Korean food exports to US shrink for first time in 26 months amid tariffs SEOUL, August 20 (AJP) - South Korea’s agricultural and food shipments to the United States declined in July for the first time in more than two years, as new American tariffs began weighing on demand. Exports fell 6.7 percent from a year earlier to $139 million, data from the Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute showed on Wednesday. It was the first monthly contraction since May 2023 and followed a stretch of rapid growth that had lifted first-half shipments by 27 percent. The downturn was led by staples of the Korean food boom in American supermarkets. Instant noodle exports dropped 17.8 percent to $14 million, after soaring more than 40 percent in the first half. Snack shipments tumbled 25.9 percent to $20 million, while sauces fell 7.2 percent to $7 million. Industry sources said the reversal partly reflected importers rushing to front-load orders ahead of a 15 percent blanket tariff imposed by the Trump administration. Samyang Foods, whose fiery Buldak noodles have become a best seller in the United States, said it had accelerated exports through June to build inventory before duties took effect. The slowdown also coincides with weakening U.S. consumer sentiment. More than half of Americans cite grocery bills as their biggest source of financial strain, according to a recent AP-NORC poll. Analysts say Korean food giants including CJ CheilJedang and Nongshim posted sluggish second-quarter results in the American market. Despite the setback, South Korea’s farm and food exports to the United States totaled $1.07 billion in the January–July period, up 21.3 percent from a year earlier, though the pace of growth has cooled since June. The deceleration poses risks for Seoul’s goal of reaching $14 billion in agricultural exports this year. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is scheduled to hold its third export strategy meeting this week. Minister Song Mi-ryung is expected to discuss corporate concerns and consider additional support measures to sustain momentum. 2025-08-20 12:47:04

PHOTOS: A street where time stands still, Dongdaemun Stationery and Toy Market SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - The Dongdaemun Stationery and Toy Wholesale Market, with around 100 shops, is the largest of its kind in South Korea. Stretching across a 200-meter intersection in every direction, the market is lined with stores offering every imaginable type of stationery and toy, inviting visitors to browse, touch, and choose at leisure. Walking down the street feels like stepping into a time machine. Shop windows burst with color, filled with red fire trucks, yellow-haired dolls, and blue transforming robots neatly on display, evoking the atmosphere of a massive toy museum. Inside, shelves stacked to the ceiling hold rows of dolls ranging from teddy bears and princesses to superhero figures. Some stores still display spinning tops and pencil-case toys from the early 2000s, now covered in a layer of dust, while just next door, transparent tubs overflow with rainbow-colored building blocks. Old learning booklets for practicing Hangul, coloring books, and maps of Korea, their pages faded with time, add to the sense of nostalgia. Step inside a shop and the scent of plastic and cardboard greets you, unlocking childhood memories. Under the fluorescent lights, shiny figurines of the latest animation characters share space with walls full of crayons and colored pencils, while in the corners sit marbles and tops from the past. From Pororo and Power Rangers to Dragon Ball and Pokémon, toys beloved by different generations coexist side by side. The market’s biggest draw remains its prices. Many items sell at roughly 30 percent below retail, a reason families continue to visit. Yet the hustle and bustle is mostly confined to weekends or special days like Children’s Day. "There are fewer kids now, and online shopping has taken over. It’s not like before," one shop owner admitted with regret.​​​​​​​ Still, the market offers experiences that online shopping cannot. Parents and children can compare hundreds of toys at once, watch a child’s reaction firsthand, and receive recommendations from merchants who know every cartoon and character by heart. Their advice often feels more vivid and trustworthy than online reviews.​​​​​​​ Changsin-dong’s toy street continues to hold its ground against the tide of change. Though the crowds have thinned, it remains a place to relive old memories and create new ones. Nestled among Dongdaemun’s gleaming shopping malls, this modest but enduring market reveals another side of Seoul. Here, where time seems to pause, adults revisit their childhood while children dream of the future.​​​​​​​ 2025-08-20 11:11:25

