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Chuseok Now and Then: Pleasure Weighs Over Tradition in Korea SEOUL, October 02 (AJP) - Highways once jammed with cars crawling toward ancestral hometowns, kitchens filled with the labor of preparing feast tables, and families dressed in hanbok to perform rites of thanksgiving for the harvest—these were the defining images of Chuseok in South Korea. Today, in a depopulating society, the holiday looks very different. Many households skip or shorten the traditional observances, instead choosing leisure and travel. Incheon International Airport expects 2.45 million passengers during this year’s seven-day Chuseok holiday, averaging 223,000 travelers a day. That figure not only surpasses pandemic lows but also exceeds pre-2020 levels, when daily traffic averaged around 180,000 to 200,000 passengers. A survey by Lotte Members’ Lime service found that 47 percent of respondents plan to travel during Chuseok, with 30.5 percent choosing domestic trips and 16.9 percent going abroad. Hotels.com data shows most will travel with family or groups (60 percent), while 35 percent travel as couples and 5 percent solo. Among overseas travelers, Japan remains the top destination at 43.1 percent, followed by Vietnam (13.2 percent) and China (9.6 percent). “Traditional Chuseok and today’s Chuseok are completely different,” said Kim Eun-sook, 55, a Seoul housewife. “In the past, I visited my husband’s family and worked my bones to prepare songpyeon and jeon. These days, we plan a trip a year in advance.” The shift reflects broader changes in household burdens and gender roles. Preparing food for charye—ancestral memorial rites—has historically fallen on women. Families also traveled for seongmyo, visiting ancestral graves. “It’s more comfortable now, with less burden. People may age, families may change, but fewer than 10 percent still perform charye,” Kim noted. Scholars point to westernization and shifting values. “Past traditions have weakened and disappeared, while the meaning of holiday as leisure has become more prominent,” said Lee Byung-hoon, professor emeritus of sociology at Chung-Ang University. For younger generations, Chuseok is more about rest than ritual. “Everyone around me travels during Chuseok. It’s the longest holiday of the year, so people want to rest,” said Kim Jung-yeon, 31, from Gyeonggi Province. Tourism data reflects the cultural pivot. During the 2024 Chuseok holiday, domestic visitors to Jeju Island totaled 235,089, down from 247,519 the year before, while international arrivals climbed sharply to 31,258 from 20,891. Professor Lee predicts the trend will deepen. “Unless families reunite as nuclear or extended families like in the past, traditional holidays will likely evolve into more individualistic or free holidays. In five to ten years, this shift will intensify depending on how family relationships change.” The numbers stand in sharp contrast to the pandemic years. In 2020, Incheon Airport handled just 964 international flights during Chuseok, and 995 in 2021. By 2023, flights had rebounded to 3,699, surpassing 2018’s 3,273. This year’s surge signals that travel demand has fully recovered—and that cultural practices around the centuries-old harvest festival are moving steadily toward leisure and away from obligation. 2025-10-03 09:11:35 -
UAE wins multiple awards at Philakorea 2025 in Seoul SEOUL, October 2 (AJP) - The United Arab Emirates embassy in Seoul said Friday that the UAE-based stamp collectors’ group won multiple awards at Philakorea 2025, an international stamp exhibition held in Seoul last month. The event, co-hosted by Korea Post and the Philatelic Federation of Korea, drew more than 2,000 exhibits from over 65 countries. Khalid Ali Al-Amirah received a gold medal for his display on "Dubai Mail 1909–1948," while five other members of the Emirates Philatelic Association also took home medals. During the exhibition, the UAE Embassy in Seoul hosted a "Dubai Night" event. UAE Ambassador to Seoul Abdullah Saif Al-Nuaimi congratulated the winners and said he looked forward to welcoming philatelists from around the world to Dubai. "The Dubai International Stamp Exhibition 2026 will be a global platform to celebrate our shared heritage and strengthen international ties," he said. Meanwhile, the International Federation of Philately (FIP) flag was handed over to the UAE at the exhibition, confirming the Gulf state as the next host. 2025-10-02 17:50:10 -
KOSPI soars past 3,500 milestone for first time on semiconductor rally SEOUL, October 02 (AJP) - The main South Korean stock index, the KOSPI, surged to a historic close on Thursday, breaching the 3,500 level for the first time on record. Driven by a frenzied rally in technology and semiconductor shares, the benchmark index climbed 93.38 points, or 2.7 percent, to settle at 3,549.21, capping a day that saw the index peak at an intraday high of 3,565.96. The powerful upward trajectory was anchored by the nation's two memory chip giants. Samsung Electronics rose 3.49 percent, closing at 89,000 won and briefly touching 90,300 won, a high not seen since January 2021. More dramatically, SK hynix rocketed 9.72 percent to close at 395,000 won, achieving an intraday high of 404,500 won — its first time ever crossing the 400,000 won threshold. The sector’s