Nexon reopens revamped Jeju game museum SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - Nexon reopened its museum on Jeju Island after a four-month renovation, recasting Asia's first computer museum as a destination devoted to the South Korean publisher's three-decade catalogue of online games and the players who built its communities. The Jeju City venue, originally launched in July 2013 as the Nexon Computer Museum, has been rebranded simply as Nexon Museum, its grand opening on Tuesday. The overhaul shifts the institution away from a hardware-focused chronicle of computing history toward a player-centered experience drawing on Nexon titles such as MapleStory, Mabinogi, and Dungeon & Fighter. Visitors who log in with their Nexon account upon entry have their personal play records pulled into a customized tour, with characters and intellectual property tied to their most-played games appearing throughout the exhibition. Guests without an account are assigned a random title to introduce them to the company's portfolio. Two permanent exhibitions span the three-story building. "Players: Don't Die! Keep Up!" occupies the first and second floors, while "Hello, My OOO!" — billed by the museum as the renovation's centerpiece — fills the third floor with immersive media art that summons each visitor's digital memories into physical space. The second floor also houses an archive of Korean PC package games from the 1980s to the 2000s, including roughly 2,500 digitized gaming magazines and a documentary marking Nexon's 30th anniversary. "Nexon Museum aims to become a new hub for game culture that players can cherish," said Park Doo-san, director of the Nexon Museum. "We will continue to present diverse content that allows players to encounter their experiences and memories in the real world." Nexon, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, became the first Korean game publisher to surpass 4 trillion won ($2.69 billion) in annual revenue in 2024, drawing 48 percent of first-quarter 2025 sales from South Korea and 33 percent from China, its second-largest market. 2026-05-12 13:43:59

ASIA INSIGHT: Iran war story by Seeker of Truth -- Truth, Justice and Freedom Sinokor Chairman Tae-soon Jung’s Breakthrough in the Strait of Hormuz: The Diverging Fate of Korean Shipping, from the Basra Energy to HMM’s Namwoo The waters of the Middle East are burning again. Yet this fire is not confined to a military clash among Iran, the United States and Israel. It is a blaze threatening the arteries of the global economy and shaking the very heart of industrial civilization. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil passes, is not merely a narrow channel of water. It is the great artery of modern capitalism. When gunfire erupts there, Wall Street trembles, Seoul’s exchange rate wavers, Europe’s factories begin to calculate costs anew, and China’s manufacturing machine feels the pressure. Humanity has entered an age of artificial intelligence, semiconductors and financial algorithms, yet the most basic flow of energy still depends on the sea and the oil tanker. In that very strait, two sharply contrasting scenes recently unfolded for the Korean shipping industry. One was the successful passage of Sinokor Merchant Marine’s very large crude carrier, the Basra Energy, which reportedly sailed through the dangerous waterway with its automatic identification system turned off and safely transferred two million barrels of crude oil. The other was the attack on HMM’s Namwoo, which suffered a hole in its hull and a fire after being struck by an unidentified flying object. It was the same sea. It was the same war. But the outcomes were starkly different. That difference was not a matter of mere luck. It was a difference in philosophy toward shipping itself, a difference in the capacity to read risk. More deeply, it was a difference in understanding the nature of management, organization and human judgment. The Strait of Hormuz has long been a place where the desires of civilization collide. Since the age of the Persian Empire, this waterway has been a critical gateway connecting the Silk Road and the trade routes of the Indian Ocean. The Persians understood thousands of years ago that whoever controls the chokepoint can move the world. That gatekeeping instinct remains embedded in Iran’s strategic DNA. The United States possesses overwhelming military power, aircraft carriers and bombers. Iran, by contrast, uses the narrowness of the strait and the logic of asymmetric warfare. It relies on drones, mines, fast boats, missiles, electronic warfare and psychological pressure. Its strategy is not a head-on contest but the use of tension and fear. Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War, “War is a matter of vital importance to the state.” He also wrote, “All warfare is based on deception.” Iran is applying precisely this logic. It does not confront the vast American fleet directly. Instead, it attacks a ship, launches a drone, raises insurance premiums and spreads fear through markets. Then global finance begins to shake before the war itself fully expands. That is the essence of the Hormuz crisis. The attack on the Namwoo was not a simple maritime accident. The reported damage — a hole roughly five meters wide and seven meters deep — amounted to the consequences of a military strike. The government investigation concluded that the damage was caused by an external impact from an unidentified flying object. Twenty-six Korean vessels and 158 Korean seafarers remain in the waters inside the Strait of Hormuz under intense strain. They have effectively been trapped at sea for more than two months. Every day, crews check radar, listen nervously for drones at night and wait without knowing when the next attack may come. The sea is already a lonely place. A sea under war eats away at the human spirit. Yet amid this danger, Sinokor chose a different path. Its Basra Energy loaded crude oil at an ADNOC terminal in the United Arab Emirates, switched off its tracking signal and passed through the Strait of Hormuz. It eventually reached the Fujairah terminal safely. The voyage left a deep impression on the global shipping community because, in the present environment, passing through Hormuz is close to a life-risking operation. Here, one fact matters greatly: Sinokor Chairman Tae-soon Jung began his career as a navigator. A man who has experienced the sea with his own body sees differently from a manager who knows only numbers. He understands currents, waves, the balance of a vessel and the fear of a crew. He knows the atmosphere of a dangerous sea. He knows the decisions a captain must make at night and how a ship trembles in a storm. Such knowledge cannot be learned from a spreadsheet. In recent years, Jung has aggressively secured very large crude carriers. Some in the industry called it an excessive bet. But he understood what would become most valuable if the war dragged on. It was not merely the tanker itself. It was “movable storage.” If Hormuz is blocked, oil-producing countries cannot export their crude. Onshore storage has limits. Eventually, the VLCC itself becomes a floating storage facility. In fact, some VLCCs have recently earned substantial profits not simply by transporting crude but by serving as storage at sea. This is the essence of shipping. Shipping is not just logistics. Shipping is finance, and it is geopolitics. A single oil tanker carries within it the price of crude, exchange rates, insurance premiums, military risk, futures markets and global financial flows. The world’s greatest shipping companies are therefore not merely transport operators. They are enormous financial players. The representative examples are A.P. Moller-Maersk and MSC. Denmark’s Maersk began in a small northern European country but grew into a company that shapes the global logistics system. It does not merely operate ships. It integrates ports, warehouses, supply-chain data, finance and insurance. MSC, too, became the world’s largest container carrier through aggressive fleet expansion. What these companies have in common is that they became larger in times of crisis. The oil shocks of the 1970s, the downturns of the 1980s, the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic all shook the shipping industry to its foundations. Yet those companies that survived emerged with even greater market power. Shipping is ultimately an industry of scale, capital strength and the ability to bear risk. The Tao Te Ching says that the great nation stays low, like the sea. The sea is indeed the lowest place. Yet it is precisely from that low place that the world is connected. Shipping is the industry that moves the world from civilization’s lowest plane. Today, the world is intoxicated by the AI revolution. Semiconductors, generative AI, quantum computing and robotics are said to be the core of the future economy. But no matter how advanced AI becomes, crude oil, liquefied natural gas, iron ore and grain still move by ship. AI may be the brain of civilization. Shipping is its bloodstream. If the bloodstream is blocked, the brain also stops. The Hormuz crisis leaves several important lessons for the global economy. First, diversification of energy supply chains is no longer optional. It is a matter of survival. Korea, Japan and China remain heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil. American shale oil, Australian LNG, and resource development in Africa and South America will therefore become even more important. Second, shipping will become an even more strategic industry. National security, energy security and supply-chain resilience all depend on the sea. Third, shipping may become increasingly militarized. The boundary between civilian shipping and military security is likely to grow more blurred. The United States and China already regard maritime power