AI that can shop and pay on its own successfully tested in South Korea SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - South Korean IT services firm LG CNS has completed what it says is the country’s first demonstration of an automatic payment system in which artificial intelligence not only chooses what to buy but also pays for it, using a blockchain-based digital currency platform overseen by the central bank. The test, conducted with the Bank of Korea, linked so-called “agentic AI” — software designed to act autonomously once given a goal — with digital deposit tokens as part of Project Hangang, the central bank’s pilot program for a potential BOK digital currency. The goal, according to LG CNS on Thursday, was to explore whether autonomous AI agents could safely and efficiently handle real-world payments, a step toward a future in which machines increasingly transact with one another with little or no human involvement. To illustrate the concept, the company used a scenario familiar to many freelancers: a digital content creator searching for images or audio clips for a project. Typically, that process involves navigating multiple platforms, comparing prices and quality, and repeatedly logging in to complete payments. In the demonstration, those tasks were handled by two AI programs — a “buyer agent” and a “seller agent.” After a user delegated authority, the buyer agent searched for suitable content, compared options, selected a product and completed payment by transferring digital deposit tokens to the seller’s electronic wallet on the blockchain platform, LG CNS said. Industry officials are watching such experiments closely as interest grows in “agentic commerce,” a model in which AI agents act on behalf of users or companies and increasingly transact directly with each other. Proponents argue that as AI-driven transactions multiply, demand will rise for small-value, high-frequency payments that are inefficient for humans to manage manually. LG CNS said blockchain-based digital currencies could provide an alternative to traditional card payments or bank transfers in such settings, offering lower fees and near-instant settlement. The company serves as the Bank of Korea’s main contractor for Project Hangang, leading blockchain technology development and platform construction. As part of the initiative, LG CNS previously conducted a real-transaction test of deposit tokens from April to June last year involving about 80,000 customers at seven commercial banks. The company said it is preparing a follow-up pilot to distribute government subsidies through a digital-currency platform and is expanding into other blockchain-based finance businesses, including tokenized securities. “We have confirmed the technical feasibility of an automatic payment structure using agentic AI,” said Kim Hong-geun, vice president and head of LG CNS’s digital business division. “We will continue to support the Bank of Korea as a technology partner as it prepares future payment infrastructure.” 2026-01-22 10:40:27

Korean metals company LS MnM posts record revenue in 2025 SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - South Korean metals company LS MnM posted record results last year, with revenue approaching 15 trillion won, supported by higher metal prices and the dollar's strength. In a regulatory filing released via parent company LS Corp., Thursday, LS MnM reported revenue of 14.94 trillion won in 2025, up 23.3 percent from a year earlier. Net profit rose 39.9 percent to 106.7 billion won. The company said profitability improved even as fees for refining copper cathodes declined sharply from the previous year, citing a significant rise in metal prices and favorable currency movements. It also pointed to the registration of its flagship copper cathode product on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which marked its entry into the U.S. market. Operating profit, however, fell 29.2 percent from a year earlier to 224.8 billion won. LS MnM attributed the decline to more stable exchange-rate conditions during the year. In 2024, a widening gap between exchange rates applied to raw material purchases and finished product sales had boosted operating profit, the company said. The company said it is operating business systems designed to reduce earnings volatility stemming from fluctuations in exchange rates and metal prices, adding that profit before corporate income tax provides a more appropriate measure of its underlying performance than operating profit. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2026-01-22 10:00:51

KOSPI touches landmark 5,000 mark SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI in its 46-year history has touched the 5,000 mark Thursday from strong retail push. The four-digit milestone was reached just two months after the index broke above 4,000, reflecting accelerating momentum fueled by strong domestic participation. After pausing briefly following a 12-day uninterrupted rally, the KOSPI rebounded as easing geopolitical tensions — triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of Greenland-related threats — boosted global risk appetite after overnight gains on Wall Street. Retail investors bought more than 300 billion won worth of shares in early trading. Gains were led by heavyweight stocks including Hyundai Motor, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The KOSPI opened 1.57 percent higher from the previous session at 4,987.06 and quickly breached the 5,000 threshold in early dealings. As of 9:06 a.m., the index was up 2.06 percent at 5,011.09. The milestone comes roughly two and a half months after the KOSPI first closed above 4,000 in October last year. 2026-01-22 09:52:20

