Celltrion forecasts record quarterly revenue, operating profit for Q4 SEOUL, December 31 (AJP) - Celltrion said Wednesday that it expects to post record-breaking fourth-quarter results, projecting revenue of 1.28 trillion won ($889 million) and operating profit of 472.2 billion won for the October-December period. The South Korean biopharmaceutical giant's forecast marks a 20.7 percent year-on-year surge in revenue and a 140.4 percent jump in operating profit, with operating margin reaching 36.8 percent. Should the projections hold, Celltrion&# December 31, 2025

Samsung Electronics begins manufacturing operations in Kazakhstan SEOUL, December 31 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics has officially launched the production of televisions and washing machines in Kazakhstan, marking the South Korean tech giant's first manufacturing presence in the Central Asian nation. The Embassy of Kazakhstan in South Korea said Wednesday that the new production lines are operating at the Silk Road Electronics plant in Saran, a city in the Karaganda Region. The facility currently employs more than 1,100 people. The project i December 31, 2025

KAIST nuclear engineering professor named head of Korean Nuclear Society SEOUL, December 31 (AJP) - Choi Sung-min, a professor of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), will assume office as new president the prestigious Korean Nuclear Society, effective Jan. 1. Choi earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nuclear engineering from Seoul National University, before completing a master’s degree and a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technolo December 31, 2025

MASGA shipbuilding push lifts outlook for Korean yards SEOUL, December 31 (AJP) - South Korea’s shipbuilding industry is expected to gain momentum next year as a bilateral initiative with the United States aimed at revitalizing American shipbuilding moves toward full implementation, industry officials said on Wednesday. The project, dubbed MASGA, short for “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again,” is designed to support Washington’s efforts to rebuild domestic shipbuilding capacity. South Korean yards are wid December 31, 2025

State creditor bank demands more aggressive output cut from Korean naphtha makers SEOUL, December 30 (AJP) -The government is intensifying pressure on South Korea's major petrochemical producers to further reduce naphtha cracking capacity during the prolonged industrial slump, demanding more aggressive streamlining from Hanwha, DL and Lotte tenants of Yeocheon complex, industry sources said. According to the sources on Tuesday, Lee Bong-hee, executive vice president and head of corporate finance at the Korea Development Bank (KDB), visited Yeocheon NCC on December 30, 2025

Korea faces unavoidable shift toward renewables, nuclear power: energy minister SEOUL, December 30 (AJP) - South Korea faces an unavoidable shift in its energy mix as it confronts the climate crisis, requiring a combination of carbon-free renewable energy and nuclear power while gradually phasing out coal and gas, Climate, Energy and Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan said on Tuesday. Kim made the remarks at the First Energy Mix Policy Forum held at the National Assembly, calling for a pragmatic and science-based approach to energy policy. Kim said t December 30, 2025

New nuclear reactor in Ulsan gets green light for operation SEOUL, December 30 (AJP) - The government committee for nuclear energy on Tuesday gave a green light to the operation of a nuclear reactor in Ulsan, ahead of its commercial launch scheduled for sometime next year. The committee said it approved the operation of the Saeul-3 reactor, formally known as Kori, in Ulju, Ulsan, after a meeting in which five of six members voted in favor, following safety reviews by the state-funded Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety as well as prior assessm December 30, 2025

US softens export curbs on chip equipment for Samsung, SK hynix plants in China SEOUL, December 30 (AJP) - The United States has decided to partially ease planned restrictions on shipments of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix plants in China, helping the South Korean chipmakers avoid immediate and significant operational disruptions, industry officials said on Tuesday. Washington had been preparing to revoke the companies’ broad export authorization status and require case-by-case approvals for each shipment of December 30, 2025

Seoul, Beijing agree to speed up services and investment talks under FTA SEOUL, December 30 (AJP) -South Korea and China have agreed to speed up second-stage negotiations under their bilateral free trade agreement, focusing on services and investment, as the two sides seek to broaden economic cooperation. Yeo Han-koo, South Korea’s minister for trade, met Li Chenggang, China’s international trade negotiation representative, in Beijing to discuss ways to accelerate follow-up negotiations under the Korea-China FTA. The two sides agreed to hold December 30, 2025

South Korea's An Mu submarine completes long-range Guam mission without any failure SEOUL, December 30 (AJP) - The South Korean Navy said on Tuesday that its An Mu submarine has completed a roughly 7,000-kilometer round-trip blue-water deployment and overseas training mission without a single equipment failure. The 3,000-ton An Mu, part of the KSS-III program, returned to Jinhae Naval Port after taking part in the South Korea–U.S. combined anti-submarine exercise “2025 Silent Shark.” The Navy held a welcome ceremony on Tuesday, hosted by Rea December 30, 2025