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  Special counsel seeks 10-year jail term for ex-President Yoon over martial law case SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) -A special counsel team on Friday asked a Seoul court to sentence former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 10 years in prison on charges including obstruction of justice and abuse of power related to his short-lived martial-law declaration in December last year. It is the first request for sentencing on the disgraced president whose term was cut short in the wake of his Dec. 3 martial-law stunt. During the final hearing of Yoon’s obstruction-of-justice December 26, 2025
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  Asian stocks rise following record close for S&P 500 SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) - Asian stock markets climbed on Friday, following a rally on Wall Street after U.S. economic data showed stronger-than-expected third-quarter growth earlier in the week. In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI rose 0.6 percent to 4,132.65 as of 10:14 a.m., and the KOSDAQ gained 0.2 percent to 916.70. The regional advance followed a Wednesday close in which the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to an all-time high of 6,932.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 December 26, 2025
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  Cold wave grips South Korea SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) - Bitter Artic air gripped South Korea Friday, sending temperatures in Seoul and elsewhere well below freezing and triggering widespread weather alerts. The mercury fell to as low as minus 17.6 degrees Celsius (0.3 degrees Fahrenheit) as of 5 a.m. and will stay subzero for most of the day. December 26, 2025
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  Seoul to decide whether to lift ban on North Korean state media access The South Korean government is weighing whether to allow public access to North Korea's state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun and, more broadly, to ease restrictions on North Korean websites, as part of a policy review led by the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The issue will be discussed at a Cabinet-level meeting on Friday involving officials from the NIS, the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Scie December 26, 2025
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  Samsung moves to develop in-house GPU for next-generation AI devices SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics plans to introduce its first fully in-house graphics processing unit (GPU) as part of a new Exynos application processor scheduled for release in 2027, marking a major step in the company’s efforts to strengthen control over on-device AI performance. According to industry sources on Thursday, Samsung’s System LSI division is developing a proprietary GPU architecture to be integrated into the tentatively named Exynos 2800. December 26, 2025
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  BTS Jimin extends record with 120th week atop Spotify South Korea artist chart SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) - Jimin of BTS has set a new record on Spotify South Korea's weekly artist chart, marking his 120th week at number one. According to data released by the streaming platform for the week of December 18, the singer remains at the top of the "Weekly Top Artists" chart. He is the first and only artist to reach the 120-week milestone since the chart's inception. The singer's run at the top is also reflected in the daily rankings. As of December 26, 2025
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  KAIST researchers discover security flaw in architecture used by Google Gemini SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) - Researchers have identified a critical security vulnerability in the "Mixture-of-Experts" architecture used by major artificial intelligence models such as Google Gemini. The study reveals that a single "malicious expert" hidden within an AI's internal structure can bypass safety filters, increasing the rate of harmful responses from zero to 80 percent. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on De December 26, 2025
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  Park Chan-wook film No Other Choice opens in five US cities ahead of national release SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) - Director Park Chan-wook's latest feature, "No Other Choice," opened in a limited release in five United States cities on December 25. Neon, the film's U.S. distributor, announced the Christmas Day opening via its website and social media channels. The film is currently screening in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. According to the distributor, the release will expand nationwide in January. The film stars Lee December 26, 2025
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  NYT: K-pop global peak raises questions about what comes next SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) -K-pop has never been more visible on the global stage, but its very success is now forcing a reckoning over where the genre goes next. A recent New York Times analysis argues that while K-pop has reached a new peak of cultural influence, it is also confronting structural limits that could shape its future trajectory. The paper points to the runaway success of KPop Demon Hunters, a Netflix animated film built around rival idol groups, as a symbol of K-p December 26, 2025
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  Ex-Korean president faces closing hearing of insurrection-related trials SEOUL, December 26 (AJP) -Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will face a closing hearing Friday in a criminal case accusing him of obstructing an arrest and infringing Cabinet members’ constitutional rights in connection with his declaration of martial law. The hearing, scheduled for 10:15 a.m. at the Seoul Central District Court, marks the first time one of four insurrection-related cases involving Yoon has reached the final stage of arguments. Legal observers say December 26, 2025