Seoul faces rising debt burden despite improved debt ratio SEOUL, September 06 (AJP) - South Korea's debt burden is set to grow through 2030, even as its national debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to improve. The country's national debt is forecast to reach 1,734.1 trillion won ($1.28 trillion) by 2030, up from 1,412.8 trillion won this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Budget's 2026 to 2030 fiscal plan. Of that amount, 1,312.3 trillion won, or 75.7 percent, is expected to be classified as deficit-financing debt, u September 6, 2026

When DDP becomes the heart of Seoul fashion Dongdaemun Design Plaza is no stranger to people dressed to stand out. But when Seoul Fashion Week arrives, the atmosphere changes. Across DDP's broad steps, open plazas and sweeping silver curves, visitors gather in clothes chosen not merely to be worn, but to be seen. Some arrive in vivid colors. Others favor sharply tailored silhouettes, oversized pieces or combinations rarely encountered on an ordinary day in Seoul. Strangers stop to admire one another's outfits. Ca September 6, 2026

Korean rescuers pull Chinese worker alive from Nepal tunnel SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -A Chinese worker was pulled alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal on Saturday, 10 days after catastrophic floods swept through the Himalayas, in the first successful live rescue involving South Korea's 44-member disaster relief team dispatched to the disaster zone. The rescue carries particular significance for Seoul because the man was found at the Upper Trishuli-1, or UT-1, hydropower project in Rasuwa District, where nine South Korean workers rema September 5, 2026

Samsung's non-chip union takes wage-gap protest to Times Square SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -“Great products begin with people,” read a message splashed across a Times Square billboard in New York on Saturday, as a Samsung Electronics non-chip labor union took its protest over widening compensation disparities and treatment of its consumer-electronics workforce to a global stage. Donghaeng Union, which mainly represents employees in Samsung Electronics’ Device eXperience (DX) division, ran a 15-second video on a Times Square el September 5, 2026

Korea on track to achieve $1 trillion export milestone: customs chief SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -South Korea is on track to achieve a $1 trillion annual export milestone, with the customs chief flagging that the country has already topped last year's full-year record with 117 days to spare. Cumulative exports reached $709.4 billion as of 1 p.m. Saturday, surpassing the previous annual record of $709.3 billion set in 2025, Korea Customs Service Commissioner Lee Jong-wook said in a post on his social media page. The country took just 248 days to e September 5, 2026

Seoul fireworks festival gets bigger, global as millions crowd Han River SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) - Seoul's biggest annual fireworks festival is getting bigger and more international this year, expanding to two days for the first time and bringing U.S. and British teams alongside host Hanwha for a three-country show expected to draw around 1 million people to the banks of the Han River. Hours before the first fireworks were due to illuminate the river Saturday night, the spectacle was already visible on the ground. Picnic mats covered coveted str September 5, 2026

Korea's foreign min heads to Nepal as 9 Koreans still missing SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is heading to flood-ravaged Nepal as the search for nine missing South Koreans stretches into a second week, taking Seoul's diplomatic and emergency response directly to a disaster zone where thousands remain unaccounted for. Cho will visit Nepal from Saturday through Monday and hold talks with Nepalese Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal, the foreign ministry said. A central focus of the talks will be securing continued Nepa September 5, 2026

Hyundai-POSCO eyes U.S. steel supply chain beyond cars to robots, rockets DONALDSONVILLE, Louisiana, September 05 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor Group is envisioning a U.S.-based steel supply chain stretching from cars to humanoid robots and even rockets, with its Chairman Chung Euisun saying steel from its new Louisiana mill could eventually be used in Boston Dynamics' Atlas and supplied to companies such as SpaceX. Speaking to reporters after the groundbreaking ceremony for Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel (HPLS) in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on Friday, C September 5, 2026

Samsung's non-chip employees to hold rally streak near chair's home SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -Samsung Electronics' unionized employees in non-chip operations are planning a rally streak near Chairman Lee Jae-yong's residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, from Sept. 18, taking their demands for fairer compensation amid the chip windfall closer to the top of the C-suite. An official of Donghaeng union, largely made up of employees in the Device eXperience (DX) division told AJP Saturday that the protest will go on without a fixed end date September 5, 2026

Trump post turns up pressure on Seoul to arm Ukraine SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -South Korea, already under U.S. pressure to contribute to security operations around the Strait of Hormuz, is facing a second test of its military restraint as President Donald Trump amplified a call for Seoul to provide Ukraine with Korean-made missile interceptors. Trump on Friday shared on Truth Social a Washington Post opinion column titled “How Trump can help Ukraine build its own Patriot missiles,” without adding any comment of his own September 5, 2026