Journalist

Lee Hugh
  • SK Gas, POSCO form alliance to lead push for hydrogen ecosystem
    SK Gas, POSCO form alliance to lead push for hydrogen ecosystem SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - SK Gas and POSCO Holdings have launched a new industry alliance aimed at building a domestic blue hydrogen ecosystem in South Korea, as companies and public institutions move to accelerate the transition to lower-carbon energy. The “K-Blue Hydrogen Alliance” was inaugurated on Wednesday at the POSCO Center in Seoul, bringing together 15 organizations including SK Ecoengineering, POSCO, the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and Korea Gas Corporation. The alliance seeks to commercialize blue hydrogen technologies and establish a Korean industrial ecosystem, as blue hydrogen — produced from natural gas with carbon capture — gains traction as a lower-emissions alternative in hard-to-abate sectors. The initiative follows an August forum hosted by the partners to discuss the role and scalability of blue hydrogen with academic and industry experts. The alliance will serve as a platform for joint research, policy coordination and industry collaboration. Under the agreement, members will focus on advancing hydrogen production technologies, carrying out demonstration projects and developing business models, while laying the foundations for a domestic industrial base. From next year, the alliance plans to conduct detailed technical and market studies, hold regular working-level meetings and finalize strategic cooperation frameworks among participants. “The launch of this alliance marks a new milestone for Korea’s hydrogen industry,” said Kim Chul-jin, vice president of SK Gas, adding that the group would work to build a comprehensive domestic blue hydrogen ecosystem. Kim Ki-soo, chief technology officer of POSCO Holdings, said the alliance would focus on delivering practical and verifiable results to support the country’s industrial energy transition. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-10 14:20:56
  • Busan subway to ban e-scooters, high-capacity lithium batteries over fire risk
    Busan subway to ban e-scooters, high-capacity lithium batteries over fire risk SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Busan plans to ban personal mobility devices and large-capacity backup batteries equipped with high-capacity lithium batteries from its subway system, citing growing fire safety concerns. The Busan Transportation Corporation said on Wednesday it is revising its passenger transport regulations to introduce the ban. The restrictions will apply to personal mobility devices that use lithium batteries and to backup batteries with capacities exceeding 160 watt-hours, roughly four times the size of typical portable power banks. Mobility aids used by people with disabilities will be exempt. The move follows a series of fires and smoke incidents linked to lithium batteries on urban rail systems. In September, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport urged operators to minimize the carriage of devices with large lithium batteries, prompting other cities, including Seoul, to consider similar measures. Busan Transportation Corporation said internal reviews have been completed and that the rules could take effect as early as next month, subject to approval by its board and authorization by the city government. Once implemented, station staff will be authorized to prevent passengers from boarding or to ask them to disembark if they are found carrying restricted devices. * This article, published by Economic Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-10 14:02:39
  • Samsung SDI secures $1.36 billion U.S. deal, marking foray into LFP battery market
    Samsung SDI secures $1.36 billion U.S. deal, marking foray into LFP battery market SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Samsung SDI announced Wednesday its U.S. subsidiary has clinched a deal worth more than 2 trillion won ($1.36 billion) to supply lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to an American energy infrastructure company, Samsung SDI America signed the multi-year contract with an undisclosed U.S. energy infrastructure developer and operator to supply LFP batteries for energy storage systems over three years starting in 2027. The deal represents about 15 percent of Samsung SDI's projected annual revenue of 13 trillion won. The batteries will be produced at Samsung SDI's Indiana plant, a joint venture with Stellantis that began operations in December 2024. The company said it is converting some electric vehicle battery production lines to ESS manufacturing in response to shifting market demand. The LFP cells will be installed in Samsung Battery Box 2.0, a 20-foot container integrating batteries with fire safety systems. "This large-scale, long-term ESS contract for LFP batteries is significant as it has enabled the company to secure a new market," a Samsung SDI spokesperson said. "We plan to expand supplies of ESS products with strong fire safety, performance and price competitiveness to global customers." The firm added that it is in talks with multiple global customers over additional LFP and nickel-cobalt-aluminum battery deals. U.S. demand for energy storage systems is projected to more than double to 142 gigawatt-hours in 2030 from 59 GWh this year, according to market research firm SNE Research, with growing preference for LFP chemistry due to its cost efficiency and safety. The deal comes two days after LG Energy Solution announced its contract with Mercedes-Benz to supply what industry analysts widely believe to be LFP cells, positioning the Korean battery makers to capitalize on American and U.S. efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese battery suppliers. 2025-12-10 13:51:24
