Journalist

Abraham Kwak
  • K-pop may have to lose the K as it sits as a genre, not a category
    K-pop may have to lose the "K" as it sits as a genre, not a category SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - K-pop has broken a historic barrier at the Grammy Awards — one of the highest measures of global music recognition — entering a "Big Four" category for the first time. Since the Grammys began in 1959, no Korean artist had ever been nominated in any of the major categories. That changed when the Recording Academy announced its 68th Grammy nominees in early November, naming BLACKPINK's Rosé, the OST "Golden" from Netflix's animated film "KPop Demon Hunters," and global girl group KATSEYE — jointly launched by HYBE and Geffen Records — in major categories, which are Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist. For years, the Grammys have been seen as conservative, prioritizing musical craftsmanship over commercial popularity. BTS attended as presenters in 2019 and earned multiple nominations over three consecutive years, but never broke into the Big Four. Now, attention turns to next February's awards, where the industry is watching to see whether K-pop converts nominations into its first major-category win. K-wave thrives in the social media age According to the 2024 National Image Survey by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea's global favorability has risen steadily for six years — from 71.1 percent in 2018 to 79 percent in 2024. Among sectors such as sports, education, human rights, healthcare, and science, culture and entertainment emerged as the most influential contributor, rising from 35.3 percent in 2018 to 43.9 percent in 2024. The pandemic further accelerated the trend. With digital media consumption soaring, 89.3 percent of respondents said they first encountered Korea through YouTube, and 60.8 percent through Netflix — confirming streaming as the primary gateway to Korean pop culture. K-idol training sets a global standard for star-making KATSEYE was formed through the global audition program "The Debut: Dream Academy," which selected six multinational members from more than 120,000 applicants via evaluations and fan voting. The group trained under what is now widely recognized as the K-pop system — a long-term, intensive regimen that includes daily vocal and dance training, performance rehearsals, and moral education. "We have long wanted to develop diverse global talent based on the methodology of K-pop and build global groups in the K-pop style," HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk said. The audition program was not only a debut project; it was a test of whether Korea’s star-making system could be exported intact. In the United States, talent is discovered, not groomed. The idea of multi-year training and development (T&D) — shaping multidimensional artists before debut — is still unfamiliar. Korean agencies build performers step by step — crafting group concepts, curating artistic direction, and supporting long-term branding. A crucial part of the system is extensive vocal coaching across multiple genres, equipping trainees to deliver synchronized choreography. The trainee system, which can last from six months to ten years, is built to cultivate potential rather than select only fully formed performers. To ensure a stable debut, agencies provide mental and emotional support programs, including language education for foreign trainees, life coaching, and professional counseling. Even in global audition formats, companies maintain private trainee pools that undergo monthly evaluations — a high-pressure system that explains the scale of the recent fallout between NewJeans and HYBE. At the end of the day, music drives the momentum The breakout success of Netflix's animated film "KPop Demon Hunters" encapsulates how K-pop expands globally. The film follows fictional girl group Huntrix, who use their songs to protect their fans from supernatural threats. Its OST tracks — including "Your Idol" by the group's rival Saja Boys and "Golden" by Huntrix — climbed Billboard's global charts soon after the film's June release. Cover videos and challenge trends spread rapidly across social platforms, creating a loop in which music fuels content, and content boosts music streams. A recent study by Korea University's College of Media and Communication — based on keyword analytics from the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation — found that the two most frequently mentioned terms in online discussions were "song" and "Korea." Many viewers described replaying scenes while looping the soundtrack, responding strongly to the film's musical peaks. The inclusion of Korean lyrics in the OST was particularly striking, with global listeners singing along phonetically. Professor Baek Hyun-mi, the author of the study, noted that the recent wave of success brings not only pride but also unresolved questions. "This success leaves us with more than just a sense of pride," Baek said. "Within global platforms, the question of who truly owns this culture remains unanswered. The