Korean payroll growth stagnates in 2025 amid weak domestic demand, youth job scarcity SEOUL, Jan. 14 (AJP) — South Korea’s labor market held up on the surface in 2025, with employment and participation rates reaching record highs, but stagnant payroll growth, manufacturing job losses and the highest youth unemployment in three years underscored lingering fragility, government data showed Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of employed people aged 15 and older reached 28.769 million in 2025, up 193,000, or 0.7 percent, from the previous year. Payroll gains have remained below 200,000 for a second consecutive year, reflecting sluggish economic growth of around 1 percent or less. The employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 rose to 69.8 percent, the highest on record under OECD standards. The overall employment rate stood at 61.5 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier and the best level since data collection began in 1963. Despite the strong headline figures, conditions worsened for younger workers. The employment rate for those aged 15 to 29 fell to 45.0 percent in 2025 from 46.1 percent a year earlier, while the youth unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent from 5.9 percent, the highest in three years. Job losses were concentrated in key industries. Employment in construction fell 6.1 percent year on year, reflecting a prolonged sectoral downturn, while manufacturing employment declined 1.6 percent. The number of “idled” people — those neither working nor actively seeking employment — continued to rise, increasing from 2.351 million in 2023 to 2.467 million in 2024 and further to 2.555 million in 2025. By age group, the idled population increased by 19,000 among those in their 20s and by 67,000 among those aged 60 and older, highlighting growing difficulties for young people entering the labor market. The share of discouraged job seekers — those who have given up looking for work — within the economically inactive population also climbed steadily, from 14.5 percent in 2023 to 15.3 percent in 2024 and 15.8 percent in 2025. December data were largely in line with the full-year trend. Employment rose by 168,000 from a year earlier to 28.2 million, slowing from a gain of 225,000 in November. The youth employment rate was unchanged from the previous month, extending a period of weakness. Construction and manufacturing — sectors that account for a large share of regular jobs — each shed about 63,300 positions in December, reinforcing concerns over the durability of job creation amid weak domestic demand. 2026-01-14 14:32:57

Korea's indigenous AI model project faces debate over use of open-source components SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - South Korea's government-backed initiative to develop an indigenous artificial intelligence foundation model is facing scrutiny over whether the use of open-source components from Chinese firms aligns with the project's definition of "sovereign AI." The Ministry of Science and ICT is set to announce Thursday the results of the first evaluation round for bidders in the national AI foundation model project. Of the five contenders — Naver Cloud, NC AI, Upstage, SK Telecom and LG AI Research — one will be eliminated in the initial cut. The project was launched under the banner of "Leaping into the world's top three AI powers," with the government positioning it as a sovereign AI development effort. Eligible models were defined as those developed domestically from design through pre-training, excluding derivative models fine-tuned from foreign systems. The government is funding GPU resources, data and engineering costs, aiming to produce a model capable of reaching 95 percent of global AI benchmark performance. However, questions have emerged over whether some contenders' development approaches meet the project's sovereignty criteria. The debate began after Upstage was accused of using inference code from Chinese AI firm Zhipu AI, based on similarities identified by industry observers. Scrutiny later extended to Naver Cloud, which acknowledged incorporating Alibaba's Qwen 2.5-VL 32B vision encoder and weights, and to SK Telecom, which has faced claims that it used inference code linked to Chinese firm DeepSeek. Upstage and SK Telecom have stated that inference code is separate from the AI model itself. They said such code functions as a deployment or distribution layer that improves compatibility and usability, without affecting core model training or capabilities. The inference code used by Upstage is released under the MIT license, while SK Telecom's code falls under the Apache 2.0 license. Both licenses allow free use, modification and commercial distribution with attribution. The Apache 2.0 license additionally includes explicit patent grants and disclosure requirements for major modifications. Naver Cloud's case has drawn closer scrutiny because it involved model weights. The company used Alibaba's Qwen 2.5-VL 32B vision encoder and weights, with analysis showing that its vision encoder weights share a cosine similarity of 99.5 percent with the Qwen series. The 32B model is released under the Apache 2.0 license and can be freely used, while the larger 72B version requires a license request to Alibaba if monthly active users exceed 100 million. Naver Cloud has said it possesses comparable in-house technology and selected Qwen for ecosystem compatibility and system optimization, adding that it could switch to proprietary technology if licensing thresholds become applicable. Some industry participants note that the ministry's project guidelines, announced in July, specify domestic model design and pre-training but do not explicitly require "from-scratch" development without any external components. An industry expert said that while the use of open-source technology is common and generally uncontroversial in private-sector development, questions arise when government funding is involved, particularly in projects framed around technological independence. Meanwhile, NC AI and LG AI Research have not been subject to similar scrutiny. NC AI said its VARCO model was developed independently, covering data collection, pre-training and tuning. LG AI Research's EXAONE was also developed without incorporating Chinese modules. According to evaluation results from the first round, EXAONE ranked first in 10 of 13 benchmark categories, recording the highest average score at 72 points. The model ranked seventh globally and first domestically in the Intelligence Index compiled by Artificial Analysis. The ministry has so far declined to clarify whether the project requires models to be developed entirely from scratch. Industry observers say the criteria may become clearer once the first elimination is announced. Some AI developers argue that debates over the origins of specific code components are less important than governance and control over data and deployment, noting that many countries developing AI systems rely on open-source technologies. 2026-01-14 14:17:07

