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Hyundai Motor chairman joins Canada envoy team to back submarine bid SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun is joining a special envoy team to support South Korea’s bid for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, government and industry officials said on Monday. Chung will depart for Canada later in the day to back the government-led effort, the officials said. A defense-industry envoy team, including Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik and Industry Minister Kim Jeong-gwan, will also leave for Canada on January 26, 2026
Krafton executives meet Indian ambassador to discuss tech investment SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) - Krafton announced on January 23 that it held talks with Indian Ambassador to South Korea Gourangalal Das at its Seoul headquarters to outline plans for expanded technology cooperation and investment in India. Ambassador Das met with senior Krafton executives, including Board Chairman Chang Byung-gyu and Kim Nak-hyung, the head of the company's India and emerging markets division. Deputy Chief of Mission Nishi Kant Singh also attended. The group exchan January 26, 2026
S-Oil's annual operating profit tumbles 31.7% on weak petrochemical margins SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) - South Korean refiner S-Oil reported a 31.7 percent plunge in operating profit for 2025, dragged down by mounting losses in its petrochemical division amid a prolonged industry downturn. The company posted an operating profit of 288.2 billion won ($198.8 million) for the year, down from 422.1 billion won in 2024, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. Annual revenue slipped 6.5 percent to 34.25 trillion won as global oil prices softened throughout the y January 26, 2026
Vietnam stays South Korea's No. 3 trading partner for fourth year SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) - Vietnam remained South Korea’s third-largest trading partner for a fourth consecutive year as South Korean exports topped $700 billion for the first time last year, according to government and industry data released on Monday. Vietnam also generated South Korea’s second-largest trade surplus, after the United States. South Korea’s exports to Vietnam rose 7.6 percent from a year earlier to $62.8 billion in 2025, data from the Ministr January 26, 2026
Korean Air invests in drone startup to boost unmanned aircraft capabilities SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) - Korean Air has made a strategic investment in drone specialist Pablo Air, aiming to secure core unmanned-aircraft technologies and expand its presence beyond its traditional aviation business. The two companies signed a strategic equity investment agreement on Jan. 23 at Korean Air’s Seosomun office in central Seoul, according to Korean Air, Monday. Pablo Air specializes in swarm artificial intelligence technology, which allows multiple drones January 26, 2026
Korea's two largest chipmakers to report earnings and HBM plans on same day this week SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the world's two largest memory makers based in South Korea, are set to report record earnings on the same day - Thursday - this week in full display of the strength of the current semiconductor upcycle. Instead of numbers, the market would be watching what the leading chipmakers would reveal about their high-bandwidth memory (HBM) strategies and capacity plans during conference calls. It will be the first time January 26, 2026
Mom-and-pop businesses suffer brunt of economic slowdown SEOUL, January 25 (AJP) - The number of self-employed businesses stood at 5.62 million last year, down 38,000 from a year earlier, the National Data Agency said on Sunday. The figure fell for a second straight year and was also the largest decline since 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic hit the country. Mom-and-pop businesses declined by 75,000 in 2020 and 18,000 in 2021, then saw a gradual post-pandemic recovery of 119,000 in 2022 and 57,000 in 2023, only to fall again by 32, January 25, 2026
Coupang reasserts itself as US tech company amid claims of unfair treatment SEOUL, January 25 (AJP) - E-commerce giant Coupang stressed once again that it is a U.S. company. The top of its browser tab briefly displayed "Coupang: US Tech Company Redefining Global Commerce" on Saturday before returning to the previous version, though some web browsers were still displaying it. The tab now again displays its previous promotional message in Korean, highlighting its fast "rocket" delivery service as well as membership benefits and January 25, 2026
Korean airlines cancel 18 U.S. flights as powerful winter storm batters America SEOUL, January 24 (AJP) - Korean airlines have grounded 18 flights to the United States as a powerful winter storm sweeps across the central and eastern regions of the country, disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers ahead of the weekend. Korean Air, Asiana Airlines and Air Premia announced the cancellations as of 2:30 p.m. Saturday, with disruptions expected to continue through Jan. 27 as the storm system intensifies. Korean Air bore the brunt of the disruptions, scr January 24, 2026
Hyundai union clashes with management over humanoid robot deployment SEOUL, January 24 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor Company's labor union has warned it will block the deployment of humanoid robots on production lines without prior agreement, escalating tensions over the automaker's plan to introduce Boston Dynamics' Atlas robots to its manufacturing operations. "Not a single robot can enter the production floor without labor-management agreement," the National Metal Workers' Union Hyundai Motor Company branch said in a newsletter o January 24, 2026