AJU PRESS - ASIA NEWS HUB

Journalist

Kim Hee-su, Han Jun-gu khs@ajupress.com

[[K-Film]] South Korean coming-of-age drama to compete at Toronto film fest this fall SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - Director Yoon Ga-eun's film has been invited to the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to be held in Canada this fall. According to the film's distributor on Thursday, "The World of Love" has been selected to compete along with nine other films in the "Platform" section, the TIFF's only juried competition, which "spotlights films with high artistic merit and strong directorial vision." Organizers of the festival described Yoon's film as a "powerful, emotionally layered drama" in which "a spirited teenager confronts buried pain, while explores the quiet resilience it takes to own one's story — and future." Since making her directorial debut with "The Taste of Salvia," a 19-minute short film, in 2019, the up-and-coming director has mostly directed youth-oriented films that explore the emotional complexities and challenges of coming of age among adolescents. "The World of Love" is set for release here in the second half of this year, after getting its world premiere at the TIFF, which runs from Sept. 4 to 14 in the largest Canadian city. 2025-07-24 11:28:20
G-Dragon to promote upcoming APEC Summit in Gyeongju SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - G-Dragon, a member of the K-pop boy band Big Bang, will promote the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which is scheduled to be held in the historic southern city of Gyeongju this fall. In a message on Facebook on Wednesday, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who has been heading preparations for the two-day summit to be held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, revealed that the flamboyant rapper has been named promotional ambassador, adding that his huge global popularity would help the country successfully host the multilateral gathering of some 21 member countries. "With just 100 days left until the summit, we expect great synergy with his help," Kim said. Later in the day on Instagram, G-Dragon, who will participate in making promotional videos and other activities, expressed his pleasure at having the opportunity to lend a hand for the summit. Meanwhile, another round of the third Senior Officials' Meeting and Related Meetings (SOM3), a preparatory session for the summit, is set to be held in Incheon, west of Seoul, for three days starting from Saturday. 2025-07-23 16:48:34
[[K-film]] Park Chan-wook's latest film to compete at Venice Film Festival next month SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - Director Park Chan-wook's latest film has been invited to compete at this year's Venice International Film Festival next month. According to organizers of the prestigious annual festival in a livestreamed event on Tuesday, "No Other Choice" will vie for the top prize along with 20 other films, becoming the first South Korean film invited to the main competition section in over a decade, since the late director Kim Ki-duk's "Pietà," which won the Golden Lion in 2012. Based on American writer Donald E. Westlake's novel "The Ax," the thriller revolves around an office worker, played by actor Lee Byung-hun, who struggles to support his family as a breadwinner after suddenly losing his job. It is Park's second film to be invited to the festival, following "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" in 2005, marking his return to the international spotlight after his critically-acclaimed "Decision to Leave," which earned him the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022. The veteran filmmaker also took home the Grand Prix award with "Oldboy" in 2004 and the Jury Prize with "Thirst" in 2009. During a press event held in Seoul in January this year before filming began, Park recalled that he started writing the script some 17 years ago, and said "Completing it after such a long period of struggle made me realize I was right not to give up on this project." "No Other Choice," his 12th feature, is slated for release here this fall, after being screed at the festival, which runs for about two weeks in the Italian city from Aug. 27. 2025-07-23 14:12:15
Court postpones another of Lee's trials indefinitely, bringing all his cases to halt SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) - A district court on Tuesday decided to postpone President Lee Jae-myung's trial over alleged illegal money transfers to North Korea. The Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi Province said it made the decision in consideration of his status as president. "In order to ensure that the defendant (Lee) can fulfill his official duties guaranteed by the Constitution, we decided to postpone the trial to a later date for the sake of continuity in state affairs," the court explained. Lee has been accused of arranging the illegal transfer of US$8 million to North Korea between 2019 and 2020 to facilitate cross-border projects during his time as governor of Gyeonggi Province. Tuesday's decision comes after similar postponements of his four other separate trials, which include accusations of making false statements, soliciting perjury, improperly using a corporate credit card, and helping a private developer reap huge profits from a land development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul, in 2015, when he was mayor there, causing massive losses to the city. Now that all five of Lee's pending trials have been suspended indefinitely following his inauguration early last month, controversies remain over the trials of other defendants and alleged accomplices, which are scheduled to proceed. There have also been disputes within legal circles over the scope of prosecution. Although the Constitution grants a sitting president immunity from criminal charges, except for those of insurrection or treason, all the allegations against Lee stem from incidents that occurred before his election on June 4. 2025-07-22 15:57:54
TWICE's world tour kicks off with immersive panoramic stage performances SEOUL, July 21 (AJP) - K-pop girl group TWICE will fly to Osaka, Japan this weekend for concerts as part of the first leg of their world tour, their agency JYP Entertainment said on Monday. Kicking off the tour with concerts in Incheon, Gyeonggi Province over the weekend, the nine members are set to perform in Osaka on Saturday and Sunday, before heading to other Japanese cities such as Fukuoka and Tokyo in September. They will also travel to Macau, the Philippines, and Singapore in October, followed by Sydney and Melbourne in November, and then Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taiwan in December, with more stops to be added later. Notably, they will perform on a 360-degree stage throughout the tour, which would allow fans to have more immersive and interactive experiences, just like at the concerts held here last week, where the girls showcased their latest song, "This Is For," for the first time just a day after its release. Meanwhile, they also teased their concert film celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut, scheduled for release in late October. 2025-07-21 17:46:01
