Journalist

한준구
Han Jun-gu·Yoo Na-hyun
  • Independence fighters lifelong dedication remembered
    Independence fighter's lifelong dedication remembered SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - People gathered at a memorial hall in southern Seoul on Tuesday to mark the 88th anniversary of the death of independence fighter Ahn Chang-ho. They laid flowers and bowed their heads in remembrance of his enduring devotion and sacrifice for the country. It was the Sino-Japanese War that changed everything for him. At the age of just sixteen, watching foreign powers clash on Korean soil in 1894, he realized that it was because the country had no strength to defend itself. From that moment, he resolved to dedicate his life to his country, not merely in words but in action. In 1905, he founded the Gongnip Association, the first Korean political organization established in the U.S., drawing 600 members within just two years. He then returned home in 1907 and formed the Sinminhoe, a secret patriotic organization dedicated to restoring Korean sovereignty from Japanese colonial rule. He also established a school in Pyongyang, spearheading educational movements to enlighten people. After the March 1st Independence Movement in 1919, Ahn became Minister of Interior for the Provisional Government in exile in Shanghai. Through both political action and a lifelong commitment to education, Ahn, also known by his pen name Dosan, dedicated himself entirely to the independence of his country. He died in March 1938 at the age of 59, yet his spirit and legacy continue to inspire to this day. 2026-03-10 17:35:53
  • Annual South Korea–US joint military exercise underway
    Annual South Korea–US joint military exercise underway SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - The annual joint military exercise between South Korean and U.S. troops has been underway since early this week. The exercise, dubbed "Freedom Shield," which kicked off on Monday, aims to prepare for contingencies on the Korean Peninsula while assessing combat readiness to prepare for the transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul. Approximately 18,000 troops are participating in this year's exercise, similar to last year's level, but the number of field training sessions has been reduced to around 22, less than half of last year's 51. North Korea, which has hysterically reacted to these exercises, responded again as Kim Yo-jong, the country's unofficial mouthpiece as the sister of the country's leader Kim Jong-un threatened that it may "cause unimaginably terrible consequences." The exercise runs until March 19. 2026-03-10 16:48:18
  • A film, a fallen monarch, and a nation looking back
    A film, a fallen monarch, and a nation looking back SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) -Thirty-one days after its release, The King’s Warden crossed the ten-million admissions mark, becoming the 34th South Korean film to reach that milestone — and still counting as the crowds kept on growing. The numbers came quickly. One million in five days. Two million by day twelve. Three million on Lunar New Year. Four million the next day. By March 10, cumulative admissions reached approximately 11.7 million. But the film's impact has not been restricted to theaters. Cheongnyeongpo in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province—where King Danjong, the sixth monarch of Joseon, was exiled—has seen a steady stream of visitors. Over one weekend, thousands arrived. On March 8 alone, Cheongnyeongpo and Jangneung received 4,622 visitors by 2:10 p.m. The day before, 7,047 people came. In just two days, more than 10,000 visitors walked through the site. By March 8 afternoon, the year's cumulative visitor count reached approximately 109,112. Last year, it took until June to surpass 100,000. This year, that number was reached in just two months. The film's influence also spread to bookstores. According to YES24, sales of books with the keyword "Danjong" surged 2,565.4% in the month following the film's February 4 release compared to the same period the previous year. From the classic novel The Tragedy of Danjong to children's history books and the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, diverse genres saw rising sales together. Annals of the Joseon Dynasty 3: Sejong, Munjong, Danjong recorded an approximately 800% (9-fold) increase, while Danjong's Sorrow, Sejong's Tears rose about 2,700% (28-fold) during the same period. A single film led people beyond the theater. To an exile site. To books. Into history. A story that began on screen is coming alive again in real places and historical records. The film ends in two hours, but the questions it leaves continue. Who was Danjong? What was his era like? And why do we now seek to remember him? The King’s Warden became a ten-million-viewer blockbuster. Yet perhaps its deeper significance lies elsewhere — in how a single film led a nation to look back, and rediscover a chapter of its own history. 2026-03-10 13:47:16
  • Indian spring festival brings colors flying in Miryang
    Indian spring festival brings colors flying in Miryang SEOUL, March 09 (AJP) - Miryang city in South Gyeongsang Province held the 16th Holi Hai Festival at the Sunshine Miryang Theme Park Cultural Plaza on March 8. Approximately 1,000 Korean and foreign participants joined the event. Holi is a traditional Indian festival celebrating the arrival of spring where people throw colored powder and water at each other. The event was designed as a platform for communication where citizens and foreign residents can enjoy together beyond barriers of nationality and language. The festival began with traditional Indian food experiences and wellness programs, followed by an afternoon session where participants threw colored powder to DJ music. The Yoga Culture Town within the Sunshine Theme Park where the festival was held blended authentic Indian yoga culture with the Holi festival. 2026-03-09 15:49:23
