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  Editorial: AI Basic Act takes effect, and regulation is not an end but means South Korea’s Artificial Intelligence Basic Act on Thursday went into force. The Act merits attention not simply as the activation of another technology law, but as a civilizational marker. It reflects how a democratic, export-driven society chooses to situate artificial intelligence within the moral, legal and economic order of the twenty-first century. Artificial intelligence has already moved beyond the realm of innovation and into the architecture of everyday life. It n January 22, 2026
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  AI that can shop and pay on its own successfully tested in South Korea SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - South Korean IT services firm LG CNS has completed what it says is the country’s first demonstration of an automatic payment system in which artificial intelligence not only chooses what to buy but also pays for it, using a blockchain-based digital currency platform overseen by the central bank. The test, conducted with the Bank of Korea, linked so-called “agentic AI” — software designed to act autonomously once given a goal &mdash January 22, 2026
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  Korean metals company LS MnM posts record revenue in 2025 SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - South Korean metals company LS MnM posted record results last year, with revenue approaching 15 trillion won, supported by higher metal prices and the dollar's strength. In a regulatory filing released via parent company LS Corp., Thursday, LS MnM reported revenue of 14.94 trillion won in 2025, up 23.3 percent from a year earlier. Net profit rose 39.9 percent to 106.7 billion won. The company said profitability improved even as fees for refinin January 22, 2026
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  KOSPI touches landmark 5,000 mark SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI in its 46-year history has touched the 5,000 mark Thursday from strong retail push. The four-digit milestone was reached just two months after the index broke above 4,000, reflecting accelerating momentum fueled by strong domestic participation. After pausing briefly following a 12-day uninterrupted rally, the KOSPI rebounded as easing geopolitical tensions — triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s w January 22, 2026
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  AI storage demand lifts South Korea's FADU with record contracts SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - Data center semiconductor firm FADU said on Thursday it has secured a 47 billion won ($35 million) order for finished solid-state drive (SSD) products from Taiwan-based Macnica Galaxy, marking the largest single contract in the company’s history. In a regulatory filing, FADU said the deal revises a previously disclosed 21.5 billion won contract announced on Nov. 5, reflecting a larger supply volume and higher SSD prices. The company said the January 22, 2026
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  Budget minister nominee likely to face confirmation hearing later this week SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - A confirmation hearing for Lee Hye-hoon, a nominee to head the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget, is likely to be held later this week. The hearing, which was supposed to be held earlier this week, could not take place as the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) boycotted it, citing her failure to submit all requested documents. Once she submits them, the hearing could take place on Friday as the ruling and opposition parties tent January 22, 2026
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  EXCLUSIVE: Korea–India summit under discussion - India's envoy to Seoul SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - India may be the next state-visit destination for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, as Seoul looks to build on its back-to-back trips to China and Japan in 2026 by turning a "Special Strategic Partnership" — long cited but not fully realized for more than a decade — into a concrete industrial alliance with the world's most populous country, growing at a pace of more than 7 percent, across shipbuilding, semiconductors, artificial January 22, 2026
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  South Korea's 2025 growth slows to 1% as GDP contracts in 4Q SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - South Korea’s economy expanded 1 percent last year, slowing sharply from the previous year as weak domestic demand, particularly in construction and investment, weighed on growth, according to central bank data released on Wednesday. The pace was about half of the 2 percent growth recorded a year earlier and fell well below the country’s estimated potential growth rate of 1.8 percent. Preliminary data from the Bank of Korea showed rea January 22, 2026
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  OPINION: Disorder from US-China rivalry demands Korea strategic policy The era of disorder The global order is shaking. Disorder has become the new normal. Free trade is retreating before protectionism, conflict is no longer exceptional, and international law and institutions are increasingly ineffective. Globalization is fragmenting, geopolitical instability is weighing on growth, and global liquidity is flowing toward safe-haven assets such as gold. Multilateralism is fading as unilateralism rises. Multilateralism rests on shared rules and col January 22, 2026
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  Editorial: When a mature democracy judges itself The sentencing of former South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison marks more than the end of an individual career. It represents a moment of moral reckoning for a democracy confident enough to judge its own power at its peak. The court’s ruling did not merely describe the December 3 emergency decree as unconstitutional. It called it what it was: a “coup from above,” a form of insurrection carried out not by rebels on the margins but by those January 21, 2026