Samsung launches mid-tier Galaxy A37 5G smartphone in South Korea SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Thursday it will launch the Galaxy A37 5G smartphone in its domestic market on Friday. The new mid-range model is priced at 598,400 won ($434) and will be available through Samsung's retail stores, its official website, and local mobile carriers. The device will be offered in three colors: lavender, white, and charcoal. The Galaxy A37 5G features a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with a maximum June 18, 2026

SK hynix samples next-gen 12-layer HBM4E chips, stock at new high SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - South Korea's SK hynix said on Thursday it has begun supplying samples of its next-generation 12-layer High Bandwidth Memory (HBM4E) chips to major customers, moving to solidify its position in the booming artificial intelligence hardware market. The world’s leading supplier of HBM chips said the new HBM4E product delivers a data processing speed of up to 16 gigabits per second (Gbps) per pin while improving energy efficiency by more than 20 percen June 18, 2026

Pulmuone's US tofu sales climb 17% as plant expansion lifts output SEOUL, June 18 (AJP) - Pulmuone announced its US tofu sales rose 16.8 percent from a year earlier to 107.8 billion won ($70.5 million) in the first five months of 2026, extending a streak of double-digit growth in the world's largest market for the soy product. The South Korean food maker said Thursday the gains held up even as stubborn inflation curbed consumer spending in the United States, helped by wider distribution and steady investment in production. Its tofu now reach June 18, 2026

Foreign tourist spending in S. Korea hits record $1.3bln on local lifestyle boom SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - Credit card spending by foreign tourists in South Korea reached an all-time monthly high in May, fueled by a surge in visitors adopting everyday local lifestyle trends, the Korea Tourism Organization said Wednesday. Over the last few years, global interest in South Korean culture has shifted from entertainment like music and television to everyday fashion, beauty, and wellness. This growing fascination has changed how tourists shop, drawing them away from tr June 17, 2026

South Korea's high power costs pose AI competitiveness concerns SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - South Korea's electricity rates for data centers are higher than those in major countries, a recent report shows. While the country's overall power prices remain relatively low, industrial rates for large users including artificial intelligence (AI)-related data centers are higher than in countries such as China and the U.S. According to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday, the average industrial rate appli June 17, 2026

SK hynix confirms U.S. ADR plan, denies 100 trln won shareholder payout SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - SK hynix confirmed Wednesday that it is actively pursuing a U.S. American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing to expand its AI-era memory chip capacity, but denied reports that it is preparing a 100 trillion won ($72.5 billion) shareholder reward program to offset concerns about equity dilution. The clarification came after the Korea Economic Daily reported Tuesday that the South Korean chipmaker was preparing a historic fourth-quarter shareholder return packag June 17, 2026

In "short-form" Korean economy, media empire is latest casualty SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - South Korea is becoming a "short-form" society, where consumers increasingly favor quick commerce, short visits and low-friction experiences. As those habits harden, a growing list of institutions once considered too big to fail is discovering that their traditional business models no longer justify a physical trip. The latest casualty is JoongAng Group, one of South Korea's largest media empires, whose holdings include the 61-year-old JoongAn June 17, 2026

Hanwha becomes KAI's second-largest shareholder after raising stake SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - Hanwha Group has raised its combined stake in Korea Aerospace Industries Co. to 9.04 percent, becoming the aircraft maker’s second-largest shareholder after the government, the group said Tuesday. Hanwha Aerospace said in a regulatory filing that it has secured a 6.5 percent stake in aircraft manufacturing monopoly, completing earlier than planned its goal of investing 500 billion won ($330 million) to buy additional shares in the company by the end of t June 17, 2026

South Korea redraws decades-old borderlines with North Korea SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) -South Korea is redrawing lines along the world's most heavily fortified border with North Korea, easing decades-old military restrictions to reflect changing security conditions, a shrinking military-age population and advances in modern warfare. The Defense Ministry said Wednesday it will move the civilian control line about 2 kilometers northward, opening up swaths of tightly regulated border areas and reducing long-standing restrictions on residents. June 17, 2026

Korea joins OpenAI on AI safety, fourth nation to do so SEOUL, June 17 (AJP) - South Korea has become the fourth country to forge a formal artificial-intelligence safety partnership with OpenAI, joining the United States, Britain and Japan in a widening network aimed at scrutinizing the risks of frontier AI. The Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday its AI Safety Institute and OpenAI signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen cooperation on safety assessments in high-risk domains. Under the pact, the two sides will share meth June 17, 2026