S. Korea sees surge in complaints over social media livestream shopping SEOUL, September 12 (AJP) - South Korea’s consumer protection agency on Friday warned of a surge in complaints from shoppers who purchased fashion items through livestreaming on social media platforms. The Korea Consumer Agency said it had received 444 complaints related to clothing and textile products sold through livestream commerce on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Naver Band and Facebook from 2022 through June 2025. The number of grievances has grown each year, jumping from 54 in 2022 to 185 last year. In the first half of 2025 alone, consumers filed 139 complaints. Nearly half of the cases involved sellers refusing to process cancellations. Other problems included poor product quality and contract violations, the agency said. Clothing items, particularly jackets and coats, accounted for the majority of disputes, followed by handbags and shoes. Some of the cases cited by the agency were striking: one buyer paid 4.51 million won, or about $3,300, for three mink coats but was unable to reach the seller to request returns; another made 32 purchases worth 2.68 million won, or about $1,950, but never received any of the items. The agency said livestream commerce on social media poses more risks than traditional online shopping, because it is often difficult to verify seller information or review return policies. It urged shoppers to confirm business registration numbers and to use secure payment methods rather than direct bank transfers before making purchases. 2025-09-12 14:18:38

Hyundai says immigration crackdown will delay Georgia battery plant by 2-3 months SEOUL, September 12 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor’s top U.S. executive said Friday that construction of its $7.6 billion battery plant in Georgia will be pushed back by at least two to three months. Jose Munoz, Hyundai Motor’s global president and chief operating officer, said raids at the construction site created staffing shortages as some workers returned to South Korea following mass detentions. “For the construction phase of the plants, you need to get specialized people. There are a lot of skills and equipment that you cannot find in the United States,” Munoz told reporters in Detroit. The facility, a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, is central to Hyundai’s electric vehicle expansion in North America. To limit disruption, Hyundai said it would source batteries from other plants, including a separate Georgia facility run with SK On. The company stressed that its long-term U.S. strategy remains unchanged despite the delay. Hyundai Motor Group’s Chairman, Chung Eui-sun, also commented publicly on the incident, expressing relief that detained workers had returned home and urging closer coordination between Seoul and Washington on visa rules for specialized labor. 2025-09-12 11:29:17

Korea goes all-out to pull slumbering 30s back into the labor market SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - U.K.-educated Koo turned 30 this year but still cannot dream of moving out of her parents’ home in Seoul after repeated job rejections. “Once you miss the usual hiring window, it gets harder each year and many peers end up stuck like me,” said Koo, who asked not to be fully named. After studying fashion in Britain for three years, Koo returned home and searched for work for more than a year. She gave up after repeated denials in the final rounds of hiring. “Age became an issue as an entry-level candidate, even with my overseas experience and credentials,” she said. Koo is among the 328,000 Koreans in their 30s who have dropped out of the labor force for reasons not recognized in official statistics—such as childcare or health treatment. This group, often labeled NEETs (not in employment, education, or training), has been rising for six straight months since September last year. As of early 2025, more than 504,000 Koreans aged 15 to 29 fell into the NEET category, or the the economically inactive population. The figure is expected to worsen as the youth unemployment rate climbed to 7.5 percent in March, with little sign of reversal. The paradox is especially stark in Korea: seven out of ten Koreans aged 25 to 34 hold a college degree or higher—the highest share among advanced economies—yet many remain sidelined. Fearing a vicious cycle of stalled youth employment feeding into the nation’s ultra-low birth rate, the government on Wednesday unveiled its most aggressive package yet, branded the “Job First-Step Guarantee Program.” Under the scheme, authorities will create a database to track and identify 150,000 idle youths annually for customized training and job matching. Monthly job-search allowances will rise to 600,000 won ($440) from the current 500,000 won starting next year. The statutory definition of “youth” will also be extended to age 34 from 29, reflecting delays in first-job entry and men’s mandatory military service. Government measures may act as priming water, but experts warn that the problem of “new unemployables”—well-qualified young people who still fail to secure work—cannot be resolved without structural fixes. “While companies complain about labor shortages, young people struggle to find jobs because there’s a disconnection between academic learning and workplace requirements,” said Kim Deok-pa, economics professor at Korea University. 2025-09-11 16:40:35

