Journalist

Yoo Na-hyun · Kim Yeon-jae
  • KOSPI hits record high as Samsung and SK hynix fly
    KOSPI hits record high as Samsung and SK hynix fly SEOUL, February 24 (AJP) - Seoul's benchmark KOSPI closed Tuesday, just shy of 6,000 milestone, less than a month after the break above 5,000. Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix also hit historic heights - 200,000 won, up 7,000 won from the previous close and 1,005,000 won, up 54,000 won respectively 2026-02-24 16:59:31
  • Lee-Lula summit: a warm embrace and strategic partnership
    Lee-Lula summit: a warm embrace and strategic partnership SEOUL, February 24 (AJP) -Cordiality defined the meeting between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during Lula’s three-day state visit to Seoul — his first in 21 years since 2005. Lula was the first state guest welcomed by Lee since the presidential office returned to Cheong Wa Dae in December last year, adding symbolic weight to the visit. The two leaders held formal talks at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 23, followed by a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony and a joint press conference. But beyond the official program, it was their personal chemistry that stood out. Both leaders, who rose from working-class backgrounds to their nations’ highest offices, shared a warm embrace — a gesture that underscored both political alignment and personal affinity. Seoul and Brasília agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a “strategic partnership,” signaling a deeper institutional framework for cooperation. Brazil — Latin America’s largest economy with a population exceeding 200 million — is a major agricultural and resource powerhouse and an influential voice of the Global South. The country maintains active engagement with China, India and Japan, positioning itself as a pivotal partner in emerging-market diplomacy. Lula departed on Tuesday after concluding his three-day state visit. 2026-02-24 15:49:22
  • South Korea ends 17-day campaign across ice and snow as Winter Olympics close
    South Korea ends 17-day campaign across ice and snow as Winter Olympics close SEOUL, February 23 (AJP) - The 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics concluded Sunday (KST), bringing down the curtain on a 17-day celebration of winter sports across northern Italy. The Games officially ended with a closing ceremony held at the Verona Arena early Sunday morning Korea time. South Korea, which sent a 130-member delegation including 71 athletes, collected a total of 10 medals — three gold, four silver and three bronze — to finish 13th overall. The team achieved its target of winning at least three gold medals, one more than at the 2022 Beijing Games, but fell short of its other goal of breaking into the top 10 in the medal standings. Short track speed skating once again proved to be the backbone of Korea’s medal haul. Two-time gold medalist Kim Gil-li led the charge, helping the team secure two golds, three silvers and two bronzes in the sport. Snowboarding, long considered a weak point for Korea, delivered one of the Games' most notable breakthroughs. Choi Ga-on captured gold in the women’s halfpipe, marking a milestone for the country’s snow events. In men’s snowboard competitions, Yoo Seung-eun earned a medal in big air, while Kim Sang-gyeom added another in parallel giant slalom, underscoring Korea’s growing competitiveness on snow. Overall, snowboarders claimed one gold, one silver and one bronze, exceeding expectations. Built on the traditional strength of ice events and bolstered by emerging success on snow, the Milan-Cortina Games signaled an expanding horizon for Korean winter sports. The next Winter Olympics will be held in the French Alps in 2030. 2026-02-23 16:51:04
  • Caps, flowers, and farewells in February commencement
    Caps, flowers, and farewells in February commencement SEOUL, February 23 (AJP) -Commencement season has returned. On Sunday, a degree conferment ceremony for February 2026 graduates was held at the open-air amphitheater on the Sinchon campus of Yonsei University. A total of 5,597 students received degrees, including 2,839 undergraduates, 2,252 master’s students and 506 doctoral candidates. Wearing academic gowns and caps, graduates gathered under clear winter skies, marking the formal end of their academic journey. Family members and friends filled the surrounding seats, offering applause, cheers and words of encouragement. Across the venue, crowds paused for photographs. Bouquets were exchanged, and small groups formed around graduates posing in front of campus landmarks. Some parents adjusted gowns and collars, while classmates compared schedules and future plans. The ceremony combined formality with personal moments. As names were called and degrees awarded, students stepped forward one by one, crossing from years of study into professional and personal independence. For many, the event marked both a conclusion and a transition — the end of campus life and the beginning of new careers, further studies or overseas opportunities. 2026-02-23 15:42:05
  • Robot royal guard patrol around Seoul palace through pilot operation
