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  PHOTOS: Merry Christmas, 1,004 Santas spread cheer across Seoul SEOUL, December 25 (AJP) - “Merry Christmas!” Bright and spirited voices rang out as volunteers dressed as Santa Claus gathered in the heart of Seoul. On Tuesday afternoon, volunteers in Santa costumes held a send-off ceremony along Yonsei-ro in Seodaemun District. Marking Christmas Eve, 1,004 Santas set out across the capital to visit underprivileged children, practicing year-end giving and social solidarity. Hosted by Korea Youth Foundation, the “2025 December 25, 2025
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  K-fashion looks flat. The power shift is anything but. Editor's Note: This is the fifth installment in AJP's 2026 outlook series on South Korea's key industries. SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - By the numbers, K-fashion is barely moving. Beneath the surface, however, control of the industry is shifting rapidly from department-store legacy brands to platform-born labels that now define how younger Koreans dress. Korea’s overall fashion market grew only about 2–3 percent in 2024 and is estimated to have expanded at December 24, 2025
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  Santa largely skips Asian markets as gains stay modest SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - Santa Claus largely skipped Asian markets this season, with gains modest across the region and year-end positioning overshadowing any holiday cheer. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI finished 0.21 percent lower at 4,108.62 on Tuesday, pressured by retail investors liquidating holdings ahead of a tax deadline, even as foreign and institutional investors maintained a more constructive stance. Retail investors net sold 717.5 billion won ($490.7 million December 24, 2025
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  Bus drivers in Seoul threaten strike next month over wage dispute SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - Unionized bus drivers in Seoul threatened on Wednesday to go on a strike next month after wage talks collapsed earlier in the day. They rejected a 10 percent-wage raise offer and threatened to strike on Jan. 13, citing management's failure to fulfill wage-related pledges. They argued that bonuses should be included in their wages, citing a Supreme Court ruling last year, and insisted that this is "not a bargaining issue but a legal requiremen December 24, 2025
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  Korean mukbang gets Ingenious — and a little unhinged — to keep its crown SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and nowhere is that crown greasier, spicier or more relentlessly filmed than in South Korea's food universe. Once again this year, the surprise breakout star from Korea's global content pipeline is not a pop idol or a prestige drama, but food — turbocharged by its cameo-laden role in Netflix's most-watched-ever series, "KPOP Demon Hunters," and freshly canonized as culture by the Wall St December 24, 2025
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  Korea Zinc clears legal hurdle for $7.4 billion U.S. smelter project SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - A South Korean court on Wednesday dismissed an injunction filed by Young Poong Group and MBK Partners seeking to block Korea Zinc's landmark investment deal with the U.S. government, paving the way for the world's largest non-ferrous metal smelter to proceed with a $7.4 billion refinery project in Tennessee. The Seoul Central District Court rejected the plaintiffs' request to halt a third-party share allocation that would give the U.S. governme December 24, 2025
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  Kimchi loses ground at home to cheaper Chinese imports, British daily says SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - South Korea's staple dish, kimchi, is losing ground on price, fueling a surge in imports of Chinese-made kimchi, the Guardian reported earlier this week. The British daily on Monday said, "South Korea imports more kimchi than it exports, and the gap has widened as cheaper Chinese-made products take hold in the domestic market." Figures from the Korea Customs Service show this trend, with kimchi imports totaling US$159.46 million during the December 24, 2025
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  PHOTOS: As Christmas arrives, trees light up a fractured world SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - As Christmas Day arrives, trees are lit across the world. It is a season that calls, however quietly, for peace and harmony — regardless of heartbreak, loss, grievance or conflict — as people mark the birth of Christ in their own idiosyncratic ways. In Rockefeller Center, the annual tree lighting took place on Dec. 3, as it does every year. Thousands of LED lights pierced the Manhattan night, drawing cheers from December 24, 2025
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  Hate it or not, Coupang remains indispensable to Korean consumers — for now SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - Coupang is facing intensifying scrutiny from regulators in South Korea and the United States, alongside a growing list of civil and class-action lawsuits. Yet despite mounting criticism over its handling of a massive data breach, the e-commerce group remains deeply embedded in daily life for Korean consumers — from shopping and food delivery to streaming. This week, the South Korean government launched an inter-agency task force to investigate what o December 24, 2025
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  Presidential office to move back to Cheong Wa Dae early next week SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - President Lee Jae-myung is set to move into the sprawling compound of Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul early next week, after vacating the current presidential office in Yongsan, his officials said on Wednesday. The relocation of the presidential office comes roughly three years and seven months after former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached earlier this year, moved it to the nondescript Defense Ministry building in Yongsan on the first day of his December 24, 2025