More South Korean firms to offer five-day Lunar New Year break as outlook brightens SEOUL, February 08 (AJP) - A new survey shows that more than six out of ten South Korean businesses plan to observe a five-day holiday for the upcoming Lunar New Year. The findings also indicate that the number of companies reporting a decline in economic conditions has dropped significantly compared to last year, suggesting a recovery in business confidence. The Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) released the results of its Lunar New Year Holiday Survey on February 8, after polling 447 companies nationwide with five or more employees. The data shows that 64.8 percent of these firms will close for five days. This year's holiday period stretches from the weekend of February 14 and 15 through the official public holidays of February 16 to 18. Among the respondents, 26.1 percent plan to offer four days or fewer, while 9.2 percent will provide six days or more. For the companies offering these extended breaks, 59.4 percent stated they were following mandatory requirements set by collective bargaining agreements or internal employment rules. Larger firms with 300 or more employees were notably more likely to offer longer breaks, with 22.7 percent providing at least six days off, compared to just 7.6 percent of smaller businesses. Regarding holiday pay, 58.7 percent of companies said they will provide a Lunar New Year bonus, a slight decrease from 61.5 percent last year. Among those paying out, 66.3 percent will issue them as regular bonuses, 28.6 percent as separate discretionary bonuses, and 5.2 percent will provide both. For the businesses opting for discretionary bonuses, 85.7 percent intend to keep the amounts consistent with last year's levels. The survey highlights a shift in how businesses view the current economic climate. While 55.6 percent of respondents described the situation as "similar to the previous year," the proportion of companies stating the economy had "worsened" fell to 39.5 percent. This is a sharp decline from the 60.5 percent who reported a worsening economy during the same period last year. The KEF also gathered projections for the current fiscal year. Roughly 50.9 percent of the surveyed firms expect their operating profits to increase compared to last year, while 36.0 percent anticipate a decrease. The data reflects the prevailing mood in the field as companies prepare for one of South Korea's most significant traditional holidays. Local businesses appear to be leaning toward a more stable outlook even as they manage holiday bonus distributions. 2026-02-08 18:28:55

Samsung Elec on track roll out HBM4 chips this month SEOUL, February 08 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics is set to begin mass shipments of the the sixth generation high bandwidth memory chips dubbed HBM4 later this month, according to industry sources Sunday. The chips will be rolled out from the third week of February after the Lunar New Year holiday break, thrusting the HBM laggard into the front tier as HMB4 is expected to become the standard from next-generation AI chips. The shipment schedule has been finalized to align with the production of Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerator, known as Vera Rubin. Samsung has reportedly completed quality verification and received purchase orders, with the latest order including a significant increase in sample volumes for final module testing. Kim Jae-jun, vice president of Samsung's memory business, confirmed the production timeline during a fourth-quarter earnings call last month. He stated that mass production of HBM4 chips with speeds of 11.7Gbps was already underway for scheduled delivery in February. Nvidia is expected to officially unveil the Vera Rubin platform featuring Samsung's HBM4 at the GTC 2026 conference next month. The HBM4 chips feature specifications that exceed current industry standards. While the JEDEC standard is set at 8Gbps, Samsung's product achieves transfer speeds of 11.7Gbps, a 22 percent improvement over the previous HBM3E generation. The memory bandwidth per single stack has increased to 3 terabytes per second, while a 12-stack configuration provides a 36GB capacity. The company plans to expand this to 48GB using 16-stack technology in the future. To achieve these performance gains, Samsung integrated its 10-nanometer-class sixth-generation DRAM with its 4-nanometer foundry process. The company is promoting a one-stop solution that combines logic, memory, foundry, and packaging to streamline production and improve energy efficiency, which is expected to lower power consumption and cooling costs in data centers. The move comes as competition for the AI memory market intensifies. Samsung expects its HBM shipment volume to more than triple this year compared to last year and is currently building a new production line at its Pyeongtaek Campus. Its local peer and HBM leader, SK hynix, is ramping up its HBM4 capacity to meet potential additional demand from Nvidia. With Micron currently trailing in the supply chain competition, analysts expect Samsung and SK hynix to split the majority of HBM orders for the Vera Rubin chips. 2026-02-08 15:40:45

