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

South Korea emerges as new hub in Asian drug trade after first joint bust with US DEA SEOUL, October 02 (AJP) - South Korea's first joint drug operation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has exposed a shift that officials had long warned about. The country is no longer just a market for narcotics but is being used as an exporter and transit hub in the regional drug trade. Police in South Gyeonggi Province said Wednesday that they arrested a 35-year-old woman who ran a beauty supply export company in Uiwang and a man in his 20s who helped with shipments. Three others were booked without detention. Investigators said the group exported more than 8 tons of GBL, the chemical used to make the synthetic drug GHB, to the United States and Australia between June 2024 and June 2025. The value was estimated at 159 billion won, or about $113.5 million. The bust marked the first time South Korea has caught a domestic ring sending drug precursors abroad. It also came just months after DEA Asia-Pacific chief John Scott warned in Busan that "international crime organizations are abusing South Korea's infrastructure as a logistics hub to smuggle narcotics worldwide." He said Mexican cartels, facing losses from tighter U.S. border controls, were turning to Asia and the Pacific. Officials say the pattern is clear. In April, Korean authorities discovered two tons of cocaine hidden aboard a Norwegian cargo ship docked in the eastern port city of Gangneung, traced back to routes through Mexico, Ecuador, and Panama. And now, the GBL export case shows Korea not only being used as a transit stop but as a source of supply. "The partnership between our two agencies has become increasingly important as globalized drug trafficking organizations exploit borders, and as Korea faces rising levels of illegal narcotics activity," said Morgan Mathis, the DEA's country director in Korea. South Korea was once known internationally as a "drug-free nation," but that image has eroded. According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, 23,022 people were arrested on narcotics charges in 2024, equal to 44.7 per 100,000 people. The figure is nearly double the level in 2015, when the United Nations determined South Korea no longer met the threshold of a drug-free country. Most offenders are in their 20s and 30s, and the number of teenage offenders has more than tripled in recent years. Experts point to the spread of anonymous social media platforms, cryptocurrency payments, and non-contact distribution methods such as "throw-off" deliveries as drivers of the surge. These systems have made narcotics easier to buy and sell domestically, while also giving traffickers channels to disguise exports. The police said that they are moving to tighten inspections on low-value exports, which were exempt from thorough checks and allowed the smugglers to slip shipments through customs. "It shows we must strengthen random sampling and testing procedures even for smaller exports, in order to eliminate blind spots," the South Gyeonggi police said. 2025-10-02 14:03:58

