Journalist
Kim Dae-sik
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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Seoul and Washington edge closer on currency safeguard amid protracted tariff talks SEOUL, October 06 (AJP) - South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Monday that Seoul and Washington have reached a "considerable level of understanding" on concerns over possible turbulence in South Korea's foreign exchange market caused by the ongoing tariff negotiations with the United States. Speaking to reporters at Incheon International Airport after returning from New York, Kim said both sides were "narrowing their differences" on how to minimize the deal's impact on the won-dollar exchange rate. "I believe there was a shared recognition of how sensitive our foreign exchange market could be in this deal," he said. According to the presidential office, Kim held a follow-up meeting on October 4 (local time) in New York with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The trip was arranged quietly and known to only a handful of senior aides. Kim played down speculation that it had been a secret mission, saying, "It just happened to take place during the holiday, and I had the time. I only met Secretary Lutnick." The minister's visit marks the latest in a series of negotiations aimed at finalizing the July framework agreement under which Washington would lower reciprocal tariffs on South Korean goods from 25 percent to 15 percent, while Seoul would commit to a 350 billion dollar (about 493 trillion won) investment package in the U.S. The two sides have yet to sign a memorandum of understanding, with disputes lingering over the investment's structure, profit-sharing arrangements, and South Korea's demand for a currency swap with the U.S. Federal Reserve to safeguard the won. Seoul has argued that without such a safety net, a large-scale dollar outflow could shake its financial markets. "There were discussions on the swap," Kim said. "It's not that progress was made, but both sides acknowledged how significant and sensitive this issue is for our market." Asked whether the swap could take the form of an unlimited facility, Kim said, "I don't know whether it will be unlimited, but there was a shared understanding that the deal itself poses a serious challenge for our currency market." He also said the two sides did not discuss specific investment targets or President Donald Trump's previous description of South Korea's contribution as an "upfront payment." "There were no such talks," he said. A recent survey by broadcaster SBS and polling firm Ipsos found that 88 percent of respondents viewed the U.S. investment demand as excessive, while 55 percent said the government was handling the negotiations properly. Financial markets have remained cautious amid the uncertainty. The KOSPI fell 2.45 percent last week to close at 3,386.03, slipping below the 3,400 mark for the first time in nine trading sessions. President Lee Jae Myung has warned that withdrawing the full investment amount without a swap arrangement could trigger a crisis similar to the 1997 Asian financial meltdown. Kim said follow-up meetings would likely take place "in the near future," possibly before President Trump's visit to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju later this month, where he is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump is scheduled to attend the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28, hold a bilateral meeting with Japan's incoming Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is expected to take office in mid-October, and then travel to South Korea around October 29 for the APEC meeting. Seoul aims to narrow differences ahead of the summit, though officials say the government will not compromise key principles in pursuit of a deal. 2025-10-06 08:49:50 -
South Korea sees surge in online drug trafficking cases, most found on X SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - The number of online drug trafficking cases referred to police by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has risen to its highest level in five years, with most illegal activity detected on X, formerly known as Twitter. According to data released by Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Mi-hwa on October 5, the MFDS reported 85 cases of online narcotics trafficking to investigative agencies between January and August this year. That figure marks a sharp rise from zero cases in 2023 and nearly doubles the total number of 45 cases reported over the past five years combined. The ministry said it referred posts involving the sale or promotion of narcotics, psychotropic substances, cannabis, and controlled drugs. While officials detected nearly 50,000 illegal narcotics posts last year, none were sent to police at the time, drawing criticism from the National Assembly. This year, the MFDS said it has worked more closely with law enforcement to address the issue. "There was criticism that no cases were referred last year, so this year we have made active efforts to work closely with investigative agencies," an MFDS official explained. From January to August, the ministry detected 31,894 online posts related to narcotics trafficking, slightly fewer than last year, but the number of referrals has increased sharply. Social media accounted for 22.3 percent of those detections, or 7,103 posts. Among them, 85.8 percent—more than 6,000 posts—were found on X. Facebook had 28 cases, YouTube had two, and Instagram had none. The data means nearly nine out of ten illegal narcotics posts appeared on X, which is owned by Elon Musk. Lawmakers say the platform’s anonymity and loose content oversight have turned it into the primary channel for drug promotion and transactions in South Korea. "Recently, the promotion and distribution of narcotics through social media have become alarmingly easy, posing a serious threat to public safety," Seo said. "The government must expand its monitoring workforce and budget to systematically block illegal online drug distribution." Officials and experts have warned that online drug trafficking has expanded rapidly in South Korea, moving from private messaging apps to public social networks. Authorities say the trend has blurred the line between domestic and international operations, pushing regulators and police to strengthen cooperation in line with broader anti-narcotics efforts involving the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. 2025-10-05 14:24:50 -
