Korean retailers scramble as US ends duty-free imports on small packages SEOUL, September 02 (AJP) - South Korean online retailers are rushing to adapt after the United States eliminated a duty-free exemption for packages under $800, a move that threatens to raise costs and dampen demand in one of their most important overseas markets. Beginning Aug. 29, American consumers ordering from Korean platforms face a 15 percent tariff on purchases that had previously entered the country without customs duties. The policy shift, announced by the Trump administration, has rattled Korea’s cross-border e-commerce sector, which relies heavily on U.S. shoppers for sales of fashion and beauty products. The change affects a significant slice of business. In the second quarter, Korean companies’ direct online sales abroad totaled 738.8 billion won, or about $530 million, according to Statistics Korea. The United States accounted for 138.2 billion won, or $99 million — nearly a fifth of the total — making it the third-largest destination after China and Japan. To soften the blow, retailers are retooling their systems. Musinsa, a popular fashion marketplace, said it will now include U.S. tariffs in the final checkout price rather than charging customers separately on delivery, while also warning of potential customs delays. Beauty company CJ Olive Young has adopted a similar approach, automatically applying a 15 percent duty at checkout. Other companies are placing the burden directly on customers. Amorepacific said U.S. buyers will be billed not only a 15 percent tariff but also an $18.30 clearance fee, collected by DHL on delivery. For Korean sellers, the worry is whether higher costs will blunt the enthusiasm of U.S. consumers for K-beauty creams, trendy streetwear and other cultural exports that have powered sales overseas. “We’re keeping a close eye on how this develops,” one industry official said. “Discounts and promotions may be the only way to keep American customers coming back.” 2025-09-02 10:57:53

KT, LG Uplus reject hacking claims while government probes possible leaks SEOUL, September 2 (AJP) - South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT has opened an investigation into possible hacking incidents at telecommunications firms KT and LG Uplus, after earlier security lapses at rival SK Telecom raised alarm about vulnerabilities in the industry. The ministry said Tuesday it had begun an in-depth review after receiving materials from both carriers during on-site inspections. Officials said they would disclose the findings publicly if evidence of breaches is confirmed. The inquiry follows a tip delivered to the office of Rep. Choi Min-hee of the ruling Democratic Party by an anonymous white-hat hacker. The informant claimed that internal data from the two companies’ servers had surfaced externally, suggesting potential leaks. Security researchers reported that LG Uplus’s internal source code for a privileged account management system, along with information from nearly 9,000 servers, had been exposed. At KT, investigators were told of certificate leaks that could have left its systems vulnerable. The ministry’s move comes just weeks after SK Telecom was fined a record sum for failing to safeguard the personal information of more than 23 million subscribers. Regulators said the company had neglected basic cybersecurity practices and oversight. Both KT and LG Uplus rejected the allegations of cyberattacks. KT acknowledged that external web service certificates and private keys had been exposed through unknown channels, but insisted no direct evidence of a breach was found on its networks. LG Uplus said its own internal checks of access controls and firewall logs revealed no suspicious activity. Earlier this year, the ministry inspected servers at major telecom firms using malware detection tools, and at the time reported no signs of intrusion across the sector. 2025-09-02 10:17:17

French novelist Bernard Werber meets Korean readers at Seoul event SEOUL, September 1 (AJP) - A book event with French novelist Bernard Werber was held at the French Embassy in central Seoul on Monday. Co-hosted by the online bookseller platform Yes24 Corp. and publisher The Open Books Co., the event brought together dozens of Korean book lovers through a competitive selection. The event was part of Werber’s visit to Seoul to celebrate the Korean publication of his 2023 novel “Le Temps des Chimères” (“The Age of Chimeras”) last month. The novel portrays a dystopian future destroyed by nuclear war, where a new species called the "Chimères" comes to dominate. Werber said the idea for the book started when he asked if humanity could survive a massive epidemic. “Today we live in a time obsessed with consumption and surrounded by shocking news every day. With this book, I wanted people to step back and think about where we are and where we are going,” he said. The event also gave fans a chance to ask questions, during which Werber stressed his lasting connection with Korea and its people. "South Korea is like a second homeland for me. I often miss Korea when I am in France," said Werber. Asked about the struggles of young Koreans with anxiety and depression, he said they should "try to find happiness" and recommended traveling to new places as a way to gain perspective, noting that "a problem in one place may not seem like a problem elsewhere." Meanwhile, the embassy said on Monday that France has been selected as the guest of honor at next year’s Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF). The embassy also highlighted various literary programs ahead of the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 2025-09-01 21:52:56

