South Korea on alert as nearly 200 sailors remain in Persian Gulf SEOUL, March 9 (AJP) - Some 183 South Korean sailors are confirmed in the Persian Gulf, with the government here stepping up efforts to ensure their safety amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. After a meeting chaired by Vice Minister and Acting Minister Kim Seong-beom, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Monday that about 146 sailors are aboard 26 South Korean-flagged ships, while 37 are on foreign-flagged vessels as of last Sunday. No South Korean sailors hav March 9, 2026

i-dle becomes first K-pop girl band to host solo concert at Taipei Dome SEOUL, March 09 (AJP) - Five-member K-pop girl band i-dle successfully drew more than 36,000 fans on March 7, at a concert held at Taipei Dome as part of its fourth world tour, its agency Cube Entertainment said Monday. The band, comprised of five members -- Miyeon, Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua -- had their concert tickets sold out immediately after general ticket sales opened on Feb. 1. The upcoming Taipei concert follows the group's three-day concert per March 9, 2026

Go grandmaster urges shift to AI collaboration decade after AlphaGo match SEOUL, March 9 (AJP) - Former South Korean Go grandmaster Lee Se-dol returned to the site of his historic 2016 match against AlphaGo on Monday to advocate for a new era of cooperation between humans and artificial intelligence. Speaking during a press conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, the same location where he faced the Google DeepMind program 10 years ago, Lee reflected on how the perception of AI has evolved from a competitive threat to a collaborative tool. March 9, 2026

K-pop girl band ITZY's Yuna to roll out solo debut album 'Ice Cream' SEOUL, March 09 (AJP) - Yuna, the youngest member of the five-member K-pop girl band ITZY, will make her solo debut with album "Ice Cream," her agency JYP Entertainment said Monday. Ice Cream will consist of four tracks, including the title track of the same name. The album will be released at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) on March 23 across major music streaming platforms. According to the tracklist released through the official social media accounts, the album will contain four so March 9, 2026

South Korea, Switzerland extend currency swap deal by another five years SEOUL, March 9 (AJP) - South Korea has agreed with Switzerland to extend their currency swap deal by five years, financial authorities here said on Monday. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the bilateral currency swap deal will now run until March 1, 2031, allowing the two countries to swap up to 10 billion Swiss francs or about 18.5 trillion won (US$12.4 billion). A currency swap allows one country to deposit its own currency in another country's reserves in return March 9, 2026

South Korea, US kick off annual joint exercise SEOUL, March 9 (AJP) - South Korean and U.S. troops began their annual joint military exercise on Monday to strengthen their combined defense posture. The exercise, dubbed Freedom Shield (FS), runs until March 19 under a scenario simulating a full-scale war to prepare for contingencies on the Korean Peninsula. The exercise, involving about 18,000 troops, similar to the levels seen last year, also aims to assess combat readiness to prepare for the transfer of wartime operational March 9, 2026

BTS Comeback D-12: Seoul goes hard on lodging and scalping SEOUL, March 09 (AJP) - South Korea and its capital city authorities have intensified inspections of accommodations and launched a massive crackdown on ticket scalping as the K-pop legend is preparing for its comeback with a free public concert in central Seoul on March 21. The multi-agency enforcement effort follows the discovery of widespread lodging violations and reports of tickets for the free event being resold for hundreds of thousands of won. The Seoul City said Sunday tha March 9, 2026

Seoul braces for worst-case scenario as oil shock rattles markets SEOUL, March 09 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung on Monday ordered the government to prepare for a “worst-case scenario” as the widening Middle East conflict threatens to deliver a triple shock to South Korea’s economy from high oil prices, dollar, and interest rates. Chairing an emergency cabinet meeting, Lee warned that the trajectory of the crisis remains highly uncertain. “It is difficult to predict how the situation will unfold,” Lee said. &ldquo March 9, 2026

Black Monday hits Asia on oil price surge; Korean won and bonds also crash SEOUL, March 9 (AJP) — Asian stock markets plunged Monday as fears of a prolonged blockade of the Middle East’s key oil shipping route sent crude prices above $100 a barrel, triggering a broad risk-off selloff across the region. South Korean and Japanese shares suffered the steepest losses in early trading as the prospect of disruptions to energy supplies bound for Asia rattled investors. The benchmark KOSPI dropped as much as 8 percent, retreating to the 5,100 leve March 9, 2026

Webtoon Entertainment's simultaneous global releases boost revenue by up to 200% in piracy fight SEOUL, March 09 (AJP) - Webtoon Entertainment, a Naver-controlled company, announced that a pilot program releasing Korean-language webcomics simultaneously across global markets drove payment revenue up by as much as 200 percent, underscoring the platform's intensifying campaign to claw back earnings lost to piracy. The Nasdaq-listed company said Monday that it had tested the initiative on four original Korean titles — including "Childhood Friend Complex" &mdash March 9, 2026