as central to national strategy. The South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, Hormuz and the Red Sea are all connected in one strategic chain. Fourth, an era of AI-based maritime risk management is likely to arrive. Satellite intelligence, drone surveillance, insurance data and military information will be integrated by AI to calculate optimal routes. Yet the final decision will still be made by human beings. In extreme crisis, intuition and courage matter more than numbers. The Cheonbugyeong declares, “In the human being, heaven, earth and humanity become one.” It is ultimately the human being who reads the sea. It is the human being who endures fear. It is the human being who makes the final decision. Sinokor’s passage through the Strait of Hormuz under Chairman Jung is not merely a shipping story. It is a scene that shows what true competitiveness means in modern industrial civilization. Technology matters. Finance matters. But what matters most in the end is human insight, responsibility and the courage to bear risk. By contrast, the attack on the Namwoo exposes the cold reality of the age of globalization. Global supply chains cannot be sustained by efficiency alone. When peace and order collapse, the first place to tremble is the sea. The Bible says, “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters.” On the dark waters of the Strait of Hormuz, the world now faces an old question once again. Who will read this danger? Who will protect the bloodstream of the world? And who will survive to the end? 2026-05-12 13:36:58

ASIA INSIGHT: Soprano and model to anchor fragile US-China Summit SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - In November 2017, inside the amber-hued silence of the Forbidden City, Donald Trump handed a tablet computer to Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan. On the screen, a small, blonde girl sang a folk song and recited ancient poetry in Mandarin. The girl was Arabella Kushner, the American president’s granddaughter. As she watched the video, Peng—a woman whose own soprano voice once stirred the nationalist fervor of a billion people—beamed with the practiced appreciation of a fellow artist. Xi famously graded the child’s performance an A-plus. It was a moment of hyper-stylized intimacy, a calculated exchange of cultural capital that did more to stabilize the volatile superpower rapport than a dozen white papers on trade deficits ever could. As the two leaders prepare to descend upon Beijing tomorrow, the global focus has naturally settled on the hard metrics of power. The world is watching the price of Iranian light crude, the export quotas for rare earth minerals, and the existential race for artificial intelligence. Yet the true temperature of the summit is taken in the quiet spaces between the spouses. In this high-stakes theater, Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan are not merely sidecar figures. They are the primary civilizational solvent of the summit. Their rapport is not born of a shared political ideology, but of a shared, professionalized visibility that functions as the only remaining warmth in a relationship that has otherwise turned to ice. There is a structural symmetry to these two women that defies their vastly different origins. Peng is a creature of the stage, a former major general in the People’s Liberation Army whose pre-marriage career as a famous singer made her a household name across China. She understands that in Beijing, performance is synonymous with policy. Melania Trump spent her career as a high-fashion model, a profession that demands the mastery of the silent gaze and the use of attire as a form of non-verbal communication. Both are artists of the image. They understand that in a world of clashing empires, the aesthetic is often the only remaining bridge when the language of diplomacy fails. While their husbands frequently lapse into the language of zero-sum competition, the first ladies have established a parallel track of high-culture rapport. They share a fundamental understanding of the power of the frame. During past encounters, they have leaned into this mutual discipline, using silence as a diplomatic tool. They are the velvet architecture that masks the brutalist edges of the negotiations, presenting a united, elegant front while their husbands calculate the cost of steel and sovereignty. The decision to host the Trumps at the Temple of Heaven this May is less a gesture of hospitality and more a tactical exercise in sacred geography. For half a millennium, Chinese emperors walked these grounds not as masters, but as supplicants, performing rigid ceremonies to prove they were worthy of the sky’s favor. The very stones are a map of a lost humility—the circular altars reaching for a heaven that demanded order in exchange for rain and peace. Today, however, that cosmological humility has been replaced by a transactional ego. By granting the