South Korea captures first win in mixed doubles curling at Winter Games SEOUL, February 08 (AJP) - South Korea recorded its first victory in the mixed doubles curling tournament at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on February 7, as the main medal competitions got underway. Kim Sun-young and Jeong Yeong-seok defeated the United States pair of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin 6-5 in an extra end at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. The South Korean duo, who had suffered five consecutive losses to open the round-robin stage, held off a late surge from the Americans to secure the win. South Korea led 5-2 heading into the final end of regulation, but the U.S. team, the 2023 world champions, scored three points to force the match into overtime. Kim Sun-young and Jeong Yeong-seok regained their composure in the extra end, outmaneuvering their opponents to clinch the deciding point. Despite the win, the South Korean pair remains at the bottom of the 10-team standings with a 1-5 record, making a top-four finish to qualify for the semifinals unlikely. In figure skating, Cha Jun-hwan struggled in his opening performance during the team event at the Milan Ice Skating Arena. Competing in the men's short program, Cha Jun-hwan finished eighth out of 10 skaters with a total score of 83.53 points. He received 41.78 for technical elements and 41.75 for program components after a mistake on his final jump, a triple axel. The result left South Korea in seventh place overall in the team event with 14 points, failing to advance to the free skating portion reserved for the top five nations. The United States, Japan, Italy, Canada, and Georgia progressed to the next round. In cross-country skiing, Lee Eui-jin and Han Da-som finished 54th and 65th, respectively, in the women's 10-plus-10-kilometer skiathlon. Both athletes were unable to complete the full distance before being lapped. Elsewhere on the first full day of medal competition, gold medals were awarded to athletes from Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Japan, and Norway. 2026-02-08 14:20:53

South Korea expected to secure three golds at Milano Cortina Winter Games SEOUL, February 08 (AJP) - South Korea is projected to win three gold medals and finish 15th in the overall standings at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, according to a forecast released by Sports Illustrated on February 8. The 2026 Winter Games, which officially opened on February 6 and run through February 22, are being held across several clusters in Northern Italy, including Milano and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Approximately 2,900 athletes from 92 nations are competing for 116 gold medals in eight sports. This year's program features the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering and the return of NHL players to the men's ice hockey tournament. Sports Illustrated expects South Korea's gold medal haul to come entirely from short track speed skating. Lim Jong-eon is tipped for the title in the men's 1,000 meters, while Kim Gil-li is favored in the women's 1,500 meters. The third gold is projected for the men's 5,000-meter relay team. Beyond the top of the podium, the magazine predicts silver medals for Choi Min-jeong in the women's 1,500-meter short track and the mixed 2,000-meter relay team. The women's curling team and the women's 3,000-meter short track relay are both listed as bronze medal candidates. The projections largely mirror a February 4 report from Shoreview Sports Analytics. The Canadian firm also predicted a seven-medal total for South Korea—comprising three gold, two silver, and two bronze—though it placed the nation one spot higher at 14th place overall. Despite the identical total medal counts, the two outlets differ on where the gold medals will be won. Shoreview Sports Analytics expects Choi Ga-on to take gold in the women's snowboard halfpipe, an event in which Sports Illustrated did not list her as a medalist. Instead, Sports Illustrated projected Japan's Shimizu Sara for gold and American Chloe Kim for silver. The firms also disagree on Lim Jong-eon's prospects; while Sports Illustrated sees him as a champion, Shoreview Sports Analytics placed him sixth. Conversely, the Canadian firm projects gold for the women's 3,000-meter relay team, an event Sports Illustrated marked for bronze. In the race for the overall lead, Sports Illustrated puts Norway in the top spot with 16 golds, followed by the United States with 12 and Japan with nine. Shoreview Sports Analytics also lists Norway first with 14 golds, with the United States and Germany following with 13 and 12, respectively. 2026-02-08 14:11:26