AI storage demand lifts South Korea's FADU with record contracts SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - Data center semiconductor firm FADU said on Thursday it has secured a 47 billion won ($35 million) order for finished solid-state drive (SSD) products from Taiwan-based Macnica Galaxy, marking the largest single contract in the company’s history. In a regulatory filing, FADU said the deal revises a previously disclosed 21.5 billion won contract announced on Nov. 5, reflecting a larger supply volume and higher SSD prices. The company said the order exceeds its total annual revenue of 43.5 billion won and underscores rising demand for its data center storage products. Under the contract terms, half of the contract value will be paid in March, with the remaining amount expected to be recognized as revenue in the second half of this year. Earlier this month, FADU disclosed it had signed a separate 20.3 billion won supply contract for enterprise SSD controllers with an overseas NAND flash memory manufacturer, also its largest single controller supply deal to date. Together, the two contracts total 67.3 billion won, close to FADU’s cumulative revenue of 68.5 billion won recorded through the third quarter of last year. The company said it expects to return to profitability from the first quarter, supported by a growing pipeline of large orders. FADU added that it secured five contracts worth 10 billion won or more in the second half of last year. Chief Executive Lee Ji-hyo said performance bottlenecks in artificial intelligence data centers are increasingly concentrated in storage and SSDs. “Our technology and customer trust are starting to deliver results,” Lee said. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2026-01-22 09:47:11

Budget minister nominee likely to face confirmation hearing later this week SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - A confirmation hearing for Lee Hye-hoon, a nominee to head the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget, is likely to be held later this week. The hearing, which was supposed to be held earlier this week, could not take place as the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) boycotted it, citing her failure to submit all requested documents. Once she submits them, the hearing could take place on Friday as the ruling and opposition parties tentatively agreed. The three-term lawmaker from the conservative party has faced mounting pressure to step down, as a string of allegations surfaced shortly after President Lee Jae Myung tapped her late last month. The allegations include tantrums against subordinates, exposing her anger management problems, as well as suspicious real estate dealings and alleged special treatment of her son during his mandatory military service. 2026-01-22 09:35:16

EXCLUSIVE: Korea–India summit under discussion - India's envoy to Seoul SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - India may be the next state-visit destination for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, as Seoul looks to build on its back-to-back trips to China and Japan in 2026 by turning a "Special Strategic Partnership" — long cited but not fully realized for more than a decade — into a concrete industrial alliance with the world's most populous country, growing at a pace of more than 7 percent, across shipbuilding, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and renewable energy, according to India's ambassador to South Korea. "I think it is the Korean side's turn to visit. So we would like to have President Lee visit India at early mutual convenience," Ambassador Gourangalal Das told AJP in his first interview with a Korean media outlet. Das said he was optimistic about an "early visit," and when asked whether the summit could take place within the year, replied, "hopefully sooner than that," while declining to provide further details. Working-level discussions are already under way for what he described as "intense exchanges" between the two sides. Das, who formally began his duties after presenting credentials in December, said preparations for outcome-oriented high-level meetings have effectively become his priority. Key pillars under discussion include cooperation in shipbuilding, AI, semiconductors and energy, he said. "Our prime minister has already met President Lee twice, but those were on the sidelines of multilateral events," Das noted. "We hope that very soon we will also have bilateral exchanges at high levels. There have already been several ministerial-level visits as well." Shipbuilding at the top of India's industrial agenda Das framed shipbuilding as the clearest area where India's policy push and Korea's industrial strengths intersect most directly. On the economic front, he said New Delhi has placed shipbuilding near the top of its industrial priorities and recently launched what he described as "a very attractive incentive package." "There is a huge demand for ships in India," Das said. "Korea brings a lot more value in terms of technology and competence, and it is a good, trusted partner." India is backing that ambition with one of its most comprehensive industrial policy drives in decades. In its Union Budget announced last year the government unveiled a multi-layered shipbuilding strategy combining large-scale financing, cost support and cluster-based industrial development, aligned with its long-term road maps — Maritime India Vision 2030 and Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 — which aim to place India among the world’s top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030 and the top five by 2047. A cornerstone of the initiative is the Maritime Development Fund (MDF), planned with a corpus of Rs 25,000 crore (about $3 billion). The government will contribute 49 percent, with the remainder expected