NewJeans drop social media moniker ahead of comeback after legal dispute SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - K-pop girl group NewJeans has deleted their short-lived social media account used during their dispute with management agency ADOR, sparking anticipation for their impending comeback. The account under the name of "NJZ," which served as the quintet's main channel to communicate with fans, is no longer accessible as of Monday. The girls created the account earlier this year under their own new name to rebrand themselves amid escalating tensions with ADOR, following their decision to terminate their contract with the agency over alleged breaches of obligation and negligence. But after a court in October upheld ADOR's exclusive contract with the girls as valid, they expressed their intention to return to the agency, effectively ending the legal battle. Meanwhile, Min Hee-jin, the former ADOR CEO who mentored NewJeans, recently launched a new agency, signaling her move toward an independent path. 2025-12-01 16:57:51

Hyundai Motor's global sales fall 2.4 percent in November SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor said on Monday it sold 349,507 vehicles worldwide in November, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier, as both domestic and overseas sales declined. Domestic sales fell 3.4 percent to 61,008 units. Sedan sales totaled 18,099 units, including 6,499 Grandeurs, 5,897 Sonatas, and 5,459 Avantes. Sales of recreational vehicles reached 22,643 units, led by the Palisade with 5,124 units, followed by the Santa Fe (3,947), Tucson (5,384), Kona (2,743) and Casper (2,292). Its luxury brand Genesis posted sales of 11,465 units, including 3,721 G80s, 3,203 GV80s, and 3,770 GV70s. Overseas sales slipped 2.2 percent to 288,499 units. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-01 16:29:23

Coupang may face fines of up to $1 bn if negligence is tied to data theft SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform Coupang faces a wave of criminal and civil lawsuits, alongside potential fines that could exceed $1 billion, if authorities confirm corporate negligence in the massive data theft allegedly carried out by a former employee of Chinese nationality. Under the Personal Information Protection Act, strengthened in 2023, regulators may impose penalties of up to 3 percent of annual revenue for data-protection violations. Coupang reported $9.27 billion in revenue in the quarter ended September, bringing its trailing 12-month revenue to $33.66 billion — meaning fines could surpass $1 billion. The figure could rise further if authorities opt to combine the revenues of Coupang Play and Coupang Eats. Coupang said customer names, email addresses, mobile numbers, shipping addresses and some order histories were stolen. Payment details, credit-card numbers and login credentials were not compromised, it added. “We sincerely apologize once again for causing inconvenience to our customers,” said Coupang CEO Park Dae-jun, in a statement on the company’s website. While Coupang did not identify a suspect in its police filing, internal probes point to a former Chinese national employee who had already left the company — and the country — according to people familiar with the matter. The individual reportedly departed Coupang in October and has since left South Korea, complicating investigative efforts. The suspect allegedly emailed customers photos of their order histories and phone numbers with the message “I know your personal information”, triggering complaints that set off Coupang’s internal review. Long-neglected authentication keys at the center of the breach Investigators found that the breach may have been enabled by outdated authentication keys that should have been deleted or renewed when the employee exited the company. The suspect may have exploited access token signature keys, bypassing normal login procedures to reach customer data. Security analysts say the compromised tokens were likely administrative tokens with extended validity, not ordinary user tokens that typically expire within 30 minutes to an hour. This would have allowed prolonged, unauthorized access. Rep. Choi Min-hee, chair of the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, said Coupang failed to renew key signature files after the employee’s departure, leaving them valid for five to ten years. “Signature key renewal is the most basic internal security procedure, yet Coupang failed to follow it,” Choi said. “This is not simply an employee’s misconduct but the result of deep organizational failings.” In the breach, access tokens functioned like entry passes, while signature keys served as the stamps that validate them. Prolonged neglect of the stamps allowed someone to continue entering undetected — “like repeatedly using stamped entry passes without authorization,” one analyst said. Government: Attacker exploited authentication weaknesses Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said at an emergency meeting on Nov. 30 that attackers exploited authentication flaws to access customer data without standard login processes. “The attacker took advantage of weaknesses in Coupang’s server authentication to access over 30 million customer accounts,” Bae said. The Ministry of Science and ICT has formed a joint public-private investigation team, while the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said it would impose strong sanctions if violations of safety-management obligations are confirmed. Coupang initially reported just 4,500 affected customers when it notified the Korea Internet and Security Agency on Nov. 20. The figure surged to 33.7 million as investigators uncovered far broader exposure stretching from June to November. Coupang, which reported 24.7 million active commercial users in the third quarter, said the breach likely affected data from former and dormant accounts as well. The company employs about 10,000 office staff, with personal-information access restricted to a small number of IT employees with elevated permissions. Experts say the breach highlights critical vulnerabilities in Coupang's internal security management. "Zero-trust principles are essential for data security these days. Even insiders should be monitored carefully," said Kim Ki-hyung, a cybersecurity professor at Ajou University. "Access to highly sensitive data should not be concentrated among a select few senior managers. Each individual managers should only be able to view minimal portions of the data they need." 2025-12-01 16:26:35