  • ChatGPT unrivalled 2025 app winner in Korea
    ChatGPT unrivalled 2025 app winner in Korea SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - OpenAI's generative artificial intelligence ChatGPT was the standout app winner in South Korea this year, expanding user base nearly threefold between January and November, according to analytics firm WiseApp/Retail Wednesday. The AI assistance recorded a 196.6-percent surge in users from January to November, far outpacing growth across Korea's most competitive sectors from ecommerce to beauty and fintech. Other fast risers included bargain-shopping app Daiso Mall, which grew 31.9 percent, followed by beauty retailer Olive Young at 30.8 percent and Samsung’s financial management app Monimo at 28.1 percent. Ecommerce platform Gmarket increased 26.5 percent, fashion mall Musinsa 21.1 percent, TikTok Lite 18.5 percent, KakaoPay 17.7 percent, TikTok 14.6 percent, and Naver Pay 14.4 percent. In monthly active users, ChatGPT also dominated. The app averaged 16.72 million users over the past 11 months — nearly double the next-largest platform measured. KakaoPay followed with 9.13 million monthly users, trailed by Olive Young at 8.59 million, TikTok at 7.94 million, Musinsa at 7.44 million, Gmarket at 6.64 million, Monimo at 6.04 million, Naver Pay at 5.42 million, TikTok Lite at 4.74 million, and Daiso Mall at 4.05 million. WiseApp/Retail’s survey is based on a sample of Android and iOS smartphone users in Korea and reflects a year in which AI tools broke decisively into mainstream consumer behavior, overtaking longstanding leaders across retail, payment, and entertainment categories. 2025-12-10 13:32:04
  • Asian markets continue to hold breadth until Fed chair speaks
    Asian markets continue to hold breadth until Fed chair speaks SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Asian markets moved cautiously on Wednesday as investors held their breadth ahead of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee decision, due at 6 a.m. Thursday Korean Standard Time, leaving the region in a subdued holding pattern for clues on next year’s rate path. The Korean won was steady at 1,469 per dollar as of 10:50 a.m., with traders perplexed by speculation that the National Pension Service may issue foreign currency–denominated bonds as part of a won–dollar hedging strategy. The KOSPI slipped 0.2 percent to 4,135 in a classic wait-and-see stance ahead of the Fed. Foreign investors were net buyers of 48.8 billion won ($33.2 million), while retail investors sold 46.5 billion won and institutions offloaded 9.2 billion won. SK hynix climbed 2.3 percent to 580,000 won after reports it may pursue an American Depositary Receipt listing using its treasury shares, while Samsung Electronics moved the other way, falling 0.65 percent to 107,700 won as foreign-led profit-taking weighed on the stock. Battery names also rallied. Samsung SDI rose 2.9 percent to 319,000 won after securing a 2 trillion won contract to supply lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for energy storage systems to a U.S. energy infrastructure company. Entertainment stocks saw a rare lift, with HYBE up 5 percent at 306,000 won on expectations of full-group BTS activity in 2026. Hyundai Motor Group shares were mostly weak. Hyundai Motor lost 2.3 percent to 300,000 won, and Hyundai AutoEver slipped 1.3 percent to 297,500 won. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ traded sideways near 932, with retail investors net buying 143 billion won, while foreigners sold 64 billion won and institutions 48 billion won. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat at 50,690 as investors likewise avoided directional bets before the FOMC outcome. A rotation into defensive consumer names lifted automakers: Toyota gained 1.8 percent to 3,120 yen ($19.9) on strong North American hybrid sales, while Honda surged 4.3 percent to 1,590 yen. Semiconductor stocks were softer, with Advantest down 0.75 percent at 20,105 yen, Tokyo Electron 0.2 percent lower at 33,520 yen, and Ibiden and Kioxia each down 0.45 percent. Taiwan’s TAIEX edged 0.5 percent higher to 28,315, supported by modest gains in semiconductor bellwethers. TSMC rose 0.7 percent to 1,490 Taiwan dollars ($47.8), while MediaTek advanced 0.7 percent to 1,430 Taiwan dollars. Across the Strait, Chinese equities opened lower after CPI data released just before the bell came in far below expectations, renewing concerns about persistent disinflation. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.55 percent to 3,888, slipping below the 3,900 threshold. The Shenzhen Component dropped 0.75 percent to 13,171, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.6 percent to 25,285. 2025-12-10 11:37:33