creative origins lie in Korea, but it is still unclear who ultimately controls the outcomes and reaps the benefits." Industry power shift: Toward a new 'Big 4' "K-pop is entering the early stage of mainstream globalization," said pop culture critic Ha Jae-keun. K-pop's industrial scale is now reshaping the global music hierarchy. HYBE's market value has climbed to fourth worldwide, edging closer to Warner Music Group and challenging the decades-old dominance of the "Big Three" — Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group. Music Business Worldwide founder Tim Ingham recently predicted that Warner's revenue may gradually converge with HYBE's, signaling a structural shift in global music capitalism. Between 2020 and 2024, HYBE recorded a 29 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) — far outpacing Sony (18.3 percent), Universal (12.5 percent), and Warner (9.5 percent). "Along with BTS's full-group comeback next year, we see this moment as pivotal for strengthening both our market reach and long-term growth potential," a senior HYBE official said. Critic Kim Hern-sik notes that K-pop must now secure its position as a genre, not just a cultural category. "It should establish itself the way Britpop once did. Today, young people around the world see K-pop as a space where they can feel agency, dream, and achieve something. For many, it is the only arena where that possibility feels real — and that is why its power is so strong." 2025-12-01 20:15:32
  • Coupang theft set to become Koreas worst data crisis raises sober reckoning on cybersecurity
    Coupang theft set to become Korea's worst data crisis raises sober reckoning on cybersecurity SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Korea — a society whose everyday routines run almost entirely online — is grappling with its biggest data crisis to date after e-commerce giant Coupang confirmed that information linked to nearly all of its customers — 33.7 million people, or three out of four Korean adults — had been stolen. More worrisome is that while previous high-profile breaches this year involved external hacking attacks on wireless carriers and credit-card issuers, the Coupang case points to potential criminal liability if an internal leak by a former employee is confirmed. The incident is expected to hasten sweeping reforms that force digital platforms to prioritize data security over commercial expansion. Coupang said Sunday that the breach was carried out by a former employee of Chinese nationality who allegedly accessed the company’s systems through overseas servers, noting that "unauthorized access appears to have begun in mid-June." The stolen information includes names, email addresses, mobile numbers, and home addresses. It marks the biggest data breach in Korea in more than a decade, since the 2011 Cyworld–Nate incident that affected about 35 million users. With Coupang's monthly active users (MAU) estimated at 34 million and the domestic e-commerce population at roughly 39 million, experts warn the breach may affect "virtually everyone." The company initially reported only 4,500 compromised accounts on Nov. 18, but revised the number upward 7,500-fold within nine days — prompting warnings that further undisclosed cases may still emerge. The breach also contrasts sharply with recent attacks on telecom operators such as SK Telecom and KT, which involved sophisticated external intrusion rather than insiders. SK Telecom suffered a large-scale breach involving USIM authentication data in April, affecting more than 23 million subscribers. The company rejected a state proposal to compensate victims 300,000 won ($204) each and has already spent more than 1 trillion won addressing the fallout. At KT, hackers installed illegal femtocell devices — small radio units that act as fake cell towers — to intercept verification text messages and trigger unauthorized micro-payments. Hundreds of victims have filed criminal complaints. Police and the Korea Communications Commission are investigating. Game developer Netmarble also confirmed last month that the personal information of about 6.11 million users was compromised in a cyberattack targeting its PC-based game portal. Leaked information included names, birth dates, and encrypted passwords. Taking together Coupang's 33.7 million victims, SK Telecom's 23.24 million, and Netmarble's 6.11 million, analysts estimate that more than 80 million data records have already leaked in 2025 alone across platforms, telecoms, gaming services and card-payment networks — underscoring pervasive vulnerabilities across nearly all digital industries. Experts point to chronic underinvestment in cybersecurity as the root cause of repeated failures. According to data from the Korea Internet and Security Agency, based on disclosures by 773 listed companies with annual revenue above 300 billion won, the average share of IT budgets devoted to security was only 6.29 percent last year, remaining below six percent for four straight years. U.S. companies, however, allocate 13.2 percent on average — more than twice the Korean level. Among