from ports and private investors. The fund is designed to provide long-term, lower-cost financing for shipbuilding and ship repair — a structural bottleneck that Indian yards have long cited. Alongside this, New Delhi is revamping the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy (SBFAP) to offset cost disadvantages faced by domestic yards, including mechanisms such as credit notes linked to shipbreaking at Indian facilities. Large vessels above a certain size are also being reclassified as infrastructure assets, unlocking easier access to financing and signaling a shift in how shipbuilding is positioned within India’s industrial ecosystem. India is also accelerating the development of integrated shipbuilding clusters. Eight maritime clusters — five new and three expanded — are planned across coastal states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha, combining shipyards with equipment manufacturing, logistics, training and ancillary services to raise productivity and meet global quality standards. "We would like Korean companies to avail of these incentives and opportunities and come out in a big way," Das said. He added that India is already in discussions with all three major Korean shipbuilders — HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) — ranging from vessel orders to the possibility of hosting a Korean shipyard in India. Korean firms have begun laying groundwork. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has signed memorandums of understanding with state-owned Cochin Shipyard for technology transfer and joint bidding, and with BEML for crane business cooperation, as it expands shipbuilding and offshore partnerships in India. For Korean shipbuilders facing intensified price competition from China, India offers both an additional manufacturing base and access to a fast-growing market. Indian policymakers, for their part, see foreign partnerships and technology transfer as essential to lifting productivity and moving into higher-value segments. Chips, AI and energy: "the next big potential" Semiconductors form another core pillar. While India's chip ecosystem is still "building," Das stressed that the industry requires "a huge number of ecosystem players," opening space not only for large Korean conglomerates but also for small and medium-sized firms. "Even if not the big semiconductor giants, we see a lot of potential for small and medium-sized Korean players to help make that ecosystem grow," he said, calling semiconductors a high priority for the Indian government. Das repeatedly emphasized the complementarity between the two economies. "Compute capacity can be fully harnessed only if you have data and application potential," he said. "India has all of that. This is a good field for us to work together, and it could become the next big potential in India–Korea relations." High-level exchanges, he noted, typically bring a mass-scale business delegation, and India hopes to use the momentum to broaden cooperation beyond a narrow set of industries. "I do not want to limit my answer to just one or two industries," Das said. "Both our countries are focusing on AI and the different aspects of AI." India is preparing to host the fourth AI Impact Summit next month, following earlier editions in Bletchley Park, Seoul and Paris. Das has argued publicly that India wants AI to deliver "economic growth through social inclusion, rather than social polarization." Asked about Korea's interest in developing a domestic, OpenAI-style model and whether Indian talent could come to Korea, Das linked the issue to India’s sovereign AI initiative. "India is a very diverse country," he said. "We want AI systems that reflect the essence of India, including its diversity, rather than making society very uniform and homogeneous." India's model, he said, is being developed as multimodal, supporting audio and visual interfaces and multiple Indian languages, to reach not only elite engineers but also the roughly 300 million people who still lack easy access to digital tools. Entertainment, students — and the 'paradox' of people-to-people ties Das also pointed to K-content and entertainment as an area of untapped cooperation, noting that both countries bring complementary strengths. On people-to-people ties, he highlighted what he called a "paradox" in Korea–India relations. "Despite Korea being so good in so many areas, there are only about 3,000 Indian students in the country," he said. "Indian students and researchers want to experience life as global citizens." Das said clearer post-study work pathways, broader access to skill-based employment, and stronger incentives for Korean-language learning would be critical to changing that equation. Strategic autonomy, Act East — and why Korea matters On geopolitics, Das stressed India's long-standing commitment to strategic autonomy, including amid fluctuations in U.S. politics. "We don't want to create our foreign policy based on individuals," Das said when asked about frictions with Washington under the Trump administration. "We have, of course, very strong and resilient relations with the United States." "I don't want you to be too focused on headline news," he added. "Irrespective of what might happen on a particular day or what gets people's attention, our relationship with the U.S. remains very strong and very comprehensive." Das said India's foreign policy has consistently prioritized independence. "We have always followed a very independent foreign policy which believes in maintaining our strategic autonomy," he said. "We have not formed any alliance with any country. We try to build good relations with all countries, and whenever differences arise, our approach has always been to deal with them bilaterally, without the intervention