Korea's trade representative sacked, raising speculations SEOUL, August 15 (AJP) -South Korea abruptly dismissed its top trade negotiator on Saturday, leaving the command post for talks with Washington vacant as Seoul confronts fresh U.S. tariffs pressure to accelerate a $350 billion investment commitment and other unresolved trade disputes. President Lee Jae Myung removed Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo from office effective midnight, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. No successor was immediately named and the governmen August 15, 2026

Korea widens nuclear export push from rules to SMRs SEOUL, August 15 (AJP) - South Korea is widening its nuclear export strategy beyond building reactors, seeking to package regulatory know-how with its manufacturing and construction muscle as it targets newcomer markets in Southeast Asia and a rapidly forming global supply chain for small modular reactors. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission agreed to integrate nuclear safety and regulatory cooperation into overseas reactor bids, August 15, 2026

Chey divorce returns to court, buying time on record payout SEOUL, August 15 (AJP) —South Korea's biggest divorce settlement is heading back to the Supreme Court, giving SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won more time to raise the 944 billion won ($669 million) in cash he has been ordered to pay his former wife while deferring immediate pressure on his corporate holdings. Chey filed another appeal Friday against the Seoul High Court's property-division ruling in his divorce from Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, extending August 15, 2026

Takaichi drops 'remorse,' Seoul scorns ministerial visit to Yasukuni *Updated with new information SEOUL, August 15 (AJP) -Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dropped the word "remorse" from her first Aug. 15 war memorial address on Saturday, returning to language associated with her political mentor Shinzo Abe even as she stayed away from the diplomatically sensitive Yasukuni Shrine. Marking the 81st anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender, Takaichi pledged that the horrors of war "must never be repeated," but om August 15, 2026

Sookmyung AI learns when to react, not just how SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - A research team at Sookmyung Women's University has built an artificial intelligence model that works out when a listener should react during a conversation, treating that as a separate question from what the reaction should look like. The model, named CaReDiff, took second place in the REACT26 Grand Challenge organized by ACM Multimedia, and the work has been accepted for an oral presentation session at the conference, which opens in Rio de Janeiro in August 14, 2026

Han River ferry carries over 500,000 passengers in less than a year SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - Seoul's water ferry service along the Han River has carried more than 500,000 passengers since its launch last fall, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Friday. According to the city government, the cumulative number of passengers stood at 501,430 as of Aug. 13, about a year after the service began on Sept. 18 last year, with nearly half of all trips taken on weekends. Early technical glitches caused several disruptions and service halts, keep August 14, 2026

MASGA gets liftoff with drones with Washington's push  SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - Washington's push to rebuild strategic industries at home while reducing dependence on China is creating new openings for South Korean companies in two seemingly different sectors: shipbuilding and drones. The latest U.S. moves point to a broader strategy of tapping production capacity from trusted allies where American industry cannot immediately meet demand, while using tariffs, investment and procurement rules to steer strategic supply chains away fro August 14, 2026

Is the Seoul stock party over or just cooling down? SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) — South Korea's KOSPI has rebounded after a heavy crash in July. But the crazy roller-coaster ride has shifted to a duller plateau, with the main drivers quietly taking a back seat. The benchmark index flirted with 7,000 Friday, rebounding more than 30 percent from its late-July intraday low of 5,262.77. Yet trading activity and cash on standby remain well below the levels seen during the market frenzy in June. The ebb is evident. Investor de August 14, 2026

China cracks memory club, but harder test looms SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - China's heavily government-backed chipmakers are breaking into the once-exclusive global memory club, with Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) vaulting into the world's top three NAND flash suppliers for the first time. But just as China closes the gap in manufacturing scale, artificial intelligence is moving the industry's profit pool toward a harder target. YMTC captured 14 percent of global NAND bit shipments in the second quarter, ove August 14, 2026

Lee's disapproval rating outpaces approval rating for 1st time SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung heads into the long Liberation Day weekend on a sour note, as his disapproval rating for the first time outpaces approval, according to a survey released on Friday. Pollster Gallup Korea conducted a poll of about 1,000 adults nationwide earlier this week and found that his disapproval rating rose eight percentage points from the previous poll in the fourth week of last month to 46 percent, the highest since his inauguration in June la August 14, 2026