major domestic players, SK Telecom invested 4.6 percent of its IT budget into security, lower than KT (6.3 percent) and LG Uplus (7.4 percent). Samsung Electronics spent the most in absolute terms at 356.2 billion won, but security accounted for only 0.12 percent of revenue. LG Electronics was at 0.03 percent, while major banks KB Kookmin and Shinhan were at 0.08 percent. Platform operators also posted low ratios: Coupang (4.6 percent), Naver (4.5 percent), Kakao (4.3 percent), and Woowa Brothers (4.1 percent). "The current level of security spending — around six percent — is clearly insufficient; experts recommend closer to nine percent," said Kwon Hun-yeong, professor at Korea University's School of Cybersecurity. "These incidents reveal systemic vulnerabilities across multiple layers of national digital infrastructure. Authorities fail to fully trace origins." Kwon added that Korea needs a national manual to identify and prioritize the systems most critical to safeguarding against attacks. According to the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), 451 breaches between 2021 and July 2025 exposed 88.543 million personal records, with average penalties of 700 million won, and administrative fines of just 6.17 million won per incident, a level critics say is too low to deter negligence. The commission plans to require businesses to allocate at least 10 percent of their total IT budgets to data protection by 2027, and 15 percent by 2030. "We are considering incentives for companies that meet the minimum cybersecurity investment threshold," a PIPC official said. In the U.S., governments support cybersecurity spending with tax deductions of up to 15.8 percent for technologies such as AI-based threat detection and encryption, and provide payroll-tax relief of up to $500,000 for small businesses. Coupang shares fell as much as 7.5 percent in after-hours trading, sliding from $28.16 to about $26.06 following the disclosure. 2025-12-01 16:04:13
  • Sticky prices and weak won to stretch Koreas belt-tightening to next year
    Sticky prices and weak won to stretch Korea's belt-tightening to next year SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - Koreans tightened their belts through most of the year as stubborn inflation and the steepest depreciation of the won eroded purchasing power, government data showed Thursday. Nominal household income rose 3.5 percent on year in the July–September period to 5,439,000 won ($3,713), while real income—adjusted for inflation—grew 1.5 percent, supported largely by government stimulus handouts, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. But the aid program did little to lift actual spending. Real household consumption fell for a third straight quarter, the longest downturn since the pandemic-hit year of 2020, underscoring the gap between chilled domestic demand and the hot stock, housing, and chip-export markets powering broader economic data. The income boost was driven mainly by government-issued consumption coupons distributed between July and November. Earned income inched up 1.1 percent, and business income rose just 0.2 percent, while public transfer income — government benefits and subsidies — surged 40 percent to 744,000 won, the highest since records began in 2020. With income growth stagnating and inflation proving sticky, families cut back on their biggest discretionary burden — private education — and scaled down recreational spending. Household expenditures centered on essentials and summer vacations. Consumer sentiment improved sharply in November, reaching its highest level in eight years, but the optimism has yet to translate into stronger consumption. Debt remains a heavy drag. Households are unlikely to see further relief after Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong signaled an end to the easing cycle to curb leveraged asset investment and defend the sinking won. As of Nov. 20, outstanding household loans at the five major commercial banks stood at 769.27 trillion won, up 2.65 trillion won in November alone — already exceeding October's full-month increase. Daily loan growth has climbed to its fastest pace since July. "Given the three- to six-month lag in the pass-through from a weak won to import prices and then consumer prices, inflation pressure is likely to build during the first half of next year," said Kim Myung-sil, analyst at iM Securities. "The rise in market rates and diminished expectations for a rate cut will weigh on business investment — particularly in construction — and hurt household consumption," added Park Ju-noo, analyst at Hana Securities. 2025-11-27 16:31:27
  • Koreans donated gold during IMF crisis — but their love for foreign wont rescue the won this time
