S. Korea, US, Japan launch Freedom Edge without US carrier SEOUL, September 07 (AJP) - South Korea, the United States and Japan began their annual Freedom Edge exercise Monday near Jeju Island, with the five-day multidomain drill set to run without a U.S. aircraft carrier for a second straight year. The five-day exercise, which runs through Sept. 11, involves major naval and air assets from the three countries, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Six warships, including Aegis destroyers, as well as maritime patrol aircraft, fig September 7, 2026

South Korea leans on AI boom as consumer recovery lags SEOUL, September 07 (AJP) - South Korea's economy is riding a wave of artificial intelligence investment that has powered exports and factory equipment spending to blistering growth, even as the windfall struggles to reach ordinary households, the state run Korea Development Institute (KDI) said. In its September economic assessment released Monday, the KDI said the recovery remains narrowly anchored to sectors tied to the global AI build-out. Data said that sectors including September 7, 2026

Russia ships Vostok oil as South Korea tests Arctic route SEOUL, September 07 (AJP) - Russia has shipped the first crude oil from its Vostok Oil project through the Arctic, highlighting Moscow's push to expand the Northern Sea Route just as South Korea conducts its first trial voyage by a container ship along the same corridor. The first batch of crude from Vostok Oil, a major development project in Russia's Arctic Taimyr region, was loaded Friday at a newly built terminal in Sever Bay onto the ice-class tanker Valentin Pikul, acco September 7, 2026

Krafton steers India bet toward AI, robotics SEOUL, September 07 (AJP) - Krafton will invest an additional $250 million in India over the next three to four years, pushing beyond mobile gaming into artificial intelligence, the company said after its founder met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The move deepens a push that already runs through a South Korean consortium as Krafton earlier this year joined internet giant Naver and asset manager Mirae Asset to launch the $670 million Unicorn Growth Fund, an India-focused vehicle back September 7, 2026

CJ CheilJedang chases Asia growth with Singapore lab SEOUL, September 07 (AJP) - CJ CheilJedang is racing to win Asia-Pacific food makers over to its fermented seasonings, opening a Singapore technical center as South Korea's largest food company bets on cutting salt and additives to drive its next wave of overseas growth. The facility announced Monday, located in Singapore's Biopolis research cluster, is the company's fifth Global Technical Center after sites in South Korea, Chicago, and the Dutch city of Wageningen. I September 7, 2026

Samsung's non-chip union takes wage-gap protest to Times Square SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -“Great products begin with people,” read a message splashed across a Times Square billboard in New York on Saturday, as a Samsung Electronics non-chip labor union took its protest over widening compensation disparities and treatment of its consumer-electronics workforce to a global stage. Donghaeng Union, which mainly represents employees in Samsung Electronics’ Device eXperience (DX) division, ran a 15-second video on a Times Square el September 5, 2026

Hyundai-POSCO eyes U.S. steel supply chain beyond cars to robots, rockets DONALDSONVILLE, Louisiana, September 05 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor Group is envisioning a U.S.-based steel supply chain stretching from cars to humanoid robots and even rockets, with its Chairman Chung Euisun saying steel from its new Louisiana mill could eventually be used in Boston Dynamics' Atlas and supplied to companies such as SpaceX. Speaking to reporters after the groundbreaking ceremony for Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel (HPLS) in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on Friday, C September 5, 2026

Samsung's non-chip employees to hold rally streak near chair's home SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -Samsung Electronics' unionized employees in non-chip operations are planning a rally streak near Chairman Lee Jae-yong's residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, from Sept. 18, taking their demands for fairer compensation amid the chip windfall closer to the top of the C-suite. An official of Donghaeng union, largely made up of employees in the Device eXperience (DX) division told AJP Saturday that the protest will go on without a fixed end date September 5, 2026

U.S. firms pledge $2 billion investment in Korea across chips and energy SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) - Four U.S. companies have pledged a combined $2 billion investment in South Korea spanning semiconductors, advanced display materials and offshore wind, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said. The commitments were announced in Washington, D.C., on Thursday as Seoul seeks to deepen investment and supply-chain ties with the United States amid heightened uncertainty over global trade and industrial policy. The participating companies are ind September 5, 2026

Hyundai, POSCO break ground on $5.8 billion low-carbon steel mill in Louisiana SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -A major multi-company Korean investment in the United States got underway Friday as Hyundai Steel and POSCO broke ground on a $5.8 billion electric-arc-furnace steel mill in Louisiana, designed to anchor a made-in-America automotive steel supply chain. Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel, or HPLS, held a ceremonial groundbreaking in Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, on Sept. 4, bringing together Hyundai Motor Group, POSCO and government officials from South Ko September 5, 2026