Trumps access to these restricted inner sanctums, Xi Jinping is effectively staging a modern coronation for his guest. It is a masterful deployment of imperial flattery, treating the American president as a visiting monarch to distract from the cold realities of semiconductor export bans and regional containment. Within this gilded trap, the chemistry between Peng and Melania becomes a strategic necessity. As the men retreat into the shadows of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to haggle over the Strait of Hormuz and deep-learning models, the first ladies must maintain the necessary fiction of civilizational friendship. They act as human shields against the friction of two colliding systems. If Peng can project an aura of maternal stability and Melania can offer her signature, statuesque poise, they provide the "managed" element of managed competition. They signal to the markets—and to anxious neighbors in Seoul—that even if the men are ready to burn the house down, the women are still tending to the furniture. When the final tea is poured and the cameras are shuttered, the stones of the Circular Mound Altar will remain, indifferent to the transactional egos of the men who walked upon them. We are left with the haunting realization that while empires are built on the cold logic of trade and territory, they are often preserved by the discipline of those who know how to stand still. In the calculated silence of the spouses, we find a fleeting, fragile peace—a reminder that the most sophisticated weaponry of the century may not be a missile or a microchip, but the quiet, impeccable maintenance of the mask. 2026-05-12 13:32:13

Hanwha highlights unmanned, AI defense systems in Romania SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - Hanwha Group will showcase next-generation unmanned and artificial intelligence-based military systems at a defense exhibition in Romania this week, as it seeks to deepen partnerships in Europe and expand its presence across EU and NATO markets. Hanwha said Tuesday that its key defense affiliates will participate in the Black Sea Defense & Aerospace, or BSDA 2026, which will take place from Wednesday to Friday at ROMAERO in Bucharest. The biennial event is one of the largest defense exhibitions in the Balkans. Under the theme “Built with Romania, Ready for NATO,” Hanwha Aerospace will present its unmanned ground vehicle portfolio, including the GRUNT wheeled platform and the THeMIS-K tracked system, along with land and air defense solutions. GRUNT is an upgraded version of Hanwha Aerospace’s Arion-SMET 6x6 wheeled unmanned ground vehicle. It can carry more than 900 kilograms and travel about 290 kilometers, supporting missions such as logistics transport, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance and combat support. THeMIS-K is a tracked unmanned ground vehicle based on a platform developed by Estonia’s Milrem Robotics. It can carry up to 1,200 kilograms and be equipped with weapons, surveillance equipment or logistics modules. Hanwha said it is working with Milrem Robotics to develop localized UGV models tailored to Korean and Romanian military needs, including systems that combine wheeled and tracked platforms for manned-unmanned teaming operations. Hanwha Systems will showcase AI-based satellite analytics, along with its Smart Battleship concept and next-generation mine countermeasure solutions for the Black Sea region. The two companies will also present a broader lineup of defense systems, including the K9A1 self-propelled howitzer, Redback infantry fighting vehicle, TIGON wheeled armored vehicle and Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher system. Hanwha Aerospace said the exhibition comes as European armed forces are increasingly prioritizing unmanned systems as force multipliers amid rising security concerns and rearmament efforts across the region. “As Europe accelerates rearmament and adapts to evolving security challenges, Hanwha Aerospace aims to support this transformation through localized production, integrated systems, and future-ready technologies — enhancing interoperability and supply chain resilience across the EU and NATO,” said Lino Lim, CEO of Hanwha Aerospace Romania. Hanwha Aerospace has been expanding its defense partnerships in Europe, including in Romania, Poland, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Spain. 2026-05-12 12:03:17

