• 
  LG Electronics named best TV brand in Europe SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - LG Electronics said on Monday it was selected as best TV brand at the Euroconsumers Awards 2025, an honor determined by expert testing and consumer satisfaction surveys across Europe. The awards are jointly hosted by consumer media outlets from Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Brazil, all members of ICRT, an alliance of 37 consumer organizations including U.S.-based Consumer Reports and UK-based Which?. This marks the first year the seven-year-old awa December 1, 2025
• 
  Fast-track immigration at Inchon Airport now available for travelers from 18 countries SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - Eighteen countries are now eligible for automated immigration clearance, up from four, the Ministry of Justice said on Monday. The move aims to shorten waiting times for foreign visitors entering the country. The newly eligible countries include Australia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the U.K., and others. The ministry said, "We December 1, 2025
• 
  Asian markets mixed as BOJ rate-hike fears hit Tokyo shares SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Asian stock markets closed mixed on Monday, with Japanese shares tumbling on renewed speculation that the Bank of Japan may soon raise interest rates. In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI slipped 0.2 percent to 3,920.37, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ rose 1.1 percent to 922.38. Institutional investors offloaded a net 233 billion won ($158 million) worth of shares, outweighing net purchases of 53 billion won by retail investors and 216 billion won by foreigners. December 1, 2025
• 
  Korean memory makers set to benefit whoever wins in GPU vs TPU SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - As Google’s tensor processing unit (TPU) rises as a formidable challenge to Nvidia’s near-monopoly in AI computing, the clearest signals of how the rivalry is unfolding may not be found in the chips themselves, but in the earnings and order books of Korea’s two memory giants: Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Samsung is said to have supplied more than 60 percent of the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in Google’s TPU designs throu December 1, 2025
• 
  Coupang's meteoric rise meets its most serious stress test yet SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Coupang’s latest data leak has renewed scrutiny of the South Korean e-commerce giant, underscoring concerns that its operational systems have not kept pace with its rapid expansion. The company said on Monday that 33.7 million user accounts were affected — an extraordinary figure showing the breach could have affected nearly the country's entire population. The disclosure comes as Coupang remains under pressure over workplace safety fo December 1, 2025
• 
  NewJeans drop social media moniker ahead of comeback after legal dispute SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - K-pop girl group NewJeans has deleted their short-lived social media account used during their dispute with management agency ADOR, sparking anticipation for their impending comeback. The account under the name of "NJZ," which served as the quintet's main channel to communicate with fans, is no longer accessible as of Monday. The girls created the account earlier this year under their own new name to rebrand themselves amid escalating ten December 1, 2025
• 
  Hyundai Motor's global sales fall 2.4 percent in November SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor said on Monday it sold 349,507 vehicles worldwide in November, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier, as both domestic and overseas sales declined. Domestic sales fell 3.4 percent to 61,008 units. Sedan sales totaled 18,099 units, including 6,499 Grandeurs, 5,897 Sonatas, and 5,459 Avantes. Sales of recreational vehicles reached 22,643 units, led by the Palisade with 5,124 units, followed by the Santa Fe (3,947), Tucson (5,384), Kona (2 December 1, 2025
• 
  Coupang may face fines of up to $1 bn if negligence is tied to data theft SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform Coupang faces a wave of criminal and civil lawsuits, alongside potential fines that could exceed $1 billion, if authorities confirm corporate negligence in the massive data theft allegedly carried out by a former employee of Chinese nationality. Under the Personal Information Protection Act, strengthened in 2023, regulators may impose penalties of up to 3 percent of annual revenue for data-protection violatio December 1, 2025
• 
  Working-level officials set to hammer out implementation measures for bilateral agreements in Washington SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - Officials from South Korea and the U.S. are set to meet for further working-level discussions in Washington this week after the two countries released a comprehensive joint fact sheet last month detailing agreements on bilateral trade and security. According to the Foreign Ministry, Deputy Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo is set to meet with U.S. counterpart Christopher Landau on Monday in the first high-level talks since the release of the joint fact sheet December 1, 2025
• 
  Kia's November sales drop 0.8 percent year-on-year to 262,065 units SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Kia said on Monday it sold 262,065 vehicles worldwide in November, down 0.8 percent from a year earlier, as both domestic and overseas sales edged lower. The Sportage remained the company’s best-selling model with 49,351 units, followed by the Sorento at 25,282 and the Seltos at 22,293. In South Korea, sales declined 1.6 percent to 47,256 units. The Sorento led the domestic market with 10,047 units. Overseas sales also dipped 0.8 percent to December 1, 2025