K-pop girl band aespa showcase new album SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - K-pop girl band aespa showcased a new album at a hotel in southern Seoul on Thursday. Their second full-length album, "LEMONADE," which comes about two years after their first full-length album in May 2024, contains 10 songs including pre-released tracks such as "SHAKIN" and "WDA (Whole Different Animal)" featuring G-Dragon. The album's title track of the same name is an electronic dance tune driven by bold, tre May 28, 2026

KOSPI 8,000 mark under threat in first week on rate hike warning SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) -Foreign and institutional investors rattled by escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and the Bank of Korea’s strongest-yet signal of aggressive tightening hammered South Korean equities Thursday, threatening to drag the KOSPI back below the 8,000 mark first breached earlier this week. The benchmark index plunged as low as 7,841 before paring losses to close at 8,114.01, as retail investors rushed in late to scoop up semiconductor heavyweights dumped by instituti May 28, 2026

Group tourists from Indonesia allowed temporary visa-free entry until year's end SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - Tourists from Indonesia are now allowed visa-free entry to South Korea from Thursday through the end of December. According to the Ministry of Justice, Indonesian tourists traveling in groups of three or more, whether independently or through a travel agency, are allowed to stay in South Korea for up to 15 days without a visa. The temporary measure in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes as Se May 28, 2026

AJP Focus: The perils of chip boom SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) -The world is at the threshold of the artificial-intelligence revolution, and at the heart of that revolution sits the semiconductor — with Korea at the heart of the semiconductor. Only a few years ago memory prices had collapsed, inventories had swollen, and Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were enduring a brutal downturn alongside the rest of the slowing global economy. Then the AI era rewrote the board almost overnight. The generative-AI surge that fo May 28, 2026

Be aware of hazardous substances in children's products sold online SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - A slew of children's products purchased online from overseas websites have been found to pose safety concerns, according to a recent inspection. The Seoul Metropolitan Government inspected some 32 children's products including umbrellas, raincoats, clothing, and toys purchased from overseas online platforms such as AliExpress, Temu, and Shein, and found that 10 of them failed to meet safety guidelines set by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resourc May 28, 2026

S. Korean researchers resolve clogging in water electrolysis to improve green hydrogen production SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - A team of researchers in South Korea has developed a new structural design for water electrolysis systems that prevents gas bubbles from obstructing energy flow, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Thursday. The research team, which includes scientists from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), and Konkuk University, redesigned the internal pathways of t May 28, 2026

AJP Focus: The day the market crowned memory — and why Korea must not mistake the jackpot for the journey SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - May 27, 2026, is likely to be recorded as a turning point in the history of both global capital markets and the artificial-intelligence industry. The day's gains were not merely another rally in technology shares. They were a symbolic demonstration of where industrial power now resides in the age of AI, of what determines national competitiveness in the twenty-first century, and of how strong companies, strong markets and strong economies form a single virtu May 28, 2026

Foreign investors collected more in Korean dividends than domestic retail in 2025 SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - Foreign investors collected a larger share of dividends from South Korean listed companies than domestic individual investors did last year, drawing 11.89 trillion won ($7.9 billion) as record corporate payouts — swollen by the semiconductor boom — flowed disproportionately to overseas shareholders. Total dividends paid by companies with December fiscal years reached 37.75 trillion won, up 16.9 percent from a year earlier, according to data releas May 28, 2026

Kakao CEO apologizes to staff as union secures strike right after talks collapse SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a offered a public apology to employees as the company's union secured the legal right to strike following the collapse of a second mediation session, raising the prospect of the tech giant's first-ever headquarters walkout. Chung issued the apology through an internal notice Thursday, saying she was "sincerely sorry" for failing to quickly dispel growing uncertainty within the company. "Negotiations have dragged o May 28, 2026

Defense Minister Ahn to attend Shangri-La Dialogue, meet Japanese counterpart SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back will attend the 23rd Asia Security Summit in Singapore from May 29 to 31 and hold talks with defense ministers from several countries, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday. The Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, is an annual security forum hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore, bringing together defense ministers and senior officials for multilatera May 28, 2026