Humanoid robots promise cheaper cars. Are they ready for assembly lines? SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - Cars glide down the assembly line with the practiced rhythm of human workers moving in unison in ordinary automotive plants. But if a new vision of the future proves correct, those workers may soon be replaced by machines that look uncannily like them. Humanoid robots — once confined to science fiction and corporate stage shows — are being recast as the next frontier of industrial labor. And according to a recent analysis by Samsung Securities, their widespread adoption could do more than reshape factory floors. It could cut the cost of building cars so dramatically that sticker prices fall by half. The math, at least on paper, is compelling. A Hyundai Motor plant in Korea pays an average of $38 per hour in labor costs, already a fraction of what Detroit automakers are on track to spend by 2027. But Tesla’s Optimus robot, used as a benchmark in the Samsung study, could operate at just $14 per hour if purchased for $100,000 and run around the clock. If mass production slashes robot prices to $30,000, as some expect, the figure plunges to $5 per hour — cheaper than labor in China, the global capital of low-cost manufacturing. For automakers, the potential payoff is enormous. Hyundai’s current two-shift system tops out at 310,000 cars a year. Robots never sleep, and with 24-hour operations, annual output could climb to 520,000 vehicles, a 60 percent jump. Analysts say such efficiency could drive down plant costs from nearly 80 percent to the low 40s, opening the door to cars priced at levels unimaginable today. But reality is still far messier than the spreadsheets suggest. Robots tire more quickly than humans — their batteries last only about two hours — and wear out faster too, with critical components needing replacement within a year. “They are best suited right now for simple, repetitive tasks,” Yoo Beom-jae, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, told AJP. “Substantial development is still needed before they can take on full production roles.” BMW is putting robots from the California start-up Figure to work in South Carolina. Mercedes-Benz is using Apptronik’s Apollo models in Europe. BYD, the Chinese electric vehicle giant, has already deployed 500 humanoid robots on its factory floors. Hyundai, not to be left behind, plans to roll out Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robots at its new Georgia plant later this year. The changes underway may reach far beyond cars. Lim Eun-young, who led the Samsung Securities study, believes humanoid robots could help catalyze an economic transformation. “If vehicles become both cheap and smart,” she said, “transportation becomes more efficient, traffic is better organized, and the number of cars in cities actually decreases. We could reclaim parking lots and free up enormous amounts of space.” The stakes are high, and national competitiveness may be on the line. “This is not a change Korea can ignore,” Lim warned. “The United States and China are already racing ahead. Without active government support in building data centers and power grids, Korea risks falling behind and becoming dependent on others’ technology.” 2025-09-11 10:35:03

KOSPI hits record high on hopes of US rate cuts, tax relief SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index closed at a record high on Wednesday, lifted by heavy foreign and institutional buying amid optimism about potential U.S. interest rate cuts and speculation that the government may ease capital gains taxes for large shareholders. The KOSPI gained 54.48 points, or 1.7 percent, to finish at 3,314.53, surpassing the previous record set more than four years ago. Foreign investors led the rally, with net purchases of 1.38 trillion won (about $1 billion). Analysts said the rally reflected improved sentiment after robust U.S. employment data, along with growing hopes that Korean policymakers will act to ease investor concerns over tax policy. Market headwinds that weighed earlier this year — from a hawkish monetary stance by the U.S. Federal Reserve to disappointment over tax reform and fears of an AI bubble — appear to be fading, they said. Among blue chips, KB Financial posted the sharpest rise, climbing 7 percent to 117,600 won. Chipmaker SK hynix advanced 5.6 percent to 304,000 won, while market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 1.5 percent to 72,600 won. The KOSDAQ, the country’s secondary tech-heavy index, also rose, adding 0.99 percent to close at 833. 2025-09-10 16:32:14