    Koreans donated gold during IMF crisis — but their love for "foreign" won't rescue the won this time SEOUL, November 26 (AJP) - Korean authorities are pleading for all-around help — from the "big-brother" National Pension Service (NPS) to brokerages and exporters — to mobilize every possible tool to defend the Korean won drifting toward the untouched 1,500-won ($1.02) watershed. But they cannot expect sympathy, much less sacrifice, from ordinary Koreans, whose enduring appetite for overseas spending — on goods, travel, and securities — remains undeterred even as the won weakens beyond levels seen during the 1998 IMF bailout. The weakness in the currency has done little to quell Korea's love for the foreign. According to Bank of Korea data released Tuesday, overseas credit-card spending by Korean residents reached a record $5.93 billion in the third quarter, up 3.9 percent from last year's previous high of $5.71 billion and 7.3 percent above the second quarter's $5.52 billion. Foreign visitors, by contrast, spent just $3.76 billion on cards in Korea — barely half the amount spent by Koreans abroad and unchanged from the previous quarter, despite a record surge in inbound arrivals. On a per-card basis, Koreans spent an average of $314 abroad in the third quarter, roughly 56 percent more than the $201 spent by foreigners inside Korea. Outbound travelers totaled 7.09 million, up 4.8 percent from the previous quarter, according to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute. The travel balance remains deep in deficit. Korea spent $2.5158 billion abroad versus $1.8344 billion earned from inbound tourism, generating a $681.4 million shortfall — another sign that Koreans spend far more abroad than foreign travelers spend at home. "Prices in Korea are relatively high. While the official inflation rate hovers around 2 percent, the real figure exceeds 4 percent when housing costs are factored in," said Kim Sang-bong, economics professor at Hansung University. "For many Koreans, it's cheaper to travel overseas. A domestic trip costs 200,000 to 300,000 won per person, whereas around 2.3 million won can cover a five-day trip to Vietnam or Japan." The pattern echoes last year's travel boom to Japan, fueled by the yen's plunge into the 800-won range. Korea's Shopping Festa — the country's biggest shopping extravaganza and local alternative to Black Friday — has also struggled to gain traction amid high exchange rates. With the won nearing 1,500 per dollar, U.S. product prices are rising in real time, prompting a shift toward Chinese and Japanese retailers. Platforms such as 11st and Coupang still rolled out major cross-border deals, but industry officials say the dependence on North American brands that once powered sales is no longer sustainable. Even the strong dollar has not tempered Koreans' passion for U.S. stocks. Net overseas securities investment reached $99.8 billion between January and September, more than triple the $29.6 billion net inflow of foreign investment into Korean securities over the same period. Korea's net external financial assets — the value of foreign assets held by Koreans minus liabilities — surged from $12.7 billion in 2014 to $1.03 trillion in the second quarter, underscoring the nation's structural preference for dollar-based safe assets. The NPS alone now holds 580 trillion won in overseas assets. Retail "Seohak ant" day traders — Koreans investing in U.S. and global stocks — have increased eightfold in just four years. Corporate direct overseas investment, too, hit a record $81.7 billion. Experts warn that even though Korea's foreign-currency liquidity is solid in the short term, structural imbalances in dollar supply and demand continue to drive pressure on the won–dollar exchange rate. "The real challenge is that there is no clear solution to the structural imbalance," said Wi Jae-hyun, analyst at NH Futures Research Center. "Excessive concentration of overseas investment in equities and slow repatriation of export proceeds, especially after large-scale U.S. investment commitments, are amplifying upward pressure on the exchange rate. But exchange rates driven by supply-demand dynamics behave like a rubber band — the higher they go, the more forcefully they can snap back." In 1998, Koreans lined up to donate gold to rescue the nation. In 2025, their wallets are overseas — and no amount of nostalgia will change that. 2025-11-26 17:19:07
  • Korean marriage cases spike in Sept in upside for birth growth streak
    Korean marriage cases spike in Sept in upside for birth growth streak SEOUL, November 26 (AJP) - The number of marriages in Korea reached the largest tally in a decade in September. The sharp rise in marriages — widely considered a leading indicator of births — has raised expectations that the recent rebound in childbirth numbers could continue in the coming months. According to Statistics Korea's population trends for September released on Wednesday, 18,462 couples married last month, an increase of 3,005 cases from a year earlier. Marriage numbers have now grown for 18 consecutive months, reaching the highest level for September since 2015. For the first three quarters of the year, cumulative marriages totaled 58,305, which represents an increase of 6,600 cases, or 12.8 percent, compared with the same period last year. Marriage counts rose across all regions, supported by a combination of factors, including an increase in the population at the typical