of others." Positioning Korea firmly within India's regional strategy, Das underscored the importance of East Asia to India's long-term growth outlook. "We look at the East Asia region as very critical to our own growth prospects," he said. "That is why for the past decade or so we have been promoting the Act East policy — of which Korea is very much at the center." India and Korea, he noted, share interests across maritime security, defense, space cooperation and regional stability, and he described Korea as a core partner in translating India's Act East policy into concrete economic and industrial outcomes. Against that backdrop, Das said the recent momentum in high-level exchanges would offer a chance to expand trade and investment — which he argued remain far below potential — and to push bilateral ties beyond a narrow set of projects into a more durable industrial and strategic partnership. 2026-01-22 08:51:28

South Korea's 2025 growth slows to 1% as GDP contracts in 4Q SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - South Korea’s economy expanded 1 percent last year, slowing sharply from the previous year as weak domestic demand, particularly in construction and investment, weighed on growth, according to central bank data released on Wednesday. The pace was about half of the 2 percent growth recorded a year earlier and fell well below the country’s estimated potential growth rate of 1.8 percent. Preliminary data from the Bank of Korea showed real gross domestic product contracted 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the previous quarter. The result was 0.5 percentage points below the bank’s forecast of 0.2 percent growth and marked the weakest quarterly performance since the fourth quarter of 2022, when the economy shrank 0.4 percent. Quarterly growth has been volatile over the past two years. GDP expanded 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2024, before slipping to a contraction of 0.2 percent in the second quarter, followed by modest growth of 0.1 percent in both the third and fourth quarters. Growth turned negative again in the first quarter of last year, falling 0.2 percent, then rebounded to 0.7 percent in the second quarter and 1.3 percent in the third, before returning to contraction in the final quarter. In the fourth quarter, private consumption rose 0.3 percent from the previous quarter, supported by services such as medical care, although spending on goods including passenger cars declined. Government consumption increased 0.6 percent, driven mainly by higher national health insurance benefits. Investment remained a drag on growth. Construction investment fell 3.9 percent as both building and civil engineering activity weakened, while facility investment declined 1.8 percent, led by lower spending on transport equipment such as automobiles. Exports dropped 2.1 percent, reflecting weaker shipments of automobiles, machinery and equipment. Imports fell 1.7 percent, largely due to declines in natural gas and automobile purchases. By industry, manufacturing output fell 1.5 percent, weighed down by transport equipment and machinery and equipment. Output in electricity, gas and water utilities plunged 9.2 percent, mainly due to lower electricity production, while construction activity contracted 5 percent. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries rose 4.6 percent, and services expanded 0.6 percent. Real gross domestic income increased 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter, outpacing the 0.3 percent contraction in real GDP. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2026-01-22 08:45:58

OPINION: Disorder from US-China rivalry demands Korea strategic policy The era of disorder The global order is shaking. Disorder has become the new normal. Free trade is retreating before protectionism, conflict is no longer exceptional, and international law and institutions are increasingly ineffective. Globalization is fragmenting, geopolitical instability is weighing on growth, and global liquidity is flowing toward safe-haven assets such as gold. Multilateralism is fading as unilateralism rises. Multilateralism rests on shared rules and collective decision-making through international institutions. Unilateralism, by contrast, prioritizes national interest over cooperation and increasingly takes the form of hegemonic behavior. Like a typhoon rattling every branch, the force reshaping today’s global order is the struggle for dominance between the United States and China. China is challenging U.S. leadership, while Washington is determined to prevent Beijing’s ascent. The dynamic recalls the 1985 Plaza Accord, when Japan’s GDP approached 70 percent of the U.S. level and coordinated intervention helped curb its rise. Today, China’s GDP has reached nearly 77 percent of that of the United States, triggering a far more complex and prolonged contest. Unlike in the late 20th century, the two powers now appear more evenly matched. The United States is unlikely to subdue China quickly, and China is equally unlikely to force the United States to yield. Their rivalry will persist, embedding geopolitical risk into the global system. Four fronts in the U.S.-China rivalry The U.S.