Korea takes AI race from chips to chillers SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - An AI agent on a laptop or smartphone may appear almost weightless. Behind every prompt, however, sit warehouses of processors and memory running around the clock — consuming enormous amounts of electricity and generating heat that must be removed before the machines can keep thinking. For South Korea, already a powerhouse in the memory chips feeding those machines, that physical burden is becoming the next AI opportunity. Samsung Electronics has August 13, 2026

Researchers' hacking dataset wins best artifact award at VehicleSec SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - A record of real cyberattacks carried out on a moving car has won the best artifact award at the USENIX Symposium on Vehicle Security and Privacy, the main international meeting on the subject, held in Baltimore on Monday and Tuesday alongside the 35th USENIX Security Symposium, Kookmin University said Thursday. The winning submission cleared all three checks the symposium applies to research materials. Reviewers confirmed that the data was publicly availa August 13, 2026

Nexon Q2 profit slips even as MapleStory powers record first half SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - Nexon revealed that its second-quarter operating profit fell 17 percent from a year earlier, a decline that underscored tough comparisons for the Tokyo-listed South Korean game maker even as booming demand for its MapleStory franchise drove record first-half sales. Quarterly revenue edged up 2 percent to 121.1 billion yen ($759 million), while operating income slipped to 31.3 billion yen from 37.7 billion yen a year earlier. Net income jumped 77 percent to 2 August 13, 2026

HMM's Q2 profit jumps 52% as early peak season lifts freight rates SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - South Korea's HMM, the country's largest container carrier, announced that second-quarter operating profit surged about 52 percent from a year earlier, as an early peak season and firmer freight rates powered a sharp recovery despite costlier fuel. According to regulatory filings released Thursday, operating profit jumped about 52 percent to 354.1 billion won ($248.7 million) and revenue surged about 30 percent to 3.40 trillion won, as peak-season de August 13, 2026

Korea's penny stocks face delisting clock SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) — A little kindness can go a long way, but on South Korea's penny-stock boards this week, investors were wondering whether sympathy could go far enough to save a company from delisting. Online investment communities filled with anxious questions, angry recriminations and the occasional speculative wager after the Korea Exchange placed dozens of stocks under regulatory watch Wednesday in the first broad application of tougher rules aimed at pushing August 13, 2026

Seoul pledges 230,000 additional homes in capital area SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - More than 230,000 additional homes will be supplied in the Seoul metropolitan area in the coming years to curb housing prices amid a shortage of housing, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Thursday. According to a set of plans announced by the ministry, about 120,000 of the 230,000 new homes will be built by as early as 2030. This includes 21,700 homes in newly designated sites in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, and 4,500 homes in Gwa August 13, 2026

Fiji takes Pacific fuel crisis to Seoul as Hormuz closure drags on SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - Much of the Pacific has spent this year rationing diesel and living with blackouts. On Thursday, Fiji brought that issue to Seoul, asking South Korea to expand energy cooperation at the first meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers in nearly 11 years. Sakiasi Ditoka, Fiji's minister for foreign affairs and external trade, told Cho Hyun that the Asia-Pacific has no choice but to be more exposed than most regions to the supply disruption August 13, 2026

NCT 127 to appear on 'America's Got Talent' SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - K-pop boy group NCT 127 will appear as a special guest on NBC's "America's Got Talent" next week, adding a high-profile U.S. television stage to the rollout of its upcoming seventh full-length album, "BLINGY," SM Entertainment said Thursday. The group is set to perform during the live broadcast on Aug. 19, U.S. time, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. The performance comes five days before "BLING August 13, 2026

Satellite antenna maker jumps 41% in KOSDAQ debut SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) — Shares of South Korean satellite communications equipment maker KNS Inc. surged on their KOSDAQ debut Thursday, trading more than 40 percent above their initial public offering price. The stock was trading at 15,480 won ($10.93) as of 2:37 p.m., up 40.73 percent from its IPO price of 11,000 won. It more than doubled to an intraday high of 24,600 won before giving back some of the gains. The strong debut comes as the company expands from commercial August 13, 2026

Seoul defends nuclear submarine plan against Pyongyang's warning SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - South Korea's planned nuclear-powered submarines will carry only conventional weapons and sit entirely within the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday, rejecting North Korea's warning that the program will set off a nuclear domino across the Asia-Pacific. The position rests on a document the Ministry of National Defense released on May 26, the first time Seoul set out publicly how it intends to build and o August 13, 2026