Korean e-commerce companies forge alliances to counter Chinese rivals SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s e-commerce industry is shifting from cutthroat rivalry to strategic cooperation as domestic players seek to blunt the advance of low-cost Chinese platforms. Naver, the country’s dominant search engine, and Market Kurly, a premium fresh-grocery delivery service, recently unveiled “Kurly N-Mart" joint project. The venture links Naver’s platform with Kurly’s logistics network and offers free overnight delivery to Naver's members on purchases over 20,000 won, or about $15. It marks Kurly’s first major alliance with another Korean e-commerce company. The move follows Shinsegae Group’s announcement late last year of a 50-50 joint venture with Alibaba Group. The partnership, Grand Opus Holdings, folds Gmarket and AliExpress Korea into a single operation valued at roughly 6 trillion won ($4.1 billion). Shinsegae contributed most of its Gmarket stake, while Alibaba invested 300 billion won ($203 million) in cash. Such alliances come as Chinese firms Temu and AliExpress rapidly gain ground. Together, they recorded an estimated 4.3 trillion won in transaction volume in Korea last year, up 85 percent from 2023. Globally, Temu reached $70.8 billion in gross merchandise value in 2024 and counts 292 million monthly users. In Korea, AliExpress alone had nearly 9.7 million monthly users in November, second only to Coupang’s 32.2 million. “Neither Naver Shopping nor Market Kurly are market leaders,” Prof. Park Jung-eun, who is teaching e-commerce at Ewha Womans University, told AJP. “With Coupang firmly in first place, other major players are turning to alliances to shore up their positions.” Coupang, often compared to Amazon, controls nearly 40 percent of the market, followed by Naver at 27 percent and Gmarket at 7 percent. Coupang generated about 40 trillion won in sales last year; Naver’s commerce business reported more than 50 trillion won in merchandise value. The biggest threat from Chinese competitors is price, analysts say. Temu and AliExpress benefit from far lower production costs in China’s inland regions, where wages are a fraction of those in Korea. By contrast, Korean companies continue to emphasize speed and service. Kurly, Shinsegae’s SSG.com and others pioneered “dawn delivery,” which guarantees groceries by morning if ordered the previous evening. “China wins on cost. Korea wins on service,” Park said. “The question is how far Korean companies can push quality differentiation when price wars are not sustainable.” Pooling resources also allows Korean platforms to cut costs and broaden offerings. Combined sourcing reduces per-unit expenses while partnerships expand product variety. Yet challenges remain. Online luxury retailing has yet to take hold in Korea, limiting premiumization strategies that might help local firms escape the price trap. The country’s fast-paced consumer culture adds another wrinkle. The trait can amplify both opportunities and risks: new trends spread quickly, but missteps are punished just as fast. For Alibaba, teaming up with Shinsegae offers more than market share. The Chinese company gains an image boost through its Korean partner and access to Gmarket’s 600,000 sellers, potentially diversifying its sourcing base. Industry observers say further consolidation is likely as Korean firms try to fortify themselves against global entrants. “The market will polarize,” Prof. Park predicted. “Chinese brands will dominate the ultra-low-cost segment, while Korean platforms must double down on premium services, delivery speed and quality to survive.” 2025-09-10 15:49:33