-China contest is unfolding across four main fronts. Understanding these arenas is essential for governments and businesses seeking to navigate an era of sustained uncertainty. First is resource dominance. China has prepared systematically for a long rivalry by tightening control over strategic materials essential to automobiles, robotics, defense equipment and semiconductors. It dominates the global rare-earth supply chain, from mining and refining to permanent magnet production, and exerts outsized influence over nonferrous metals critical to electric vehicles, data centers and renewable energy. As a result, the United States has become dependent on China not only for rare earths but also for lithium, aluminum and copper. When Washington uses tariffs as leverage, Beijing responds with resources. During President Donald Trump’s second term in 2025, China raised the prospect of restricting rare-earth exports in response to U.S. tariff pressure. The message was received. The U.S. government designated rare earths as strategic materials, backed MP Materials — its only rare-earth producer — with equity investment and price support, and accelerated efforts to secure supply chains through partnerships with Saudi Arabia and Australia. MP Materials now mines and refines at Mountain Pass, California, and produces neodymium magnets in Texas for U.S. manufacturers, including General Motors. Second is technology. The rivalry is increasingly visible in global marketplaces and at trade fairs such as CES and MWC. China is rapidly closing the gap in artificial intelligence, robotics, electric vehicles, autonomous driving and semiconductors, while the United States is striving to maintain its lead. According to the OECD, U.S. R&D spending reached US$955.6 billion in 2023, compared with China’s US$477.0 billion. The United States still leads in semiconductors and data-center capacity, but China is pushing aggressively to overtake it, seeking to engineer another “DeepSeek moment” that could reshape global perceptions. While the United States graduates about 820,000 science and technology majors annually, China produces tens of millions. When factoring in Chinese engineers trained in the United States and experienced in U.S. tech firms, it is far from certain that American technological leadership will remain unchallenged. China has already surpassed the United States in AI paper output and patent filings, underscoring the intensity of the competition. Third is currency. The United States continues to benefit from the dollar’s reserve-currency status, but China is actively challenging that privilege. The yuan’s share of global foreign-exchange markets has risen from virtually zero in the early 2000s to 8.6 percent in 2025, and its role in trade settlement and overseas investment is expanding. The yuan has effectively emerged as the fourth major reserve currency, following the dollar, euro and yen. To support this push, China launched the Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) in 2015 as an alternative to the U.S.-centered SWIFT network. As of 2025, CIPS had 193 participating banks and processed roughly US$170 billion in annual transactions. A parallel contest is unfolding in digital finance: The United States is promoting dollar-based stablecoins, while China is deploying a central bank digital currency to internationalize the yuan. Washington has moved to ban CBDC use domestically, while Beijing has prohibited stablecoins. Fourth is energy. While China considers rare-earth controls as leverage, the United States holds a powerful card in oil. As the world’s largest oil producer, the United States has elevated energy development to a strategic priority. Shale gas and oil have turned it into a net crude exporter, enhancing its ability to influence global supply and prices. Recent tensions involving Venezuela and Iran can be viewed through this lens. China relies heavily on energy imports from both countries, while Washington seeks to maintain energy dominance as a geopolitical tool. Energy competition overlaps with other fronts. It intersects with currency power through the “petrodollar” system, established after the collapse of the gold standard in the 1970s, when oil trade was anchored to the U.S. dollar. Today, as the world’s largest oil importer, China is pressing producers to accept yuan settlement. Energy is also tied to technology, as AI leadership depends on massive data centers, whose electricity demand still relies heavily on thermal power generation. South Korea’s response Disorder has become the global baseline. South Korea must adapt accordingly. First, it must strengthen defense and security systems. Economic stability cannot exist without security. As geopolitical rivalry intensifies, South Korea needs stronger domestic defense capabilities and reinforced military alliances. The United States is expanding defense spending, while China is reportedly building a massive military complex in Beijing. The geoeconomic rivalry shows no sign of abating. Second, South Korea must pursue diplomatic balance. While firmly aligned with the United States on security, it cannot afford to sever economic ties with China or emerging BRICS economies. A clear separation between security policy and economic strategy is essential. With nonaligned countries, active diplomacy is needed to prevent geopolitical tensions from spilling over into trade and investment. Third, South Korea should prepare for a prolonged U.S.-China rivalry by seizing opportunities in the global defense industry. Advancing the defense sector should become a national priority, supported by joint research between defense firms and private industries in AI, mobility and information technology. At the same time, policymakers must plan ahead to minimize economic shocks from sanctions, supply-chain disruptions and semiconductor-related restrictions. In an era defined by disorder, resilience — not prediction — will determine survival. * The author is the head of economic research at the Institute for Korean Economy and Industry. About the author: △Adjunct professor at Hanyang University △Former senior researcher at Samjong KPMG Economic Research Institute △Former senior researcher at Hyundai Research Institute * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was edited by AJP. 2026-01-22 07:46:28