marriage age, generally those in their 30s, and shifting social perceptions toward marriage. The rebound in marriages, combined with ongoing growth in births since late last year, suggests that the annual number of newborns in 2025 could surpass last year's total of 238,317. Korea recorded 22,369 births in September, which is 1,780 more births, or an 8.6 percent increase, compared with a year earlier, marking the highest September figure since 2020. Cumulative births for the year reached 191,040, reflecting a 7 percent increase year-on-year. The total fertility rate — the expected number of children a woman will have over her lifetime — rose to 0.85 in September, an increase of 0.06 from a year earlier. The rate for the third quarter stood at 0.81, up 0.04. The rise in births was driven largely by women in their 30s. Birth rates among mothers aged 30 to 34 increased by 2.4 percent, and those 35 to 39 increased by 5.3 percent, while births among women aged 25 to 29 declined slightly by 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, 28,101 deaths were recorded in September, a 3.9 percent decrease compared with the same month last year. With deaths outnumbering births, the country's population still saw a natural decline of 5,732 people for the month. 2025-11-26 17:18:49
  • Kangaroo tribes thrive as Seouls 30s hit record-low homeownership
    Kangaroo tribes thrive as Seoul's 30s hit record-low homeownership SEOUL, November 25 (AJP) - Only one in four Seoul residents in their 30s owns a home — the lowest rate on record — fueling the rise of "kangaroo tribes" who cannot afford to move out of their parents' home, let alone imagine starting their own family in a city where apartment prices are nearly three times higher than in other regions. New data released Tuesday by the National Data Portal shows 527,729 households in their 30s in Seoul lived in rental housing last year, an increase of 17,215 from a year earlier and the largest jump since records began in 2015. The number of homeowners in the same age group fell to 183,456, pushing the ratio of renters to owners to nearly three to one. The trend overlaps directly with marriage patterns. Seoul now reports the highest share of unmarried people in their 30s at 37.1 percent, a rate that has risen, along with the jobless rate. Lee Hong-ki, a 34-year-old, lives in a rented space paid for by his father, unable to secure a public-sector job despite four attempts. "I feel indebted and guilty, but I have no choice. It's not that I'm not trying," he said. Demographers note that household formation — not financial handouts — is the most decisive factor in whether young adults marry or have children, and that housing sits at the center of Korea's fertility crisis. "Marriage hasn't even crossed my mind, let alone dreaming of owning a home in Seoul," said 31-year-old Lee Ji-won, who commutes to work from Gyeonggi Province. Homeownership data also reveals widening structural divides. Of Korea's 16 million homeowners, 85.1 percent own a single property, while 14.9 percent — or 2.4 million people — are multi-homeowners. The share of multi-homeowners is highest far from Seoul, reaching 20 percent in Jeju, 17.4 percent in South Chungcheong Province, and 17 percent in Gangwon Province, compared with lower shares of around 13 percent in Gwangju, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province. The pattern underscores a contradiction in Korea's real-estate landscape: Seoul residents struggle to buy even one home, while falling prices in regional markets allow property owners there to accumulate multiple homes. The affordability gap has widened most dramatically in the past decade. According to Real Estate R114, the average Seoul apartment price reached 1.3 billion won ($881,595), versus 354.6 million won in non-capital regions, leaving a 945.1 million won gap that has remained in record territory for four straight years. A decade ago, the gap was just 311 million won — meaning the disparity has nearly tripled in ten years — driven by steady price increases in Seoul and broad declines outside the capital. Analysts expect the gulf to widen further. Government measures rolled out this year have also raised entry barriers for first-time buyers. Tighter loan-to-value and debt-service ratio rules now require more cash upfront to qualify for mortgages, effectively shutting out younger buyers who rely on borrowing to enter the market. The frustration is particularly acute for Seoul residents in their 20s and 30s, who face stagnant wages, rising rents, and shrinking prospects of catching up with housing inflation. Young Koreans, however, cannot let go of the homeownership dream. A Korea Land & Housing Institute survey of 700 single-person renters aged 19 to 39 found that 83.2 percent believe homeownership is essential for financial security and stable living. When asked which policies would help most, respondents cited home-purchase financing support (24.3 percent), long-term jeonse deposit assistance (22.3 percent), expanded public rental housing (18.6 percent), and publicly subsidized apartment sales (14.4 percent). The findings point to a consistent reality: Korea's demographic future will depend on whether young adults can afford to leave their parents' homes and form households — something increasingly out of reach in Seoul without a structural shift in housing affordability. 2025-11-25 14:31:18