Working-level officials set to hammer out implementation measures for bilateral agreements in Washington SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - Officials from South Korea and the U.S. are set to meet for further working-level discussions in Washington this week after the two countries released a comprehensive joint fact sheet last month detailing agreements on bilateral trade and security. According to the Foreign Ministry, Deputy Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo is set to meet with U.S. counterpart Christopher Landau on Monday in the first high-level talks since the release of the joint fact sheet on Nov. 14. Park is expected to urge the U.S. to expedite the implementation of the agreements, which include a U.S. commitment to support the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, uranium enrichment, and the construction of nuclear submarines using U.S.-supplied fuel. Upon arriving at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., Park told reporters, "We will discuss various issues and how to make progress in implementing the agreements outlined in the fact sheet." When asked about establishing a bilateral consultative body on the matter, he said, "We will talk about that and other related issues." * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-01 16:18:52

Kia's November sales drop 0.8 percent year-on-year to 262,065 units SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Kia said on Monday it sold 262,065 vehicles worldwide in November, down 0.8 percent from a year earlier, as both domestic and overseas sales edged lower. The Sportage remained the company’s best-selling model with 49,351 units, followed by the Sorento at 25,282 and the Seltos at 22,293. In South Korea, sales declined 1.6 percent to 47,256 units. The Sorento led the domestic market with 10,047 units. Overseas sales also dipped 0.8 percent to 213,889 units. The Sportage topped the list with 42,483 units, followed by the Sonet at 19,320 and the Seltos at 17,653. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-01 16:15:17

Coupang theft set to become Korea's worst data crisis raises sober reckoning on cybersecurity SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Korea — a society whose everyday routines run almost entirely online — is grappling with its biggest data crisis to date after e-commerce giant Coupang confirmed that information linked to nearly all of its customers — 33.7 million people, or three out of four Korean adults — had been stolen. More worrisome is that while previous high-profile breaches this year involved external hacking attacks on wireless carriers and credit-card issuers, the Coupang case points to potential criminal liability if an internal leak by a former employee is confirmed. The incident is expected to hasten sweeping reforms that force digital platforms to prioritize data security over commercial expansion. Coupang said Sunday that the breach was carried out by a former employee of Chinese nationality who allegedly accessed the company’s systems through overseas servers, noting that "unauthorized access appears to have begun in mid-June." The stolen information includes names, email addresses, mobile numbers, and home addresses. It marks the biggest data breach in Korea in more than a decade, since the 2011 Cyworld–Nate incident that affected about 35 million users. With Coupang's monthly active users (MAU) estimated at 34 million and the domestic e-commerce population at roughly 39 million, experts warn the breach may affect "virtually everyone." The company initially reported only 4,500 compromised accounts on Nov. 18, but revised the number upward 7,500-fold within nine days — prompting warnings that further undisclosed cases may still emerge. The breach also contrasts sharply with recent attacks on telecom operators such as SK Telecom and KT, which involved sophisticated external intrusion rather than insiders. SK Telecom suffered a large-scale breach involving USIM authentication data in April, affecting more than 23 million subscribers. The company rejected a state proposal to compensate victims 300,000 won ($204) each and has already spent more than 1 trillion won addressing the fallout. At KT, hackers installed illegal femtocell devices — small radio units that act as fake cell towers — to intercept verification text messages and trigger unauthorized micro-payments. Hundreds of victims have filed criminal complaints. Police and the Korea Communications Commission are investigating. Game developer Netmarble also confirmed last month that the personal information of about 6.11 million users was compromised in a cyberattack targeting its PC-based game portal. Leaked information included names, birth dates, and encrypted passwords. Taking together Coupang's 33.7 million victims, SK Telecom's 23.24 million, and Netmarble's 6.11 million, analysts estimate that more than 80 million data records have already leaked in 2025 alone across platforms, telecoms, gaming services and card-payment networks — underscoring pervasive vulnerabilities across nearly all digital industries. Experts point to chronic underinvestment in cybersecurity as the root cause of repeated failures. According to data from the Korea Internet and Security Agency, based on disclosures by 773 listed companies with annual revenue above 300 billion won, the average share of IT budgets devoted to security was only 6.29 percent last year, remaining below six percent for four straight years. U.S. companies, however, allocate 13.2 percent on average — more than twice the Korean level. Among major domestic players, SK Telecom invested 4.6 percent of its IT budget into security, lower than KT (6.3 percent) and LG Uplus (7.4 percent). Samsung Electronics spent the most in absolute terms at 356.2 billion won, but security accounted for only 0.12 percent of revenue. LG Electronics was at 0.03 percent, while major banks KB Kookmin and Shinhan were at 0.08 percent. Platform operators also posted low ratios: Coupang (4.6 percent), Naver (4.5 percent), Kakao (4.3 percent), and Woowa Brothers (4.1 percent). "The current level of security spending — around six percent — is clearly insufficient; experts recommend closer to nine percent," said Kwon Hun-yeong, professor at Korea University's School of Cybersecurity. "These incidents reveal systemic vulnerabilities across multiple layers of national digital infrastructure. Authorities fail to fully trace origins." Kwon added that Korea needs a national manual to identify and prioritize the systems most critical to safeguarding against attacks. According to the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), 451 breaches between 2021 and July 2025 exposed 88.543 million personal records, with average penalties of 700 million won, and administrative fines of just 6.17 million won per incident, a level critics say is too low to deter negligence. The commission plans to require businesses to allocate at least 10 percent of their total IT budgets to data protection by 2027, and 15 percent by 2030. "We are considering incentives for companies that meet the minimum cybersecurity investment threshold," a PIPC official said. In the U.S., governments support cybersecurity spending with tax deductions of up to 15.8 percent for technologies such as AI-based threat detection and encryption, and provide payroll-tax relief of up to $500,000 for small businesses. Coupang shares fell as much as 7.5 percent in after-hours trading, sliding from $28.16 to about $26.06 following the disclosure. 2025-12-01 16:04:13