Annual Cannes Film Festival opens with South Korean cinema in spotlight SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - This year's Cannes Film Festival kicked off its 11-day run in the southern French city on Tuesday, with South Korean films among the highlights. Widely regarded as one of the world's most prestigious film festivals, alongside those in Berlin and Venice, the festival, now in its 79th year, is known for recognizing auteur-driven, bold, and artistic films. Its top prize, the Palme d'Or, also known as Golden Palm, is considered one of the highest honors in global cinema and has often propelled filmmakers and films to international prominence. This year's festival notably features an impressive South Korean lineup across multiple sections, led by director Na Hong-jin's sci-fi thriller "Hope," which was invited to the main competition, marking the first time in four years that a South Korean film has competed for the top honor. Set in a demilitarized border village where unidentified objects suddenly appear, "Hope" is scheduled to make its world premiere on Sunday at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, the festival's main screening venue. The 160-minute film stars veteran actor Hwang Jung-min, along with Zo In-sung and Jung Ho-yeon. The cast also includes Hollywood stars such as Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender and Taylor Russell. About 22 films will compete for the Palme d'Or, with works by acclaimed directors including Cristian Mungiu, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Pedro Almodóvar seen as strong contenders. Among the highlights, award-winning filmmaker Park Chan-wook, best known internationally for "Oldboy" (2003) and "Decision to Leave" (2022), is serving as jury president, becoming the first South Korean to hold the role. Director Yeon Sang-ho, famous for his zombie thriller "Train to Busan" (2016) returns with his new film "Colony," which has been invited to the Midnight Screenings section, dedicated mainly to genre films such as horror and thrillers. The film tells the story of survivors trapped inside a quarantined building amid the outbreak of a mysterious virus. Director July Jung, who attracted attention with dramas "A Girl at My Door" (2014) and "Next Sohee" (2022), was also invited with her new film "Dora," which will be screened in a section dedicated to independent and emerging cinema. The festival runs until May 23, when the Palme d'Or and other major awards will be announced at the closing ceremony. 2026-05-12 11:16:36

Krafton's 'Subnautica 2' opens Steam preloads as wishlists pass 5 million SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - Krafton's creative studio Unknown Worlds opened Steam pre-orders and pre-downloads for "Subnautica 2" at midnight Tuesday, three days before the underwater survival sequel enters early access on Friday. The title has held the top spot on Steam's global wishlist for nine straight months and recently crossed 5 million cumulative wishlists, the company said. It also climbed to No. 1 on Steam's global top-grossing chart shortly after pre-orders opened. Krafton and Unknown Worlds staged the "First Dive Showcase" on May 10 to mark the milestone, streaming simultaneously on Twitch, YouTube and Steam to a peak concurrent audience of about 80,000 viewers. Developers walked through the design direction and demonstrated new vehicles and an expanded base-building system. The accompanying gameplay trailer showcased a richly rendered marine ecosystem powered by Unreal Engine 5, alongside a body-adaptation mechanic, fresh underwater vehicles and tense encounters with deep-sea titans. "We were overwhelmed by the warm response to the early access launch," said Ted Gill, CEO of Unknown Worlds. "We look forward to building this game together with our players, listening to their voices along the way." Founded by Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, Unknown Worlds developed "Subnautica 2" as the official sequel to the genre-defining "Subnautica" series. Set on a different alien planet, the game introduces a four-player cooperative mode for the first time in the franchise, broadening the survival experience beyond solo play. The launch arrives despite a bruising legal battle between Krafton and Unknown Worlds' founding leadership over the title's release timing and a $250 million performance-based earnout. Gill, Cleveland and McGuire were ousted in July 2025 and later sued Krafton in Delaware's Court of Chancery, which on March 16 ruled that Krafton had breached its acquisition agreement and ordered Gill reinstated as chief executive. The court also extended the earnout window to September, though litigation over damages remains pending. 2026-05-12 11:16:35