  • Foreign students spike in Korea, but not helping rural and high-skilled talent shortage
    Foreign students spike in Korea, but not helping rural and high-skilled talent shortage SEOUL, November 24 (AJP) - Non-Chinese students now make up the majority of foreign enrollment at Korean universities, as the number of international degree-seekers has tripled over the past decade. Foreign students also fill one in every six postgraduate seats — a striking figure for a country facing a shrinking workforce and rising demand for highly skilled talent. According to the Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI), 179,190 international students were enrolled in degree programs at Korean universities and two-year colleges as of April, a 3.2-fold jump from 55,739 in 2015. A decade ago, Chinese students accounted for more than 60 percent of all foreign degree-seekers. This year, their share has fallen to 38 percent (68,045 students), even though their absolute numbers nearly doubled over ten years. The shift reflects an explosive rise in students from elsewhere: Vietnam ranked second with 40,865 students, followed by Uzbekistan (14,318), Nepal (12,626) and Mongolia (10,570). Vietnam alone added nearly 10,000 new students in a single year. One notable trend is the growing number of foreign students majoring in humanities, social sciences, and the arts, particularly at the doctoral level — a phenomenon widely linked to the global popularity of K-pop, K-dramas, and Korean film. But this diversification masks a critical gap: Korea still struggles to attract students in natural sciences, engineering, high-tech fields and regional manufacturing. Enrollment in these areas has grown only marginally, and the overall share has fallen over the past decade. The number of engineering students at the master's and doctoral levels increased by only around 1,000 during the same period — far too small to ease shortages in semiconductors, batteries, mobility, and industrial R&D. Vu Giang Thanh, a 26-year-old Vietnamese graduate of Seoul National University of Science and Technology, told AJP that most international students come to Korea with two main goals: experiencing a global learning environment and earning more than they could at home while studying. "Korea's cultural familiarity and relatively accessible admission policies are appealing," she said. "But most students I know aren't here to build long-term careers. They come for the experience and financial benefits — and leave after five to seven years." Regional universities face an additional challenge. They continue to receive a high proportion of non-degree students on short-term programs, limiting both local retention and the creation of a stable talent pool for regional industries. "As competition intensifies globally for skilled workers, Korea needs policies that support foreign graduate-level students at every stage — recruitment, study, employment, and settlement," said Choi Jung-yoon, senior researcher at KEDI. "Simply expanding headcounts won’t solve regional workforce shortages." She emphasized the need for a data-based policy evaluation system, with periodic goal-setting and analysis of foreign students’ characteristics and needs at each stage. Japan is a key reference point. After launching a "100,000-student plan" in the 1980s and a "300,000-student plan" in 2008, the country hit its 300,000 target early in 2019. It is now pursuing a 400,000-student plan for 2023 to 2033, shifting focus from quantity to high-quality talent positioned to contribute to economic development. A notable feature of Japan's approach is multi-ministry coordination — with education, justice, foreign affairs, labor and others jointly managing admissions, immigration, campus support, employment pathways, and long-term settlement. Regional universities, particularly in Osaka and the northeast, are also building program strengths aligned with local industries. Gunma University, for example, promotes local settlement through internships tied directly to regional economic needs. The contrast with Korea is clear: more than 60 percent of foreign students in Korea want to work in Seoul regardless of where they studied. Meanwhile, 89 of Korea's 226 municipalities — nearly 40 percent — are officially designated as depopulating regions. Korea introduced the F-2-R visa last year, allowing foreign graduates to gain residency if they work in depopulating regions. The visa offers long-term stay, family accompaniment, and fewer job restrictions. "Local governments' economic plans and industry demand must be directly tied to foreign student recruitment," said a researcher at the Korea Migration Research and Training Center. "Key industries should be matched with relevant academic departments at nearby universities. Otherwise, neither local industries nor universities can gain real momentum." 2025-11-24 17:50:32