OPINION: Pope's 2027 visit a strategic moment for Korea and Italy SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Korea and Italy may sit on opposite ends of the Eurasian landmass, yet the pulse of the two nations beats with a surprisingly similar rhythm. Both societies brim with passion; both celebrate life through food, drink, music and dance; and both possess an instinctive sensitivity to beauty that permeates daily life. From the colors of their alleyways to the craftsmanship in their workshops, the two countries mirror each other in unexpected ways. It is no coincidence that each has risen as a cultural powerhouse—Korea in Asia and Italy in Europe—even if the sources of their global influence differ. Korea leads the 21st century with K-pop, film and drama, while Italy sustains the world’s artistic imagination through its Renaissance heritage, classical arts and fashion traditions. Upon these distinct yet complementary cultural foundations, Seoul and Rome have steadily expanded cooperation across diplomacy, economics, security and culture. Now a rare moment lies directly ahead. On July 29, 2027, Pope Francis will travel to Seoul to attend World Youth Day—one of the largest international gatherings of young people anywhere on the planet. His visit will be far more than a religious event. It will be a global stage where culture, diplomacy, tourism and faith intersect. And for many non-Catholic Koreans, the Pope is one of the most recognizable global symbols naturally associated with Italy’s history, culture and artistic heritage. This makes the 2027 World Youth Day in Seoul an unexpected yet powerful moment to deepen Korea’s ties with Italy as well. The two nations are already widening their cooperation in five critical arenas. First, the strategic partnership itself is deepening. In an era shaped by geopolitical instability, the two governments are expanding dialogue on supply-chain resilience, climate policy, maritime security and global governance—anchored by shared commitments to democracy and human rights. Second, cooperation in advanced industries and technology is accelerating. Italy’s strengths in precision machinery, aerospace and robotics align naturally with Korea’s leadership in batteries, AI, semiconductors and space technologies. Korea’s recent focus on “physical AI”—the intelligence that animates manufacturing, logistics, mobility and urban systems—offers particular promise for collaboration with Italian industry. A bipartisan initiative in Korea, led jointly by Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Dong-young and People Power Party lawmaker Choi Hyoung-doo, aims to build “physical AI pioneer cities,” an effort that fits neatly into the global industrial transformations underway in Italy. Third, trade and investment are diversifying. Korea’s automotive, semiconductor and battery sectors are increasingly interlinked with Italy’s machinery, fashion and food industries, with new space for partnership in ESG and green technologies. Fourth, cultural exchange continues to flourish. As Korean films, music and television saturate Italian youth culture, Italian fashion, cinema and classical arts remain a vital source of inspiration for Korean creators. The Pope’s visit will further amplify this cultural dialogue in ways neither nation has experienced before. Fifth, youth and education exchanges are expanding. Universities and conservatories in both countries are launching joint programs in design, architecture, music and AI, while start-up ecosystems are beginning to interact more actively. World Youth Day 2027 will serve not as a slogan for change, but as a living venue where those exchanges become tangible. At this crossroads, Korea and Italy must move beyond simple cultural affinity and step into the role of global partners capable of generating 21st-century synergy. The Pope’s arrival in Seoul can mark the symbolic beginning of this new chapter. For one week, the city will become a gathering place for hundreds of thousands of young people dreaming, questioning and reimagining universal values. At the heart of that moment will be the legacies and aspirations that Korea and Italy have built—separately and together. History often advances when culture leads diplomacy and when shared values redefine strategic purpose. Seoul in 2027 may become one such moment. If the two nations align their strengths—cultural and technological, traditional and innovative—they will shape not only their own future but carve out a partnership the world cannot ignore. In doing so, Korea and Italy may once again show how two culturally rich nations can create, against all odds, a new kind of modern miracle. 2025-12-01 16:04:07