    Robot royal guard patrol around Seoul palace through pilot operation SEOUL, February 20 (AJP) - South Korea is expanding the use of artificial intelligence in heritage protection, as a patrol robot began a pilot operation at Changdeokgung Palace in central Seoul on Friday. The robot, named “Sunra-bot,” conducted a demonstration patrol near Yeonghwajeong Pavilion inside the UNESCO-listed palace complex. The name “Sunra” comes from the Joseon Dynasty-era sunragun, royal patrol guards who monitored the palace and surrounding areas of the capital. Equipped with sensors capable of detecting fire hazards and abnormal sounds in real time, the AI-powered robot moves autonomously around the palace grounds. In case of an emergency, it transmits alerts to the Changdeokgung management office and an integrated control center. Officials say the system is designed to supplement human patrols, particularly in low-traffic areas and during nighttime hours when continuous monitoring is more challenging. Sunra-bot operates two patrols during the day and seven at night, each lasting about 40 minutes. The Korea Heritage Service introduced one unit under a lottery-funded pilot program, marking a step toward integrating smart technologies into the management of national cultural assets. Authorities plan to assess the robot’s performance over a month before deciding whether to deploy additional units. As South Korea explores digital transformation across public sectors, cultural heritage sites are increasingly incorporating AI-based surveillance and safety systems aimed at preventing fire damage and improving rapid response capabilities. 2026-02-20 15:00:30
  • Lingering chill gives way to spring
    Lingering chill gives way to spring SEOUL, February 19 (AJP) - Morning temperatures still remained low across most parts of the country on Thursday, which marks "Woosoo" on the lunar calendar, a seasonal term that literally means the time when snow melts and turns to rain. Despite the lingering winter chill, the first harbingers of spring have begun to appear on the southern resort island of Jeju, with canola flowers coming into bloom. The sweeping fields of canola in Seogwipo are heralding the arrival of spring. 2026-02-19 17:35:34
  • Seollal hangover lingers as business returns to normal
    Seollal hangover lingers as business returns to normal SEOUL, February 19 (AJP) -Business resumed across the country following the long-weekend Lunar New Year holiday, as scenes from a traditional festival in central Seoul offered a final glimpse of the season’s festive mood. The 2026 Namsangol Seollal Festival, themed “Welcoming the Year with Blessings of the Horse,” was held from Feb. 16 to 18 at Namsangol Hanok Village in Jung District, Seoul. On Feb. 17, the day of the Lunar New Year, organizers hosted a rice cake soup sharing event, marking one of the holiday’s most symbolic moments. A total of 600 servings of tteokguk were offered free of charge to visitors. Tteokguk, the representative New Year’s dish made by simmering thinly sliced rice cakes in rich beef broth, symbolizes the gaining of a year in age and wishes for prosperity. Participants shared warm bowls of soup while reflecting on the meaning of the holiday. Throughout the festival, traditional cultural programs were operated, including Seollal-themed quizzes and explanations of ancestral rite tables. Performances blending yeonhui (traditional folk performance), b-boy dance, pansori and taekwondo demonstrations drew crowds, offering a modern reinterpretation of Korean heritage. Hands-on activities — such as making horse-shaped soap, mother-of-pearl crafts, rice cakes and practicing traditional New Year bows — attracted families to the venue. Visitors also enjoyed folk games set up across the hanok village, embracing the festive atmosphere as the new year began. As offices reopened and daily routines resumed after the holiday break, the festival served as a quiet bridge between tradition and the return to normal life — a final reminder of Seollal’s spirit before the pace of the city fully picked up again. 2026-02-19 11:06:34
  • Practice makes perfect ahead of Seollal
    Practice makes perfect ahead of Seollal SEOUL, February 12 (AJP) - Bowing to elders and tossing wooden sticks across a board game mat, children are rehearsing the rituals of Seollal before the holiday even begins. Across South Korea, traditional Lunar New Year experience programs are underway ahead of Seollal, offering young participants the chance to prelearn customs that once passed naturally from one generation to the next. With the nation’s biggest holiday set for next week, cultural centers and heritage venues in cities including Seoul are hosting hands-on sessions focused on etiquette, attire and play. Dressed in hanbok, Korea’s traditional clothing, children practice sebae — the formal New Year’s bow offered to elders. Instructors guide them through posture and phrasing, explaining that the gesture symbolizes respect and the wish for blessings in the year ahead. They also gather around boards to play yutnori, a folk game traditionally enjoyed during Seollal. Throwing the four wooden sticks and moving their markers across the board, participants experience the festive atmosphere that typically fills family homes during the holiday. Seollal, observed on the first day of the lunar calendar, marks the symbolic start of the year. Families reunite, perform ancestral rites, share traditional meals and exchange well-wishes for health and prosperity. For many children, these workshops serve as a quiet rehearsal — ensuring that when the real holiday arrives, the bow feels natural, the game familiar and the meaning understood. 2026-02-12 17:28:56