Gov't begins handing out cash vouchers to all South Koreans SEOUL, July 21 (AJP) - Starting Monday, all South Koreans are entitled to receive a handout ranging from 150,000 won to 550,000 won (US$108–$395), depending on their income brackets. Each eligible person can apply by Sept. 12 to receive 150,000 won in the form of cash vouchers, credit card points, or other gift options valid at local stores for three months, followed by an additional 100,000 won this fall, though the top 10 percent of earners will be excluded from the second round of payments. Additional support ranging from 30,000 won to 300,000 won may be provided to the underprivileged, the socially vulnerable, single-parent households and those living in certain rural areas, making some recipients eligible for up to 550,000 won in total. The vouchers can be used until Nov. 30 at most small neighborhood businesses such as local supermarkets, restaurants, convenience stores, and cafés, but they cannot be used at department stores, large supermarket chains, or other chain stores. Earlier President Lee Jae-myung said the handouts are part of efforts to boost consumption and revive the economy deteriorated in the wake of disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched Dec. 3 declaration of martial law debacle last year. But some have criticized the universal, one-off payment as a politically motivated populist move, coming just shortly after Lee took office early last month. 2025-07-21 14:18:48
[[K-Culture]] Kim Hye-soon becomes first Asian poet to win German literature prize SEOUL, July 18 (AJP) - South Korean poet Kim Hye-soon has been awarded the International Prize for Literature by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Germany for the German translation of her poetry collection "Autobiography of Death" on Thursday. HKW announced Kim as the winner from a shortlist of six authors, including Turkey’s Dogan Akhanli, Canada’s Sarah Bernstein, Ukraine’s Anna Melikova, France’s Neige Sinno, and the U.S.'s Jesmyn Ward. The jury unanimously selected Kim, saying that her poetry reveals meaning “precisely in the enigmatic,” adding, “The texts open up as we follow their rhythm and read them over and over again, the images reveal themselves like directions that only become visible when the right direction has already been taken.” Jury member and German writer Deniz Utlu praised the collection as “translations from death’s native language,” describing it as “miraculously opening up the possibility of listening to this language as it sounds on the threshold of the afterlife.” Kim did not attend the ceremony in person but delivered her remarks via video call, expressing gratitude to translators Park Sul and Uljana Wolf, the jury, HKW, her publisher S. Fischer, and all those involved in organizing the event. The award, established in 2009, honors outstanding contemporary works translated into German and is jointly presented to both the author and the translators. "Autobiography of Death" was originally published in Korean in 2016 and translated into German earlier this year. The poems, inspired by Kim’s collapse in a subway station in 2015, reflect on national tragedies such as the MERS outbreak and the Sewol ferry disaster. The collection comprises 49 poems exploring the boundary between life and death. Kim is the first Asian and the first poet to receive the HKW prize. South Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang was also a finalist for the award in 2017 with the German translation of her novel "The Vegetarian." 2025-07-18 13:49:51
Lee reignites debate on constitutional reform on Constitution Day SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - President Lee Jae-myung called for constitutional reform on Thursday, as South Korea marks the 77th anniversary of Constitution Day. In a message posted on Facebook, Lee said, "It is time to revise the Constitution to keep up with the changing times, just as people change their clothes with the seasons," implying the need to amend the Constitution to reform the country's five-year, single-term presidency along with other political reforms. Constitutional reform has been up for consideration several times before but has never succeeded. He then urged the National Assembly to take the lead in the process. Praising the country's democratic resilience in overcoming numerous adversities and crises throughout its painful history including disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol's Dec. 3 declaration of martial law last year, Lee stressed that a revised Constitution should serve as a "pathfinder for taking a new step toward a future grounded in the rule of law." In celebration of the proclamation of the Constitution on July 17, 1948, Constitution Day was observed as one of the country's major national holidays until it was scrapped in 2008, when the government decided to reduce the number of public holidays after the five-day workweek took effect across the board. Meanwhile, Kang Dae-sik of the main opposition People Power Party proposed a bill last week to reinstate Constitution Day as a national holiday. A slew of other lawmakers have consistently submitted similar proposals in recent years, citing the need to revive the spirit of the day. 2025-07-17 14:39:40
Ex-President stalls probe, seeks injunction against detention SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - Disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol has refused to comply with questioning over his botched martial law debacle late last year. Independent prosecutors on Wednesday once again failed to bring him in for questioning related to his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, following two previous attempts, as Yoon, who has been detained at a remand prison in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province since last week, continues to stall, citing health reasons. Yoon, who claims he is willing to be questioned at the prison, criticized the prosecutors' requests as mere attempts to "publicly humiliate" him. According to his lawyers, Yoon has also filed an injunction disputing the legality of his detention, with a court scheduled to decide at a hearing on Friday. Meanwhile, prosecutors, who have prohibited all visitors except Yoon's lawyers from seeing him, are reportedly considering indicting him without further questioning if he continues to refuse to cooperate, rather than seeking an extension of his detention. Yoon's current detention period ends on Saturday. 2025-07-16 16:24:46
North Korea hails UNESCO listing of Mt. Kumgang SEOUL, July 16 (AJP) - North Korean state media on Wednesday reported the country’s recent inclusion of Mt. Kumkang on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The news coverage came about three days after the decision was made at the international body's annual gathering in Paris over the weekend. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) hailed the decision, saying that the country's scenic mountain was recognized for its "exquisite harmony of cultural tradition, natural ecosystem, and beautiful scenery." With the latest addition, North Korea now has three UNESCO World Heritage sites including two previous ones - the sprawling complex of ancient Koguryo tombs in Pyongyang and surrounding provinces, and historic monuments in the southern border town of Kaesong. Meanwhile, the South's southern port city of Busan was selected to host the next gathering scheduled to take place in July 2026. 2025-07-16 14:19:41