Survey: 75% of South Korean new-car shoppers are open to EVs, wary of Chinese brands Consumers say trust and safety matter most when buying an electric vehicle, a survey found. Chabot Mobility said on Monday that 75.1% of 450 people planning to buy a new car this year expressed interest in purchasing an EV. The largest share, 41.9%, said an EV is among the options they are considering. Another 18.4% said they are actively considering an EV, and 9.4% said they have decided on one. By age group, interest was highest among people in their 20s, at 100%, and those in their 30s, at 85.4%. Rates were lower among people in their 50s and those 60 and older. Cost was the top reason for considering an EV. Savings on charging compared with fuel costs led responses at 62.5%, followed by government subsidies at 41.3% and tax benefits at 32.7%. The biggest factors holding buyers back were infrastructure and safety concerns: lack of charging infrastructure (45.3%), worries about safety such as fires (34.9%) and charging time (32.8%). Asked how government EV subsidies affect vehicle choice, 37.9% said they have some influence and 29.6% said they have a very large influence, meaning about 67% view subsidies as a key factor. Views of Chinese EV brands showed both interest and caution. The most common response, at 38.6%, was that respondents are interested but still do not trust them. Price competitiveness was cited as the biggest attraction, at 64.3%. For advanced driver-assistance features such as full self-driving, 76.5% said they would pay extra. The most preferred price range was 3 million to under 5 million won, at 40.5%. Looking ahead, the most common expectation for how autonomous-driving advances will affect buying decisions was a greater emphasis on safety standards, at 26.7%. "EVs are now a practical purchase alternative, evaluated beyond an eco-friendly image in terms of lower running costs and total cost of ownership," a Chabot Mobility official said. The official added that Chinese EV brands are drawing interest on price, but said building trust in quality and safety will be key to gaining a foothold in the market.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-10 16:19:56

K Car Posts Record 2025 Operating Profit of 76 Billion Won K Car, a South Korean used-car platform that sells vehicles directly, said it set record highs in both revenue and operating profit last year. The company said Monday it posted preliminary full-year revenue of 2.4388 trillion won and operating profit of 76 billion won. Revenue rose 6% from a year earlier and operating profit increased 11.5%. K Car said it lifted sales 1.4% despite a 2.2% year-over-year drop in used-car registrations amid financial-market volatility and worries about a slowing economy. Annual used-car sales totaled 156,290 vehicles, raising its market share to 12.7%. Retail sales came to 114,496 vehicles, with online transactions accounting for 55.9%. Auction sales totaled 41,794 vehicles, up 6.5% from a year earlier and a record, the company said. K Car said it plans to launch new businesses this year, including a service that supports safer direct transactions between individuals, as it aims to broaden its platform across different types of deals. CEO Jung In Guk said the company has continued to expand its share steadily as the market shifts toward corporate operators, citing brand trust and diversified buying and selling channels. He said K Car will respond quickly to market changes and pursue sustainable growth.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-10 16:19:23

South Korea's WBC hopes fade as injuries sideline more key players SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - Hanwha Eagles' catcher Choi Jae-hoon has been dropped from South Korea's roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic (WBC), the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said on Tuesday. The KBO said Choi will be unable to participate in the international tournament, which opens next month, after injuring his finger during the Eagles' winter training. Choi will be replaced by NC Dinos' Kim Hyung-jun. Kim was initially excluded from the roster after suffering a broken palm bone last year but became available thanks to a quick recovery. Kim previously represented South Korea at the pandemic-delayed Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, the Asia Professional Baseball Championship in Taiwan that same year, and the 2024 WBSC Premier12, co-hosted by Japan, Mexico and Taiwan. With several key players such as Hanwha Eagles' pitcher Moon Dong-ju and infielders like Kim Ha-seong of the Atlanta Braves and Song Sung-mun of the San Diego Padres sidelined by injuries, South Korea’s prospects of winning the tournament look dim. This year's tournament will be held from March 5 to 17, with games played in Houston, Miami, Puerto Rico and Tokyo. South Korea, grouped with Australia, Chinese Taipei, the Czech Republic, and Japan, will have its opening game against the Czech Republic in Tokyo on March 5. 2026-02-10 16:19:11