S. Korean researchers capture electricity-switching moment in next-gen memory materials SEOUL, February 08 (AJP) - Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Kyungpook National University have developed a technique to observe the real-time electrical switching process within nano-devices. By rapidly melting and freezing tellurium at cryogenic temperatures, the team successfully created and stabilized amorphous tellurium, a material essential for high-speed, low-power memory. This research provides a foundational understanding of how and when electrical switching occurs, offering a new blueprint for designing efficient semiconductor materials. As artificial intelligence applications expand, computers require faster and more energy-efficient memory. The performance of these semiconductors depends on the switching principle, the mechanism by which memory materials turn electricity on and off. Tellurium has gained attention as a candidate for next-generation memory due to its ability to transition between high and low resistance states. However, tellurium is highly sensitive to heat, making it difficult to maintain its amorphous state—a disordered atomic structure similar to glass—under normal operating conditions. The research team, led by Professor Seo Jun-gi of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Professor Lee Tae-hoon of Kyungpook National University (KNU), addressed this instability by lowering the surrounding temperature to cryogenic levels. In this environment, they applied electrical current to momentarily melt tellurium and then cooled it rapidly to lock it into an amorphous state. This method allowed the researchers to compare the electrical flow of disordered amorphous tellurium with that of regularly arranged crystalline tellurium within the same device. Through this comparative analysis, the team identified that microscopic defects within the amorphous tellurium play a critical role in electrical conduction. The study revealed that switching occurs in two distinct stages: first, current increases sharply along these defects when a specific voltage is reached, and second, heat accumulates until the material melts. Previously, it was believed that the sudden increase in current was caused primarily by the melting process itself, but this research clarifies the specific roles of defects and thermal energy. The researchers also successfully demonstrated a self-oscillation phenomenon, where voltage repeatedly rises and falls while maintaining the amorphous state without excessive current. This finding indicates that stable electrical switching can be achieved using only tellurium, a single-element material, without the need for complex chemical compositions. Professor Seo Jun-gi stated that this is the first study to implement amorphous tellurium in an actual device environment and clarify the switching principle. He noted that the research sets a new standard for the study of next-generation memory and switching materials. Heo Nam-uk, a student in the integrated master's and doctoral program at KAIST, served as the lead author. The study was published online in Nature Communications on January 13. (Paper information) Journal: Nature Communications Title: On-device cryogenic quenching enables robust amorphous tellurium for threshold switching DOI: https://bit.ly/4knBqqs 2026-02-08 12:00:00

Pyongyang highlights military role in national development on army anniversary SEOUL, February 08 (AJP) - North Korea has marked the 78th anniversary of the founding of its armed forces on February 8, with state media calling for the military to guarantee national prosperity ahead of a major political gathering. The Workers' Party of Korea is scheduled to hold its ninth congress in Pyongyang later this month. The event, held every five years, is the highest decision-making body of the state and is expected to outline new development goals while reinforcing the country’s security posture. An editorial in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party, stated that the Korean People's Army must maintain its political and military power to match the status of the state. The publication urged the military to provide a strong defense for the party and people as they move toward what it described as a new stage of socialist development. "The struggle of our party and people to raise the phase of national prosperity to a new high level must be firmly guaranteed by powerful arms," the editorial said. It added that the military has successfully suppressed challenges and threats from hostile forces to ensure the safety and rights of the people. The state also emphasized the military's involvement in domestic economic projects, particularly the Regional Development 20x10 Policy. This initiative involves the military in the construction of local factories across the country. North Korea has newly organized 20 units known as the 124th Regiments, with each regiment assigned to a specific construction site. The editorial called on the personnel of the 124th Regiments to act as the vanguard of the new year's struggle and to fulfill their duties in expanding the regional revolution. February 8 commemorates the date in 1948 when the Korean People's Army held its official founding ceremony in Pyongyang. North Korea recognized this date as its Army Day until 1977, after which it moved the anniversary to April 25 to mark the 1932 formation of anti-Japanese guerrillas by Kim Il-sung. The country returned to observing the February 8 anniversary in 2018. 2026-02-08 10:06:33