  • South Koreans return home from Middle East
    South Koreans return home from Middle East SEOUL, March 06 (AJP) - Korean travelers who departed for the Middle East are returning home one by one as many air routes have been disrupted in the aftermath of Middle East tensions. Additionally, the Dubai-Incheon route, which had been suspended due to the aftermath of Iran's airstrikes, resumed on March 6. The flight took off three hours and ten minutes later than scheduled due to local airport conditions. Korean Air has suspended flights to the Middle East until March 8. Meanwhile, the government is reviewing plans to deploy chartered planes and military transport aircraft to the UAE and other locations as early as this weekend, and is in discussions with UAE authorities for this purpose. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held a phone call with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the night of March 5 to discuss plans for chartered plane takeoffs and landings to support the return of Korean nationals staying in the region. 2026-03-06 15:01:55
  • War in Middle East echoes through Seoul
    War in Middle East echoes through Seoul SEOUL, March 05 (AJP) - The war unfolding across the Middle East may be thousands of miles away from Seoul, but its shockwaves are being felt sharply in the capital of South Korea. Rockets are flying across borders in the region with no sign of the conflict abating. On the far eastern edge of the globe, the repercussions are unfolding in diplomatic halls, financial markets and even gas stations across the South Korean capital. A Tale of Two Embassies At 10 a.m. Thursday, Iran’s ambassador stepped to the microphone inside the Iranian Embassy in Itaewon. “The attack is a clear violation of international law,” the ambassador said, unleashing a sharp denunciation of Israel and the United States. The briefing ran long. What had been scheduled as a short press conference stretched well past noon as journalists pressed for answers on Iran’s next move and the risk of a wider war. Yet even before the Iranian envoy finished speaking, another diplomatic confrontation was already unfolding across the city. At 11 a.m., Israel’s ambassador faced reporters at the HJ Business Center near Gwanghwamun. “We could no longer tolerate Iran’s nuclear threat,” he said, defending the strikes and accusing Tehran of destabilizing the region. Two ambassadors. Two narratives. On the same day, in the same city, each laying out opposing justifications for a war that shows little sign of diplomatic resolution. Markets Reeling, Government Scrambling While diplomats traded accusations, South Korean authorities were scrambling to contain financial turmoil triggered by the Middle East conflict. Emergency meetings stretched across government agencies after Seoul’s stock market suffered one of its steepest sell-offs in decades. President Lee Jae Myung ordered the immediate deployment of a 100 trillion won ($68 billion) market stabilization program, while instructing regulators to crack down on oil hoarding and price manipulation. The measures helped trigger a dramatic rebound. On Thursday, the KOSPI surged 9.63 percent, recovering much of the previous session’s historic drop of more than 12 percent. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ jumped about 14 percent, reversing an equally steep fall. The Korean won also stabilized slightly, with the dollar trading around 1,466 won after briefly approaching 1,480 the previous day. Oil Shock Reaches the Streets The ripple effects were not confined to financial markets. As global oil prices surged — with Brent crude rising above $81 a barrel — gas stations across Seoul began raising prices through the afternoon. South Korea imports more than 70 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East, making the country particularly vulnerable to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic shipping lane through which much of that oil passes. The spike in energy prices, combined with a weaker currency, threatens to push up import costs across the economy. A War 3,700 Miles Away — Felt at Home Analysts warn that if the conflict expands or disrupts energy flows through the Gulf, the economic impact could deepen quickly for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. For many Seoul residents, the geopolitical crisis came into focus not through diplomatic statements or market charts, but through everyday costs — the price displayed on a gas pump or the volatility flashing on a smartphone trading app. At the very moment the two ambassadors traded sharp accusations in Gwanghwamun and Itaewon, motorists across the city were watching fuel prices climb. A war more than 3,700 miles away had suddenly become impossible to ignore. 2026-03-05 17:06:02
  • AW 2026 opens as showcase of AI-native manufacturing innovation
    AW 2026 opens as showcase of AI-native manufacturing innovation SEOUL, March 04 (AJP) - The present and future of manufacturing innovation led by autonomous manufacturing and physical AI gathered in one place. AW 2026 (Smart Factory & Automation World) opened at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, on March 4, presenting the largest-ever exhibition with 453 companies from 24 countries and 2,300 booths. From humanoid robots and smart logistics to AI factory special pavilions, the event showcasing a convergence of intelligent automation technologies is drawing attention as a practical stage for the industrial field declaring a shift to "AI-native manufacturing." This year's exhibition features major Korean robotics and logistics companies including Hyundai Motor Group Robotics LAB, Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai Movex, Robotis, Eugene Robot, and Wonik Robotics. The exhibition runs through March 6. 2026-03-04 17:47:29