  • Southern Seoul bathed under Lotte Luminarie
    Southern Seoul bathed under Lotte Luminarie SEOUL, February 12 (AJP) - The “2026 Lotte Luminarie: Wish Shines On” festival is underway at World Park Plaza of Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, southeastern Seoul, bathing the surrounding area in the glow of approximately 270,000 lights. Held under the theme “Wish Shines On,” this year’s event centers on a 17-meter-high illuminated dome, accompanied by a newly installed cross-shaped tunnel measuring 63 meters wide and 25 meters long. The design expands on last year’s circular corridor, offering visitors a more layered and immersive visual experience. Four 16-meter-tall towers rise from each corner of the plaza, while the tunnel entrance has been shaped into a grand archway, enhancing the sense of arrival. Inspired by traditional Gothic architecture, the structures are intricately outlined with light, creating a cathedral-like atmosphere beneath the night sky. Visitors walk through a network of glowing corridors and open plazas, where shifting patterns of light transform the urban landscape into a temporary winter spectacle — part festival, part architectural installation. The Luminarie will run through March 8. 2026-02-12 17:11:17
  • BTS Comeback D-37: 600 years, 1 night, and 7 voices bring the world together 
    BTS Comeback D-37: 600 years, 1 night, and 7 voices bring the world together  SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - Cities are defined by lines. In Joseon-era Hanyang (now Seoul), those lines were the four great gates. They marked where authority began and where daily life ended, where the state met the street. Within that geometry, one point drew all lines inward: Gwanghwamun, the royal gateway to Gyeongbokgung Palace. For centuries, this was where the king entered the city and the people first met power. Over time, it became something else as well — a site of protests, ceremonies, mourning and celebration. The former heart of a dynasty slowly evolved into the civic face of modern Seoul. What remained constant was its role as a threshold: between palace and street, authority and public, past and present.That threshold is now preparing to host a different kind of procession. The Forgotten Stage Beneath the City In front of Gwanghwamun once stood a broad ceremonial platform known as the weol-dae. Built in 1868 during the restoration of the palace, it elevated the gate both physically and symbolically. This was where royal authority was displayed, where rituals unfolded, and where the court faced the city. It disappeared in 1923, buried beneath tram tracks under the Japanese colonial rule. For nearly a century, it survived only in maps and memory. Then, during restoration work in 2010, its foundations re-emerged underground. After years of excavation and study, the wol-dae was fully restored in 2023. Stone by stone, time was stitched back into place. Today, it stands again — not as a relic, but as a working part of Seoul’s urban landscape. Another king's platform was set in the Geunjeongjeon, the throne hall where kings gave orders for everyday governance. If that inner weol-dae symbolized the king's elevated power, the outer one at Gwanghwamun represented connection — the meeting point of palace and people. It is here, at this historic edge, that BTS’s stage is expected to rise. The King’s Road, Reimagined From Geunjeongjeon, through Heungnyemun, and out to Gwanghwamun, runs a straight ceremonial axis once reserved for royal processions. It was known, informally, as the king’s road. For centuries, only authority moved along it. The government and people have granted for the entrance of seven musicians. According to event plans, the performance area is expected to stretch from the palace gates to the northern end of Gwanghwamun Square, aligning with the statues of King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sun-sin. Large screens will extend the stage across the plaza, turning the entire space into a single, continuous performance zone. The concert will unfold across a historic corridor. A route once designed for monarchs will guide a global pop phenomenon. When History Meets the Present There is a reason this setting matters. Gwanghwamun has always been more than architecture. It is where Korea’s political, cultural and emotional currents have repeatedly converged. Dictatorships fell here. Candlelight protests filled this square. National mourning unfolded on these stones. Now, music will. On stones shaped for royal ritual, choreography will unfold. Along an axis designed for kings, fans will gather. Beneath gates built to defend a dynasty, music will travel instantly around the world. It is a reminder of how Seoul moves forward: not by erasing its past, but by reusing it. From the four gates to the central gate, from throne halls to public squares, from royal processions to pop anthems, one line continues to run through Seoul. On March 21, that line will carry sound, light and memory — from the heart of a former kingdom to a global audience. The oldest stage will host the most contemporary voice. 2026-02-12 15:17:40