Weverse hits record growth as BTS and BLACKPINK return to global stage SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - The return of K-pop’s most influential acts, BTS and BLACKPINK, has fueled a significant surge in user engagement for Weverse, the global fan community platform. According to the 2025 Weverse Fandom Trend report released on February 6, the platform reached several new milestones in user growth and activity over the past year. The resurgence was most visible following the military discharge of BTS members in June last year. New followers for the group’s community spiked by over 300 percent compared to the previous month, with the total follower count surpassing 30 million in July. Similarly, BLACKPINK became the first girl group on the platform to exceed 10 million followers in January. The group also recorded the highest digital product sales on the platform following the announcement of their latest world tour. Driven by these major names, Weverse reported a monthly active user count of over 12 million. The platform now hosts 178 different artists and recorded 200 million viewers for its live streaming service, Weverse Live, with cumulative views reaching 1 billion. User retention also improved, with the average monthly time spent on the app rising to 263 minutes, up from 237 minutes the previous year. The platform’s growth extends well beyond South Korean acts. KATSEYE, a girl group formed through a joint venture between HYBE and Geffen Records, saw its average Weverse Live viewership grow by 490 percent, with its community surpassing 2 million members. The Japan-based boy group &TEAM also maintained high engagement, conducting 199 live broadcasts over the year. Weverse further noted a significant expansion in Latin America, where sales of digital products surged by more than 700 percent. Weverse, launched in 2019, is the flagship service of Weverse Company, a subsidiary of HYBE. HYBE is the South Korean entertainment giant behind BTS and houses multiple labels including Pledis Entertainment, ADOR, and Source Music. While initially focused on HYBE’s own roster, the platform has evolved into a global ecosystem by integrating artists from rival agencies and international labels. This includes major Western artists such as Ariana Grande and Conan Gray, as well as Japanese acts like YOASOBI and AKB48. The report highlighted that fans are increasingly evolving into "super fans" through active communication tools such as Weverse DM and digital memberships. Large-scale communities with over 3 million members increased from five in 2024 to nine last year, while total merchandise sales through Weverse Shop rose from 20.6 million to 25.2 million items. Weverse stated that the platform has proven to be a space where fans can discover and expand the joy of fandom activities tailored to their own preferences. The company plans to continue focusing on the fandom experience to allow fans to interact more deeply with artists. 2026-02-06 17:13:35

BTS, ENHYPEN, and SEVENTEEN lead Parrot Analytics global demand rankings for 2025 SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - BTS has been named the most popular act in the global entertainment market for 2025, according to a year-end report from Parrot Analytics. The group spearheaded a dominant year for the South Korean entertainment giant HYBE, with labelmates ENHYPEN and SEVENTEEN also securing spots within the top 10. The 2025 annual report, "What Audiences Loved in 2025," ranked BTS at the top of the "Talents of the Year Under 30" category. ENHYPEN took second place, while SEVENTEEN followed at number eight. These rankings are based on "Average Demand," a standardized metric developed by Parrot Analytics to quantify audience attention. Unlike traditional charts that focus solely on sales or streams, this data captures a wide range of engagement signals—including social media activity, search engine queries, and fan research—to measure the total global demand for a specific artist or brand. Parrot Analytics noted that BTS remained a focal point of global interest throughout 2025. Despite a period of limited group activities, the group saw repeated spikes in demand driven by the annual "BTS FESTA" and various solo projects from individual members. The report suggested that the group has reached a level of fame where its brand functions as a permanent piece of cultural infrastructure. ENHYPEN's high ranking was attributed to its successful transition to larger global venues. Following a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the group launched its "WALK THE LINE" world tour, which consisted of 29 shows across 18 cities. According to data from the tour, the group drew approximately 676,000 attendees, including its encore performances in South Korea. SEVENTEEN also saw significant commercial success, with its fifth studio album, "HAPPY BURSTDAY," peaking at number two on the Billboard 200. The group's tour activities attracted more than 1.26 million fans across 38 performances worldwide. Its 10th-anniversary event, "B-DAY PARTY," saw over 352,000 visitors attend a special exhibition and solo stage at Seoul's Jamsu Bridge and Banpo Hangang Park. The report concluded that K-pop artists are leading a shift in the global market toward consumption models driven by digital culture and highly active fandoms. Following this period of sustained global demand, BTS is scheduled to return to the stage as a full group on March 21. The comeback performance, titled "BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG," will take place at 8 p.m. at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. The event marks the release of the group's new 14-track album, "ARIRANG," which arrives on March 20. According to BigHit Music and reports from Netflix, the concert will be broadcast live to more than 190 countries, marking the first time a live solo concert from South Korea has been streamed globally on the platform. 2026-02-06 16:49:20