  • The first full moon of the year is red
    The first full moon of the year is red GYEONGGI, March 03 (AJP)-On the fifteenth night of the first lunar month, Korea steps outside. The holiday is Jeongwol Daeboreum, the first full moon of the year — a night when neighborhoods, not just families, gather under the open sky. If Lunar New Year belongs to the dining table, Jeongwol Daeboreum belongs to the fields, the hills, the riverbanks. People tilt their heads upward and wait for the moon to rise, round and bright in the brittle winter air. The full moon has long stood for abundance and well-being. In agrarian times, it was more than a celestial body; it was a calendar, a compass, a quiet oracle. Its fullness promised ripening crops and steady fortunes. To greet the year’s first full moon was to ask — gently, collectively — for balance. This year, the sky offers a rare spectacle. A total lunar eclipse coincides with Jeongwol Daeboreum. As Earth’s shadow slowly swallows the moon, its silver glow dims, then deepens into a muted red. Science explains the color: sunlight bending through Earth’s atmosphere, scattering blue and leaving crimson behind. Yet knowing the physics does not dispel the awe. Suspended in darkness, the red moon feels ancient, almost sentient — a reminder of how small and how connected we are. Below that darkened moon, another light ignites. The heart of the festival is daljip taeugi, the burning of the “moon house.” Villagers stack pine branches and straw into a towering cone, sometimes taller than a house. At dusk, the structure is set alight. Flames surge upward in an instant, sparks spiraling into the night. The fire roars, crackles, breathes. It is not spectacle for spectacle’s sake. The blaze carries away misfortune, illness and ill luck. The higher the flames climb, the more auspicious the year ahead is believed to be. Smoke becomes a messenger, rising toward the moon with whispered wishes for health and harvest. On a night of eclipse, the symmetry feels almost scripted: a red moon shadowed above, a pillar of fire blazing below. One is astronomical, governed by orbital precision. The other is ritual, shaped by human hands and memory. Yet both mark the same truth — that darkness and light are not opposites but partners. The moon may lose its brilliance for an hour, but it never vanishes. The moon house may collapse into ash, but from its embers begins another cycle. Even in a society wired to satellites and screens, people still pause for this moon. Children clutch roasted peanuts and crack them with laughter. Elders murmur old sayings about the year’s fortune. Cameras flash, but so do quiet prayers. On Jeongwol Daeboreum, people bite hard nuts to prevent boils and share five-grain rice to wish for abundance. These customs have continued despite changing times. Jeongwol Daeboreum endures because it binds sky to earth, science to story, past to present. Under the red-stained moon and beside the leaping flames, time seems to fold in on itself. The first full moon does what it has always done: gathers strangers into a shared circle of light. And as the shadow slips away and the fire dies down, what remains is simple — a sky restored, warm ashes underfoot, and the steady, human hope that the year ahead will burn bright. 2026-03-04 07:23:44
  • First reserve forces training begins amid heightened global tensions
    First reserve forces training begins amid heightened global tensions SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - Amid growing global uncertainty, this year’s first reserve forces training began on Tuesday in South Korea. As military clashes between Iran and the United States and Israel continue for a fourth consecutive day, reserve troops conducted urban combat drills and video-based simulated live-fire training at the Pyeongtaek–Osan Advanced Reserve Training Center under the Republic of Korea Army 51st Infantry Division in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Amid ongoing international security instability, this year’s reserve training exercises will be carried out nationwide in phases. 2026-03-03 17:10:09
  • Suwons UNESCO world heritage Banghwasuryujeong Pavilion
    Suwon's UNESCO world heritage Banghwasuryujeong Pavilion SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) - Banghwasuryujeong Pavilion and Hwahongmun Gate stand as iconic symbols of Suwon's UNESCO World Heritage site, Hwaseong Fortress. Banghwasuryujeong Pavilion, meaning "a pavilion where one can enjoy flowers and willows while water flows," sits elegantly at the northeastern corner of Hwaseong Fortress. Built in 1794 during King Jeongjo's reign, this hexagonal pavilion offers stunning views where the fortress walls meet Suwoncheon Stream. The pavilion was designed as a resting place for soldiers and a strategic military post. Its unique architectural beauty, reflected in the water below, creates one of Suwon's most photographed scenes. Hwahongmun Gate, also known as Buksumun (North Water Gate), was constructed in 1794 as part of Hwaseong Fortress. This seven-arched stone gate allows Suwoncheon Stream to flow through while serving as a defensive structure. The gate combines practical flood control with military defense, featuring openings that could be closed during attacks. Today, it becomes especially beautiful during the evening when illuminated, and hosts a spectacular waterfall display during the Hwaseong Cultural Festival. Both structures represent the architectural excellence of the Joseon Dynasty and remain beloved gathering places for locals and tourists alike. 2026-02-26 14:21:28