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 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

Jun. K to roll out 'Your Lips' on Aug. 17 SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - JUN. K of 2PM will release a new digital single, "Your Lips," featuring Wendy of Red Velvet, on Aug. 17, JYP Entertainment said Friday. The album will be released at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT), marking JUN. K's latest solo release after his fourth mini album, "Dear my muse" in September of 2025. Ahead of the release, JYP has been rolling out teaser photos through JUN. K's official social media channels. The latest images, released August 14, 2026

Colonial ghosts haunt Korea's celebrity descendants SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) — Actress Hayoung thought she was telling a family story. Speaking on television about coming from four generations of doctors, she proudly recalled a great-grandfather who had studied Western medicine in Japan, opened one of Seoul's early Western-style clinics and, she said, treated Emperor Gojong. Soon, internet users were digging through colonial-era records. They identified the relative as Ahn Sang-ho, whose name appeared in organizations as August 14, 2026

Foreigners lift KOSPI while other Asian market quiet SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) -Foreign money kept buying Seoul for a fifth straight session Friday, but this time the leadership came from telecom and automakers rather than the two chipmakers that drove both the market's first-half rally and its July collapse. The KOSPI closed at 6,977.94, up 164.60 points, or 2.42 percent, ending the week 11.5 percent higher and edging back toward the 7,000 level it surrendered a month ago on July 13. Foreign investors bought a net 3.04 trillion won August 14, 2026

S. Korea delivers first upgraded PKMR Batch II patrol craft to Navy SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - South Korea delivered the first Geomdoksuri-B Batch II fast patrol craft to the Navy on Friday, strengthening its frontline maritime capabilities near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean sea border. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) held a delivery ceremony at HJ Shipbuilding & Construction’s Yeongdo shipyard in Busan on Friday. The Geomdoksuri-B program is designed to replace the Navy’s aging Chamsuri-cl August 14, 2026