Hanwha launches job academy for 476 young job seekers SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Hanwha Group said Sunday it will launch a hands-on training program for 476 young job seekers in fields including shipbuilding, defense, information technology, artificial intelligence, marketing and construction. The Hanwha Naeil Academy was created as part of the government-led K-New Deal Academy initiative, which is overseen by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resource and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The Korean word “naeil” can m June 29, 2026

Hyundai Motor to resume wage talks with unionized workers SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Automaker Hyundai Motor on Monday called on its labor union, which secured the right to strike last week, to resume wage talks. CEO Choi Young-il visited the union office earlier in the day, where he said he wanted to resume talks that had stalled after negotiations with unionized workers broke down on June 12. Choi's visit suggests that the two sides could return to the negotiating table as early as this week, with Choi expected to put forward a prop June 29, 2026

SMEs shed 98,000 jobs in April amid sluggish production and rising costs SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) saw their workforce shrink amid sluggish production, as the lingering conflict in the Middle East pushed up energy and raw material costs, the Korea Small Business Institute said on Monday. According to the state-run research institute, the number of employees at SMEs or workplaces with fewer than 300 employees totaled 29.12 million, down 98,000 from a year earlier. In contrast, employment at workplaces with 300 or June 29, 2026

Hyperscalers run the infrastructure the AI world stands on a SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - The history of civilization has always been, in part, a history of whoever controlled the core infrastructure. The 19th century was completed by the railway and the steam engine; the 20th was driven by oil and electricity. If the internet and the smartphone reshaped daily life in the early 21st century, then today — with generative AI in full swing — the world stands once again in the middle of a vast civilizational shift. At its center sits a new June 29, 2026

Hyundai, Kia win Cannes Lions bronze for child safety technology campaign SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor and Kia won a bronze award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for a campaign using vehicle safety technology to protect children near school buses, the companies said Sunday. The campaign, titled "Vision Pulse," received bronze in the Design: Use of Emerging Technology category. Cannes Lions, held annually in Cannes, France, is one of the world's leading advertising and creative industry festivals. This ye June 29, 2026

K-AI models take root from broadcasting to public administration SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - South Korean firms are widening the reach of homegrown artificial intelligence, deploying domestically built models across sectors including television production, government work, and chip-powered sovereign computing. The Ministry of Science and ICT disclosed Monday a series of field cases showing how the country's so-called 'K-AI' models, developed under a state-backed sovereign AI drive, are moving from the lab into everyday industrial and publi June 29, 2026

Nexon Games to bring 'Blue Archive' to Korean craft art SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Nexon Games announced it will support the creation of craft artworks based on its popular subculture mobile game "Blue Archive," joining a social contribution project run by the Nexon Foundation. The studio signed a memorandum of understanding on June 26 with the Nexon Foundation and the Korea Ceramic Foundation to launch the initiative, dubbed "Borderless: Craft Archive." The three parties will oversee artwork production, exhibitions an June 29, 2026

LG AI Research secures ISO 27001 certification for entire AI lifecycle SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - LG AI Research has obtained the ISO 27001 certification for its entire artificial intelligence operations, seeking to accelerate its push into highly regulated sectors, the company said on Monday. The ISO 27001 is a leading international standard for information security management systems. The newly acquired certification covers the research center's full AI lifecycle, ranging from planning large language models and processing training data to deploying June 29, 2026

CJ CheilJedang launches gim snacks in push for premium health-food market SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - CJ CheilJedang, South Korea's largest food maker, announced Monday it has rolled out three new bibigo gim bugak snacks, betting on rising appetite for traditional seaweed treats at home and abroad. The crispy snacks, made from dried laver coated in glutinous rice paste and fried, revive a labor-intensive handcrafting method the company said captures the deep aroma and richness of the seaweed. The lineup comes in original, spicy and shrimp flavors. Th June 29, 2026

Kakao union holds this month's second "log-out" day SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) -Messaging at Kakao, whose chat platform is used by most South Koreans, is expected to remain unaffected by a one-day collective union action to log off from work on Monday. Kakao said it has activated a real-time response system to ensure stable operation of KakaoTalk and other key services and minimize inconvenience to users as unionized workers stage what they call a "Logout Day." The action comes after labor and management failed to narrow June 29, 2026