KRW falls to weakest in 7 mo as forex data implies limited room for Seoul to defend currency

SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) - The South Korean won’s recovery — fueled by the Korea-U.S. trade deal during APEC week and a bullish stock market — proved short-lived as the U.S. dollar climbed to a seven-month high amid renewed concerns over frothy AI-related stocks. The dollar hit 1,446.3 won on Wednesday, its strongest level since April, as foreign investors dumped more than 2 trillion won worth of KOSPI shares as of 2:00 p.m., dragging the benchmark index down mor

November 5, 2025

Crowds flock to Gyeongju museum after APEC summit

SEOUL, November 5 (AJP) - A couple of exhibition rooms and halls at the Gyeongju National Museum, which were used as the main venues for last week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the southeastern city, are set to open for general admission, starting this week. Capitalizing on the momentum from the city's successful hosting of the multilateral gathering, the museum is running a special exhibition from Thursday through the end of next month, featuring th

November 5, 2025

Bear returns to the Asian market on AI bubble concerns

SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) - Asian stocks slumped Wednesday as a wave of bearish sentiment swept through regional markets. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index plunged 4.1 percent to 3,950.96, falling back below the 4,000 mark just seven trading days after breaking it for the first time in history. The small-cap KOSDAQ tumbled even further, down 4.4 percent to 886.00. The downturn was led by heavyweight chipmakers. Samsung Electronics dropped 5.5 percent to 99,100 won ($68), w

November 5, 2025

BMW overtakes Tesla as top-selling imported car brand in South Korea

SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) - BMW has overtaken Tesla to become South Korea’s best-selling imported car brand, as demand for foreign-made vehicles continued to rise this year despite a slowdown in October sales. According to data released Wednesday by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA), registrations of new imported passenger cars totaled 24,064 in October, up 13.2 percent from a year earlier. The figure, however, marked a 26.7 percent decli

November 5, 2025

PHOTOS: Dried persimmons from Sangju — taste of centuries

SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) - Late autumn transforms Sangju in North Gyeongsang Province into a spectacle of vivid orange. This is the season when the autumn sun-kissed persimmons are harvested and processed into the region’s renowned specialty: Gotgam, or dried persimmons. Sangju is traditionally famed for persimmons, rice and silk. While modern crops like grapes and cucumbers have joined its list of specialties, it is the gotgam that defines the region. Sangju's dried per

November 5, 2025

INTERVIEW: Korean biz at home and abroad must unite to leverage and lengthen K-power:OKTA chair

SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) -An economic bloc representing 50 million South Koreans and 7.5 million ethnic Koreans overseas — built on a self-sustaining trade and supply-chain network that links the manufacturing base at home with capital and distribution capabilities abroad — is the vision of the World Federation of Overseas Korean Economic and Trade Association (World-OKTA), its chair said. Korean entrepreneurs at home and abroad have risen to global prominence and mu

November 5, 2025

North Korea likely to pursue talks with US early next year, spy agency speculates

SEOUL, November 5 (AJP) - North Korea will likely respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated overtures after all, South Korea's spy agency believes. According to lawmakers who were briefed in a closed-door parliamentary audit at the National Intelligence Service (NIS)'s headquarters in southern Seoul on Tuesday, Pyongyang is expected to "pursue dialogue" with Washington sometime in March next year when South Korea conducts its annual joint military exerc

November 5, 2025

South Korean, Japanese firms consider joint venture for next-generation chip materials

SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) - Samsung Electro-Mechanics said on Wednesday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Group to explore establishing a joint venture for producing glass cores, a key component in next-generation semiconductor packages. The agreement comes as they are seeking to strengthen their foothold in the fast-evolving semiconductor packaging industry, where new materials are increasingly critical to supporting artificial

November 5, 2025

South Korea's stock market rides early wave of AI-driven supercycle

SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) - South Korea’s stock market appears to be entering the early stages of what analysts are calling an artificial intelligence–driven “supercycle,” as investors pour into semiconductor, robotics, and infrastructure shares amid growing optimism about the country’s role in the global AI boom. The rally gained momentum following recent international events such as the APEC summit and Nvidia’s AI conference, both of which un

November 5, 2025

Viral K-beauty powered by rich foundation palette for every skin tone

SEOUL, November 04 (AJP) - “You guys have no idea how happy I am right now — it’s literally perfect. I can finally use their cushion foundation,” said @MissDarcei, a beauty influencer with more than 800,000 YouTube followers. Her excitement reflects a growing wave of international consumers who say Korean cushion foundations now work just as well on darker skin tones as they do on lighter ones. The secret behind the viral rise of K-beauty lies in its fast-e

November 4, 2025