Love affair with Chanel goes both ways for South Korea SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - South Koreans love Chanel, and the fashion house loses Korean right back. For a few hours on Tuesday, the streets of Yeouido in western Seoul felt less like a business district and more like the center of the global fashion world. Long before the show began, the venue for Chanel’s 2026 Métiers d’Art Collection in Seoul was already overflowing with cameras, flashing lights and tightly packed photographers lining the photo wall. Every new ar May 27, 2026

K-zombies are fast, vivid — and in "Colony," finally thinking SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - Summer heat in Korea brings horror season, and this year's bar-raiser is "Colony," Yeon Sang-ho's latest zombie thriller, which drew more than 2.1 million admissions in its first six days. The film claimed 39.9 percent of advance reservations across 1,858 screens nationwide, prompting inevitable comparisons to Yeon's 2016 breakout "Train to Busan," which sold 11.5 million tickets and pushed Korean zombie cinema onto the global May 27, 2026

ASIA INSIGHT: What Xi's possible visit to Pyongyang would mean for Korean Peninsula SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - Speculation emerged last week that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been preparing to visit Pyongyang to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, possibly before the end of this month or early next month. It comes after Xi hosted U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing earlier this month, where the two leaders reaffirmed their shared goal of North Korea's denuclearization. Then, barely a week later, Russian President Vladimir Putin also arrived in Beijing. N May 27, 2026

AJP Watch: Samsung puts on charm offensive after avoiding strike despite internal rift SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics went on a multitrillion-won spending blitz Wednesday, pledging 5 trillion won ($3.6 billion) over the next five years to nurture talent and support suppliers on the very day it averted a historic strike by agreeing to hand out over 40 trillion won in rewards tied to this year’s blockbuster earnings and soaring share prices. Management and labor formally signed the 2026 wage agreement after union members approved the deal by 73.7 per May 27, 2026

KOSPI closes at record high as Korea outperforms Asian markets SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - South Korean KOSPI lead the gain in major Asian markets Wednesday, with the KOSPI closing at a fresh record high above the 8,200 level, driven by a concentrated rally in semiconductor and artificial intelligence-linked large-cap shares. The benchmark KOSPI rose 2.25 percent, or 181.19 points, to close at 8,228.70. The index opened higher and climbed as much as 5.09 percent to 8,457.09, crossing the 8,400 level for the first time, before paring gains. Elsew May 27, 2026

KOSPI rally cuts Korea's net external assets as foreign-held stocks surge SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - South Korea’s external financial liabilities posted their fourth-largest quarterly increase on record in the first quarter, driven mainly by a sharp rise in the value of domestic stocks held by foreign investors. External financial liabilities refer to Korean assets owned by foreign investors, including local stocks and bonds. When the domestic stock market rises, the value of those foreign-held assets also increases, mechanically expanding Korea& May 27, 2026

Kakao enters second mediation as labor unrest spreads SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - Labor and management at Kakao entered a second round of mediation at the Gyeonggi National Labor Relations Commission, with the talks widely seen as a make-or-break moment that could push South Korea's dominant messaging platform into its first-ever headquarters strike. The two sides failed to bridge their differences during a first session on May 18, extending the deadline for a resolution, entering the next round Wednesday. Four Kakao affiliates — K May 27, 2026

South Korea links Iranian missile to cargo ship attack SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Wednesday that an older Iranian anti-ship missile is highly likely to have struck the cargo ship HMM Namu earlier this month, signaling a sharp escalation in diplomatic tensions. The conclusion marks a decisive shift from the stance of strategic caution maintained by South Korea since the May 4 attack in the Strait of Hormuz. According to earlier government briefings and maritime records, the HMM Namu, a May 27, 2026

Annual beauty trade fair opens in Seoul with over 800 booths SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - A trade fair for cosmetics and beauty products kicked off at COEX in southern Seoul on Wednesday. Organized by Korea International Exhibition, the three-day expo, dubbed "CosmoBeauty Seoul" and now in its 40th year, brought together hundreds of companies and industry professionals as well as buyers around the world, with around 800 booths showcasing a diverse range of cosmetics from haircare and nail products to spa services, in May 27, 2026

AJP Watch: Liquidation frequency flags deep retail loss in Korea's stock craze SEOUL, May 27 (AJP) - KOSPI is on fire, surging more than 93 percent so far this year. But the bonanza has hardly been evenly shared. On Wednesday, decliners overwhelmed gainers 826 to 75 even as the benchmark index closed near a record 8,330, underscoring how narrowly concentrated the world's best-performing rally has become. The imbalance also helps explain why South Korean retail investors were forced to dump borrowed stocks on one out of every six trading days over the past May 27, 2026