Editorial: When a mature democracy judges itself The sentencing of former South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison marks more than the end of an individual career. It represents a moment of moral reckoning for a democracy confident enough to judge its own power at its peak. The court’s ruling did not merely describe the December 3 emergency decree as unconstitutional. It called it what it was: a “coup from above,” a form of insurrection carried out not by rebels on the margins but by those entrusted with the state itself. The phrase matters. History teaches us that democracies rarely fall from outside pressure alone; they are more often weakened when those in power convince themselves that necessity excuses lawlessness. What made this case exceptional was not the duration of the emergency rule—it lasted only hours—nor the absence of casualties. Rather, it was the context. South Korea today is not the fragile republic of the late 20th century. It is a consolidated democracy, a member of the global economic elite, and a nation whose citizens have repeatedly demonstrated civic courage. In such a country, the court argued, an abuse of constitutional authority carries greater, not lesser, weight. This reasoning reflects a principle often misunderstood outside democratic societies: the stronger the system, the heavier the responsibility borne by those who lead it. In authoritarian states, power is expected to override law. In democracies, power exists precisely because law restrains it. To violate that restraint is to strike at the foundation itself. The ruling also delivered a quieter, more unsettling message. Han Duck-soo was not a demagogue or a political firebrand. He was widely regarded as a stabilizer—a career technocrat shaped by nearly five decades of public service. That is precisely why his fall resonates. Experience, the court made clear, is not a shield. Longevity in office does not dilute accountability; it intensifies it. There is an undeniable tragedy here. According to testimony, senior officials urged restraint, warning that decades of public service should not end in disgrace. Those warnings went unheeded. What followed was not merely a legal violation but a moral failure: the choice to obey political momentum rather than constitutional duty. Yet the broader significance of the verdict lies beyond personal regret. By rejecting arguments of “symbolic,” “preventive,” or “warning” emergency powers—terms with no grounding in constitutional law—the court reaffirmed a central democratic truth: extraordinary authority cannot be improvised. In a democracy, there are no informal shortcuts around the constitution, no rhetorical devices that transform illegality into prudence. Equally important was the court’s recognition of the public. The absence of violence, it noted, was not evidence of restraint by those who ordered the emergency measures. It was the result of citizens who resisted peacefully, lawmakers who acted decisively, and soldiers and police officers who quietly refused unlawful commands. Democracy, in this telling, was preserved not by power, but by conscience. For South Korea, the sentence will reverberate far beyond this case. It establishes a precedent that future leaders cannot ignore: that even failed attempts to subvert constitutional order will be judged by their intent, not their outcome. This is how democracies protect themselves—not by assuming virtue in leadership, but by institutionalizing skepticism toward it. The lesson is neither vengeful nor triumphalist. It is sober. Democracies do not mature by avoiding crisis, but by confronting it within the rule of law. Painful accountability is not a sign of weakness; it is evidence of strength. In the end, the court’s message was unmistakable. In an advanced democracy, betrayal of constitutional order is not a historical echo—it is an immediate danger. And the price of that betrayal must be high enough to ensure it is never mistaken for an option again. South Korea has chosen to remember that lesson. Other democracies would do well to take note. 2026-01-21 20:56:19

Black Eagles to participate in air show in Saudi Arabia next month SEOUL, January 21 (AJP) - South Korea's aerobatics team will participate in an air show in Saudi Arabia next month after a refueling stopover in Japan, the Air Force said Wednesday. The team will depart Wonju next Wednesday for the International Defense Industry Exhibition, stopping in Okinawa, Japan, to refuel and hold an exchange event with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's aerobatics team Blue Impulse. Japan had abruptly refused to provide refueling support for the Black Eagles after initially agreeing to do so, raising issues over a T-50B aircraft conducting routine training near the easternmost islets of Dokdo. However, shuttle diplomacy between the two countries, revived after President Lee Jae Myung's visit earlier this month, has gained momentum, allowing the refueling in Japan to proceed as planned. After refueling in Japan, the Black Eagles will fly about 11,300 kilometers (7,020 miles) via Clark in the Philippines; Da Nang, Viet Nam; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Kolkata, Nagpur and Jamnagar, India; and Muscat, Oman, arriving Riyadh on Feb. 2. The Air Force will send approximately 120 personnel, along with nine T-50B aircraft and four C-130 transport planes. The team plans to showcase its "Mugunghwa" maneuver, inspired by South Korea's national flower, the rose of Sharon, symbolizing the country's perseverance and resilience. Col. Noh Nam-seon of the team said, "As this will be our first air show in the Middle East, we will deliver our best performance, drawing on the flight expertise and teamwork we have built over the years." 2026-01-21 17:54:23