S. Korea must race to grab US-bound talents for leap in AI race: IFEZ czar SEOUL, October 01 (AJP) - Brain power defines the AI era, and the possibility of a brain drain in Silicon Valley from the U.S. imposition of hefty fees on skilled-worker visas offers an "enormous" opportunity for South Korea, said the nation’s foreign direct investment (FDI) czar. "This is a windfall, and we must move fast in hosting roadshows to draw global brains here," said Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) Commissioner Yun Won-sok in an exclusive interview with AJP at the landmark 31st-floor headquarters in Songdo. Since its establishment in 2003, IFEZ — spanning Songdo, Cheongna, and Yeongjong districts near Incheon International Airport — has been tasked with attracting FDI. Over two decades, it has secured more than $10 billion in investment, anchored by biotech, logistics, and finance. But with nearly all available space filled, growth has slowed. That reality, Yun argued, demands a paradigm shift. Instead of focusing solely on hard capital, IFEZ must pivot toward drawing high-value people — scientists, engineers, and creators — who can turn Incheon into a magnet for ideas and innovation. "Bringing here those who worked with CEO Mark Zuckerberg can now be more valuable in the long run than hosting Meta outposts," he said. The timing is favorable. Washington recently announced a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas, a major pathway for foreign professionals. Nearly two-thirds of such visas go to computer-related occupations, mostly in California, with Indians making up 71 percent of approvals and Chinese 12 percent last year. IFEZ, Yun stressed, is well-positioned as a Silicon Valley alternative. "Who can better pose as the brain hub in Asia-Pacific?" he asked, pointing to five key strengths: a robust bioengineering ecosystem, a global-standard education system, strong R&D commercialization between universities and companies, world-class logistics and transport infrastructure, and globally popular content and lifestyle offerings. What IFEZ seeks, he explained, is not a simple investment but a virtuous cycle powered by human capital. "If seasoned and budding scientists and IT talents come here, continue their research, and launch businesses, their activities will naturally feed investment and hiring." Korea, he noted, can no longer rely on foreign direct — let alone greenfield — investment because of land and labor constraints. "If our land resources are limited, then our advantage must come from the people and technologies we can attract. High-value jobs, advanced R&D centers, startups that commercialize ideas — that is where Incheon will stand out." Biotech has been the anchor of this pivot. Songdo now hosts one of the world’s largest biomanufacturing clusters, with Samsung Biologics producing more than 600,000 liters of biologic drugs annually. "From those anchors, suppliers and partners have clustered in Songdo. Now we must move further up the value chain into new drug development, AI-based healthcare, and quantum-assisted research. That requires bringing in the best minds from overseas," Yun said. Education is central. "Foreign executives and researchers will not relocate if their families cannot," he said. "That is why we built Incheon Global Campus with five overseas universities, and why we are expanding K-12 international schools in Songdo, Cheongna, and Yeongjong. Parents need to know their children will receive the same standard of education they had back home." The campus hosts institutions such as Stony Brook University, George Mason University, and SUNY Korea, offering English-language degree programs in South Korea. IFEZ is also negotiating with leading institutions abroad. "We are discussing joint R&D hubs with Georgia Tech, MIT, Johns Hopkins, and Fraunhofer in Germany," Yun said. "The goal is to place companies, labs, and universities side by side. That is how you accelerate innovation — by bringing people, capital, and ideas under one roof." Lifestyle, he added, is another pillar. "Cheongna can become a media and content hub, an Asian Hollywood. We are preparing legal amendments so that major studios can invest and film here. Incheon has the airport, the logistics, and the consumer base. Content, tourism, and high-end services will be the next growth axis." Cheongna has already been earmarked for tourism and leisure development, including a large K-pop arena and entertainment complexes. The ultimate test, Yun said, will be whether people choose to come. "Our goal is to make IFEZ a place where global researchers, entrepreneurs, and creators want to live and work." And for Korea, he added, the stakes could not be higher: "In the AI era, countries that win the talent race will win the future. Incheon must be at the front of that race." 2025-10-02 08:00:00

Concert for Peace 2025 brings global musicians together in Seoul SEOUL, October 01 (AJP) - The Concert for Peace 2025 took place on September 30 at Youngsan Art Hall in Seoul, with musicians from several countries performing together to highlight the role of culture in building dialogue. This was the third edition of the series, which began in Hiroshima and Osaka, and has become a platform for showing how music can cross borders and speak to shared human values. At the heart of the event was the Child Citizen Orchestra, founded in 2006 by Brazilian Judge João Targino. The orchestra was created to give underprivileged youth in Brazil access to musical training while also providing paths to inclusion and social development. Over the past two decades, it has reached more than 1,000 young people, and its international tours have carried a message that music can be a tool of both personal growth and cultural diplomacy. Brazilian Ambassador to South Korea Márcia Donner Abreu, speaking at the concert, called the orchestra’s journey "an inspiring example of how culture can foster solidarity among peoples." She noted that the Seoul performance was especially symbolic because it included young musicians from South and North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and Iran. "By coming together, you show us that music is more than performance — it is a common language for mutual understanding," she said. Judge Targino, who opened the evening, described the concert as a "roadmap of hope." He said war is "the failure of humanity itself" and stressed that music can remind people of the need to overcome divisions. He thanked his wife, Mirina, and Ambassador Abreu for their support, and recognized the cooperation of the Ministry of Unification of South Korea and other partners who made the event possible. 2025-10-01 17:08:28

