South Korea's economic growth slows in 3rd quarter amid weak exports

SEOUL, December 5 (AJP) - South Korea's economy grew by 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2024, marking the second consecutive quarter of sub 1 percent growth as exports declined and construction investment remained weak, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said on Thursday. The tepid growth was primarily driven by a 0.2 percent contraction in exports, the first decline in seven quarters, led by decreased shipments of automobiles and chemical products. While private consumption rose

December 5, 2024

OPINION: South Korea had martial law for 6 hours. Why did this happen and what can we expect now?

SEOUL, December 5 (AJP) - On Tuesday night, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sent shockwaves through the world by declaring martial law in the country. Yoon's opponents in the National Assembly immediately sought to mass at the legislature to block the decree. This led to a dramatic confrontation with soldiers over control of the building. However, in the early hours of Wednesday, sufficient numbers of South Korean legislators gained entry to the chamber. Of the 300 membe

December 5, 2024

PHOTOS: Protesters call for impeachment of Yoon

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) -- Candlelight protests erupted in many cities in South Korea on Wednesday evening, calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol following his declaration of martial law late Tuesday, which was lifted six hours later.

December 4, 2024

​​​​​​​K-pop training goes global: World K-pop Center plans 32-nation girl group project

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) -- "K-pop stands at the heart of Korean culture today. We aim to create a true cultural exchange by bringing together girl groups from 32 different nations," says Park Sung-jin, CEO of World K-pop Center. Speaking at the launch of news platform AJP at Seoul's FKI Tower on Tuesday, Park detailed his organization's vision for globalizing K-pop education through a U.N.-inspired strategy. Park emphasized that while famous K-pop artists have p

December 4, 2024

Studio Meta-K CEO: AI to shape future of 'K-content'

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - Kim Kwang-jip, CEO of Studio Meta-K, predicts artificial intelligence will play an increasingly vital role in K-content production, ushering in an era where virtual humans star in songs, advertisements, dramas, and films. Speaking at the launch event of news platform AJP at the FKI Tower in Seoul's Yeouido on Tuesday, Kim showcased various AI-powered content initiatives. His company, Studio Meta-K, specializes in developing and producing IP-based conten

December 4, 2024

Flitto CEO: AI is breaking down language barriers

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - "By 2025, the language barriers people experience today will be significantly reduced," says Lee Jung-soo, CEO of Flitto, predicting that an influx of new services will transform various aspects of society and economy. Speaking at the launch of the Asian news platform AJP in Seoul's FKI Tower on Tuesday, Lee outlined how artificial intelligence is dismantling language barriers that humanity has long struggled to overcome. Lee envisions a fu

December 4, 2024

Opposition parties move to impeach Yoon after martial law fiasco

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - Some 191 lawmakers from six opposition parties including the main opposition Democratic Party and minor parties like the Rebuilding Korea Party and the New Reform Party submitted a motion on Wednesday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, after his abrupt late-night declaration of martial law, which was ended in a chaotic overnight fiasco. By law, the National Assembly is required to vote on whether to impeach a president through a secret ballot within 72 hou

December 4, 2024

French Embassy honors promising young talents in Seoul

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - Young French talents here were awarded prizes at the French Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday. The creation of the prizes dedicated to young French talent in South Korea were proposed by Benjamin Joinau, Councillor for the French abroad, in order to highlight and encourage a number of young French people living in South Korea and active in the fields of research, business and education. Supported by the embassy and various French organizations such as the Fren

December 4, 2024

BOK to increase short-term liquidity to stabilize financial market

SEOUL, December 4 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea (BOK) announced on Thursday that it would increase short-term liquidity in the market by purchasing non-regular repurchase agreements (RPs). This move, aimed at stabilizing financial markets, comes after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a state of martial law on Tuesday night. Typically, the BOK supplies liquidity through regular RP purchases. However, to address the extraordinary circumstances, the central bank expanded the range of

December 4, 2024

LG AI Research develops method to slash cancer diagnosis time

SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - LG AI Research has developed a new pathology foundation model called “EXAONEPath” on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure, capable of analyzing cancer tissue pathology images and reducing genetic testing time from two weeks to under one minute. The model, unveiled at AWS re:Invent 2024 in Las Vegas, achieved 86.1 percent average accuracy across six benchmarks for image patch classification. Built on AWS's SageMaker inference chi

December 4, 2024