PPP's internal ethics committee decides to expel former leader Han Dong-hoon SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - The main opposition People Power Party's ethics committee on Wednesday decided to expel former party leader Han Dong-hoon from the party. The belated move came after the PPP's internal investigation into hundreds of defamatory comments about disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee on the party-run online bulletin board, allegedly posted by Han and his family members in November 2024. Han's expulsion immediately prompted backlash from PPP lawmakers aligned with him, who called it "retaliation for Han's open opposition to Yoon's Dec. 3 declaration of martial law in 2024 and his later support for Yoon's impeachment, which went against the conservative party's dubious stance at the time. Some close to Han even described it as the "death of democracy within the party." But the committee accused Han of attempting to manipulate public opinion through those online posts in violation of party rules, making him subject to the harshest disciplinary measure. In response, Han wrote on Facebook, "I will defend democracy with the people." 2026-01-14 14:15:21

OPINION: The weight of a death sentence, the lightness of martial law The prosecution’s request for the death penalty against former President Yoon Suk Yeol is not merely about the punishment of one individual. It is a question the Republic of Korea is asking of itself: What kind of country are we? How far have we come? And what lines must never be crossed? That a state of martial law could even be contemplated for political reasons in a mature democratic republic with per-capita income exceeding $30,000 already signals a breach of basic principles and common sense. The significance of the death penalty request lies less in its severity than in its attempt to redraw a boundary that should never have been blurred. For responsible journalism, the first and most fundamental standard is adherence to basic principles and common sense. Martial law is an extraordinary measure, permissible only in times of war, national emergency, or threats equivalent to the survival of the state. Routine political conflict, power struggles, or declining approval ratings can never justify it. The Constitution grants authority, but it also clearly defines its limits. Once those limits are crossed, power ceases to be governance and becomes recklessness. Allegations that military and police forces were to be mobilized for political ends are, regardless of their ultimate legal determination, already difficult to accept in the language of common sense. Common sense asks a simple question: Why emergency powers instead of dialogue and due process? From the perspective of journalism committed to truth, justice and freedom, this prosecution is a test of democracy’s capacity for self-defense. Freedom is not absolute, and justice must stand on procedure. Emergency powers exist to protect liberty temporarily, not to extend political authority by shortcut. The symbolic weight of the death penalty request lies in how democracy confronts threats from within. Punishment should not be revenge; it must be a warning — a warning to all public officials that the constitutional order is not private property. International precedents sharpen this point. Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, who seized power through a military coup, ultimately faced accountability under domestic and international law. In Spain, the 1981 coup attempt was neutralized when the king publicly declared loyalty to the Constitution, drawing a firm line against military intervention in politics. In the United States, responsibility for the January 6 Capitol riot extended even to former President Donald Trump. Institutional maturity reveals itself in moments of crisis. Democratic states, without exception, have defended the political neutrality of the military and the supremacy of constitutional order. From a perspective that values human dignity, culture and the natural foundations of society, the shadow of martial law stretches far beyond politics. Military neutrality erodes, citizens’ daily lives are shaken by fear, and trust in the economy and culture collapses almost overnight. Investment and exchange recoil from uncertainty. The soil for free debate and creative expression withers, and its recovery, like nature’s, takes time. Such damage cannot be fully measured in numbers — which is precisely why the standard of common sense must be uncompromising. What must not be lost in the debate surrounding this prosecution is the question of morality and conscience. Legal reasoning must be cool-headed, but those who wield the law must do so with a heated sense of responsibility. When a single decision by those in power can place an entire community at risk, democracy becomes most vulnerable. Power without reflection and authority without accountability invite repetition of the same error. To be sure, society must continue a separate and serious discussion about the death penalty itself. But the core issue here is not execution — it is standards. Where is the line between what is permissible and what is not? How should the judiciary respond when politics betrays procedure? In the court of common sense and constitutional principle, this prosecution seeks to make that line unmistakably clear. South Korea is now judged not by the speed of its growth but by the depth of its maturity. The moment martial law becomes imaginable as a political tool, the republic regresses from democracy to a system governed by convenience of power. Truth, justice and freedom are not preserved by declarations alone. The conditions of human life, culture and even nature are the first to be damaged when constitutional restraint collapses. That is why emergency power must always be placed first before the court of common sense — not left to the discretion of those who wield authority. The message of this prosecution is clear: No office, no justification, grants immunity when constitutional order is shaken. Democracy survives through tolerance, but when fundamental principles are breached, it must defend itself with firmness. This is the minimum level of maturity the Republic of Korea must now demand of itself. *The author is the President of Global Economic and Financial Research Institute (GEFRI) and an AJP columnist. 2026-01-14 14:08:53