  • Fried chicken beats kimchi as Koreas global signature dish
    Fried chicken beats kimchi as Korea's global signature dish SEOUL, November 24 (AJP) - Fried chicken – not kimchi – is the foreign favorite Korean food, which explains Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s choice of dining out with his Korean tycoon friends – Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics and Chung Euisun of Hyundai Motor – last month. Nearly three out of 10 foreigners, or 28.3 percent, named Korean fried chicken as the most Korean menu they had eaten over the past year, according to a poll of 11,000 respondents across 22 cities worldwide conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korean Food Promotion Institute and released on Monday. Staple cabbage dish kimchi closely trailed at 28 percent, followed by bibimbap at 19.9 percent, ramyeon at 16.6 percent, and bulgogi at 14 percent. The same menu topped first-choice preferences for Korean dishes at 14 percent — well ahead of kimchi (9.5 percent), bibimbap (8.2 percent), and bulgogi (5.8 percent). Korean fried chicken has recently drawn global attention after Huang’s chimaek (a Korean combination of fried chicken and beer) night-out at a branch of “Kkanbu Chicken” in Seoul during his trip last month for APEC week. Shares of Kyochon F&B — Korea’s only listed fried chicken franchise — jumped as much as 23.31 percent in early trading to 4,900 won ($3.32) following the news. The company posted a third-quarter operating profit of 11.3 billion won, up 47.2 percent from a year earlier, with revenue rising 6 percent to 135.2 billion won. Net profit surged 68.9 percent to 7.6 billion won. Overall satisfaction with Korean cuisine remained high, with 94.2 percent of respondents who had tried Korean food saying they were satisfied. The share of consumers willing to try Korean food again surpassed 80 percent for the first time, rising 4.5 percentage points from last year to 80.6 percent. The survey also found that Korean cultural content continues to play a major role in boosting interest in Korean cuisine. With the global success of Netflix's animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” this year, 65.1 percent of respondents said Hallyu content initially drew them to Korean food. Based on the findings, the ministry plans to strengthen regional marketing, support overseas Korean restaurants, and expand collaborations linking Korean food with cultural content and ready-to-eat products. “We will expand the designation of outstanding overseas Korean restaurants and tailor promotion strategies to local consumer trends to elevate the global standing of Korean cuisine,” said Jeong Kyung-seok, director-general for food industry policy at the ministry. 2025-11-24 17:39:58
  • Coupang, latest breach in Korea, with no effective guardrail in sight
    Coupang, latest breach in Korea, with no effective guardrail in sight SEOUL, November 21 (AJP) - Coupang has emerged as the latest flashpoint in Korea's widening cybersecurity crisis, with customer data leaking yet again as major companies — from telecom operators to card issuers — continue to fall victim to preventable attacks under a regulatory system that seldom imposes meaningful penalties. Coupang said late Thursday that an "unauthorized third party" accessed the personal information of more than 4,500 customers. According to the company's emergency notice, the exposed data included names, email addresses, phone numbers, delivery addresses, and each user's five most recent order records. The company said it immediately blocked the intrusion route and has so far found no evidence of misuse. It apologized to affected customers and advised them to contact its service center for assistance. The breach comes amid a series of major security incidents across Korea's telecommunications and financial sectors this year, intensifying concerns over the country's ability to safeguard personal information despite its reputation as one of the world's most digitalized societies. SK Telecom is preparing for legal disputes over a large-scale USIM-related leak disclosed in April. The company has rejected a state mediation panel's recommendation to compensate the 23 million individuals affected at 300,000 won ($203.28) per person. It has already incurred more than 1 trillion won in costs related to the incident. KT customers experienced more direct financial losses after illegally smuggled femtocell devices were used to impersonate cell towers, intercept authentication codes, and trigger unauthorized small-sum mobile payments. Hundreds of victims have filed official complaints, and both police and the Korea Communications Commission are investigating the case. LG Uplus reported suspicious access attempts to its internal network around the same period, resulting in the confirmed leak of 300,000 customer records and fines exceeding 6 billion won. In the financial sector, Lotte Card suffered a major cyberattack that compromised nearly 300 million customer data files, amounting