strength was fueled by growing optimism surrounding potential alliances in artificial intelligence. This sentiment was galvanized by a high-profile meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to discuss broad cooperation in semiconductors and AI, including reports that Samsung and SK hynix were exploring a “Stargate” memory chip partnership with OpenAI. The enthusiasm spilled over from Wall Street, where a surge in semiconductor stocks, including a 7 percent rise in Intel, had already set a positive tone for global tech markets. Trading was dominated by foreign capital, which provided the bulk of the buying power necessary to lift the index to its record height. Overseas investors registered net purchases totaling 3.13 trillion won. In contrast, domestic retail investors offloaded 3.07 trillion won of shares, while institutional investors sold a net 668 billion won. 2025-10-02 16:42:16 -
PHOTOS: Kindergarteners show off skills at jump rope competition SUWON, October 02 (AJP) - Over 1,500 young students from private kindergartens across Suwon participated in a jump rope competition, Thursday. The event, hosted by the Suwon Kindergarten Association, took place at the Suwon Sports Complex Gymnasium. The competition served as a platform for the children to showcase the jump rope skills they had been practicing. Enthusiastic parents and family members filled the stands, providing loud cheers for the young athletes. Jump rope is widely recognized for its health benefits for children. It is known to significantly aid in physical development and height growth during a child’s formative years. "Our friends, who at first found it difficult to jump rope even just once or twice, practiced hard and were able to have this competition," said Park Jeong-soon, president of the Suwon Kindergarten Association. "We are grateful to the adults who came and cheered them on." 2025-10-02 16:25:23 -
INTERVIEW: Young N. Korean defectors seek to break stigma inside and outside SEOUL, October 02 (AJP) - Portraying North Korean life in a truer light—rather than through stigmatized or patronizing lenses—and linking the reclusive state with the outside world through flash drives is the core mission of young defectors, according to a human rights activist. "While media coverage has shifted from rumor-driven reports to more fact-based accounts, portrayals still tend to be oversimplified," said Seongmin Lee, who heads the Korea desk and programs at the New York-based Human Rights Foundation, in an interview with AJP. "The country is often shown as a place where everyone moves in lockstep under central orders, ignoring regional and class differences. Human rights stories are usually reduced to 'government as perpetrator, citizens as victims.'" Lee argues that defectors, who combine lived experience with active networks inside the country, can provide nuance missing from mainstream narratives. "There are about 34,000 defectors in South Korea, but their voices are rarely heard in the international arena, especially in English," said Lee, who fled the North in 2009, later studied political science at Columbia University, and went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration. Now a U.S. citizen, he divides his time between New York and Seoul. One of the projects Lee oversees is "Flash Drives for Freedom," launched in 2016. The program smuggles donated USB sticks into North Korea, packed with films, TV dramas, e-books, and other content to give ordinary citizens a glimpse of the outside world. "North Koreans cannot use the internet, make international calls, or travel abroad, so USBs remain a vital tool. We have sent about 140,000 so far," Lee said. The drives were once carried by balloons along with leaflets, but since Seoul banned the practice to ease ties with Pyongyang, activists now move them through China or third countries. Lee emphasized that the project operates independently of South Korea’s shifting political stance. Lee also leads NK Insider, an English-language online magazine launched in January 2024 that focuses on analysis and opinion. More than half of its roughly 300 published articles are written by defectors themselves, drawing around 20,000 subscribers in 97 countries. Daily traffic runs in the hundreds to thousands, and the site has endured frequent hacking attempts. "That shows we are being effective," Lee said. Much of NK Insider’s reporting relies on information from North Korea’s border provinces—North Pyongan, Ryanggang, and North Hamgyong—or from North Korean workers in Chinese cities. While pandemic-era border closures restricted access, Lee says conditions have since eased. The ultimate goal, he stressed, is to ensure that defectors’ voices are not sidelined: "We will continue to provide diverse and in-depth content centered on the experiences of people who actually lived in North Korea." 2025-10-02 15:38:03 -