  • 60s movie star Kim Ji-mee dies in US
    60s movie star Kim Ji-mee dies in US SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Veteran actress Kim Ji-mee, one of the biggest stars of South Korean cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, died of age-related complications in the U.S., film industry sources said Wednesday. She was 85. Born in 1940 in South Chungcheong Province, the prolific actress appeared in around 700 films since making her screen debut in director Kim Ki-young's 1957 film "Twilight Train," with her career spanning from the 1950s through the 1990s. Her personal life was as dramatic as her on-screen roles, with multiple high-profile marriages and divorces to prominent figures and top stars that often drew comparisons to Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor. At the age of 18 in 1958, she married film director Hong Seong-gi, who was 16 years her senior, but the couple divorced in 1962. Later that year, she made headlines when she was arrested on adultery charges involving actor Choi Mu-ryong. She remarried him the following year, but their scandalous marriage also ended in 1969. She later lived with then-popular singer Na Hoon-a from 1976 to 1982, before marrying a doctor in 1991 in her fourth and final marriage, which also ended some 11 years later. After retiring from acting in the late 2000s, Kim moved to the U.S., settling near Los Angeles, California. Details about her funeral service have not been disclosed, but the Federation of Korean Filmmakers here said it will hold a memorial service in Seoul, honoring her legacy and cinematic achievements in South Korean film history. 2025-12-10 11:31:06
  • Peru to buy South Koreas K2 battle tanks, armored vehicles in $1.5 billion deal
    Peru to buy South Korea's K2 battle tanks, armored vehicles in $1.5 billion deal SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Peru has agreed to purchase South Korea’s domestically developed K2 main battle tanks, becoming the first Latin American country to acquire the platform, South Korea’s presidential office said on Wednesday. The contract, valued at about 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion), covers the supply of 54 K2 tanks and 141 armored vehicles, for a total of 195 units, and represents South Korea’s largest-ever defense export to Latin America. If implemented, the deal would mark the first deployment of K2 tanks in the Latin American region. President Lee Jae Myung welcomed the signing, saying it would significantly strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries and emphasizing the importance of building a mutually beneficial defense partnership. The signing ceremony was held in Peru on Sunday afternoon local time and was presided over by Peru’s President Jose Harry. Lee Yong-chul, head of South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration, attended the event on behalf of the Korean government. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-10 11:24:51
  • AI sparks a creative rebirth in Korean short films
    AI sparks a creative rebirth in Korean short films SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s short drama market is undergoing a rapid transformation as artificial intelligence moves from an experimental tool to a full-scale production engine, slashing costs and widening the boundaries of what can be created. At the center of the shift is Vigloo, operated by Spoon Labs, which will release a slate of AI-driven short dramas in 2025, including "My Savior from Hell" and "Seoul: 2053." The projects were developed with AI integrated into every stage of the pipeline — from concept and script development to visual effects and post-production — cutting location and VFX costs by more than 90 percent and reducing overall production time by half. "My Savior from Hell", a romantic drama centered on a contract relationship with a chaebol heir, uses image-to-video technology optimized for vertical formats, an increasingly dominant mode for mobile-first viewers. "Seoul: 2053", a dystopian sci-fi collaboration with Johnny Bros, deployed AI to render traditionally resource-intensive elements such as humanoids and sandstorms. The project allowed Vigloo to refine its AI production-support model, proving that cinematic world-building can be reimagined within the constraints of short-form storytelling. Beyond production, Vigloo is applying AI across translation, dubbing, content classification, and personalized recommendations, aiming to fuse production, distribution, and marketing into a single streamlined workflow — a model that could redefine how short dramas are monetized and localized for global audiences. Other players are moving quickly. EOContents Group, known for hits like "My Perfect Secretary", is producing two AI-driven series, "Soon, It’s Night" and "Soon, It’s Work," using AI-generated humans capable of natural emotional expression. The company plans to release 127 episodes across its “Soon” franchise, betting that AI-guided performance and efficient micro-production cycles will accelerate global exports. Westworld