to about 200 gigabytes of internal records. Government data points to the scale of the problem. According to the Personal Information Protection Commission, 88.54 million pieces of personal information have been leaked across public and private institutions over the past five years. Public-sector breaches alone rose from 650,000 cases in 2022 to 3.52 million in 2023 and 3.91 million in 2024. Penalties, however, remain limited. Between 2021 and July 2025, Korea recorded 451 data-security incidents but issued only 87.7 billion won in fines and 2.49 billion won in administrative penalties, averaging just 1,019 won per leaked data entry. Korean law allows fines of up to 3 percent of company revenue, but firms may exclude revenue deemed unrelated to the violation when calculating penalties. This contrasts sharply with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, which permits fines of up to 20 million euros ($23.2 million) or 4 percent of annual global turnover. In 2021, Luxembourg imposed a 746 million-euro fine on Amazon for GDPR violations. A recent KAIST study found that widely used security plug-ins required by Korean financial and public institutions can themselves become attack pathways. These non-standard programs often conflict with the built-in security architecture of global web browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox, which follow unified W3C and WHATWG standards designed to maintain consistent security protocols. The study concluded that the vulnerabilities stem from Korea's continued reliance on proprietary, mandatory security software that can undermine rather than strengthen consumer protection, even as companies claim compliance with existing regulations. 2025-11-21 17:31:59
  • Korea braces up for travel boon during winter holiday season from China–Japan fallout
    Korea braces up for travel boon during winter holiday season from China–Japan fallout SEOUL, November 20 (AJP) - Korean travel agencies and the industry are bracing up to seize a potential boon from the fallout and escalating hostility between China and Japan over remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in early November on a potential Taiwan contingency that have led to a series of boycott-driven cancellations. Nearly 500,000 Chinese travelers have reportedly canceled Japan-related bookings — 32 percent of all Japan-bound reservations — after Beijing issued a warning against travel to Japan. Independent aviation analyst Li Hanming said cancellation rates surged to 82.1 percent on Sunday and 75.6 percent on Monday, noting that "the number of cancellations was 27 times higher than new bookings — a flurry of withdrawals unseen since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic." Chinese travel agencies, in compliance with the state advisory, are offering full refunds for canceled Japan tour packages. Korea has quickly emerged as the top alternative destination in the region. Data released Sunday by Chinese travel platform Qunar showed Korea ranking first among overseas destinations for Chinese travelers over the weekend of November 15 to 16, overtaking long-time No. 1 Japan. Korea also led in flight payments and travel-related search volume, with Seoul recording the highest number of queries. Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia followed. The travel disruption stems from remarks Prime Minister Takaichi made during a parliamentary budget committee session on November 7, in which she suggested that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan — and subsequent U.S. military intervention — could constitute an "existential crisis" for Japan and potentially invoke Japan's right to collective self-defense. Beijing demanded an immediate retraction and issued a de facto travel ban urging citizens to avoid Japan from November 14 after Tokyo refused. Korea stands to benefit most on the tourism front, as Chinese and Japanese travelers together make up nearly half of foreign arrivals. According to the Korea Tourism Organization's Data Lab, of 18,316,412 foreign visitors to Korea between October 2024 and September 2025, 5,233,649 were from China and 3,583,533 from Japan — a combined 48.1 percent of all inbound travelers. "We are carrying out our annual plans as scheduled. For the Chinese market, we are continuing pre-planned promotions targeting the winter vacation period and long holidays, particularly through online campaigns," said a spokesperson for the Korea Tourism Organization, adding that it was too early to assess the direct impact of China's travel advisory. Still, the travel industry is bracing up for a potential surge in traffic during the year-end holiday season and leading up to the Lunar New Year. Korean Air recently formed a strategic partnership with Chinese online travel giant Ctrip, part of the Trip.com Group, which has more than 300 million registered users. Korean Air already operates the largest number of Korea–China routes among carriers from both countries. As of August this year, the airline operates over 200 weekly flights between the two nations. 2025-11-20 17:29:46