Xi's appearance at N. Korea's military parade quietly speculated after foreign ministers' meeting

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - Speculation is cautiously building up over the possibility of Chinese President Xi Jinping making a ceremonial appearance at a military parade in Pyongyang next month, timed with the 80th anniversary of North Korea's Workers' Party. Such a trip would be seen as a reciprocal gesture after Kim Jong-un's train journey to Beijing earlier this month to attend China's "Victory Day" military extravaganza, as foreign ministers from the tw

September 29, 2025

Taekwang Industry bets on K-beauty with Aekyung acquisition

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - Taekwang Industry has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire a controlling stake in Aekyung Industry, a move its leadership is casting as a strategic entry into South Korea’s booming K-beauty market. The company said Monday that its consortium would purchase about 63 percent of Aekyung’s shares in a deal valued at roughly 400 billion won, or $293 million. If completed, the transaction would mark a significant shift for Taekwang,

September 29, 2025

Digital front-runner Korea chagrined by lack of backup for e-government

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - South Korea tops the OECD scale in digitalization and proudly teaches and exports e-government strategy and systems, which may explain the chagrin and furor over the mass-scale crippling of the public-sector electronic system. Much of the work at public-service windows had to be handled in person after an outage caused by a battery fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) data center in Daejeon, which brought down 647 civil service syst

September 29, 2025

HD Hyundai Mipo wins $167 million order for 3 container ships

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - HD Hyundai Mipo, a subsidiary of South Korea’s HD Hyundai, said Monday that it had won a contract to build three container ships worth 222 billion won, or about $167 million, from an Oceania-based shipping company. The order calls for two 2,800-TEU container vessels and one 1,800-TEU container vessel, all to be constructed at the company’s Ulsan shipyard and delivered by October 2027. The so-called feeder ships, which typically carry fewer

September 29, 2025

Injury-hampered Yang Hak-seon calls time on gymnastics career

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - Gymnast Yang Hak-seon has retired after a pre-tune-up last Saturday ahead of next month's annual National Sports Festival in Busan, bringing his athletic career to a close. Yang made history by winning a gold medal in the vault at the 2012 London Olympics. He also claimed victories in the vault at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships, showcasing his outstanding skills in the discipline. He showcased his prowess on the vault through his eponymous

September 29, 2025

South Korea, US to discuss visa issues in first working-level meeting after Georgia raid

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - Officials from South Korea and the U.S. will hold a meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to discuss visa-related issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said on Monday. The first working-level meeting between South Korea and the U.S. since the "voluntary" deportation of over 300 South Korean workers, following a week-long detention earlier this month, aims to discuss ways to facilitate the entry of South Korean workers into the U.S. and addr

September 29, 2025

Lee welcomes new ambassadors

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - A group of newly appointed ambassadors to South Korea presented their credentials to President Lee Jae Myung on Monday. Among them were Philippe Lapointe of Canada, Mikkel Hemniti Winther of Denmark, Tanel Sepp of Estonia, Hugo Astuto of the European Union, Bartosz Wiśniewski of Poland, Wong Kai Jun of Singapore and Nadine Olivieri Lozano of Switzerland. Earlier this month, Lee received credentials from the ambassadors of Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh,

September 29, 2025

ASEAN students receive scholarships from Chung Mong-Koo Foundation

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - The Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation of South Korea has awarded scholarships to 13 students from across Southeast Asia, the latest recipients in a program that has supported hundreds of young scholars since its creation in 2012. At a ceremony held Sept. 27 in central Seoul, the foundation announced that the new recipients — from Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines — will begin graduate and undergraduate studies

September 29, 2025

K-Tattoo: next in Korea's art pipeline after lifting of 33-year ban

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - A white butterfly flutters off a branch laden with plum, violet, and pink-white blossoms. It looks like a page from a traditional Korean painting, bold yet meticulous brushwork symbolizing resilience and renewal — except here, the canvas is not silk or paper, but skin. To 27-year-old tattooist Seolhee, skin is a "walking gallery." She left a career designing hanbok — traditional Korean dresses — to pursue tattooing, co

September 29, 2025

Naver's e-commerce gains boost from strategic alliance

SEOUL, September 29 (AJP) - Naver, a distant second in Korea's e-commerce market, has received a boost through strategic alliances it has struck with premium-grocery platform Kurly and Uber delivery service to stay in the competition versus dominant local player Coupang and fast-rising Chinese entrants. According to Mobile Index, Naver's shopping app, Naver Plus Store, saw its monthly active users (MAU) rise to 3.86 million last month, snapping a two-month decline, ti

September 29, 2025