South Korea's Webzen slapped fine for manipulating game item odds, misleading players SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - South Korean game developer Webzen has been fined for manipulating item acquisition probabilities in its mobile title Mu Archangel and misleading players, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said on Monday. The regulator imposed a 158 million won (about $120,000) penalty for failing to disclose mechanisms that significantly reduced users’ chances of obtaining rare in-game items. According to the FTC, between June 2020 and March 2024 Webzen sold three types of randomized, paid items while hiding a so-called “floor system,” which blocked players from acquiring rare items until they made a minimum number of purchases. The FTC ruled the company had violated e-commerce law by using deceitful practices to induce spending. Of roughly 20,000 affected players, only 860 were compensated, prompting the regulator to issue a heavier fine than in comparable cases involving publishers such as Gravity and Com2uS. Player groups criticized the penalty as insufficient, noting that Webzen earned approximately $5.6 million from the sales linked to the deceptive system. The Game Users Association and the Webzen Game Victims Group said they plan to file a civil lawsuit seeking additional compensation, arguing that more than 95 percent of affected users remain uncompensated. An FTC official said the penalty was calculated under the country’s current e-commerce regulations. * This article, published by Economic Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-01 15:47:11

Lee to reflect on first year of martial law debacle with special address SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung is set to deliver a special address on Dec. 3, as South Korea marks the first anniversary of disgraced former President Yoon Suk-yeol's martial law debacle. His address is expected to focus on the key role of the people and the National Assembly in swiftly ending the martial law, which plunged the nation into political turmoil, according to the presidential office. Lee will honor the efforts of South Koreans who turned chaos into peace in his address, which will be followed by a press conference attended by over 80 international journalists and broadcast live for about an hour. Lee is also likely to highlight the recovery of democracy and deliver a message of national unity, as he has consistently emphasized the resilience of South Korean democracy at recent multilateral gatherings including last month's G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Lee Kyu-yeon, the presidential chief of public relations, said on Sunday, "Wednesday will hold significant meaning as the day citizens and journalists defended national sovereignty against martial law." He added that the president will observe the anniversary with a "calm but meaningful schedule," which includes a luncheon with key officials such as Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik, and the Supreme Court's chief justice Cho Hee-dae. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-01 15:22:25

Jeju beef, pork enter Singapore market for first time SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - South Korea has exported Jeju-produced beef and pork to Singapore for the first time, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Monday. The ministry, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, held a shipping ceremony at Jeju Port, sending 4.5 tons of meat products valued at roughly 2.8 billion won. The shipment represents the first case in which Singapore directly assessed and approved the safety of livestock products from Jeju, Jeju officials said. Six slaughtering and processing facilities on the island have been designated for export. South Korea, Jeju authorities and the livestock industry have been working with Singapore since 2016 to set up hygiene and quarantine standards for beef and port export to Singapore. The two sides reached a formal agreement during the APEC summit in Gyeongju last month, paving the way for the initial export. “Singapore is a rapidly expanding market for meat products, and this milestone will strengthen the competitiveness of Korea’s livestock production, processing and distribution sectors,” the food ministry said in a statement. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-01 15:21:09