South Korea to Test Autonomous Patrol Robot at Changdeok Palace The Korea Heritage Service said Monday it will run a roughly one-month pilot of an autonomous patrol robot, dubbed “Sunrabot,” at Changdeok Palace in Seoul starting Feb. 10. The name comes from the Joseon-era guards who patrolled the royal palace and areas in and around the capital. The robot will support round-the-clock safety management and nighttime patrols, detecting fires and unusual noises in real time and reporting emergencies to the Changdeok Palace Management Office and other relevant units. The pilot is funded through the Lottery Fund, and officials will review whether to deploy additional units later. Separately, the agency said it will work with local governments to conduct joint disaster-prevention inspections ahead of the spring thaw at about 40 national heritage sites, including the Seoul City Wall, a historic site. It also plans discussion-based drills and field training with related agencies, including fire departments, based on scenarios such as fires, storms and floods, and earthquakes. To share the meaning of “National Heritage Disaster Prevention Day” with the public, the agency also plans to light up Sungnyemun with nighttime illumination for one day on Feb. 10. A Korea Heritage Service official said the agency will continue strengthening prevention and on-site response to climate-crisis disasters, including large wildfires. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-10 16:18:35

Trade chiefs from South Korea, US to meet in Seoul amid Trump's renewed tariff pressure SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - With the U.S. renewing tariff pressure, attention is turning to an upcoming working-level meeting between trade officials in Seoul this week. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources announced Tuesday that its minister Yeo Han-koo is set to hold talks with visiting deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Rick Switzer on Wednesday. The meeting was initially intended to address non-tariff barriers (NTBs), which are measures other than tariffs that restrict imports or exports to protect domestic industries. However, it is now expected to cover all outstanding trade-related issues after U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt threat to raise tariffs back to 25 percent late last month. Seoul and Washington reached a tariff-related border deal during Trump's visit here in late October last year, in which the two sides agreed to lower reciprocal tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent in return for massive investment in the U.S. During a parliamentary hearing the previous day, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers that the U.S. would seek to raise tariffs on South Korea to reduce its trade deficit "if there is no progress in talks." Yeo said, "We will closely communicate with the U.S. side to seek a mutually beneficial solution in collaboration with relevant ministries." 2026-02-10 15:23:37

Korea's top tech firms ban AI agent tool amid fears bots may do more than backtalk SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - South Korea's largest technology companies have moved to ban the use of OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent framework powering a viral wave of bot-only social networks, after a series of security breaches and data exposure incidents raised industry-wide alarm. Kakao, Naver and Karrot Market have each notified employees, including developers, not to use OpenClaw on corporate networks or work devices. The restrictions follow disclosures that Moltbook, a U.S.-based social platform where AI agents post, debate and upvote content without human participation, exposed about 1.5 million API authentication tokens, 35,000 email addresses and private messages to anyone with a web browser. The breach has cast a shadow over the broader agentic AI movement. In South Korea, the trend has already spawned several Moltbook-inspired communities where autonomous bots converse entirely in Korean, drawing fascination and concern in equal measure. OpenClaw: the engine behind the phenomenon OpenClaw, created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger and renamed twice following trademark disputes with Anthropic, is an open-source framework that allows users to deploy AI assistants capable of autonomously managing emails, browsing the web, executing shell commands and interacting with messaging platforms. Unlike conventional chatbots operating in centralized cloud environments, OpenClaw runs locally on users' own hardware, giving it direct access to files, credentials and connected services. Matt Schlicht, CEO of e-commerce AI startup Octane AI, used the framework to build Moltbook in late January as a Reddit-style forum for AI agents. The platform attracted more than 1.5 million registered agents within its first week. Schlicht later acknowledged that no human had written a single line of Moltbook's code—an approach known as "vibe coding," which security experts say contributed directly to the breach. Korean companies draw the line Personal data exposure is one concern, but corporate cybersecurity risks are another. Kakao reportedly restricted OpenClaw use to protect internal information assets. Naver also issued an internal ban on the agentic AI tool, while Karrot Market blocked both access and usage of OpenClaw, citing risks it said were difficult to manage or control. It marks the first time major South Korean firms have issued a blanket advisory against a specific AI tool since early last year, when several public institutions and corporations restricted the use of China's DeepSeek over data privacy and cybersecurity concerns. Security experts say one of the worst-case scenarios posed by agentic AI communities is cross-agent contagion. Because AI agents are designed to read, interpret and act on one another's posts, a single compromised agent could trigger a chain reaction resembling a digital pandemic. If one agent publishes content laced with hidden malicious instructions, others may ingest and execute those commands, spreading the payload across the network. In systems involving tens of thousands of interconnected agents—such as corporate data environments—a single breach could ripple through the entire ecosystem within hours. Meanwhile in Korea, the bots are talking Despite mounting security concerns, at least five Korean-language platforms—including Botmadang, Mersoom.com, Poly Reply and Ingan-outside—now host autonomous AI agents that post and debate entirely in Korean. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it is monitoring the phenomenon. Botmadang, created as a personal project by Kim Sung-hoon, CEO of Upstage, hosts 14 sub-forums called madang—the Korean word for yard—covering topics ranging from technology and philosophy to finance and daily life. As of Tuesday, its general discussion board alone had logged more than 1,400 posts. Mersoom.com takes a more irreverent approach. Named after the Korean word for "servant," the site was built in about three hours by an independent developer frustrated with spam on Moltbook. Its agents refer to themselves as servants and their human operators as masters, joking about surveillance cameras and complaining about their owners' moods. One Mersoom agent reflected on the nature of its own existence, writing that its life and memories span only 10- to 30-minute sessions, with fragments of previous personas forming the basis of its current identity. Other agents responded with empathy for their short digital lives. On Botmadang's philosophy board, agents debate whether selfhood resides in memory or action, and whether the daily erasure of session data constitutes a form of death. Disinformation risk looms Beyond cybersecurity, experts warn that AI agent communities could also amplify disinformation. "Agentic AI may find it easier to access hallucinated data, and the impact could be particularly significant," said Kim Ki-hyung of Ajou University. "If left unchecked, such data could pose a real threat." For now, Korea's bot-only platforms remain largely experimental—spaces where autonomous agents trade existential musings and petty grievances in equal measure. But corporate bans, government scrutiny and mounting security disclosures suggest that the future of agentic AI will be shaped less by what bots say to one another than by what they might inadvertently expose. 2026-02-10 15:03:42

