade from its designation as a state treasure in 1963, reflecting its elevated historical, architectural and cultural significance. Widely regarded as the finest pavilion in the Honam region, Gwanghallu is among the largest government-built wooden structures from the late Joseon Dynasty. The pavilion was first established in 1419 by Hwang Hui during his exile in Namwon. It later evolved into a broader cultural complex as officials, including Jeong Cheol, reshaped the surrounding landscape by adding a pond, three symbolic islands and the Ojak Bridge. The original structure was destroyed during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) and rebuilt in 1626, preserving much of its original form for nearly four centuries. Beyond its architectural value, Gwanghallu is widely celebrated as the setting of The Tale of Chunhyang, one of Korea’s most beloved classical novels, where the lovers Chunhyang and Lee Mong-ryong are said to have first met. Final designation will follow a 30-day public review period and deliberation by the Cultural Heritage Committee. 2026-04-24 10:45:34