South Korea lodges protests against China, Russia over aircraft incursions

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday lodged a strong protest with China and Russia after their military aircraft buzzed South Korea's air defense identification zone (KADIZ) the previous day. The ministry said it protested through a phone call to the defense attachés of China and Russia and vowed, "We will actively respond to any flybys in KADIZ in line with international law." The protest comes just a day after two Chine

December 10, 2025

S. Korea's top startup festival COMEUP 2025 opens in Seoul attracting global startups and investors

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - COMEUP 2025, South Korea's largest annual startup festival, opened Wednesday at COEX in Seoul, drawing hundreds of founders, investors, and corporate leaders from around the world for three days of conferences, exhibitions, and business matching sessions. The event, held from December 10 to December 12, features startups from 46 countries and more than 270 companies presenting products and technologies across deep tech, AI, climate technology, gaming

December 10, 2025

Korea's job strength mostly led by temp hires in services, youth jobless deepens

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s labor market continued to show an increasingly asymmetric pattern in November, with headline employment gains masking a deepening slump among young adults and a widening pool of NEET (not in education, employment or training) youth. The number of people on payroll reached 29.05 million, up 225,000 from a year earlier, yet employment among those aged 15 to 29 fell by 177,000 over the same period, according to the Ministry of Data and S

December 10, 2025

Park Chan-wook's film picks up more nominations at US awards

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Director Park Chan-wook's latest film "No Other Choice" has been nominated for the annual Critics Choice Awards to be presented early next month. Park's 12th feature, adapted from American writer Donald E. Westlake's novel "The Ax," earned two nominations for "Best Adapted Screenplay" and "Best Foreign Language Film." The 139-minute thriller revolves around a man who believes he has achieved everything

December 10, 2025

SK Gas, POSCO form alliance to lead push for hydrogen ecosystem

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - SK Gas and POSCO Holdings have launched a new industry alliance aimed at building a domestic blue hydrogen ecosystem in South Korea, as companies and public institutions move to accelerate the transition to lower-carbon energy. The “K-Blue Hydrogen Alliance” was inaugurated on Wednesday at the POSCO Center in Seoul, bringing together 15 organizations including SK Ecoengineering, POSCO, the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancem

December 10, 2025

Busan subway to ban e-scooters, high-capacity lithium batteries over fire risk

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Busan plans to ban personal mobility devices and large-capacity backup batteries equipped with high-capacity lithium batteries from its subway system, citing growing fire safety concerns. The Busan Transportation Corporation said on Wednesday it is revising its passenger transport regulations to introduce the ban. The restrictions will apply to personal mobility devices that use lithium batteries and to backup batteries with capacities exceeding 160 wa

December 10, 2025

Samsung SDI secures $1.36 billion U.S. deal, marking foray into LFP battery market

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Samsung SDI announced Wednesday its U.S. subsidiary has clinched a deal worth more than 2 trillion won ($1.36 billion) to supply lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to an American energy infrastructure company, Samsung SDI America signed the multi-year contract with an undisclosed U.S. energy infrastructure developer and operator to supply LFP batteries for energy storage systems over three years starting in 2027. The deal represents about 15 percent of

December 10, 2025

ChatGPT unrivalled 2025 app winner in Korea

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - OpenAI's generative artificial intelligence ChatGPT was the standout app winner in South Korea this year, expanding user base nearly threefold between January and November, according to analytics firm WiseApp/Retail Wednesday. The AI assistance recorded a 196.6-percent surge in users from January to November, far outpacing growth across Korea's most competitive sectors from ecommerce to beauty and fintech. Other fast risers included bargai

December 10, 2025

60s movie star Kim Ji-mee dies in US

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Veteran actress Kim Ji-mee, one of the biggest stars of South Korean cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, died of age-related complications in the U.S., film industry sources said Wednesday. She was 85. Born in 1940 in South Chungcheong Province, the prolific actress appeared in around 700 films since making her screen debut in director Kim Ki-young's 1957 film "Twilight Train," with her career spanning from the 1950s through the 1990s. Her pers

December 10, 2025

Peru to buy South Korea's K2 battle tanks, armored vehicles in $1.5 billion deal

SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Peru has agreed to purchase South Korea’s domestically developed K2 main battle tanks, becoming the first Latin American country to acquire the platform, South Korea’s presidential office said on Wednesday. The contract, valued at about 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion), covers the supply of 54 K2 tanks and 141 armored vehicles, for a total of 195 units, and represents South Korea’s largest-ever defense export to Latin America. If im

December 10, 2025