Pyongyang unveils new weapons, warns Seoul and Washington at military exhibition SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country will continue to strengthen its military capabilities to counter what he called growing threats from the United States and South Korea, as he opened a major military hardware exhibition in Pyongyang showcasing new missile systems, including what appears to be a hypersonic variant of the KN-23. The exhibition, titled "Defence Development-2025," opened in the North Korean capital on October 4 to mark the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea. In a speech carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on October 5, Kim said the event offered a visual display of the country's "general level attained by our defence capabilities," describing its nuclear deterrent as the "backbone" of national security. "This exhibition features the recent results of the important projects that we have pressed on with in order to put the structure of the DPRK’s military capabilities, with its nuclear deterrent as the backbone, on an increasingly modern, advanced footing," Kim said. He thanked scientists and technicians in the munitions industry, saying their work "constitutes the highest praise for our Party’s 80-year-long history." Kim said North Korea’s defense sector had reached a level "much higher than the founder generation of the Juche-oriented defense industry hoped to reach," and warned that the country could not afford to ease its pace of weapons development. "The moment we feel complacency leads to the beginning of our advance getting sluggish," he said. "The U.S.–ROK nuclear alliance is making rapid progress... and the United States is taking measures for expanding the stockpile of its military assets in and around the ROK, posing a real and serious threat to the security of our country and others in the region." He accused Washington of upgrading its reconnaissance and strike capabilities to make "preemptive strikes" easier and said Pyongyang had "assigned special assets to the major targets of our concern" in proportion to the U.S. buildup in South Korea. "They themselves should have to judge whether the territory of the ROK would be a safe place in any case," Kim warned. Photos released by KCNA showed new missile systems on display, including one labeled "Hwasong-11 Ma." Analysts in Seoul identified it as a new version of the KN-23, a short-range ballistic missile often referred to as the North Korean version of Russia’s Iskander. According to Yonhap News Agency, the Hwasong-11 Ma appears to carry a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) warhead, a design that would allow the missile to fly at speeds above Mach 5 while maneuvering at low altitude to evade interception. The KN-23 has been among North Korea’s most frequently tested missiles, with versions launched from road vehicles, railcars, and even submarines. It is estimated to have a range exceeding 800 kilometers (around 500 miles), allowing it to strike targets anywhere in South Korea. During his speech, Kim also suggested that new strategic goals would soon be announced for North Korea’s defense industry. "Our powerful assets for national defence capability will develop more rapidly without a moment of delay," he said. "Everyone will soon know the new goals to be set forth for the defence technology sector and the aspect of its development at the next stage." KCNA said the exhibition featured "ultra-modern weapon systems developed into the pivotal military hardware of our armed forces," describing the venue as "full of the latest defence assets, an ensemble of the Juche-oriented defence sci-tech strength." Senior officials, military commanders, and defense scientists attended the opening ceremony, where Kim reviewed a guard of honor before touring the exhibition hall. 2025-10-05 11:59:14 -
Government restores 132 systems after Daejeon data center fire, mobile ID service back online SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - Ten days after a massive fire crippled South Korea's main government data network, 132 of the 647 affected information systems have been restored, including 22 top-priority platforms, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on October 5, 2025. As of 6 a.m. Sunday, the overall recovery rate stood at 20.4 percent, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous day. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said that the partial restoration of OnMail, the official email system for government employees, and the mobile government ID app will help improve work efficiency across public offices. The fire broke out on September 26, 2025, at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, which houses South Korea's central data and cloud infrastructure. The blaze began in a fifth-floor server room containing lithium-ion batteries and burned for nearly 22 hours before it was extinguished. The incident paralyzed 647 administrative and information systems, including key public services such as the National Veterans Affairs system, the Government Legislation Information Center, and the national complaint portal. The G-Drive, a shared storage system used by civil servants, was also completely destroyed. Officials confirmed that the system had no backup, making recovery impossible. More than 500 personnel from public agencies and private firms have been deployed for recovery efforts. However, the pace has been slow as damaged systems must be rebuilt or relocated to a government–private cloud center in Daegu. The fire has also reignited debate about the safety of energy storage systems (ESS), which are often used in large facilities like data centers to stabilize the power supply. Lawmakers have called for stronger oversight and more comprehensive safety management to prevent similar incidents. 2025-10-05 11:29:30 -
Breakfast habits change in South Korea as more young adults skip morning meals SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - Breakfast is falling out of favor in South Korea, especially among young adults, according to new government data showing a steady rise in people skipping their morning meal. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Sunday in its 2024 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey released on October 5, 2025, that 35.3 percent of Koreans aged one and older did not eat breakfast regularly last year. That means more than one in three people are now going without breakfast. The rate has been climbing every year for the past decade, up from 26.2 percent in 2015 to 35.3 percent in 2024, a rise of 9.1 percentage points. Skipping breakfast is most common among people in their 20s. The survey found 62.1 percent of South Koreans in that age group skip breakfast, and among women, the figure rises to 67.5 percent — roughly two out of three. The rate drops with age: 46.8 percent in their 30s, 39.1 percent in their 40s, 35.5 percent in their teens, and 25.3 percent in their 50s. Only 4.9 percent of those aged 70 and older said they skip breakfast. For comparison, U.S. data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that about 15.6 percent of American adults skipped breakfast between 2015 and 2018. Among children and teenagers aged 2 to 19, roughly 17 percent went without breakfast between 2017 and early 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Medical researchers have warned that skipping breakfast may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic problems. A study by Samsung Medical Center found that people who skipped breakfast had higher risks of heart and metabolic diseases than those who ate three regular meals a day. The research also showed that breakfast skippers had higher levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood sugar, and blood pressure than people who did not skip meals. 2025-10-05 10:48:51 -
President Lee urges humanitarian progress on divided families SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung said on October 3 that communication among divided families must move forward and pledged to ask North Korea to treat the matter on humanitarian grounds. Lee invited eight displaced people to the Peace Observatory in Ganghwa, Incheon, on the first day of the Chuseok holiday. He told them decades of separation between relatives were the result of political failures and vowed to work toward improving inter-Korean relations. "Earlier, I saw geese flying freely in a line across the river. Animals can move back and forth without restriction, but people draw lines and point guns at each other if they cross," Lee said. "It is heartbreaking that this has been our reality for so many decades." He noted that tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang have now cut off nearly all contact. "There was a time when families could be reunited and exchange messages, but now even that is gone. I feel remorse that this situation is due to shortcomings in politics, including my own," he said. Lee said he hoped hostility would ease so families could at least learn whether relatives are still alive. "Time is not unlimited. I will do everything possible to improve relations so that the day when families can hear news from their loved ones and meet again comes sooner," he added. During the meeting, participants shared personal requests. One said, "If I have the chance, I want to visit my hometown." Another asked, "I hope the president can help us find out whether our relatives are alive." Others pleaded for even the ability to exchange letters. Lee responded that humanitarian concerns should not be blocked by political or military confrontation. "Even if we compete or clash in other areas, confirming whether divided families are alive and allowing at least the exchange of letters is the responsibility of politics on both sides," he said. He added that relations between Seoul and Pyongyang are "completely cut off and in very poor condition" and remarked that he would ask the North to consider the issue from a humanitarian perspective. The issue of divided families has remained one of the most enduring humanitarian wounds on the Korean Peninsula. Since the 1953 armistice formalized the division, many families have never learned the fate of relatives across the border. More than 70 years later, most of those separated by the war are elderly or have died, and opportunities for reunions grow more limited. According to a government survey, as of 2024, around 134,160 people had registered with the Unification Ministry as separated family members for possible reunions. But only about 37,806 of them remain alive, and more than 66 percent are aged 80 or older. In 2021, the Unification Ministry reported that among 47,004 applicants still alive, the majority were aged 80 or older. Advocates warn the clock is running out. Many registered separated family members have passed away without seeing or hearing from their loved ones in the North. The cessation of exchanges—both official and private—has left many families in limbo. 2025-10-03 15:11:27 -