Hyundai Rotem pivots toward robots, hydrogen in organizational overhaul SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - Hyundai Rotem, a South Korean manufacturer with operations spanning defense, rail and plant engineering, has reorganized its business to position robots and hydrogen as its primary growth engines. The company said Wednesday that it has carried out a broad restructuring aimed at strengthening competitiveness in robot and hydrogen technologies. Central to the overhaul is the creation of a dedicated unit that consolidates both businesses into a single strategic pillar. Under the reorganization, Hyundai Rotem established a Robot & Hydrogen Business Office, bringing together a robot sales team and a robot research team. The company also created an AI Robot Team, signaling a broader push to elevate unmanned systems and AI as core, companywide capabilities. In addition, an Aerospace System Team was created under the Aerospace Development Center. Hyundai Rotem said the changes are intended to prepare the company for the “physical AI era,” with plans to apply unmanned technologies, artificial intelligence and hydrogen energy across its core businesses to upgrade its operating structure. A Hyundai Rotem official said the reorganization is aimed at strengthening technological competitiveness over the mid- to long term while building a faster and more flexible operating system. "We plan to pursue upgrades to our core businesses through execution-focused changes," the official said. 2026-01-14 14:04:40

Foreign investors extend buying streak in South Korean stocks, bonds SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - Foreign investors were net buyers of South Korean stocks and bonds in December, extending net inflows to a fourth consecutive month. Net foreign inflows into South Korean securities totaled $7.44 billion in December, according to the Bank of Korea’s report on international finance and foreign-exchange market trends released Wednesday. The figure marked the largest monthly inflow since September, when inflows reached $9.12 billion. Bond purchases accounted for the bulk of the inflows, totaling $6.26 billion, while net stock buying came to $1.19 billion. Bond inflows had surged to $11.81 billion in November, the highest monthly figure since the data series began in 2008. In December, foreign holdings of South Korean bonds that matured during the month reached $6.49 billion, the largest amount recorded for any December, the central bank said. A BOK official said equity flows turned positive on expectations that rising memory chip prices would lift profitability at domestic semiconductor companies. Bond inflows, meanwhile, continued to be led by public-sector investors, even as sizable volumes of bonds matured. South Korea’s credit default swap premium on government bonds averaged 22 basis points in December, down from 23 basis points a month earlier, indicating slightly improved perceptions of sovereign risk. 2026-01-14 13:43:50

Asian markets mixed as KOSPI slips after earlier gain on semiconductor strength SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - Asian markets opened mixed on Wednesday, as South Korean shares rose on early semiconductor and energy gains but slipped amid broader caution across the region. In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI was down 0.4 percent at 4,673 and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ also fell 0.8 percent to 941.4 as of around 11 a.m., as initial gains shortly after trading began earlier in the day gave way to selective profit-taking. Semiconductor shares traded mixed, with Samsung Electronics rising 1 percent to 139,000 won ($94.8) while SK hynix slipped 0.7 percent to 733,000 won after recent gains. Hanmi Semiconductor surged 3.0 percent to 178,300 won, extending gains after the company announced the appointment of a former Apple semiconductor executive as vice president and disclosed a new supply contract with SK hynix. The company also revealed a 9.65 billion won contract to supply TC bonder equipment used in high-bandwidth memory production, with delivery scheduled for early April. Energy and industrial shares also remained strong. Doosan Enerbility jumped 2.8 percent to 89,400 won, as investors continued to favor nuclear- and power-related stocks amid expectations of sustained global energy investment. Auto-related shares traded mixed, with Hyundai Motor falling 1.2 percent to 401,000 won, giving back some of its recent gains following a strong rally earlier in the week. The South Korean won weakened to 1,475.2 per dollar, extending the greenback's ongoing strength. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.4 percent to 54,320.1, supported by gains in exporters and technology shares. China's Shanghai Composite Index also climbed 0.3 percent to 4,150.2. 2026-01-14 11:26:21