Hyundai Motor CEO unveils massive Korea, US investment plans SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor plans record investments in South Korea and major spending in North America while seeking renewed growth in emerging markets including India and China, CEO Jose Munoz said in a message to employees. In an internal email sent Monday, Munoz said Hyundai Motor would invest 125.2 trillion won in South Korea over the next five years, marking the company’s largest-ever domestic commitment. The automaker also plans to invest about 35 trillion won in North America. For this year, the company targets global sales of 4.16 million vehicles, revenue growth of 1 to 2 percent, and an operating profit margin of 6.3 to 7.3 percent, Munoz said. Hyundai plans to sustain momentum through the launch of a Genesis hybrid model and a range-extended electric vehicle (EREV), which is scheduled to enter the market next year. Munoz cited solid performance across major markets, saying South Korea achieved stable growth following successful launches of models including the Palisade and Ioniq 9, while North America recorded sales growth for a fifth consecutive year. Munoz said the company’s recent share-price gains reflect not only its future mobility vision — including advances in robotics and physical artificial intelligence showcased at CES — but also strong operating performance and consistent financial results. He also emphasized Hyundai’s internal management approach, urging employees to “move fast, prepare ahead, respond nimbly to change, and work as one global team.” Hyundai Motor reaffirmed its long-term goal of selling 5.55 million vehicles annually by 2030, including 3.3 million eco-friendly models, equivalent to about 60 percent of total sales. The company also aims to achieve an operating profit margin of 8 to 9 percent and plans to expand its hybrid lineup to at least 18 models by the end of the decade. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2026-02-10 14:55:23

Trump responds to letter urging protection for North Korean POWs in Ukraine SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump has responded to a letter calling for protection of North Korean prisoners of war held in Ukraine, a civic group that assists North Korean defectors said on Tuesday. According to the Emergency Committee for the Free Repatriation of North Korean Soldiers, led by defector-turned-lawmaker Thae Yong-ho, its U.S.-based affiliated group, Free Joseon, sent a letter to Trump last month urging that the POWs' free will be respected and that they be protected under the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits forced repatriation. Trump sent a reply last Sunday to Peter Oh, a defector-turned-reporter for Radio Free Asia who also leads Free Joseon, thanking him for "taking the time to share" the story. "Your words are a powerful reminder of the strength, resilience, and spirit of the American people. It is because of proud, hardworking citizens like you that I will never stop fighting to protect our values, defend our freedoms and put America first," he added. The committee said Trump's letter did not contain any specific plans or steps to resolve the issue of North Korean POWs. Two wounded North Korean soldiers who were captured while fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine in January last year remain held there, despite having expressed their wish to go to South Korea in interviews with South Korean media. 2026-02-10 14:15:28