S. Korea's presidential office orders probe into Czech nuclear deal with Westinghouse SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - South Korea’s presidential office on Tuesday ordered an investigation into media reports that state-run energy companies accepted "unfavorable" terms from Westinghouse Electric, the American nuclear technology firm, during negotiations for a multibillion-dollar power plant project in the Czech Republic. Presidential spokeswoman Kang Yu-jung said Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik directed the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to conduct the inquiry after high-level discussions at a morning meeting. The move, she said, was aimed at addressing public concerns about the negotiation process and the fairness of the contract terms. The order followed local media reports that a “global agreement” signed in January between Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Korea Electric Power Corporation and Westinghouse included sweeping provisions favoring the U.S. firm. Among them were requirements that future Korean-designed nuclear reactors intended for export be verified by Westinghouse, as well as obligations to purchase $650 million worth of equipment and services per reactor and to pay $175 million in technology licensing fees per unit. Kang said the investigation would determine whether the two Korean companies complied with relevant laws and procedures in reaching the agreement and whether they had properly safeguarded national interests in the process. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok told reporters earlier Tuesday that the government had already begun preliminary fact-finding efforts. Critics warn that the terms of the Czech contract could undermine Seoul’s bid to establish itself as an independent nuclear exporter rather than a "junior partner" to U.S. firms. 2025-08-19 17:31:06

Annual report on North Korean human rights abuses to be kept under wraps SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - The Unification Ministry here said on Tuesday that it will continue compiling its annual report on human rights abuses in North Korea, though it will be published for internal use only. The report, mostly based on testimonies from North Korean defectors, documents their suffering and harrowing tortures during their escape from the isolated country. The ministry has published the report annually since 2018, although some previous governments had kept it under wraps. When asked why the report is kept confidential, a ministry official explained during a press briefing, "The disclosure of the report has had little effect on improving the human rights situation in North Korea," adding that merely naming and shaming the North may appear "confrontational." The latest decision was also due to the lack of fresh testimony. 2025-08-19 17:30:25

Mercedes-Benz faces sanctions in Korea over misleading claims on EV batteries SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - South Korea’s antitrust regulator has begun sanction proceedings against Mercedes-Benz Korea over allegations that it misled consumers about the batteries used in its electric vehicles, an issue that has gained public attention after a high-profile apartment fire last year. Mercedes-Benz Korea is suspected of violating advertising and fair trade laws, according to sources from the Fair Trade Commission, Tuesday. Regulators allege that the Korean unit falsely claimed all of its electric models were equipped with batteries from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., or CATL, China’s leading battery supplier, when in fact some vehicles used lower-cost alternatives. The company is also accused of directing affiliated dealers to pass along those claims to customers, raising the prospect of deceptive consumer practices under Korean law. The matter gained urgency after a Mercedes EQE caught fire and exploded in the underground garage of an apartment complex in Incheon last August. Investigators later found that the car had been fitted with batteries from Farasis, a Chinese manufacturer considered less premium than CATL, despite Mercedes’ advertising to the contrary. The commission’s inspectors conducted on-site inspections at Mercedes-Benz Korea headquarters and dealerships in September and January. A hearing will be held to determine the severity of any penalties, with both regulators and company representatives participating. Separately, 24 plaintiffs, including Mercedes-Benz EV owners, filed a lawsuit last October at the Seoul Central District Court, seeking compensation over what they described as misrepresentation of battery suppliers and unresolved safety concerns. 2025-08-19 17:27:10

Two dead, several injured after train hits railway workers in Cheongdo SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - Two men were killed and five others were injured after a passenger train struck a group of railway workers on the tracks in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, police said on Tuesday. The accident occurred around 10:50 a.m. when a train bound for Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, that had departed from Dongdaegu, collided with seven workers inspecting railway damage caused by recent heavy rainfall. There were 89 passengers aboard the train, but no injuries among them have been reported so far. The exact cause of the accident is under investigation, and police are also examining whether the workers complied with safety regulations. 2025-08-19 16:58:44