Firefighters struggle with worsening mental health as support falls short SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - The number of South Korean firefighters struggling with mental health issues has surged in recent years, driven by exposure to traumatic incidents such as the 2022 Itaewon stampede accident, while access to professional counseling for first responders remains critically low. According to data submitted by Democratic Party lawmaker Han Byung-do, counseling sessions provided through the National Fire Agency's "visiting counseling program" rose to 79,453 cases in 2024, up 65 percent from 48,026 cases in 2020. The agency's mental health survey of 61,087 firefighters in 2024 found that 7.2 percent (4,375) suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 6.5 percent (3,937) report symptoms of depression, and 5.2 percent (3,141) are considered at risk of suicide. The mental health toll drew renewed attention after the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, which killed 159 people during Halloween festivities in Seoul's Itaewon. Several first responders involved in the rescue operations later reported lasting trauma, and at least two rescuers -- officers in their 30s and 40s, diagnosed with depression -- have taken their own lives since the accident. The one officer repeatedly received professional counselling, while the other shared his traumatic experience with his colleagues and later applied for work-related PTSD care. Despite the mounting demand, the agency currently employs only 128 counselors for 268 fire stations nationwide, leaving many units without dedicated staff. As of late 2023, only 102 counselors were in place, with each handling an average of 779 cases annually. Police officers face similar struggles. From 2020 to 2022, the number treated for depression rose 67 percent, while PTSD treatments increased nearly 50 percent, according to the National Police Agency and the National Health Insurance Service. National Assembly records show that between 2018 and 2022, at least 105 officers took their own lives, with mental health issues cited as the cause in 44 cases. These figures highlight the heavy psychological toll of frontline duties and have fueled criticism of insufficient state support. Han said, "It is clear neglect that the state cannot properly safeguard even the mental health of its firefighters," pledging to push for at least one counselor at every fire station. 2025-09-01 17:22:54

Labor minister vows to reduce industrial accident rate to OECD average by 2030 SEOUL, September 1 (AJP) - South Korea's Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon pledged on Monday to reduce the number of fatal accidents at workplaces, including factories, to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average by 2030. Speaking at a press conference at the government complex in the central city of Sejong, Kim said the ministry will try to reduce the industrial fatality rate from 0.39 deaths per 10,000 workers last year to the OECD's average of 0.29 within five years. The remark came less than two months after President Lee Jae Myung said during a Cabinet meeting in July that the government must root out industrial accidents following the fifth death this year at a construction site operated by POSCO E&C Co., a subsidiary of steelmaker POSCO. Kim said the accidents disproportionately affect older employees, foreign workers, and delivery riders. He stressed that the government is preparing targeted measures for these groups, along with specialized programs for small businesses. The minister also said the government will impose penalties immediately upon finding violations, without prior correction orders, starting next month. The ministry also plans to expand inspections by operating a public reporting center and offering financial rewards beginning next year. According to data released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor last month, 138 workers died in construction-related accidents in the first half of this year, up eight from a year earlier. Fatalities at small workplaces increased to 176, up by 21 from a year earlier (13.5 percent), while those at large sites with more than 50 workers fell to 111, down by 30 (21.3 percent). Foreign workers accounted for 38 deaths, or 13.2 percent of the total, continuing to make up more than 10 percent of annual fatalities. Despite the Serious Accident Punishment Act being enforced since 2022, workplace fatalities have remained largely unchanged. Annual deaths have hovered above 2,000, with 2,062 in 2020, 2,080 in 2021, 2,223 in 2022, 2,016 in 2023, and 2,098 last year. A National Assembly research report released at the end of last month said that of 1,252 cases investigated under the law, 917 cases, or 73.2 percent, remain under investigation by prosecutors. More than half of the probes have taken longer than six months, compared to 10 to 15 percent for other crimes. The acquittal rate has reached 10.7 percent, over three times higher than that of other criminal cases, reflecting the difficulty of proving that employers deliberately or negligently failed to comply with safety measures and that the accidents could have been reasonably foreseen. 2025-09-01 16:59:46

