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  Indian satellite startup invites Korean tech names to develop military solutions BENGALURU, INDIA, February 26 (AJP) - Astrome Technologies, an Indian defense technology startup specializing in high-frequency satellite and wireless systems, is seeking strategic partnerships with South Korean companies to jointly develop next-generation military satellite solutions, its president said in an exclusive interview with AJP. “We would be very happy to work with the satellite and telecom businesses of Korean companies such as SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics and L February 26, 2026
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  Samsung Electronics ushers in agentic AI phone era with Galaxy S26 SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) -The drizzle over the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco did not stop more than 1,200 journalists and influencers from crowding into the domed venue Wednesday for Samsung Electronics’ latest Unpacked event — a return to the same stage where the company once declared it was preparing for a “new decade” of mobile. This time, instead of dazzling hardware theatrics, Samsung framed the Galaxy S26 series as its first truly “agent February 26, 2026
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  SK hynix okays $16 bn investment into Yongin chip facility to stay ahead in HBM race SEOUL, February 25 (AJP) - SK hynix said Wednesday it will invest more than 21 trillion won ($15.7 billion) in new semiconductor production facilities at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, as it moves to expand capacity and stay ahead in the high-bandwidth memory race amid the artificial intelligence boom. According to a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service, the company plans to invest 21.61 trillion won in the construction of Phases 2 through 6 of its first fabri February 25, 2026
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  South Korea, US to stage annual joint drill with scaled-down field training SEOUL, February 25 (AJP) - South Korean and U.S. troops will stage their annual joint military exercise next month to strengthen their combined defense posture, the Joint Chiefs of Staff here said on Wednesday. The exercise, dubbed Freedom Shield (FS), is scheduled to be held from March 9 to 19 under a scenario simulating a full-scale war to prepare for contingencies on the Korean Peninsula. The exercise aims to strengthen combined combat readiness while preparing for the tra February 25, 2026
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  Korea's fertility rate hits four-year high in 2025 SEOUL, February 25 (AJP) - Still a far cry from the replacement-level fertility rate of 2.1, South Korea’s total fertility rate, which bottomed out in 2023, inched above the long-cited 0.70 level last year, data showed. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Wednesday, the number of births in 2025 reached 254,500, up 16,100 from a year earlier, or 6.8 percent — the largest annual increase since 2007. The total fertility rate — the average February 25, 2026
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  Towers of books: Heaven or hell? SEOUL, February 25 (AJP) -Inside Starfield Suwon, a soaring cathedral of books rises through four floors, blurring the boundary between retail space and reading room. Opened as the second Starfield Library after the flagship at COEX Mall, the Suwon branch features bookshelves stretching nearly 22 meters high, spanning from the fourth to the seventh floors. From almost any angle, visitors can look up into towering rows of spines — or gaze down into a layered landscape of ligh February 25, 2026
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  Flowers greet early spring in Suwon SEOUL, February 25 (AJP) - Suwon City, south of Seoul, is holding a special exhibition themed around geraniums titled "We, Spring Starts Now" at Ilwol Arboretum from Feb. 3 to March 15. The exhibition takes place at the Ilwol Arboretum greenhouse and visitor center. It features geraniums, a representative companion plant that allows visitors to enjoy flowers and leaves year-round. The exhibition greenhouse showcases approximately 300 varieties of geraniums, including February 25, 2026
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  BTS Comeback D-24: What Is Your Love Song? SEOUL, February 25 (AJP) - “What is your love song?” The question flashes on screens from Seoul to New York’s Times Square. It makes you pause. It sends you back — to a first confession, a quiet heartbreak, a family memory, even a hard-earned sense of self. A song can seal emotion inside three minutes and return it intact years later. Few artists understand that power better than BTS. K-pop amplifies emotion through collective empathy. A messa February 25, 2026
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  "Up, up, up": KOSPI zooms past 6,000 — and where next? SEOUL, Feb 25 (AJP) - It took the KOSPI three months to climb from 4,000 to 5,000 — and less than a month to zoom past 6,000. On Wednesday, the index closed at a record 6,083.86, capping one of the fastest rallies in its history. The jump is striking for a market that once waited more than a decade to reach each new four-digit milestone: 1,000 in 1989, 2,000 in 2007 and 3,000 in 2021. The index finally broke above the 4,000 on Oct. 17, and then landed above 5,000 on Jan. February 25, 2026
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  China's Seedance unleashes dispute on how far AI can go in fiction SEOUL, February 25 (AJP) - The release of Seedance 2.0, an AI-powered video generator developed by ByteDance, has triggered a fresh wave of copyright disputes between technology firms and the global entertainment industry amid blurry border in the fictional realm. After users began circulating AI-generated clips featuring characters resembling Spider-Man and Deadpool, major studios including Disney and Paramount Pictures issued cease-and-desist letters, accusing the platform of ena February 25, 2026