Korea, China ease food trade rules, opening wider door for K-food exports SEOUL, June 01 (AJP) - South Korea and China have agreed to streamline registration procedures for Korean food exporters and to permit shipments of meat-based instant noodles, widening the export channel for the country's increasingly popular K-food, Seoul's food safety regulator said. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Monday it held its 16th Korea-China food safety cooperation meeting in Qingdao, China, and the 17th Korea-China Food Standards Expert Council in Jeju, June 1, 2026

Samsung Display unveils full gaming OLED lineup at COMPUTEX 2026 SEOUL, June 01 (AJP) - Samsung Display Co. announced Monday it is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of 16 gaming-optimized OLED and QD-OLED displays at the COMPUTEX 2026 exhibition, held in Taipei, Taiwan, from June 2-5. The products range from 8.8-inch panels for handheld gaming PCs to 49-inch QD-OLED monitors. A key product debut is a QD-OLED monitor that simultaneously achieves 4K resolution and a 360Hz high refresh rate, a specification the company claims is an industry first June 1, 2026

South Korea's exports hit record high in May on strong AI chip demand SEOUL, June 1 (AJP) - South Korea's exports surged more than 50 percent from a year earlier to a record high last month, fueled by robust semiconductor shipments, even as uncertainty persisted amid the prolonged war in the Middle East, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on Monday. Exports in May totaled US$87.75 billion, up 53.2 percent from a year earlier, the highest monthly figure on record and the third straight month above $80 billio June 1, 2026

Kakao union sets June 10 partial strike as labor standoff sharpens SEOUL, June 01 (AJP) - Kakao's union announced it would stage a four-hour partial strike on June 10, escalating a deepening standoff with management over job security and the company's executive pay structure. The Kakao branch of the Korean Chemical, Textile & Food Workers’ Union laid out its demands and walkout schedule in a statement on Monday, marking the latest step toward the messaging giant's first-ever headquarters strike. The union said its core dema June 1, 2026

Samyang Foods wraps up THAIFEX-ANUGA 2026 with record booth traffic SEOUL, June 01 (AJP) - South Korean instant noodle maker Samyang Foods drew about 48,000 visitors to its booth at THAIFEX-ANUGA 2026, Asia's largest food trade fair, as the company pressed its push into Southeast Asian markets. The five-day event ran from May 26 to 30 in Bangkok, where Samyang staged an experiential showcase under the "Samyang Crave Lab" concept, dividing its booth into dedicated zones — or "brand labs" — for its three key labels: June 1, 2026

US 'made in America' push rattles Korean auto suppliers ahead of USMCA review SEOUL, May 31 (AJP) - South Korean automakers and parts suppliers are bracing for a contentious review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), as Washington signals it may demand a sharply higher share of US-made components in vehicles sold across North America. The three countries are due to begin a joint review of the pact on July 1, six years after it took effect in 2020. A sunset clause requires them to decide whether to extend the agreement for another 16 years, l May 31, 2026

Korea moves to fortify defenses as AI reshapes cyber, wearable battles SEOUL, May 31 (AJP) - Artificial intelligence is pushing deeper into cybersecurity, public infrastructure and wearable devices, redrawing the lines of industrial competition as governments and companies scramble to keep pace. Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT on May 29 unveiled a plan to bolster private-sector information protection against AI-driven cyber threats, warning that high-performance AI models are sharpening attackers' ability to hunt for vulnerabilities and aut May 31, 2026

South Korea eyes record $900 billion in exports, aims for top-five trade power SEOUL, May 31 (AJP) - South Korea is on course to ship about $900 billion in goods this year, a surge that would vault Asia's fourth-largest economy into the world's top five trading nations, the trade ministry said. According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on Sunday, exports reached $709.3 billion last year, the sixth country ever to clear the $700 billion mark and a milestone hit just seven years after crossing $600 billion in 2018. Through Apri May 31, 2026

South Korea's reckoning with the AI century There is a phrase South Koreans invoke with quiet pride: bbaly bbaly — "quickly, quickly." It describes a national temperament forged in crisis, the same urgency that rebuilt a war-ravaged nation into an industrial titan within a single generation. But urgency alone, as Kwon Seok-jun, a semiconductor scholar at Sungkyunkwan University, recently warned, will not be enough for what comes next. The artificial intelligence age demands not just speed, but vision. S May 30, 2026

Hyundai Motor's HTWO Guangzhou named hydrogen industry leader in China SEOUL, May 29 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor Group's HTWO Guangzhou has been named a hydrogen industry leader by the southern Chinese city, becoming the only foreign-invested company among 96 firms selected under the city's strategic industry cluster program. According to the automaker, its first overseas production base for hydrogen fuel cell systems in China was selected by the Guangzhou municipal government as a leading enterprise in the hydrogen energy sector. The city has s May 29, 2026