Korea joins UK-France-led Hormuz defense talks, Sinokor vessel slips through Hormuz SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - South Korea will take part in a defense ministerial video conference led by Britain and France on Tuesday to discuss efforts to restore safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, as Seoul faces growing pressure to clarify its role in a possible multinational maritime mission. The Ministry of National Defense said Woo Kyung-seok, director general for defense policy planning and an Army major general, will attend the meeting on discussions related to a U.K.- and France-led multinational military mission. Woo is expected to attend on behalf of Kim Hong-cheol, deputy minister for national defense policy, who is currently in the U.S. accompanying Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back. “The government has been actively participating in international discussions aimed at ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, while closely monitoring the situation and communicating with related countries,” a ministry official said. Britain and France have been leading talks on forming a multinational force to restore navigation through the key waterway after a possible end to the Iran war. The talks began with a French-hosted video conference among chiefs of defense in March and have continued at various levels, including leaders and senior officials. South Korea has also taken part in the discussions. Tuesday’s meeting marks the first defense ministerial-level session of the grouping, raising speculation that the U.K. and France may be seeking to move the discussions toward a more concrete policy decision as their operational plan takes shape. Seoul’s participation comes as attention grows over how it will respond after the fire aboard the Korean vessel Namu was confirmed to have been caused by an external attack. The government has yet to identify who was behind the incident. The defense ministry repeated its previous position, saying it will “carefully review realistic ways to contribute” in consultation with related ministries, while comprehensively considering international law, the safety of international sea lanes. Meanwhile, a very large crude carrier owned and operated by South Korean shipping company Sinokor Merchant Marine reportedly passed safely through the Iran-blockaded Strait of Hormuz earlier this month after turning off its location-tracking device. Reuters reported Monday, citing shipping data from Kpler and the London Stock Exchange Group, that three tankers were recently found to have exited the Strait of Hormuz with their tracking systems switched off. Among them was the VLCC Basrah Energy, owned by Sinokor. The vessel loaded 2 million barrels of crude oil at the Zirku crude export terminal operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the United Arab Emirates on May 1 and passed through the Strait of Hormuz on May 6, according to the report. It remains unclear which company chartered the vessel. Reuters said it had requested comment from Sinokor but did not receive a response. Sinokor has expanded its presence in the tanker market in recent years through aggressive purchases and chartering of vessels. The company is estimated to control around 150 VLCCs as of the end of last month. Industry sources said Sinokor had deployed at least six empty tankers to the Persian Gulf from late January over a four-week period. Some market watchers believe the company may have profited significantly by using its tankers as floating storage for crude from Gulf producers whose export routes were disrupted by the Iran war, even as some of its vessels became stranded in the region. 2026-05-12 11:02:01

BOK holds BIS board seat for third straight term SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) —New governor Shin Hyun-song of the Bank of Korea has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, extending South Korea’s representation at the top decision-making body of the global central banking community for a third consecutive term. The BOK said Tuesday that Shin officially began his three-year term on Monday after being elected as an elected director during a regular board meeting held at the BIS headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. The term is renewable. The central bank described the appointment as a sign of South Korea’s growing influence in international finance, noting that BOK governors have continuously held seats on the BIS Board since 2019 through successive appointments of former governors Lee Ju-yeol and Rhee Chang-yong. The BIS Board serves as the de facto supreme decision-making body overseeing the institution’s strategy, governance and operational direction. The board meets at least six times annually and supervises key functions including amendments to BIS statutes, membership approvals and appointments of senior executives. Board members also sit ex officio on the Economic Consultative Committee, which helps shape agendas for the BIS Global Economy Meeting, where governors from around 30 major central banks discuss global financial and monetary issues. The 18-member board consists of six ex-officio directors representing the founding member central banks of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, alongside the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The remaining 11 elected directors are selected by a two-thirds majority vote from among governors of other member central banks. Current elected member countries include Japan, China, India, Canada, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Shin is widely regarded as one of Asia’s leading international finance experts. Before assuming the governorship of the BOK, he served for 12 years at the BIS as Economic Adviser and head of its Monetary and Economic Department until March this year. The BOK said Shin’s extensive BIS experience, South Korea’s active contribution to global monetary discussions and his international reputation were reflected in the appointment. The appointment also comes as South Korea’s role in global capital markets expands. The country operates one of the world’s largest non-deliverable forward currency markets alongside India, while expectations for long-term foreign capital inflows have strengthened following Korea’s inclusion in the World Government Bond Index. 