Kookmin University students win AI self-driving hackathon SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - Undergraduates programmed scale-model cars to judge forks in the road and dodge moving obstacles by describing what they wanted in plain language and letting generative AI write the code, at a three-day autonomous driving hackathon that ended with Kookmin University teams sweeping the top three prizes. The 2026 SEA:ME Hackathon drew 117 undergraduates in 27 teams from seven universities nationwide to Park Habio in Seoul's Songpa district from July 14 to July 24, 2026

KAIST, NVIDIA open joint lab to build AI for Korean industry SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - NVIDIA will pour $300 million into a joint research laboratory with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology to develop artificial intelligence built specifically for the Korean language and South Korea's industries, in one of the largest corporate commitments to AI research at a Korean university. The NVIDIA-KAIST Joint AI Research Lab will be housed at the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI on the Seoul campus of the Korea Advanced Institu July 24, 2026

Kia's profit falls 5% despite record sales in Q2 SEOUL, July 24 (AJP)-Kia mirrored bigger sibling Hyundai Motor in posting record quarterly revenue but weaker profitability, as rising costs eroded margins despite robust sales. South Korea's second-largest automaker said Friday that consolidated revenue rose 12.6 percent from a year earlier to a record 33.04 trillion won ($23.8 billion) in the April-June period. Operating profit declined 4.9 percent to 2.63 trillion won, despite the record sales, while net profit stood a July 24, 2026

Court largely upholds landmark SK divorce ruling, cuts payout to 944 billion won SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) — A South Korean appeals court on Friday largely reaffirmed its landmark ruling in the country's "divorce of the century," ordering SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay 944 billion won ($642 million) to his former wife, Roh Soh-yeong, after the Supreme Court sent the property division case back for retrial. The Seoul High Court's Family Division 1 reduced the property settlement from its previous 1.38 trillion won ruling but maintained t July 24, 2026

FM holds talks with UK, ASEAN counterparts on sidelines of ASEAN meeting in Manila SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held a series of bilateral meetings in Manila this week on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) including talks with newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said on Friday. According to the ministry, Cho congratulated Miliband on his appointment and the launch of the new U.K. government led by Prime Minister Andrew Burnham. Miliban July 24, 2026

Asia's Gen Z do not wait for permission anymore SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - A canceled exam in New Delhi. A social media ban in Kathmandu. A housing allowance in Jakarta. A job quota in Dhaka. None of these, on its own, reads like the beginning of a national crisis. Yet each one sent hundreds of thousands of young people into the streets, and in two of those countries the government did not survive. Something has shifted in how Asia's youngest adults deal with power. The region's leaders are finding out the hard way. The July 24, 2026

Navy tests humanoid robot at ship's wheel in first crew experiment SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - South Korea’s Navy has tested a humanoid robot as a ship crew member for the first time, putting the machine at the wheel inside a bridge simulator as part of efforts to reduce sailors’ workload and prepare for a shrinking pool of military personnel. The Navy said Friday that the experiment was conducted Wednesday at the Naval Education and Training Command’s ship-handling training facility in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, in coopera July 24, 2026

Korea spotlights heritage impact assessments versus developments SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - Korea will bring together international heritage experts to discuss how Heritage Impact Assessments (HIA) can help safeguard UNESCO World Heritage sites from mounting pressure caused by development projects, tourism and climate change, the Korea National University of Heritage, which operates under the Korea Heritage Service, said Friday. The forum, titled Making Impact Assessment Work for World Heritage: From Capacity Building to Practice, will be held from July 24, 2026

Korea brings galleries, auction houses under mandatory art-market registration SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - South Korea will require galleries, auction houses and other art businesses to register with local authorities beginning July 26, marking the country's first comprehensive effort to bring the commercial art market under a unified regulatory system, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Friday. The new system applies to six business categories: galleries, art auctions, art advisory services, art rental and sales, appraisal services, and exhibit July 24, 2026

China-based K-pop boy group CIIU to release album next month SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - China-based K-pop boy group CIIU will release their first extended play (EP) next month since making their debut last year, their agency JYP Entertainment said on Friday. CIIU debuted in August 2025 under JYP Entertainment's "Globalization by Localization" strategy, which develops artists tailored to individual overseas markets. The strategy first produced Boy Story in China before expanding to Japan-based girl group NiziU and U.S.-based girl gro July 24, 2026