LG Energy Solution to resume US trips one month after detention of S. Korean workers SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - LG Energy Solution is sending staff back to the United States, ending a one-month freeze on business travel triggered by the mass detention of South Korean workers at its joint battery plant in Georgia. The move signals a step toward normalizing operations for South Korea’s battery industry, which had been rattled by the unprecedented crackdown. The company announced on October 2 that it would restart trips gradually after the Chuseok holiday, South Korea's autumn thanksgiving holiday season, beginning with essential personnel. Travel had been suspended since September 4, when U.S. immigration authorities detained 47 LG Energy Solution employees and more than 250 partner company staff at the HL-GA plant it is building with Hyundai Motor in Bryan County, Georgia. The detentions caused immediate delays at the site and heightened concerns among South Korean firms about legal exposure for workers on short-term assignments. LG Energy Solution said the decision followed discussions in a bilateral working group, where it confirmed that workers with B-1 short-term business visas and ESTA travel authorizations can legally carry out equipment installation, inspection, and maintenance work in U.S. factories. "It was also taken into account that we had been using legitimate visas consistent with the purpose and duration of the trips," the company said. The firm has introduced safeguards aimed at preventing further incidents. Business travel will be organized mainly around B-1 visas, while ESTA authorizations will only be used for meetings or event attendance. The company also outlined plans to strengthen on-site legal services, require staff to carry documentation proving the legitimacy of their work, and assign responsibility for compliance to managers at each subsidiary with additional support from outside counsel. "We will ensure safe business travel environments to maintain trust with customers and do our utmost to normalize the construction and operation of our U.S. plants," LG Energy Solution said in a statement. The restart is expected to accelerate projects that had been slowed by the disruption. LG Energy Solution operates or is building seven factories in the United States, part of an aggressive push to meet surging demand for electric vehicle batteries. At the HL-GA site in Georgia, installation and preparation work that was halted after the detentions is set to resume. Other South Korean battery makers are also moving back to normal schedules. SK On recently reinstated its B-1 visa holders and lifted travel suspensions, while Samsung SDI said its U.S. operations were not affected by the incident. The detentions underscored a growing tension point in South Korea-U.S. business ties. For South Korean companies, short-term travel by engineers and technicians is central to building new U.S. plants. The arrests raised alarm in Seoul and prompted direct government engagement with Washington to clarify what work foreign nationals can legally perform under different visa categories. Industry officials say the swift resumption of travel is essential to keep multibillion-dollar projects on track. LG Energy Solution’s U.S. investments, along with those of SK On and Samsung SDI, form a critical part of both South Korea’s global battery expansion and U.S. efforts to localize electric vehicle supply chains. 2025-10-03 14:25:19 -
Survey shows 80% of South Koreans reject U.S. upfront demand in tariff talks SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - A strong majority of South Koreans believe Washington's demand for a $350 billion upfront investment in the ongoing tariff negotiations is unfair, according to a survey of 1,008 people aged 18 and older, conducted by pollster Realmeter. The poll found that 80.1 percent of respondents said the demand was unreasonable. Within that group, 61.4 percent called it "very unreasonable" and 18.7 percent said it was "somewhat unreasonable." Only 12.4 percent said it was acceptable, with 5.1 percent describing it as "very acceptable" and 7.3 percent "somewhat acceptable." Realmeter said the sharp disapproval reflected public sentiment that the U.S. demand amounted to a "threatening request," especially after recent tensions involving a South Korean national detained in the United States. The agency said the results showed a strong awareness among the public of the need to protect national interests. The survey showed little regional divide. More than 70 percent in all parts of the country said the U.S. stance was unreasonable, including 84.0 percent in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province and 84.8 percent in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces. By age group, disapproval was above 60 percent across the board and reached its highest level among those in their 50s, at 88.5 percent. On how the government is handling the negotiations so far—rejecting the U.S. demand while continuing talks—61.9 percent said the approach was appropriate, while 30.5 percent disagreed. Asked about the best negotiating strategy, 33.7 percent chose "conditional negotiations" that would stick to principles while allowing limited concessions to strengthen leverage. A tougher line, rejecting the demand outright, was backed by 24.6 percent, while 19.7 percent said South Korea should pursue broader international cooperation alongside bilateral talks. Only 16.2 percent said the government should make concessions for the sake of the alliance. The survey was conducted Oct. 1–2 through automated mobile phone calls. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level, with a response rate of 4.1 percent. Full details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website. 2025-10-03 13:42:57 -