Story is also experimenting at scale. Through a project supported by the Korea Creative Content Agency, the company produced short-form dramas such as "Single Hell" and "The Uninvited Guest at My Wedding", using AI to craft unconventional narrative elements that would have been costly or complex to film manually. These projects have already initiated discussions for global co-productions, highlighting how AI is helping Korean creators pitch more ambitious storytelling to international partners. The remaining challenge is cultural, not technological. K-dramas have built their global audience on emotional specificity — subtle eye movements, pauses, and tonal shifts that convey a uniquely Korean style of intimacy and tension. As AI-generated short dramas expand into romance, sci-fi, thriller, and hybrid genres, the industry is watching closely to see whether technology can enhance narrative richness without flattening the emotional depth that defines K-content. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-10 11:20:49
  • Seoul heralds record government debt pipeline for 2026
    Seoul heralds record government debt pipeline for 2026 SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - South Korea plans to issue a record volume of treasury bonds next year, raising oversupply concerns on the tepid debt market. According to 2026 pipeline, the Ministry of Economy and Finance intends to issue 225.7 trillion won in treasury bonds. Although the figure is 5.4 trillion won lower than this year’s issuance, the net increase in outstanding debt will reach 109.4 trillion won—25.7 trillion won more than the previous year and potentially the largest annual rise on record. This year’s experience shows how tentative such plans can be: the government initially targeted 201.3 trillion won in issuance but ultimately expanded the total to 231.1 trillion won after a supplementary budget, raising the likelihood that next year’s issuance could also exceed its projected ceiling. The surge in government borrowing is expected to push the national debt-to-GDP ratio above 50 percent for the first time, rising from 49.1 percent this year to 51.6 percent next year. The International Monetary Fund has warned that South Korea’s debt ratio could climb to 130 percent by 2050 if the current trajectory continues, a level that would severely constrain fiscal flexibility. A larger supply of treasury bonds typically places upward pressure on yields, and analysts warn that higher market interest rates could feed into bank lending rates, raising borrowing costs for businesses and households at a time when the domestic economy remains fragile. The three-year government bonds yield 3.058 percent and five-year papers 3.259 percent, widening the spread with the base rate of 2.50 percent. The burden of rising borrowing rates is apparent in the banking sector. As of the third quarter, non-performing loans at the four major banks—KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori—rose 27.3 percent from the end of last year to 2.9 trillion won. Corporate loan NPLs increased 29 percent to 1.98 trillion won, while household loan NPLs climbed 23.7 percent to 923.4 billion won. The market however is not without an upside. The country’s forthcoming inclusion in the FTSE World Government Bond Index is expected to draw between $50 billion and $80 billion in global investment as passive funds adjust their portfolios to include Korean sovereign bonds. Kim Han-soo, a researcher at the Capital Market Research Institute, said the move would help stabilize financing conditions by attracting long-term foreign investors who have recently retreated due to the won’s depreciation and the widening interest-rate differential with the United States. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-10 11:01:17
  • A German lesson for Korea amid geopolitical shifts
    A German lesson for Korea amid geopolitical shifts “What is South Korea’s perception of China? Germany is currently deliberating its strategy toward China,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz asked President Lee Jae Myung during their first summit at the G20 in Johannesburg on Nov. 22. Lee did not respond immediately. Merz, sensing the moment, added that Berlin would take Seoul’s perspective into account as it shapes its new China strategy. Lee, for his part, asked what Germany had learned from overcoming national division: “We have much to learn from Germany’s unification. Were there any hidden strategies?” “There are no secret strategies,” Merz replied. To Germans, unification is remembered as a “historic gift,” but one achieved through deliberate layers of political, social, and diplomatic architecture — a structure that Korea never built to comparable scale. The first pillar was political leadership. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer’s Westpolitik anchored West Germany firmly in the European system, laying the economic groundwork known as the “Rhine miracle.” Chancellor Willy Brandt, guided by advisor Egon Bahr, pursued Ostpolitik, establishing relations with the Soviet Union in 1970 and East Germany in 1972. Helmut Kohl later expanded these paths, becoming the statesman credited with executing unification. Unlike South Korea, which has centered its efforts on summit diplomacy, Germany constructed durable, irreversible channels of contact between its two halves. The second pillar was civic. East Germany’s democratization and grassroots momentum — most memorably the Leipzig candlelight marches — opened the political space. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and Kohl moved within weeks to seize the window of history. The third was diplomatic. Support from France and the United States enabled what Germans now call the “six-party talks for peace,” formally known as the Two Plus Four Talks. They provided the legal and geopolitical guarantees necessary for peaceful unification. And the fourth — a variable Korea does not control — was leadership in Moscow. Mikhail Gorbachev’s reformist approach made German unification possible. Germans openly acknowledge that unification would not have occurred under a leader like Vladimir Putin. A similarly profound shift is now unfolding in the global order. Unipolarity is dissolving; multipolarity is taking shape. The change brings risk, ambiguity, and unexpected openings. On Dec. 5, the Trump administration released its new National Security Strategy (NSS), the document that guides U.S. foreign and security policy for the next four years. Its pillars — protecting the American homeland, expanding prosperity, securing peace through strength, and widening U.S. influence — are framed with unusually sharp ideological language. The NSS criticizes the European Union for “damaging identity with flawed immigration policies,” praises “patriotic parties” such as the UK Reform Party and Germany’s AfD, and accuses Brussels of eroding democratic freedoms by censoring media — including a $140 million fine imposed on Elon Musk’s platform X. European reactions are deeply split. Italian MEP Brando Benifei called it a “direct attack on the EU.” Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, by contrast, mocked Europe’s weakness and welcomed the shift. On Ukraine, Europe is alarmed. Trump rejects NATO expansion, is open to a deal with Russia, and signals he will seek an end to the war on terms that align closer to Moscow than to Brussels. The NSS labels China and Russia “rivals” and predicts U.S. success in fierce competition. It identifies China’s Indo-Pacific ambitions as the central challenge and calls for strengthened deterrence to prevent war. South Korea and Japan are urged to increase defense spending, and Seoul is explicitly described as a “middle power” alongside Germany, Japan, and India. One striking omission: North Korea. Mentioned 17 times in Trump’s first NSS, it appears nowhere in this one. Beijing is shifting too. China’s latest military white paper omits the longstanding phrase “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” a conspicuous signal that it accepts North Korea’s nuclear status — at least implicitly. Together, Washington’s NSS and Beijing’s white paper mark a turning point: strategic gravity is pulling away from Atlantic Europe toward the Indo-Pacific, but the Korean Peninsula is paradoxically falling out of focus. For Korea, this is an uncomfortable lesson in geopolitics. The peninsula is becoming a secondary priority at the very moment great-power competition intensifies around it. A U.S. administration willing to restore ties with Russia, and a China no longer committed to denuclearization, leave Seoul little room to rely on old assumptions. The German analogy returns here with force. In a multipolar era unsettled by fractured alliances and shifting priorities, South Korea — designated a middle power — must not wait for others to define the peninsula’s future. The Six-Party Talks collapsed more than a decade ago, but Germany’s own Two Plus Four model offers a reminder: peace regimes are negotiated before they are needed, not after crises erupt. What Korea needs now is not another summit but a strategy — and someone to build it. Germany had Egon Bahr, the architect of Ostpolitik. The United States had Henry Kissinger to orchestrate diplomatic alignment in moments of systemic flux. Unification or denuclearization will not materialize from rhetoric alone. It requires a negotiator empowered to work quietly across capitals, anticipate strategic shifts, and craft the scaffolding of a new peace regime. The question now is whether President Lee will appoint such a figure. In an era when the United States and China are redefining their priorities and Europe is consumed by its own fractures, Korea can no longer afford to be reactive. It must decide whether it will simply adapt to the new order — or shape it. Kim Taek-hwan, Director of the Future Transition Policy Institute A national vision strategist, Kim studied civilization and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Bonn, Germany. He was a visiting scholar at Georgetown University and has worked as a journalist and professor. Kim has authored over 20 books, including "The U.S.-China Economic Hegemony War and the Future of the Korean Peninsula," and has delivered over 350 lectures at institutions like the National Assembly and Samsung Electronics. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-10 10:47:55