Trump open to Kim talks "without preconditions" as North Korea intensifies outreach SEOUL, October 01 (AJP) - The White House said on September 30 that U.S. President Donald Trump remains open to talking with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "without any preconditions," a move that has fueled speculation about renewed summitry when Trump travels to South Korea later this month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Responding to a question about whether Trump might seek a meeting with Kim during his visit to the southeastern city of Gyeongju on October 31~November 1, a White House official said: "President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong-un without any preconditions. U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed." The official also highlighted that Trump’s earlier meetings with Kim "stabilized the Korean Peninsula." It is the first time in Trump's second term that Washington has publicly stated it does not require conditions for renewed dialogue. The announcement comes as Pyongyang has taken a noticeably warmer line toward Washington. On September 21, Kim told the Supreme People's Assembly that he saw no future for unification with South Korea, calling it a "U.S.-dependent colony," but added he was open to talks with the United States if Washington set aside its denuclearization demand. His remarks underscored a clear split in Pyongyang’s approach: shutting the door on inter-Korean dialogue while signaling potential space for engagement with Washington. That message was reinforced days later when Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York, marking North Korea's first speech at the annual forum in seven years. He declared that Pyongyang would "never give up nuclear weapons under any circumstances" but said it was ready to cooperate with countries that treated it "in a friendly way." Alongside these statements, Pyongyang has accelerated its diplomacy with Beijing and Moscow. Earlier in September, Kim traveled to Beijing for China’s 80th Victory Day parade, where he appeared on Tiananmen Square with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He then held his first one-on-one summit with Xi in nearly seven years, with both sides declaring their ties "unshakable." North Korea’s Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui stayed behind in China afterward for additional talks. Trump, meanwhile, has not hidden his interest in returning to personal diplomacy with Kim. During his first term, the two leaders met three times — in Singapore in June 2018, in Hanoi in February 2019, and at Panmunjom in June 2019. Trump has repeatedly expressed that he remembers those encounters positively, and Kim himself recently said he had a "good" memory of Trump. 2025-10-01 16:16:39

Korea shrugs off Trump's tariff threat on foreign-made films SEOUL, September 30 (AJP) - South Korea's film industry officials and legal experts largely brush off U.S. President Donald Trump's latest threat about slapping tariffs on movies filmed outside the American soil. Speaking on Monday, Trump said his administration would levy "100 percent tariffs" on films that were not fully produced within the United States, repeating a proposal he first raised in May. South Korea's national film agency, the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), told AJP, the measure, even if enforced, would likely have little impact on Korea's film industry. "In 2024, Korea's film industry revenue from theaters, TV video-on-demand, and overseas sales totaled about 1.4 trillion won ($997.3 million). Exports accounted for only 4 percent, or about 57.1 billion won, and U.S. exports were just 0.4 percent, around 5.7 billion won," KOFIC said. It added that because the U.S. share is so small, "the overall effect on Korea's film industry is expected to be limited." KOFIC also noted that Hollywood itself might feel the brunt of such a policy. "Large studio projects often rely on overseas filming to benefit from foreign location incentives and reduce costs," it said. With studios now transferring raw footage through high-speed cloud systems instead of physical reels or hard drives, the agency questioned whether tariffs could even be applied in today's digital environment. Korea's film and drama industry has built a strong presence on the global stage. International hits such as the Netflix series "Squid Game," the historical zombie thriller "Kingdom," and the romantic period drama "Bon Appétit, Your Majesty" have shown Korea's strength in television, while films like "Parasite," which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020, and blockbusters such as "Train to Busan" have cemented Korean cinema's international reputation. Even so, KOFIC warned that a drawn-out tariff dispute could still have side effects. Less access to the U.S. market might make joint productions harder and reduce opportunities for distribution. Importers could also hesitate to bring Korean titles into the U.S. "This could slightly slow down Korea's global expansion in film, even if the direct financial impact remains small," KOFIC said. Legal experts in Seoul are also skeptical about the plan. Attorney Kim Ji-hee, a lawyer at the Seoul-based firm ELPS, told AJP the measure lacks clear legal grounds and workable criteria. "There is no solid legal basis for such a tariff, and the criteria for determining what counts as a foreign-made film remain ambiguous," she said. Kim explained that U.S. courts have long treated film as part of the cultural sector, tied closely to freedom of expression and usually excluded from emergency trade measures. "Even if Washington tries to push ahead, the ambiguity of the target and the standards would open the door to serious legal challenges," she added. Kim also pointed to the practical problems of valuing and taxing digital content. "In the past, customs authorities could impose tariffs on physical media like reels or tapes. But now, when raw footage is transmitted digitally and screenings rely on encrypted files, it is unclear how a tariff could be calculated or enforced," she said. 2025-09-30 17:36:37