Seoul forced to swallow Trump's call, increase US share in energy SEOUL, April 02 (AJP) - South Korea is scrambling to shore up dwindling energy supplies and diversify away from the Middle East after U.S. President Donald Trump ruled out an immediate end to the Iran war, vowing instead to hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks." In a primetime address from the White House on Thursday, Trump made clear the operation would last through April, destabilizing not just Iran's military infrastructure but also the core Mi April 2, 2026

Korean Air accelerates AI-powered drone development with 2028 deployment target SEOUL, April 02 (AJP) - Korean Air is stepping up its push into unmanned aerial systems, advancing development of an artificial intelligence-powered high-speed target drone while investing $130 million in a new manufacturing facility in Busan to expand production capacity. The company said it recently completed a System Requirements Review (SRR) for its domestically developed high-speed target drone project at the Daejeon Convention Center, attended by officials from the Defense Acq April 2, 2026

Hyundai Motor bets on EV re-pivot after Gulf crisis SEOUL, April 02 (AJP) -South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group is stepping harder on the pedal in battery development and factory upgrades, after a period of stalled investment amid weak demand, as it bets on a structural shift toward non-fuel vehicles triggered by the global energy crisis. Its affiliate Kia said Wednesday that domestic sales of eco-friendly vehicles — including hybrids, electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered cars — jumped 51.9 percent on-year in March to April 2, 2026

Investors are jittery, but analysts are buoyant behind Korean memory makers vs TurboQuant SEOUL, April 01 (AJP) - A new artificial intelligence data-compression technology from Google has hit Seoul’s main stock market as hard as Strait of Hormuz-related news, as it involves South Korea’s top memory chipmakers responsible for around 40 percent of not just the KOSPI but also the country’s exports. Since the unveiling of Google’s TurboQuant, a next-generation quantization algorithm, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix saw their shares tumble 4.7 perce April 1, 2026

Flying for South Koreans is now a luxury as fuel surcharge triples SEOUL, April 01 (AJP) - Flying out of South Korea is fast becoming a luxury, as airlines this month slapped on fuel surcharges up to three times higher, passing on the surge in jet fuel prices driven by Middle East conflicts. For long-haul routes to the United States and beyond, passengers now face up to 600,000 won ($398) in additional round-trip costs from fuel surcharges alone. With oil prices still climbing, further increases are expected as early as next month. Industry data April 1, 2026

Kia launches massive recruitment drive SEOUL, April 1 (AJP) - Kia will hire a large number of new employees in the first half of this year, a rare move at a time when many companies are tightening their belts amid a prolonged economic slowdown, exacerbated by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The automaker said on Wednesday that the recruitment drive, which will hire both entry-level and experienced workers as well as interns across some 34 fields within the company, aims to expand opportunities for young talent April 1, 2026

Samsung Biologics completes $353 mln Maryland, US plant acquisition SEOUL, April 01 (AJP) -Samsung Biologics, South Korea’s leading contract drug manufacturer, has completed its acquisition of a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland, marking its first production base in the United States to better access the world’s largest drug market and mitigate tariff risks. The company said in a press release on Wednesday its wholly owned unit Samsung Biologics America acquired Human Genome Sciences from GSK for $353.1 mill April 1, 2026

South Korea's March exports hit $80b mark SEOUL, April 1 (AJP) — South Korea raised the bar on exports again, achieving fresh monthly high of over $80 billion in March as an unprecedented boom in the semiconductor sector more than offset supply disruptions from the outbreak of a war in the Middle East. According to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday, exports for March reached all-time monthly high of $86.13 billion, up 48.3 percent on year. The previous monthly record was $69.5 April 1, 2026

Samsung Elec union crying foul over wage talks to press ahead with strikes SEOUL, March 31 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics claims it has put forward a compensation package more attractive than that of rival SK hynix, but its largest labor union is calling it a deception — and is pressing ahead with plans for a general strike in May. “The company lied to us,” Kim Jae-won, head of policy planning at the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), told AJP on Tuesday. “There is no other way to describe what happened at that table.” March 31, 2026

Submarine deal looms large over Canada's high-profile trade mission to Korea SEOUL, March 31 (AJP) - Canada’s trade delegation to South Korea this week has been heavily layered with the hot-button deal — Canada’s largest-ever defense procurement to replace its aging submarines, worth an estimated $40 billion, now being weighed between Korean and European bidders. The visit by the Team Canada Trade Mission, led by International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, comes as Ottawa moves to diversify trade and deepen ties with trusted partners, with March 31, 2026