Korean petrochemical industry looks to shipbuilding playbook for survival SEOUL, September 09 (AJP) - LG Chem’s new partnership with Toyota Tsusho Corporation is being hailed by industry analysts as a blueprint for South Korea’s petrochemical sector, which is struggling to withstand a flood of low-cost Chinese competition. Announced Tuesday, the agreement gives Toyota Tsusho a 25 percent stake in LG Chem’s cathode materials plant in Gumi. Analysts say this will help restructure the joint venture in a way that allows the facility to comply with the United States Inflation Reduction Act and secure access to the North American battery market. The move highlights the growing urgency for South Korea’s petrochemical companies, which face structural oversupply, declining demand, and eroding competitiveness. “We used to export heavily to China, but now they’ve built extensive facilities and achieved self-sufficiency,” Kim Byung-jun, a professor at Korea Polytechnic University’s Petrochemical Process Technology Institute, told AJP. “They’re producing more than they consume domestically and dumping the surplus cheaply into our market, creating a domino effect throughout our supply chains.” Kim argued that survival depends on a move toward high-value products. The crisis has prompted comparisons to the shipbuilding industry’s painful but ultimately successful restructuring two decades ago, when Korean yards shifted away from low-margin vessel production and focused on high-value segments such as liquefied natural gas carriers. That pivot enabled South Korea to maintain global leadership, securing roughly 80 percent of the LNG carrier market today. Analysts say the pace of transformation is likely to accelerate as environmental regulations tighten and carbon border taxes take effect. They say c​​​​​ompanies that successfully reposition themselves in specialty and eco-friendly materials may emerge stronger, while those clinging to traditional commodity products risk being priced out by cheaper rivals abroad. LG Chem’s pivot toward battery materials illustrates the kind of specialization analysts see as essential. The company has secured contracts worth more than 30 trillion won with automakers including Toyota and General Motors to provide advanced materials for electric vehicles. Its Gumi plant, with annual production capacity of 66,000 tons, embodies the transition from commodity chemicals to next-generation materials. “Korea once led in hydrocracking technologies, but China and the Middle East have caught up,” Professor Kim said. “Now we must pivot to eco-friendly strategies like hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and sustainable product development to prepare for tightening carbon regulations.” Kim added that industry consolidation may be unavoidable. “In Ulsan and Yeosu, multiple companies make the same products, which worked when export markets were abundant,” Kim said. “Now we need coordination — possibly mergers — to reduce duplication and strengthen competitiveness.” According to a May report by Samil PwC Management Consulting, the combined operating profit margins of South Korea’s 10 largest petrochemical companies fell from 12.5 percent in 2021 to minus 0.9 percent in 2023 and minus 1.8 percent in 2024 — a 14.3 percentage point drop in just three years. Capacity utilization at major naphtha cracking complexes run by Yeochun NCC, Lotte Chemical, SKC and Hyosung Chemical slipped to 77 percent in 2024, down from 86 percent in 2021. Losses have mounted across the sector. Lotte Chemical reported an 894.1 billion won operating loss last year, after a 762.6 billion won deficit in 2022. LG Chem’s petrochemical division posted a 135.8 billion won loss, while SKC lost 276.8 billion won. Only Kumho Petrochemical, bolstered by its strength in synthetic rubber, remained in the black, with a 3.8 percent operating margin. 2025-09-09 17:05:38

South Koreans detained in US immigration crackdown to be flown home Thursday SEOUL, September 09 (AJP) - A charter plane is expected to depart for the United States as early as Wednesday to fly home more than 300 South Koreans who were detained at a battery plant construction site in Georgia, according to officials and industry sources. Korean Air will deploy a B747-8i charter flight from Incheon International Airport to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, with a potential departure time of Wednesday morning, the sources said. The large aircraft, which has a capacity of 368 seats, will be able to accommodate all of the South Koreans who were detained at the joint venture battery factory between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution. The return trip, carrying the released individuals, is expected to leave Atlanta late on Wednesday and arrive at Incheon Airport late Thursday afternoon, Korean time. The released South Koreans will be transported from a detention facility operated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in Folkston, Ga., to the Atlanta airport, a four-and-a-half-hour drive. 2025-09-09 14:06:12

