Lee courts Silicon Valley's 'kingmakers' to back Korean startups SEOUL, July 26 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung met six of Silicon Valley's most influential venture capital firms on Saturday, urging them to help turn South Korea into an indispensable global hub for innovation and startup investment. The "Silicon Valley Venture Investment Meetup," held at a hotel in San Francisco, came a day after Lee met the chief executives of major U.S. technology companies, extending his U.S. visit from discussions with established Big Tech lea July 26, 2026

Korea's big chip week begins as SK hynix, Samsung face AI boom reality check SEOUL, July 26 (AJP) - South Korea's technology sector enters its most closely watched week of the earnings season as memory giant SK hynix reports second-quarter results on Wednesday, followed by Samsung Electronics' full earnings on Thursday, with investors looking beyond record profits for clues on whether the AI-driven semiconductor boom still has room to run. The two companies now sit at the center of the global AI infrastructure cycle, and their earnings conference c July 26, 2026

HD Hyundai Samho secures crane project in US as part of MASGA SEOUL, July 26 (AJP) -South Korea's Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA) initiative recorded its first visible commercial milestone after HD Hyundai secured a contract to supply four port cranes for an HMM-operated terminal in the U.S., in a project combining Korean shipbuilding, steelmaking and port logistics. HD Hyundai said Sunday that HD Hyundai Samho signed an agreement with Washington United Terminals (WUT), the operator of HMM's container terminal at the P July 26, 2026

Russia preparing to receive 30,000 more North Korean troops, Zelensky says SEOUL, July 26 (AJP) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia is preparing to deploy another 30,000 North Korean troops to support its war in Ukraine, warning that the deepening military partnership poses a growing security threat beyond Europe. In his nightly address posted on X, Zelensky said Moscow had been preparing since June to receive the additional North Korean forces in Russia's Voronezh region, which borders northeastern Ukraine. "Rus July 26, 2026

Section 301 cases offer room for negotiation as Korea: KITA SEOUL, July 26 (AJP) -About half of the U.S. trade investigations launched under Section 301 over the past decade ultimately ended with tariffs being suspended or withdrawn through negotiations rather than fully enforced, offering South Korea a potential playbook as it seeks to avoid additional duties from Washington's ongoing excess-capacity probe. The finding comes from an analysis by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), which argues Seoul should capitalize on t July 26, 2026

Korea's Chimaek diplomacy gets a Silicon Valley AI makeover SEOUL, July 26 (AJP) - South Korea's signature chimaek culture — fried chicken and beer — found a Silicon Valley twist on Friday as President Lee Jae Myung clinked Budweiser bottles over burgers and fish and chips with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun and other AI leaders on San Francisco's waterfront. The informal dinner at a marina restaurant, f July 26, 2026

Korean firms strike $950 billion chip deals with US big tech SEOUL, July 25 (AJP) - South Korean companies and American technology giants will pursue semiconductor cooperation worth a combined $950 billion over the next five years, the presidential Blue House said Saturday, putting a price on the summit President Lee Jae Myung convened in San Francisco a day earlier. Kim Yong-beom, the presidential policy chief, gave the figure at a briefing at the press center in San Francisco, breaking down the results of the San Francisco AI Summit acros July 25, 2026

Kookmin students take top prize at HUSS hackathon SEOUL, July 25 (AJP) - Kookmin University students helped win the top prize and two other awards at a national hackathon that asked humanities and social science students to solve social problems with artificial intelligence. The 2026 HUSS Convergence Camp Insight hackathon ran from July 1 to 3 at the Sono Calm resort in Gyeongju, backed by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea and organized by the council of the Humanities Utmost Sharing System July 25, 2026

Sanhwabi brings Korea's living heritage to Busan stage BUSAN, July 25 (AJP) - A special performance titled "Sanhwabi" filled BEXCO Auditorium in Busan, presented as part of the Intangible Heritage Festival in Busan celebrating the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. South Korea is hosting the committee for the first time since joining the World Heritage Convention in 1988. The 11-day session opened on July 19 and runs through July 29 at BEXCO, bringing together delegates from ar July 25, 2026

UNESCO expands Korean tidal flats World Heritage listing SEOUL, July 25 (AJP) - The mudflats where the world's rarest sandpiper refuels twice a year got bigger on the map that matters most. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee on Saturday approved a major expansion of Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats, adding four coastal wetlands and bringing South Korea's only natural World Heritage property on the mainland to six components stretching along the country's southwestern and southern coasts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Th July 25, 2026