TRAVEL: Walking through the independence history of Malaysia, diverse ethnicities working as one KUALA LUMPUR, October 02 (AJP) - On Aug. 31, 1957, Malaysia peacefully liberated itself from British colonization. Its first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, raised his fists and declared the full independence of the nation. Today, the once British site for colonial officers stands as Independence Square, also known as Merdeka Square. While not particularly large, the square has the highest flagpole in all of Malaysia, with the country's flag standing upright surrounded by its 14 state flags. In the distance, one can easily spot Merdeka 118, the second tallest building and structure in the world. Its distinctive spire resembles Tunku Abdul Rahman's outstretched hand celebrating independence. Standing inside the square is the Royal Selangor Club, once a luxurious parlor for British officers to enjoy their afternoons. Now, club membership is awarded to only a handful of prestigious Malaysian giants and tycoons, while the exterior of the building still retains its red and white appearance. Next to the clubhouse stands St. Mary's Cathedral, one of the few centers for Anglican believers in a nation dominated by Muslims. Around the corner stands the Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad Building, once a symbol of British colonial administration. The building is now undergoing renovation to preserve its history—a painful yet significant part of Malaysia's past. From an aerial view, the building is shaped like the letter 'F,' standing for 'Federal.' Walking downtown, one can spot the Central Market Kuala Lumpur, once a so-called 'wet market' selling fish and vegetables in 1888, refurbished in the 1980s as a local shopping center for tourists and Malaysians alike. Gift shops selling souvenirs occupy the first floor, while the second floor has various traditional Batik clothing stores and food stalls. On the second floor is a small history museum portraying the nation's history. During British colonial rule, the Malaysian population consisted mainly of three ethnic groups: the Malays for general farming, Chinese for tin mining, and Indians for rubber harvesting. The Chinese and Indians all preserve their heritage throughout parts of the city. The Chinese have their Sin Sze Si Ya Temple to honor their former 'Kapitan China,' including Yap Ah Loy, the last yet most prominent figure of Chinese leadership in colonial Malaysia. As for the Indians, just a few blocks away stands the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur. The outer pillars and decorations all depict different gods of the Hindu religion, serving as a local haven for Indians to find comfort. 2025-10-02 15:30:52 -
How Seoul blends K-pop, tech and diplomacy at APEC SEOUL, October 02 (AJP) - This year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit arrives at a tense moment of tariff wars between allies and rivals, but host South Korea is showcasing a deft blend of diplomacy, technology and cultural soft power. The two-day leaders’ summit, beginning Oct. 31, will cover supply chain security, digital trade rules and climate cooperation. Alongside the traditional agenda, Seoul is infusing the stage with high technology and K-pop, highlighting both its economic strengths and cultural appeal. The official slogan of this year’s APEC is “Connect, Innovate, Prosper.” South Korea intends to spotlight trade liberalization, digital economy governance and climate action. The political centerpiece will be the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping—closely watched for any mention of shared interests, including North Korea. Cultural diplomacy features prominently. G-Dragon, the K-pop icon, has been named envoy for the summit. The APEC Music Festa on Oct. 10 at Gyeongju Civic Stadium will feature groups such as Billlie, NCT WISH, Yena, ONF, ONEUS and WEi. Beyond K-pop, programs will showcase Korea’s heritage: the Seorabeol Pungnyu traditional performance series at historic sites, a Nam June Paik exhibition at the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, Scent of Korea in Silla at the Solgeo Art Museum, and the Future Heritage Craft Exhibition. Culture also earned a new spot on the APEC agenda. In August, Gyeongju hosted the first High-Level Dialogue on Cultural and Creative Industries, marking the bloc’s first formal recognition of culture as a subject of economic cooperation. Technology is the other showpiece. The Future-Tech Forum (Oct. 27-30) will convene discussions on artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, digital transformation and retail innovation. The K-Tech Showcase will highlight advances from Korean startups, as well as Samsung, Hyundai, SK and international partners. At the APEC CEO Summit, global executives including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are slated to attend. Still, questions remain about substance. Some critics warn that the event risks becoming more spectacle than policy. Koo Min-gyo, professor at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Administration, said APEC has historically had limited impact and questioned the choice of Gyeongju as venue. “Hosting an international event should be about setting the agenda and making the country’s voice heard on the international stage,” he said. “In this case, it was driven purely by domestic politics.” 2025-10-02 15:28:53 -
