news highlight

• 
  Police launch manhunt as burglar flees with BTS entry bracelets SEOUL, April 11 (AJP) - Law enforcers in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, have launched an intensive manhunt on Saturday for a burglar who snatched 500 BTS concert entry bracelets from a ticket booth, police said. The robbery could spark a massive security disruption involving scalpers and ordinary fans. The suspect reportedly seized the cache of credentials at approximately 3:20 p.m. (0620 GMT) before escaping the scene, prompting the police to secure surveillance footage and monito April 11, 2026
• 
  South Korea defends president as historical parallel triggers diplomatic crisis SEOUL, April 11 (AJP) - South Korea defended its president on Saturday after his explicit comparison between Israeli military operations and 20th-century historical atrocities ignited a diplomatic quarrel with Tel Aviv. The rupture started on Friday when President Lee Jae Myung shared a video on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The footage, posted by a user named Jvnior and captioned with claims that Israeli soldiers were torturing a Palestinian child, was f April 11, 2026
• 
  OPINION: Tehran invokes imperial memory as regional volatility reshapes Middle East order SEOUL, April 11 (AJP) - As nearly 25 percent of the world's maritime oil trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz daily, the Islamic Republic of Iran projects power not merely as a modern religious state, but as a civilization defined by five millennia of continuous history. This distinction between a standard nation-state and a civilizational state explains why the nation remains an outlier in a region dominate April 11, 2026
• 
  S. Korea clears 26.2 trillion won relief as war risks mount SEOUL, April 11 (AJP) - South Korea has approved a 26.2 trillion won supplementary budget on Saturday, authorizing a massive injection of liquidity to shield households and industry from the volatility of a prolonged Middle East war. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok presided over an extraordinary cabinet meeting at the Government Complex Seoul to finalize the spending package, which cleared the National Assembly late Friday night. The legislative consensus marks a rare moment of bipartisa April 11, 2026
• 
  US and Iran arrive in Islamabad as Hormuz deadlock threatens global energy supply SEOUL, April 11 (AJP) - Iranian and American delegations arrived in the Pakistani capital on Saturday for a summit intended to end their six-week war, though the specific timing of the first session remains unannounced as mediators attempt to resolve a last-minute impasse over Iranian preconditions. While both teams have checked into the Serena Hotel, the high-security venue where the negotiations are set to occur, officials from the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed t April 11, 2026
• 
  Asian markets rise as Japan leads gains ahead of Washington-Tehran talks SEOUL, April 10 (AJP) - Japan leads gains in Asian markets Friday as optimism over planned Washington-Tehran talks lifts risk appetite, even as lingering supply concerns keep sentiment in check. This shift toward diplomatic engagement disrupts the recent pattern of defensive trading, as investors weigh the potential for a breakthrough in the Islamabad summit against persistent geopolitical friction. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.84 percent, led by gains in semiconductor and la April 10, 2026
• 
  A Korean love story, made in Nigeria: The new face of Korea–Africa relations SEOUL, April 10 (AJP) - A poor but spirited girl, who by chance ends up attending a private high school for elite students, falls in love with a wealthy fellow student. It sounds like the plot of a Korean drama, but this is in fact the storyline of the Nigerian film My Sunshine – Korean Naija. Directed by Nigerian rapper and television producer JJC Skillz, it was written by actress Kemi Ikuseedun who also plays the protagonist Charis. The setting is the Korean-language April 10, 2026
• 
  Rival parties reach deal on supplementary budget to weather Middle East crisis SEOUL, April 10 (AJP) - The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Friday agreed on a supplementary budget to cope with the prolonged Middle East crisis while easing the burden on those hit hardest by soaring fuel prices. The extra budget of about 26 trillion Korean won (US$17 billion), which is expected to be passed at a parliamentary plenary session later in the day, also includes cash handouts to be provided to those in the bottom 70 perc April 10, 2026
• 
  Hanwha's capital playbook under scrutiny as FSS halts Solutions' rights offering SEOUL, April 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s financial regulator has put the brakes a 2.4 trillion won ($1.7 billion) rights offering by Hanwha Solutions, in a move that is drawing attention to the group’s broader capital-raising practices and governance structure. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on April 9 ordered the company to revise its securities filing, citing incomplete formal requirements and insufficient or unclear disclosure of key information that could hin April 10, 2026