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  SM executives make Billboard's 2026 Global Power Players list SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - Three executives from SM Entertainment have been named to "Billboard’s 2026 Global Power Players list," which recognizes influential leaders in the global music industry outside the United States, the company said Tuesday. Included on the list were SM Co-CEOs Jang Cheol-hyuk and Tak Young-jun, along with Choi Jung-min, the company’s chief global officer. Billboard’s Global Power Players list highlights executives who have driven March 10, 2026
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  KOSPI recovers to 5,500 as Asian stocks rebound on easing oil fears SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - Asian stock markets rebounded on Tuesday as oil prices retreated after U.S. President Donald Trump said the conflict in the Middle East is "going to be ended soon," while G7 ministers hinted at a possible release of strategic oil reserves to ease surging prices. South Korea's benchmark KOSPI rebounded to the 5,500 level just a day after a sharp selloff, as investor sentiment improved following Trump's remarks as well as a drop in global oil March 10, 2026
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  North Korea threatens 'super-offensive' response to US-South Korea military maneuvers SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - Pyongyang’s second most powerful official, Kim Yo-jong, issued a stern warning on March 10, characterizing the ongoing joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea as a "provocative and aggressive war rehearsal." The statement, released via the state-run Korean Central News Agency, asserted that the maneuvers currently underway on the Korean peninsula are "intensively revealing once again their inveterate repugnancy t March 10, 2026
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  Oil shock a sober reckoning to diversify away from Middle East crude: Rep. Lee Un-ju SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - The turbulence triggered by the Middle East conflict raises a sober reckoning over South Korea’s energy vulnerabilities and the urgency to correct its energy sourcing structure, which is heavily dependent on imports of Middle Eastern fossil fuels, a three-term ruling party lawmaker said. “The spike in oil prices since the war reminds us how important energy security is and how poor South Korea stands in energy sufficiency,” Rep. Lee Un-ju, a March 10, 2026
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  North Korean leader highlights 'traditional friendship' with China in letter to Xi SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed his expectations for further cooperation with his country's traditional alley in a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, state media reported on Tuesday. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kim sent the letter to Xi the previous day, expressing his belief that cooperation between the two countries "will become even closer in the future." He was also quoted as saying th March 10, 2026
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  LG CNS invests in U.S. robotics firm Dexmate, broadening humanoid hardware lineup SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - South Korean IT solutions provider LG CNS said it has made a strategic investment in Dexmate, a Silicon Valley-based robotics startup, marking the first such deal by a Korean company with the U.S. firm. The investment, announced Tuesday, was channeled through LG Technology Ventures, the conglomerate's corporate venture capital arm. Dexmate, founded by PhDs from MIT, UC San Diego and Carnegie Mellon University, manufactures humanoid robots whose hardwar March 10, 2026
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  Joint research team develops mRNA platform effective for aging and obesity SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - A joint research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Catholic University of Korea has developed a new mRNA platform designed to maintain high therapeutic efficacy in elderly and obese populations. The technology improves the production of therapeutic proteins by optimizing specific regulatory sequences within mRNA molecules, addressing a major limitation where current treatments lose effectiveness due to age or meta March 10, 2026
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  KOSPI swings back up 5% on easing oil prices and Trump comment on war SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) — South Korean shares swung back as sharply as their fall, riding on a rapid retreat in oil prices after the U.S. president vowed the fighting in the Middle East could be “ended soon” and G7 ministers scrambled to take concerted action to ease prices through a possible release of strategic reserves. A sidecar was issued as soon as the opening bell on Tuesday, but unlike the previous morning it was triggered to cool buy-side momentum as both March 10, 2026
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  OPINION: Why defense stocks aren't sure bet in turbulent times SEOUL, March 10 (AJP) - As global tensions rise, such as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, financial markets often grow more cautious. As gunfire grows louder, investors tend to shift their attention away from the human toll and toward which industries might benefit and which stocks could climb. Defense companies are often viewed as potential winners in these moments. Over the past year, shares of major weapons makers in advanced countries have risen sharply. Some estimates s March 10, 2026
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  South Korea GDP confirmed contracting in Q4, 2025 growth slowest in five years SEOUL, Mar. 10 (AJP) — South Korea confirmed that its economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2025, while full-year growth slowed to its weakest pace in five years amid a slump in construction and slowed investment activity. According to final data released by the Bank of Korea on Tuesday, real gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.2 percent from the previous quarter in the October–December period, marking a return to contraction after earlier gains in the year. March 10, 2026