Seoul to debut first privately developed UAM aircraft SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Seoul will unveil its first urban air mobility aircraft developed by a domestic private company on Wednesday, with the vehicle set to perform a short flight demonstration. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Tuesday that it will hold the K-UAM Flight Showcase at Incheon National University’s INU Innovation Center on Wednesday, featuring an aircraft under development by Sambo Motors Group. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute demo July 14, 2026

Fujairah cargo hub may offer Korea a Hormuz escape route SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - With U.S. President Donald Trump moving to charge 20 percent on cargo vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz amid renewed conflict in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates is accelerating plans to develop Fujairah into a major logistics gateway outside the strategic chokepoint and offer a potential alternative route for South Korean traders. The proposal would extend the UAE's existing strategy of bypassing Hormuz beyond crude oil to containerized and July 14, 2026

Stricter delisting rules rattle KOSDAQ-listed companies SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - South Korea's tougher delisting rules are starting to shake up the stock market sooner than expected. Less than two weeks after the new delisting regulations took effect on the South Korean bourse earlier this month, several companies listed on the junior KOSDAQ have already been flagged as at risk of being placed on the Korea Exchange's watchlist. Under the regulations, which took effect July 1, companies whose market capitalization remains below July 14, 2026

South Korea launches AI network to power industrial robots SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - South Korea has begun building a next-generation communication network designed to run physical artificial intelligence on factory and shipyard floors. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) held a kickoff meeting for the "Hyper-AI Network" project on Tuesday, which fuses standalone 5G with an AI-based radio access network, known as AI-RAN. The pilot network aims to prove out physical AI services such as July 14, 2026

Tycoons' stock wealth falls 6 trln won without Samsung, SK chiefs SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - The combined stock wealth of South Korea’s major business group chiefs jumped by more than 29 trillion won ($19.6 billion) in the second quarter, but the headline increase masked losses across most of the group as gains were overwhelmingly concentrated in Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Excluding Lee and Chey, the value of shares held by the remaining 44 group leaders fell by 5.97 trillion won, or 8.6 percent July 14, 2026

Korea's dog meat restaurants face their final summer before ban SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - The alley of dog meat restaurants in Jongno-gu, Seoul, was quiet on Tuesday lunchtime, one day before Chobok — the first of the three hottest days in the traditional Korean lunar calendar. A few years ago, the street would have been packed with diners around this time of year. This is the last summer South Koreans can legally eat dog meat. Under the Act on the Ending of Dog Meat Consumption, the breeding, distribution, and sale of dogs for food July 14, 2026

China's high-ranking official set to visit North Korea this week SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Wang Huning, one of the Chinese Communist Party's top leaders, is set to visit to Pyongyang this week, North Korean state media reported on Tuesday. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a Chinese delegation led by Wang will visit Pyongyang for a three-day visit starting Wednesday. However, KCNA did not provide details on the purpose of the delegation's visit. The visit is believed to be the Chinese No. 4-ranked lea July 14, 2026

Homeplus goes dark, exposing the cost of Korea's biggest retail buyout SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Homeplus, once South Korea's second-largest hypermarket chain and a symbol of the country's modern retail boom, switched off the lights across its remaining stores on Monday after running out of cash, leaving roughly 12,000 employees, hundreds of suppliers and thousands of shopping mall tenants caught in what is becoming Korea's biggest retail collapse in decades. The nationwide shutdown marks the dramatic end of a company that once challenged E-ma July 14, 2026

British Princess Anne tours HD Hyundai Heavy shipyard in Ulsan SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Britain's Princess Anne visited HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyard in Ulsan and toured its facilities, the shipbuilder said on Tuesday. Her visit, accompanied by her husband Sir Timothy Laurence and Colin Crooks, the British ambassador to South Korea, came as part of her trip to South Korea. The princess was welcomed by the shipbuilder's chairman Chung Ki-sun, and other executives, who briefed her on the company's shipbuilding technolog July 14, 2026

Samsung wins eight Red Dot Design Awards, including two top honors SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics said Monday it received eight awards, including two "Best of the Best" honors, in the Design Concept category at the Red Dot Design Award 2026, one of the world's major international design competitions. The company's top-winning entries were Samsung Home Appliances Accessories, a concept that uses color coding to help users identify how appliance consumables should be reused, recycled or disposed of, and Dremo & Min July 14, 2026