KAIST builds 'physics-smart' AI to discover new materials faster SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - The Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) says it has developed an artificial intelligence that understands the laws of physics, making it possible to discover new materials quickly even with only small amounts of data. The advance could speed up work in energy, aerospace, electronics, and other areas where designing and testing materials normally takes years of costly experiments. Traditionally, figuring out a material's properties requires vast amounts of experimental data and expensive equipment. KAIST's team, led by Yoo Seung-hwa of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, worked with Im Jae-hyuk of Kyung Hee University and Ryu Byung-ki of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI). Together they used a technique called Physics-Informed Machine Learning (PIML), which teaches AI to follow the same physical rules that govern the real world. In one study, the researchers worked on hyperelastic materials such as rubber. Using just one experiment, their AI could figure out both how the material stretches and its underlying properties. Normally this would require complex datasets, but their physics-informed neural network (PINN) was able to succeed even when data was limited or noisy. In another project, the team applied the method to thermoelectric materials, which can turn heat into electricity. With only a few measurements, the AI could estimate key properties like how well the material conducts heat and how efficiently it generates electricity. They also introduced a physics-informed neural operator (PINO), a more advanced model that can make accurate predictions for new materials without retraining. After being trained on 20 materials, the AI correctly predicted the properties of 60 new ones. "These results show the first real example of AI that understands physical laws being applied to materials research," said Yoo. "It means that even when data is limited, we can still identify material properties in a trustworthy way, and this approach can spread into many areas of engineering." The first study, co-authored by KAIST doctoral students Moon Hyun-bin and Park Dong-geun, was published on Aug. 13 in Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. The second, co-authored by Moon, Lee Song-ho, and researcher Wabi Demeke, was published on Aug. 22 in npj Computational Materials. Both projects were supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Ministry of Science and ICT. The first study also received support from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. 2025-10-03 13:27:30 -
Concerns rise over safety of 'mega batteries' after fire at government data center SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - A fire at the National Information Resources Service in the central city of Daejeon on September 26 brought down South Korea's main government data network, halting 647 public services and internal systems and leaving the government's cloud system unusable. The blaze started in a server room lined with lithium-ion batteries and was only declared fully extinguished 22 hours later. The impact was severe. Ninety-six systems in the fifth-floor data hall were destroyed, including key platforms such as the National Veterans Affairs system, the Government Legislation Information Center, and the national complaint portal. The G-Drive, where civil servants stored work files, was also wiped out. Officials admitted the system had no backup, making recovery impossible. The government has deployed more than 500 staff and contractors to restore services, but progress has been slow. After the first week, just over 100 systems had come back online, mainly those located in unaffected lower floors. Recovery of the 96 destroyed systems is expected to take at least a month, with relocation to a government–private cloud center in the southern city of Daegu. Even some restored services have suffered further outages, showing the fragility of the system. The Daejeon fire has fueled new scrutiny of energy storage systems (ESS), often described as "mega batteries." These installations store electricity and feed it back into the grid when needed, making them essential for renewable energy projects that rely on variable sources such as solar and wind. On October 3, 2025, Democratic Party lawmaker Wi Seong-gon disclosed National Fire Agency data showing that 54 ESS-related fires occurred between January 2020 and June 2025. The breakdown of causes points to systemic risks. Twenty-one cases were recorded as "unknown cause," 17 were linked to electrical issues like overload or short circuits, 10 were traced to mechanical problems such as overheating, and four were tied to chemical reactions including explosions. Out of the 54 fires, 43 involved South Korean-made batteries, with 17 connected to Samsung SDI, eight to LG Energy Solution, and one to SK Innovation via SK On. Eleven incidents involved foreign-made units. Wi said the government cannot afford to treat safety as an afterthought. "ESS is essential for expanding renewable energy, but we need a regulatory framework to ensure they operate safely," he said. He urged improvements in oversight at every stage, from design and installation to operation and inspection. 2025-10-03 10:31:43