Drivers left to rely on vigilance as Korea grapples with seasonal black ice hazard SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - Black ice accompanies icy snow winter in South Korea and is blamed for road accidents and deaths, but the government has run out of ideas as fundamental prevention would require entire hefty replacement roadwork. Seven people were killed and nine others injured Saturday morning in a string of traffic accidents across highways and national roads in North Gyeongsang Province, with police citing black ice as the main cause. The accidents unfolded within a narrow early-morning window, when light precipitation met subzero temperatures — the precise conditions that make black ice most dangerous. Vehicles appeared to lose traction on road surfaces that looked dry, triggering chain collisions and truck rollovers at multiple locations. While investigations are continuing, the incidents have once again exposed the limits of South Korea’s winter road safety measures. Black ice, a thin and nearly invisible layer of ice, forms when moisture freezes on pavement after rain or snow. Because it blends into the road surface, drivers often recognize the danger only after braking or steering fails. The risk is neither new nor rare. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, icy roads caused 4,112 traffic accidents nationwide between 2020 and 2024, killing 83 people and injuring 6,664 others. Nearly 80 percent occurred in December and January. Data from the Korea Road Traffic Authority show that accidents on icy roads are significantly more lethal than on dry pavement. The fatality rate is about 1.5 times higher overall, and more than four times higher on bridges and overpasses — structures that freeze faster due to air circulation above and below. Despite repeated incidents, officials acknowledge that prevention options are limited. De-icing agents such as calcium chloride remain the primary response, but their effectiveness depends on timing, traffic volume and sudden temperature drops. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it is reviewing whether de-icing materials were sufficiently applied on the highway sections where Saturday’s accidents occurred. Local governments have focused on targeted measures rather than broad fixes. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it sends early-morning alert messages during freezing conditions and plans to expand road heating systems and brine-spraying devices at high-risk spots such as tunnel entrances and bridges. Structural constraints, however, remain the biggest hurdle. Rep. Son Myung-soo of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee and a former vice minister, said most Korean highways are paved with stone mastic asphalt (SMA), which is durable but drains water poorly. “In Europe and Japan, many highways use porous asphalt that allows water to drain more effectively,” Son said. “Replacing pavement in black ice-prone sections would reduce risks, but it would require large-scale and costly reconstruction.” With infrastructure fixes limited, experts say driver behavior becomes the last line of defense. Professor Choi Jae-won of the Korea Road Traffic Authority said braking distances on icy roads can increase up to sevenfold compared with dry surfaces, based on experimental data. “Black ice accidents occur most frequently at dawn,” Choi said. “Drivers should slow down well in advance, especially near bridges, tunnel entrances and shaded sections.” As winters grow more volatile, officials say managing black ice will continue to rely on a mix of localized engineering, faster alerts and heightened driver awareness — rather than a single, comprehensive solution. 2026-01-14 11:24:16

HD Construction Equipment lands excavator orders across Africa, Asia SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - HD Construction Equipment, HD Hyundai’s construction machinery unit, said Wednesday that it has signed contracts with mining developers in Ethiopia to supply 120 large excavators for gold mining projects. The order includes 70 DEVELON-branded 36-metric-ton excavators and 50 HYUNDAI-branded 34-metric-ton models. HD Construction Equipment said it commanded about 80 percent of Ethiopia’s excavator market last year, maintaining its leading position through product competitiveness and after-sales service. The company's 30-metric-ton class mid- to large-size excavators are designed for Africa’s resource-development environment, emphasizing durability, operational stability, mobility and fuel efficiency. Sales in the region have more than doubled annually over the past three years, the company said. To support further growth, the company plans to strengthen customer support through regional hubs in Ghana and South Africa, while building country-specific cooperation systems to respond to rising demand across Africa. HD Construction Equipment also reported sizable orders worldwide. In Vietnam, the company won contracts to supply 71 machines, including 20 wheeled excavators for the government’s emergency disaster-response programs and crawler excavators for national infrastructure projects. In Kyrgyzstan, the company will deliver 41 excavators, including 52-metric-ton large models and 38-metric-ton mid- to large-size machines, for transportation network expansion and real-estate development. In a regulatory filing Tuesday, HD Construction Equipment set a 2026 sales target of 8.72 trillion won ($6.6 billion) and an operating profit target of 439.6 billion won. 2026-01-14 11:10:34