U.S. tariffs on Chinese batteries open door for Korean battery firms SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - The United States plans to sharply raise tariffs on Chinese-made energy storage system batteries, a move that could reshape the fast-growing American clean energy market and give South Korea’s battery makers an opening to expand. The Commerce Department said tariffs on Chinese ESS batteries, already steep at 40.9 percent, will climb to 58.4 percent in 2026. The increase stems largely from Section 301 trade penalties, which will rise from 7.5 percent to 25 percent, layered on top of basic import duties, reciprocal tariffs and a 20 percent surcharge linked to fentanyl trafficking. The higher levies are expected to erase China’s long-standing price advantage. Industry analysts estimate that lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, battery cells shipped from China to the United States will cost about $87 per kilowatt-hour next year, up from roughly $73 last year. That would put them on par with the $85 to $90 charged by South Korean producers operating in the United States. Seoul’s battery makers are moving quickly to seize the opportunity. LG Energy Solution began mass production of LFP batteries for energy storage at its Michigan plant in June and reported a U.S. order backlog exceeding 50 gigawatt-hours. The company plans to nearly double its domestic ESS production capacity to 30 gigawatt-hours next year. Samsung SDI is preparing to start ESS battery production by year’s end and add LFP capacity in the second half of 2026. SK On, meanwhile, is retooling its Georgia plant, SK Battery America, to produce storage batteries while reserving its joint venture facilities for electric vehicle cells. The U.S. administration’s Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, which provides tax breaks to U.S.-based clean energy manufacturers, further tilts the playing field toward Korean companies. Chinese producers have limited access to the subsidy. For South Korea’s big three battery makers, energy storage represents a critical hedge. Demand for EV batteries has slowed, and federal subsidies for electric vehicle purchases are scheduled to expire at the end of September under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a shift that could further weaken the market. 2025-09-01 15:14:09

Samsung Electronics retains lead in India's TV market SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics strengthened its grip on India’s television market in the first half of 2025, holding a 23.8 percent share by shipment volume and extending its run as the top seller for a ninth consecutive year, according to data released Monday by the research firm Omdia. Samsung first captured the No. 1 spot in India in 2017 and has kept it ever since, fending off challenges from both domestic and Chinese competitors. LG Electronics ranked second with a 16.5 percent share, while Xiaomi — once a formidable rival — slipped to third at 7.9 percent, less than half its 2020 level of 18 percent. By revenue, however, LG has been outperforming its Korean rival. Data from the market tracker GfK showed LG leading in sales-based share at 27.5 percent, up from 25.8 percent a year earlier, marking its second straight year at the top by that measure. The divergence highlights the split between unit shipments, where Samsung dominates, and sales value, where LG has found strength in higher-priced models. India, with its 1.4 billion people and rising appetite for advanced consumer electronics, has become one of the world’s largest television markets, reaching 11.29 million units annually in 2024. Samsung has leaned on its premium lineup — including Neo QLED 8K sets with third-generation AI processors, OLED models with anti-glare technology, and its Samsung TV Plus streaming service, which offers more than 100 local channels in 14 Indian languages alongside global and Korean content. LG has similarly bet on premium positioning, expanding its OLED portfolio while rolling out its own free streaming service, LG Channels, in India last year. The platform delivers content in 10 regional languages, from Hindi and Punjabi to Tamil and Bhojpuri, part of a broader localization strategy in the diverse Indian market. For both Korean companies, India has become a crucial proving ground in the global television race — a market large enough to reward premium strategies, but competitive enough to keep even dominant players under pressure. 2025-09-01 15:08:58

KAIST develops AI that restores clear video through fog and distortion SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - The Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) has developed an artificial intelligence system capable of restoring sharp images from video footage that is blurred or distorted by fog, frosted glass, or other scattering effects. The research was carried out by Professor Jang Moo-seok of KAIST's Department of Bio and Brain Engineering and Professor Ye Jong-chul of the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI. Their team created what they describe as the world's first "video diffusion-based restoration technology," which uses time-based information to reconstruct video frames that have been degraded during filming. When light is scattered, such as in fog, smoke, or through frosted glass, camera sensors receive jumbled signals, producing blurred or unclear images. The new system learns how video frames change over time and uses that continuity to recover details hidden behind scattering media. Scattering media are materials that disrupt the path of light and distort visual information. Common examples include fog, smoke, translucent glass, and even biological tissues like skin. The KAIST team's technology can effectively "see through" such barriers, similar to peering past frosted glass. The potential areas of applications are very wide. The method could be used in medical imaging to examine blood vessels or skin tissue without invasive procedures. It could assist in search-and-rescue operations where smoke reduces visibility. It could also improve driver assistance systems on foggy roads, enable industrial inspections of plastics or glass, and provide clearer views underwater. Traditional AI restoration methods often work only within the narrow range of data they were trained on. To overcome this, the KAIST team combined physics-based optical modeling with video diffusion models, allowing the AI to adapt to many kinds of image damage. Unlike conventional still-image approaches, their system accounts for how scattering environments change over time, for instance, the shifting view behind a curtain moved by wind. By training the model to learn temporal correlations between video frames, the researchers achieved stable restoration across different distances, thicknesses, and noise levels. In one demonstration, they were able to observe the motion of sperm cells behind a moving scattering layer, a first in the field. The study also showed that the same framework could handle other restoration tasks without retraining, including fog removal, image quality enhancement, and blind deblurring of unfocused video. This suggests that the method could serve as a general-purpose platform for image and video restoration. Researcher Kwon Tae-sung said, "We confirmed that a diffusion model trained on temporal correlations can effectively solve optical inverse problems, restoring data hidden behind moving scattering layers. In the future, we plan to extend this research to more optical challenges, including those that require tracking how light changes over time." Doctoral students Kwon Tae-sung and Song Guk-ho of KAIST were co-first authors of the paper. The study was published on August 13 in IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI), one of the world's leading journals in artificial intelligence. The work was supported by South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, the National Research Foundation of Korea, Samsung's Future Technology Development Program, and the AI Star Fellowship program. 2025-09-01 14:28:55

