Two-day early voting for local elections set to begin this week SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - Early voting for the upcoming June 3 local elections is set to begin this week. According to the National Election Commission (NEC), voters may cast their ballots at any polling station nationwide, regardless of their registered address, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. over two days from Friday to Saturday. Voters must bring a photo ID showing their date of birth such as a resident registration card, passport or driver's license. Mobile IDs are accepted only if th May 28, 2026

Kookmin University student racing team KORA unveils EV ahead of international competition SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - Kookmin University student racing team Kookmin Racing (KORA) unveiled its new electric formula vehicle, F-26, during a launch ceremony on campus in Seoul, South Korea, ahead of an international engineering competition, Kookmin University said Thursday. KORA will participate in the 2026 Formula SAE Electric, an international student vehicle design competition hosted by SAE International (SAE). The event will take place from June 16 to June 20, 2026, at the Mic May 28, 2026

FuriosaAI taps Broadcom to build third-generation AI inference chip SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - South Korean artificial intelligence chip designer FuriosaAI said it had forged a strategic partnership with U.S. semiconductor giant Broadcom to co-develop a next-generation AI inference platform, deepening a homegrown bid to challenge the dominance of established players in the booming market for AI silicon. According to the neural processing unit maker on Thursday, the two companies will evolve FuriosaAI's proprietary tensor contraction processor archite May 28, 2026

Foreign ministers of South Korea and Singapore agree to deepen cooperation SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with his Singaporean counterpart in Seoul on Thursday to discuss bilateral cooperation, regional security issues, and broader international affairs, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their meeting came after Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's visit to North Korea earlier this week as part of a regional tour that also included China. During his trip to Pyongyang last Tuesday, Balakrishnan met with his May 28, 2026

K-pop girl band aespa showcase new album SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - K-pop girl band aespa showcased a new album at a hotel in southern Seoul on Thursday. Their second full-length album, "LEMONADE," which comes about two years after their first full-length album in May 2024, contains 10 songs including pre-released tracks such as "SHAKIN" and "WDA (Whole Different Animal)" featuring G-Dragon. The album's title track of the same name is an electronic dance tune driven by bold, tre May 28, 2026

KOSPI 8,000 mark under threat in first week on rate hike warning SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) -Foreign and institutional investors rattled by escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and the Bank of Korea’s strongest-yet signal of aggressive tightening hammered South Korean equities Thursday, threatening to drag the KOSPI back below the 8,000 mark first breached earlier this week. The benchmark index plunged as low as 7,841 before paring losses to close at 8,114.01, as retail investors rushed in late to scoop up semiconductor heavyweights dumped by instituti May 28, 2026

Group tourists from Indonesia allowed temporary visa-free entry until year's end SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - Tourists from Indonesia are now allowed visa-free entry to South Korea from Thursday through the end of December. According to the Ministry of Justice, Indonesian tourists traveling in groups of three or more, whether independently or through a travel agency, are allowed to stay in South Korea for up to 15 days without a visa. The temporary measure in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes as Se May 28, 2026

AJP Focus: The perils of chip boom SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) -The world is at the threshold of the artificial-intelligence revolution, and at the heart of that revolution sits the semiconductor — with Korea at the heart of the semiconductor. Only a few years ago memory prices had collapsed, inventories had swollen, and Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were enduring a brutal downturn alongside the rest of the slowing global economy. Then the AI era rewrote the board almost overnight. The generative-AI surge that fo May 28, 2026

Be aware of hazardous substances in children's products sold online SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - A slew of children's products purchased online from overseas websites have been found to pose safety concerns, according to a recent inspection. The Seoul Metropolitan Government inspected some 32 children's products including umbrellas, raincoats, clothing, and toys purchased from overseas online platforms such as AliExpress, Temu, and Shein, and found that 10 of them failed to meet safety guidelines set by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resourc May 28, 2026

S. Korean researchers resolve clogging in water electrolysis to improve green hydrogen production SEOUL, May 28 (AJP) - A team of researchers in South Korea has developed a new structural design for water electrolysis systems that prevents gas bubbles from obstructing energy flow, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Thursday. The research team, which includes scientists from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), and Konkuk University, redesigned the internal pathways of t May 28, 2026