Import prices extend gain on weak won, softer oil prices offset the rise Dec SEOUL, Jan. 14 (AJP) - South Korea’s import prices rose for a sixth consecutive month in December, though the pace of increase softened as falling global oil prices partially offset the impact of a weak won, data from the Bank of Korea (BOK) showed Wednesday — signaling lingering inflationary pressure likely to feed through to consumer prices with a lag. According to the BOK’s export-import price index (preliminary, in won terms; 2020=100), the import price index rose 0.7 percent from November to 142.39, marking a sharp deceleration from the 2.6 percent jump recorded the previous month. On a year-on-year basis, the index edged up 0.3 percent. Import prices have risen every month since July, marking the longest streak since May–October 2021. While the recent slowdown reflects easing energy costs, the sustained uptrend underscores the continued influence of the weak Korean won. Dubai crude oil prices fell 3.8 percent month on month and 15.3 percent on year to an average of $62.05 per barrel in December. The relief would have been greater if not for a weaker won. The U.S. dollar averaged 1,467.40 won in December, up 0.7 percent on month and 2.3 percent on year. “International oil prices declined, but the rise in the won-dollar exchange rate and higher prices for primary metal products pushed the import price index up,” said Lee Moon-hee, head of the BOK’s price statistics team. By category, intermediate goods prices rose 1.0 percent on month, driven by gains in primary metal products. Refined copper prices increased 8.7 percent, while other refined precious metals surged 13.6 percent. Mining products rose 0.2 percent, with copper ore climbing 10.0 percent and ammonia gaining 11.6 percent. Prices of "other" precious metal jumped 13.6 percent on month and as much as 89.5 percent on year, reflecting the spike in silver and gold prices. Raw material prices rose 0.1 percent overall. While crude oil prices declined, natural gas — including LNG — trended higher. On a year-on-year basis, however, LNG import prices fell 11.8 percent, broadly in line with the 13.3 percent annual decline in crude oil prices. Higher import prices tend to feed into consumer inflation after several months, keeping policymakers alert despite the recent moderation. Export prices hit record high as trade conditions improve Gains of exports prices benefited from the weak won and feverish demand for DRAM, helping to strengthen trade terms in Korea's favor. The export price index rose 1.1 percent on month to 140.93 in December, marking a sixth consecutive monthly increase and a record high. The rise, however, represented a significant slowdown from November’s 3.7 percent surge. DRAM export prices gained 5.2 percent on month and 57.5 percent on year amid dire shortage of mass-market memory due to capacity focus on high-performance memory by core producers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. In trade terms, export prices posted annualized gains of 5.4 percent, while income terms surged 17.9 percent — comfortably supporting the country's trade surplus streak. The export volume index and export value index, which together underpin the export price index, rose to record highs of 141.88 and 162.25, respectively, indicating exports were sold in both larger volumes and at higher prices. Silver recorded the steepest increase among export items, surging 27.7 percent in December and rising 116.1 percent over the course of 2025 — the fastest growth among major metals — buoyed by its dual role as a safe-haven asset and a key industrial input for semiconductors and secondary batteries. Refined copper prices climbed 10.4 percent, reflecting strong demand tied to power grids and AI infrastructure. BOK officials noted that export volumes continued to rise, led by semiconductors and computer storage devices, with year-end shipment concentration amplifying the gains. Despite easing commodity prices, the BOK stressed that the exchange rate remains the decisive factor. In December, export prices measured in contract currencies rose just 0.4 percent from the previous month, while import prices were flat — confirming that most of the increase in won-based indices stemmed from currency effects rather than underlying price pressures. Looking ahead to January, Lee said both Dubai crude prices and the won-dollar exchange rate have so far declined from December averages, but cautioned that “uncertainty in both domestic and global conditions remains high.” 2026-01-14 10:53:09