Hyundai Motor Group reports record US sales in Q3, driven by EVs, hybrids SEOUL, October 02 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor Group reported its best-ever third-quarter sales in the U.S. market, Thursday, signaling resilience despite trade tensions and the looming expiration of key electric vehicle tax credits. The surge was largely attributed to burgeoning demand for its environmentally friendly vehicles. The combined U.S. sales for Hyundai and its affiliate Kia reached 480,175 units in the third quarter, a substantial 12 percent increase compared to the same period last year. This performance outpaced most major rivals in the U.S., with only Toyota reporting a higher year-over-year sales increase. The engine of the sales growth was the group's accelerated push into the electric vehicle segment. In the quarter, sales of eco-friendly models — including both electric vehicles and hybrids — soared by 54.5 percent to 135,547 units. Sales of battery-electric vehicles alone climbed 54.4 percent to 45,488 units for the quarter, while hybrid sales also saw a robust gain of 54.6 percent. The momentum was particularly visible in September, where electric vehicle sales nearly doubled year-over-year, driven by models like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6. For the month of September, the group’s total sales reached 136,510 units, a 12.8 percent increase from a year earlier. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-10-02 15:21:17 -
Re-living Korea's past and enjoying today dictate foreign visits to Korea SEOUL, October 2 (AJP) - "Gat," the black wide-brimmed hat once essential for Korean men stepping into public, may become this year's hottest Halloween costume in Western societies. The iconic headgear – spotlighted in Saja Boys' "Your Idol" stage performance that won global fans and in Netflix's blockbuster "KPop Demon Hunters" – is now a must-try at Everland, Korea's largest theme park in Yongin, just south of Seoul. "I've watched the film twice," said Austin, 48, who visited Korea with his family of fellow fans. "My younger daughter has watched it too many times to count. My older daughter has seen it four times. It was number one in New Zealand for several days." The "KPop Demon Hunters" zone, created in collaboration with Netflix, drew more than 10,000 visitors in its first week. Children and adults alike dress up as Huntrix or Saja Boys, pose for photos, and dance to soundtrack hits such as "Golden" and "Soda Pop" in a concert-like atmosphere. Themed goods fly off the shelves, with the "gat" topping the list as a Halloween souvenir. Signature snacks from the film – Saja Boys' soda pop ade, Huntrix's golden glow ade, or Derpy the tiger's berry world – add to the fun. The Huntrix Set at the snack bar has become the runaway favorite. Beyond fantasy, "KPop Demon Hunters" has introduced foreign fans to authentic Korean rituals. One of the film's most moving scenes unfolds in a public bathhouse, a space where Koreans traditionally relax, chat, and spend intimate time with family or friends. Visitors eager for the "real" experience often try "sesin," a vigorous body scrubbing and massage service featured in the movie. Another must-stop is a traditional medicine clinic. In the film, Huntrix leader Rumi seeks treatment there after losing her voice during rehearsal. Tourists also line up to try acupuncture or shop for herbal remedies. "I like all Eastern medicine. I think it’s quite interesting," said Jacob Raffly, a 33-year-old American visiting Seoul K-Medi Center with his wife Raina. "I'm half-Korean, so we thought it would be nice to see this side of Korea," Raina added. The cultural pull doesn't end there. The National Museum of Korea in Yongsan – once seen as austere – is now bustling with foreign families and friends, rediscovering ancient relics through the film’s fusion of history and modern storytelling. "I was never into K-pop, but I’ve been fascinated by the culture," said Evan Stauv from France. The museum has seen visitors surge 77.5 percent to 4.33 million as of August, on track to hit 5 million this year. Foreign visitors alone reached nearly 150,000, with July and August numbers spiking after the film's release. Sales at the museum store climbed 34 percent to 11.5 billion won ($8.2 million) and are expected to surpass 20 billion won for the first time. The shopping and food mecca of Myeong-dong remains a perennial favorite for those wanting a taste of today’s Korea. "K-pop was part of the reason," said Lila Destras from France, "but personally I wanted to discover the country as a whole." For many, visiting Korea has shifted from sightseeing to living the culture – stepping into its past while embracing its modern pulse. 2025-10-02 15:07:54 -
G-Dragon, Park Ji-sung, and other Korean superstars pitch APEC 2025 SEOUL, October 02 (AJP) - The APEC 2025 organizing committee released a special promotional video ahead of the summit. K-pop star G-Dragon stars as the ambassador, with cameo appearances by director Park Chan-wook, soccer player Park Ji-sung, IVE's Jang Won-young, chef Ahn Sung-jae, and DJ Peggy Gou. Directed by award-winning Shin Woo-seok, the video begins with APEC members gathering at a fusion Korean restaurant, symbolizing Korea's cultural heritage. President Lee Jae-myung briefly appears as an aircraft marshaller, symbolizing South Korea's orderly return to the international community, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The video was produced with minimal expenses, and all participants volunteered without compensation to support the national event, the ministry added. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-10-02 15:06:25