RIIZE member Shotaro to miss Macau concert amid worsening China-Japan friction SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - Shotaro, a Japanese member of the K-pop boy group RIIZE, will not participate in the group's upcoming world tour performance in Macau, organizers announced Friday. The sudden withdrawal comes just one day before the scheduled event, as diplomatic and trade tensions between Beijing and Tokyo continue to impact the entertainment industry. In a statement posted to social media, the Macau concert production team confirmed that Shotaro would be absent from the RIIZING LOUD world tour stops on February 7 and 8. "All staff members made thorough preparations in advance so that every member could attend, but due to unavoidable and unexpected circumstances, Shotaro will not be able to participate," the organizer stated. "We once again sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the change in the lineup." While the production team did not provide a specific reason for the absence, industry observers attribute the move to the volatile geopolitical climate. All other members of RIIZE departed from South Korea's Incheon International Airport for Macau early on Friday, leaving Shotaro as the only member excluded from the trip. The situation mirrors a growing trend in the Chinese-speaking region, where K-pop events featuring Japanese performers have faced abrupt cancellations or lineup changes. In December 2025, girl band LE SSERAFIM canceled a fan signing event in Shanghai, with many pointing to the presence of Japanese members Sakura and Kazuha as the cause. Similar exclusions occurred with boy band Close Your Eyes, which held a Hangzhou fan meeting without Japanese member Kenshin. These incidents follow a historical pattern of Beijing using cultural access as diplomatic leverage, similar to the 2016 "Hallyu ban" following the deployment of the THAAD missile system in South Korea. The current friction, dubbed by some as a "No-Japan" cultural order, was largely triggered in November 2025 by comments from Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae regarding Taiwan's security. Beijing viewed the remarks as a provocation, leading to retaliatory measures including trade restrictions and unofficial curbs on Japanese cultural exports. 2026-02-06 16:25:21

Blockchain expert says adoption in banking is shifting toward financial infrastructure SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - Global financial institutions are increasingly viewing stablecoins and tokenized deposits as essential infrastructure rather than speculative assets, according to Xin Yan, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sign, a blockchain technology company. This shift is driven by the demand for programmable money that can function natively on-chain. Unlike traditional fiat currency, which relies on fragmented legacy systems, on-chain assets allow for direct settlement, payments, and collateralization without the need for manual intervention. Earlier concerns regarding the technical resilience of blockchain networks have largely subsided. The infrastructure supporting stablecoins has been tested through multiple market cycles and real-world applications. The primary challenges remaining are legal and regulatory, as many jurisdictions have yet to establish frameworks that recognize digital representations of sovereign currency. Xin Yan expects 2026 to bring significant regulatory clarification, moving the industry from debating the existence of these assets to integrating them into the formal monetary system. To scale these systems, financial institutions must bridge the gap between asset settlement speed and compliance verification. While blockchain transactions occur in seconds, identity and compliance checks often still rely on manual processes. The immediate priority for governments and institutions is the transition of identity and entity proofs into digital, verifiable credentials. This digitization allows records to be accessed and verified on-chain instantly, matching the speed of the underlying assets. The long-term role of these technologies is the comprehensive digitization of the global financial system. Whether through stablecoins, tokenized deposits, or central bank digital currencies, the objective is to remove friction from capital movement. Xin Yan notes that successful implementation will likely be invisible to the general public. Instead of focusing on the underlying blockchain technology, users will experience faster business operations and instant money movement. This efficiency is intended to increase the turnover of capital and improve the fluidity of global trade. Trust remains a central factor in the adoption of on-chain systems. For large banks, enterprise blockchain networks offer a more transparent and easier-to-track environment than legacy ledgers. These systems allow for layered data access, ensuring that information is shared only with authorized parties. By moving information flow onto a blockchain, banks can reduce maintenance costs and eliminate the need for large teams to reconcile different ledgers. The automated and transparent nature of these records also makes fraudulent activity more difficult to execute, potentially strengthening the existing trust advantage held by traditional financial institutions. 2026-02-06 14:59:11