2026-05-12 10:53:37

CJ CheilJedang Q1 profit falls 26% on bio slump SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - CJ CheilJedang, South Korea's largest food maker, reported a 26.0 percent drop in first-quarter operating profit, as a sharp downturn in its bio business overshadowed steady gains overseas from its frozen dumpling franchise. According to regulatory filings released Tuesday, operating profit fell to 148.5 billion won ($100 million) for the three months ended March, while revenue edged up 4.3 percent to 4.03 trillion won, the company said. The figures exclude its logistics affiliate CJ Logistics. On a consolidated basis, revenue rose 6.0 percent to 7.11 trillion won, with operating profit down 17.2 percent at 238.1 billion won. The firm said that the food division carried the quarter, posting a 3.9 percent rise in revenue to 3.04 trillion won and an 11.2 percent jump in operating profit to 143.0 billion won. Overseas food sales climbed 4.5 percent to 1.56 trillion won, driven by its lineup of global strategic products led by the Bibigo dumpling brand. In the Americas, dumpling sales grew 15 percent and shelf-stable rice 7 percent, while frozen pizza continued to gain market share. In Japan, dumpling revenue surged 17 percent on the back of the company's new Chiba plant, pushing its market share into double digits at 11.0 percent for the first time. European and Asia-Pacific sales each expanded 17 percent, with Vietnam up 32 percent and Oceania up 31 percent. The bio division, however, dragged on group earnings. Revenue rose 5.7 percent to 988.7 billion won, but operating profit collapsed 92.4 percent to 5.5 billion won as competition intensified in tryptophan and lysine prices weakened on base effects. Specialty amino acids such as arginine notched record sales volumes, partly cushioning the blow. CJ CheilJedang said it plans to accelerate the rollout of its Bibigo brand in mainstream European retail channels and expand digital marketing in the United States, while pushing higher-margin specialty products in bio. "We will press ahead with the global expansion of K-food through strategic products such as dumplings, while stepping up efforts to improve profitability through bio sales growth and management efficiency," said a company spokesperson. Shares of CJ CheilJedang traded at 212,500 won per stock at 10:37 a.m., 5.76 percent lower than the day before. 2026-05-12 10:43:32

ASIA INSIGHT: Xi Jinping crafts imperial mirage at Temple of Heaven The meeting between the world’s two most powerful men is less a diplomatic summit than a calculated ritual of psychological capture. SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - In a quiet corner of the Treasury Department, the steel plates have been etched with a flourish that feels more like a royal decree than a bureaucratic necessity. For the first time in the history of the American Republic, the currency carries the aggressive, looping signature of the man in the Oval Office. Combined with the twenty-two-foot gilded monuments rising on Florida golf courses and the promise of a presidential seal embossed on every United States passport, the aesthetic shift is unmistakable. Donald Trump does not merely want to lead a government. He wants to embody a state. Xi Jinping has spent a lifetime studying the semiotics of power, and he knows exactly who is stepping off Air Force One on Wednesday. He understands that while a president is constrained by courts and congresses, an emperor is moved by something far more primal, which is the recognition of his own divinity. When the two leaders meet for the summit on May thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen, the world will be told of trade quotas, semiconductor sovereignty, and the cooling of the Iranian theater. The true business of the week, however, will take place on the ancient, circular stones of the Tiantan, universally known as the Temple of Heaven. By choosing this site over the sterile, socialist-realist halls of the Great Hall of the People, Xi is not merely hosting a summit. He is conducting a coronation. The Temple of Heaven is the literal axis where the Son of Heaven once mediated between the celestial and the