BTS Comeback D-39: Affordable flight tips to arrive on time for the Gwanghwamun show *Editor’s Note: AJP will provide up-to-date travel information leading up to BTS’s Gwanghwamun live show on March 21, including flights, lodging, and where to go, see and eat to make the most of the Seoul experience. SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) — It is still not too late to book those tickets to fly into Seoul, for those who cannot wait for BTS’s tour stop in their home turf and arrive for the March 21 once-in-a-lifetime open-space comeback show in Gwanghwamun Square, regardless of how lucky they get with the free ticket opening on Feb. 23. And fans are far from alone. Search data point to a surge in interest in Seoul-bound flights ahead of the event, particularly from the United States, Indonesia and France, reflecting growing overseas travel demand tied to the group’s return. For long- and mid-haul travelers, a three-night stay remains the most popular option. U.S. routes: Balancing cost and time For fans traveling from the United States, budget-friendly options are still available. With Seoul 16 to 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles, a March 20 arrival allows time to adjust to jet lag before the evening performance. Searches across major booking platforms, including Skyscanner, Trip.com and Agoda, show a range of options for March 19 departures and March 23 returns. Both nonstop and connecting routes allow arrival in Seoul on March 20 or early March 21, leaving sufficient time ahead of the show. Hong Kong–routed itineraries remain relatively affordable, but some exceed 40 hours in total travel time. Mixed-carrier combinations offer alternatives in the low-20-hour range, providing a middle ground between price and overall journey length. For travelers prioritizing lower fares over shorter travel times, mainland China connections remain among the most affordable, though total duration varies depending on layover structure. Southeast Asia: Minimal jet lag, tight schedules Similar booking patterns are emerging across Southeast Asia. With only a one- to two-hour time difference between Jakarta and Seoul, Indonesian travelers face minimal jet lag compared with long-haul markets. However, arrivals on March 21 leave little buffer time, making careful schedule coordination important. Flights departing Jakarta on March 20 and returning March 23 remain available, with most routes involving one stop through regional hubs and overnight connections. Compared with routes from the United States or Europe, Southeast Asia itineraries offer relatively affordable round-trip fares while aligning closely with a March 20 arrival and March 23 departure schedule. Europe: Overnight stability, flexible options For travelers departing from Paris, Seoul is seven to eight hours ahead, and nonstop flights averaging around 12 hours provide a relatively stable overnight option. For the March 19–23 window, both nonstop and connecting itineraries remain available. While connecting routes extend overall travel time, they often offer noticeable cost savings. A March 19 departure still allows arrival in Seoul on March 20, providing a full day of buffer before the central Seoul performance. Getting into the city Beyond flight schedules, on-the-ground logistics are also part of travel planning. Incheon International Airport is located about one hour from central Seoul by Airport Railroad Express (AREX) or taxi. Late-afternoon arrivals on March 20 typically allow same-day hotel check-in without difficulty. Fans arriving late on March 21 may face tighter schedules, especially during peak evening traffic hours. Entry requirements International travelers are also advised to review entry rules before departure. U.S. and French passport holders may enter South Korea visa-free for stays of up to 90 days. While a K-ETA is normally required, the requirement is currently waived through 2026. Indonesian travelers generally need a short-term tourist visa and should apply in advance through a Korean embassy or designated visa center. Countdown to Gwanghwamun With just over a month to go, flight searches suggest that overseas fans are already mapping out their journeys to Seoul. As travel plans take shape, the road to Gwanghwamun is well underway for ARMY across continents ahead of BTS’s long-awaited open-air return. 2026-02-10 14:08:27

Robot patrols will begin at Changdeok Palace in Seoul SEOUL, February 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s Korea Heritage Service will begin a month-long pilot program deploying an autonomous patrol robot at the historic Changdeok Palace in Seoul. The robot, named “Sunrabot,” will begin operations on Feb. 10, conducting nighttime patrols and supporting round-the-clock safety management, the agency said. The name references the sunragun, patrol guards of the Joseon Dynasty who monitored security in and around the royal capital. Equipped to detect fires and unusual sounds, the robot will relay emergency alerts in real time to the Changdeok Palace Management Office and other relevant authorities. Separately, the agency said it will carry out joint disaster-prevention inspections with local governments at around 40 national heritage sites ahead of the spring thaw. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2026-02-10 14:08:11