North Korea condemns South Korea's joint exercise with US SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - North Korea on Tuesday denounced South Korea's ongoing joint military exercise with the U.S. which began the previous day, calling it a "clear expression" of its hostile stance toward Pyongyang, state media reported on Tuesday. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim lambasted the exercise, saying it revealed the South's "intention to remain most hostile and confrontational" toward the North, despite the annual drill being scaled down amid President Lee Jae-myung's repeated overtures to engage with North Korea. Kim also accused Seoul and Washington of "destroying the peace and security environment in the region," leaving Pyongyang with no choice but to pursue a "rapid expansion of nuclearization." Expressing satisfaction with the country's ongoing naval modernization, Kim made the remarks while inspecting a new 5,000-ton naval destroyer at a shipyard in Nampo, South Pyongan Province, accompanied by senior military officials. Launched in April this year, the multipurpose destroyer, named after Choe Hyon, a comrade of the nation's founder Kim Il-sung during his days as a partisan fighter, is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, the annual exercise, involving some 18,000 South Korean troops and a similar number of U.S. personnel, runs until Aug. 28 and includes computer-simulated drills as well as field training to strengthen the two allies' combined defense posture against North Korean threats and other security challenges. 2025-08-19 16:43:17

South Korea taps new envoys to Washington and Tokyo ahead of key summits this week SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - President Lee Jae-myung is expected to soon appoint new envoys to the U.S. and Japan, ahead of his summits with the leaders of both countries that begin later this week. According to government sources, former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has been named ambassador to Washington, and former envoy to Viet Nam Lee Hyuk has been tapped as ambassador to Tokyo, with their agrément procedures currently underway. Lee is scheduled to sit for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Saturday, before flying to Washington for his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, since taking office in June. Kang served as South Korea's first female foreign minister under former President Moon Jae-in, working with top U.S. officials during Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021. She also served as a senior adviser at the United Nations (UN) and currently heads New York-based think tank Asia Society, which fosters relations between the U.S. and Asian countries. Lee, who held ambassadorial posts in the Philippines and Viet Nam, is known to be well-versed in affairs with Japan. Meanwhile, Noh Kyu-duk, former chief negotiator in denuclearization talks with North Korea, has also been tapped as ambassador to the UN. 2025-08-19 15:58:09

Bank of Korea warns stablecoin proposal could shake bond market Image of cryptocurrencies/ Reuters-Yonhap SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - South Korea’s central bank on Tuesday rejected a proposal to issue short-term treasury bonds to back a won-based stablecoin, cautioning that such a move could disrupt financial markets and distort government financing. In a written response to the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee, the Bank of Korea said treasury bonds should be issued strictly for their intended purpose — financing government operations — not to satisfy demand from specific sectors such as cryptocurrency. Stablecoins, digital tokens typically pegged to national currencies, require reserve assets that are both highly liquid and low-risk. The Korea Capital Market Institute, a government-backed think tank, recently suggested that short-term treasury bonds could meet that need for a Korean stablecoin. The central bank pushed back firmly. “Considering the issuance of short-term bonds to satisfy specific market demand like stablecoins is inappropriate,” it wrote. The bank argued that greater issuance of short-term bonds would increase refinancing risks and strain the market’s capacity to absorb additional supply, ultimately threatening fiscal stability. This is the latest in a series of warnings by the bank over the government’s push to accelerate stablecoin adoption, which it has repeatedly said could jeopardize monetary and financial stability if rushed. The think tank's senior research fellow, Kim Pil-kyu, cited U.S. and European regulatory frameworks that allow stablecoins to hold short-term government debt as reserve assets. The Bank of Korea countered that fluctuations in stablecoin issuance could create destabilizing imbalances in the treasury market, triggering swings in short-term interest rates and rippling into other funding markets, including commercial paper and certificates of deposit. Instead, the bank recommended its own monetary stabilization securities — particularly 91-day bonds issued on a regular basis — as a more suitable reserve asset. U.S. legislation, it noted, also restricts stablecoin reserves to securities with maturities of fewer than 93 days. 2025-08-19 14:45:30

[[K-Film]] Bong Joon-ho's early short available for screening next week SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho's early short film is set for release at local theaters in Seoul next week, multi-screen chain Megabox said on Tuesday. "Incoherence" was chosen to launch the chain's monthly project showcasing renowned filmmakers' early works and short films by up-and-coming directors. The 30-minute short, made by Bong in 1994 as his graduation project for a film institute, is an omnibus with humorous satire of hypocritical elites. Despite having only a limited release at several Megabox theaters starting Aug. 27, the film is expected to attract his avid fans and film buffs eager to trace the early works of Bong, who has directed many acclaimed films including "Parasite," which won multiple Oscars in 2020. 2025-08-19 14:29:27