terrestrial. Built in fourteen twenty, it was the site where the emperor would process from the Forbidden City to fast, pray, and offer sacrifices during the winter solstice. The architecture is a map of a rigid, cosmic hierarchy. The northern walls are rounded to mimic the sky, while the southern walls are square to represent the earth. To walk these grounds is to walk the boundary of the known world. The irony of the Temple of Heaven is that the rituals performed there were historically a desperate plea for order in a time of chaos. The emperor offered sacrifices because he feared the drought, the famine, and the loss of his mandate. He went there to be humble before the heavens. Today, as the world teeters on the edge of a fundamental divorce between the two largest economies, the pageantry in Beijing serves an entirely opposite purpose. It is a grand, gilded attempt to mask the fact that the old global order is dying, utilized by two men who view the mandate of heaven not as something to be earned through prayer, but as something to be seized through brute transaction. When the American delegation arrives, it will bring more than just state department officials. Chief executives from Apple, Nvidia, Boeing, and Exxon are expected to flank the president, transforming this diplomatic mission into a high-stakes corporate parley. They are traveling to Beijing because the architecture of the future is currently fractured. The United States maintains a tight grip on the advanced microprocessors that serve as the brains for the next generation of artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics. China, conversely, processes roughly 90 percent of the world’s rare earth minerals, effectively holding the lifeblood of modern hardware hostage. This is the opening chapter of an artificial intelligence cold war, and it is a distinctly modern standoff being waged inside a fifteenth-century courtyard. The negotiations over this technological frontier are inextricably linked to the physical wars currently draining the global economy. As the conflict involving Iran enters its third month, China has quietly stepped into the unlikely role of Middle Eastern peacemaker. Beijing cannot afford the disruption of prolonged hostilities. Surging oil prices have driven up the cost of petrochemicals, raising production costs by 20 percent for some Chinese manufacturers who are already battling a sluggish domestic economy and high unemployment. Xi needs Washington to recognize China's leverage over Tehran. He is likely hoping that if he can nudge Iranian officials back to the negotiating table and stabilize the Strait of Hormuz, Trump will reconsider the aggressive trade probes and chip export bans currently strangling Chinese technology firms. Trump arrives with his own domestic vulnerabilities that demand a grand bargain. The American agricultural sector has been battered by retaliatory Chinese tariffs, and securing a massive purchase of soybeans and pork is essential for pacifying his political base in key voting states. Furthermore, the Supreme Court recently curbed his unilateral tariff powers, meaning he must secure concessions through sheer diplomatic force rather than executive fiat. Xi knows that a man who sees his own name on a dollar bill is susceptible to the lure of a historic deal. By elevating Trump to the status of a fellow Son of Heaven, Xi creates a space where the brutal, zero-sum realities of global trade can be reimagined as a simple agreement between two titans. For those of us in the rest of Asia, this is a profoundly precarious moment. We are watching two men negotiate the fate of the twenty-first century across an ancient altar. From Seoul, the view is one of existential anxiety. Our semiconductor sovereignty and our regional security are the bargaining chips in a ritual designed to satiate the egos of two men who believe they are the authors of history. The won-dollar pressure is already mounting as markets anticipate an agreement that might favor personal prestige over structural stability. If the price of semiconductor access is a banquet in a restricted palace, Xi Jinping is more than willing to pay it, leaving allied nations to navigate the fallout. As the sun sets over the blue-tiled roofs of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the reality will remain long after the motorcades have departed. A signature on a dollar bill does not make a man an emperor, and a dinner in a restricted palace does not resolve a superpower rivalry. We are witnessing the birth of a new, imperial era of diplomacy, one where the theater of power is so overwhelmingly loud that it threatens to drown out the silent, crumbling foundations of the world it seeks to govern. In the end, the mandate of heaven is never truly given to any nation. It is only borrowed, and the interest is ultimately paid in the stability of the nations left standing outside the temple walls. 2026-05-12 10:34:03