Chinese milk tea chains push into South Korea's coffee-saturated market SEOUL, September 1 (AJP) - South Korea has long been known as a “coffee republic,” with one of the world’s highest concentrations of cafes per capita. But a wave of Chinese milk tea brands is challenging that dominance, betting that young Korean consumers are ready for a new kind of drink culture. ChaPanda, a fast-growing Chinese beverage chain listed in Hong Kong, disclosed last week that South Korea had become its largest overseas market, accounting for nearly half of its more than 40 international outlets. Since opening its first Seoul store in January, the company has expanded quickly into trendy districts like Gangnam and Hongdae, and even to Jeju Island. ChaPanda, which operates 8,444 stores in China, has made South Korea a cornerstone of its broader push into markets including France and the United States. Mixue, China’s biggest bubble tea chain by store count, has also opened more than 10 locations in Seoul, concentrating on university districts. The company runs over 53,000 outlets worldwide — 48,000 of them in mainland China — and reported $2.09 billion in revenue in the first half of this year, up nearly 40 percent from a year earlier. Premium players are also eyeing the Korean market. HeyTea has established shops in Gangnam, Myeongdong and Hongdae, part of a global network of more than 100 overseas locations. Chagee, another high-end brand and the first Chinese milk tea chain to list on Nasdaq, announced plans to enter South Korea soon. It already operates more than 7,000 stores worldwide. The international rush reflects limits at home. China’s once-booming milk tea industry is now saturated, with thousands of outlets crowding cities and margins narrowing. Seeking new growth, companies are turning abroad — and finding opportunities in markets like South Korea, where younger consumers are increasingly receptive to Chinese lifestyle brands, helped along by a recent surge in bilateral tourism after China eased visa restrictions. Still, analysts caution that success is not guaranteed. Building brand awareness may be easier than building reliable supply chains, especially for drinks that depend on imported tea leaves, fruit and dairy. The state-run China Securities Journal noted that ensuring ingredient quality overseas remains one of the biggest risks to the industry’s global expansion. 2025-09-01 14:08:49

Kim Jong-un expected to depart Pyongyang Monday by train for Beijing military parade SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to leave Pyongyang by train on Monday and arrive in Beijing the following day to attend a military parade as part of China's "Victory Day" celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. According to multiple government sources on Sunday, Kim is likely to depart Pyongyang on Monday with a special armored train, which takes about 20 to 24 hours to reach the Chinese capital. A Monday departure would allow him to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday, one day before the parade. Koo Byung-sam, spokesperson for South Korea's Ministry of Unification, said, "The specifics of Kim Jong-un's itinerary in China have not yet been confirmed," adding that the government is "closely monitoring related developments." Kim has visited China four times before. He traveled by train for his first trip in March 2018 and again in January 2019, while flying on his personal aircraft for visits in May and June 2018. However, the aging plane has not been seen in recent years, fueling speculation he will once again rely on rail transport. The armored train offers greater security, equipped with bulletproof windows and infrared coating to reduce satellite detection, though its weight limits the train's maximum speed to about 80 kilometers per hour. Security measures in Dandong, the Chinese border city with North Korea, have also been tightened, and train services to Beijing temporarily suspended, further suggesting rail travel. Kim is expected to stay at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the Chinese government’s official reception venue for visiting leaders, where he lodged during all three of his previous visits to Beijing. Pyongyang confirmed last week that Kim will attend the parade, which would be his first appearance on a multilateral diplomatic stage since assuming power in late 2011. Until now, he has held only bilateral summits during his visits to China and Russia. With Russian President Vladimir Putin also set to attend the parade, speculation is mounting over a possible trilateral meeting among Kim, Putin and Xi. Analysts are also watching whether Kim's China trip could pave the way for dialogue with the U.S., as he has a record of meeting with Xi ahead of engaging Washington. In both 2018 and 2019, Kim met Xi shortly before holding summits with then-U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore and Hanoi, fueling speculation that Pyongyang is again seeking political leverage from Beijing before any future talks with Washington. 2025-09-01 13:43:21