Reliance on short-term visas exposes weak link in Korean projects in US SEOUL, September 08 (AJP) - Korean companies building some of the largest industrial facilities in the United States are bracing for construction delays that could stretch up to two years, after stepped-up immigration enforcement exposed widespread reliance on short-term business visas for technical staff. Industry data compiled in the aftermath of last week’s raid on a Hyundai–LG Energy Solution battery plant in Georgia show that 22 projects worth about 145 trillion won, or more than $100 billion, are potentially at risk. At least six plants scheduled to begin operations this year now face staffing shortages severe enough to force comprehensive revisions to their timelines. The Georgia battery plant is the most immediate casualty. LG Energy Solution recently postponed the facility’s startup from the second half of 2025 to at least early 2026, after construction ground to a halt. The $4.4 billion venture, intended to supply 30 gigawatt hours of battery cells annually, is critical to Hyundai and Kia’s electric vehicle production schedules. Surveys conducted by industry groups revealed that about 90 percent of Korean engineers and technicians dispatched to U.S. sites had been working under visa waiver programs or short-term B-1 business visas — categories never intended for long-term technical operations. In response, Samsung Electronics has ordered employees to limit visa waiver trips to two weeks or secure expatriate visas for longer stays, while Hyundai canceled all planned U.S. business travel. The disruption has triggered an urgent government response in Seoul. Park Jong-won, deputy assistant minister for trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said after a hastily convened meeting with major investors that the government would coordinate closely with the Foreign Ministry to craft a solution. “This cannot be a one-time meeting,” Park said. “We will continue communicating with companies operating locally to find solutions.” The visa bottleneck extends well beyond Georgia. Projects at risk include Samsung’s $17 billion semiconductor fabrication plant in Texas, LG Chem’s cathode materials facility in Tennessee, Samsung SDI’s joint battery plant with Stellantis in Indiana, SK On’s battery complexes with Ford, and Hanwha Q Cells’ solar hub. Together, they represent critical elements of Washington’s supply chain strategy under the Inflation Reduction Act. But securing proper work authorization is no quick fix. L-1 intracompany transfer visas or E-2 investor visas often take one to two years to process, and the oversubscribed H-1B program — capped at 85,000 annually — would require congressional intervention to expand. Seoul has been lobbying for a Korea-specific visa category similar to programs available to Australia and Singapore, though legislative timelines remain uncertain. In the meantime, companies face hard choices: overhaul staffing to rely more heavily on local hires, accelerate automation to reduce technical labor needs, or absorb costly delays. The stakes are especially high for the semiconductor and battery sectors, linchpins of U.S. industrial policy and vulnerable points in global supply chains if new facilities fail to come online as planned. 2025-09-08 17:47:51

Trump administration's immigration crackdown puts Korean firms in US on edge SEOUL, September 08 (AJP) - Korean companies with sprawling manufacturing projects in the United States are bracing for major disruptions as the Trump administration intensifies its immigration crackdown, now extending its reach to foreign-led construction sites. The detention of hundreds of workers last week at a Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant under construction in Bryan County, Ga., has jolted South Korean executives and policymakers. Though officials in both countries said the matter appeared to be heading toward resolution, the sweep has deepened anxiety among Korean conglomerates pouring billions of dollars into electric vehicle batteries and advanced semiconductor plants across the United States. The fear, executives say, is not only higher costs but construction delays, missed deadlines and shaken confidence in investment pledges that Korean firms have made in tandem with Washington. “We are reviewing our processes to ensure that all parties working on our projects maintain the same high standards of legal compliance that we demand of ourselves,” Hyundai Motor said in a statement. LG Energy Solution confirmed that 47 of its employees were among those detained, adding it would “make every effort to promptly resolve the situation, including ensuring the speedy and safe return of all employees.” The raid, which authorities called the largest single-site enforcement action in agency history, swept up 475 workers and exposed a legal gray zone that has long governed how foreign firms deploy staff to U.S. construction projects. Many of those detained entered on short-term business visas or under visa waiver programs, which permit stays for meetings and contract work but not for installation or technical support. Immigration officials argued that such work required more complex H-1B or L-1 visas. The episode has already rippled through financial markets. LS Securities downgraded LG Energy Solution’s target price, citing concerns about delayed battery mass production at the $7.6 billion Georgia site, where construction remains suspended pending the immigration investigation. Tom Homan, a senior security official often described as Trump’s “border czar,” underscored the administration’s intent to widen its enforcement. “We will increase our enforcement activities at workplaces,” he told CNN, adding, “Illegally entering this country is a crime, and hiring foreigners who are here illegally is also a crime.” He framed the raids as protecting American workers from unfair competition. The policy shift could hit hardest at Korean giants like Samsung and SK, which are building semiconductor fabs and EV battery plants in states that lobbied aggressively for their investments. Executives worry that technical workers needed for installation and training could now face months of visa hurdles, raising the risk of project delays. The South Korean government convened emergency meetings with major investors on Sunday and pressed Washington for assurances. Meanwhile, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers in Seoul on Monday that an agreement had been reached to prevent the detained workers from facing reentry bans once they are released. “Negotiations are proceeding well,” he said, promising that voluntary departures would not trigger automatic five-year entry bars. However, since Trump began his second term, deportations have surged to more than 1,500 a day, topping 300,000 overall. Administration officials said large-scale workplace raids would continue, signaling that last week’s operation in Georgia may only be the beginning. 2025-09-08 17:28:25