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  South Korea's LS Buildwin wins high-voltage power project in Singapore SEOUL, October 24 (AJP) - South Korea's LS Marine Solutions said on Friday that its subsidiary, LS Buildwin, has been awarded a contract worth about $60 million to build a high-voltage underground power network in Singapore. The project, undertaken in partnership with LS Cable, will involve the construction of a 230-kilovolt underground power network designed to strengthen Singapore’s national grid amid surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data c October 24, 2025
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  Seoul confirms summits with Trump and Xi, Japan's under discussion SEOUL, October 24 (AJP) - South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, host of this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, will hold bilateral talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 29 and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 1, both attending as state guests, the presidential office confirmed Friday. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said a separate meeting with Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is being discussed October 24, 2025
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  SM's TVXQ and RIIZE honored with top govt awards for global K-pop impact SEOUL, October 24 (AJP) - SM Entertainment’s veteran duo TVXQ and rising boy group RIIZE have been recognized by the South Korean government for their contributions to the global expansion of K-pop. At the 16th Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards held Thursday, TVXQ — also known as Tohoshinki in Japan — received the Presidential Commendation, the nation’s highest honor in the cultural field. The six-member RIIZE earned the Minister of Culture, Sports October 24, 2025
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  TRAVEL: Discover beauty of Mt. Hallasan and hidden gems on volcanic island of Jeju JEJU, October 24 (AJP) - The beauty of South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju owes much to volcanic activity. The area, now the largest island on the Korean Peninsula, was originally a shallow sea. From deep beneath the earth, molten magma surged upward and collided with seawater in explosive volcanic eruptions, eventually forming land that rose above the sea. As volcanic activity continued, magma kept erupting, forming volcanic formations called "oreum" along October 24, 2025
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  Samsung Heavy secures $244 million deal for three oil tankers SEOUL, October 24 (AJP) - Samsung Heavy Industries said on Friday that it has secured an order worth 341.1 billion won, or about $244 million, to build three oil tankers for a Liberian shipowner. The order brings Samsung Heavy’s total contracts this year to $5.2 billion, about 78 percent of its $5.8 billion goal for the merchant ship sector. The company also aims to reach $4 billion in offshore projects, including work on the Coral and Delfin floating liquefied natural gas October 24, 2025
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  Anthropic of Claude AI chatbot to open office in Seoul next year SEOUL, October 24 (AJP) - Anthropic, the U.S. artificial intelligence company behind the Claude chatbot, said it will open a Seoul office early next year. “South Korea is a leader in AI innovation in Asia, and Claude is already widely used here,” Anthropic’s chief executive, Dario Amodei, said in a statement. “We look forward to collaborating with partners in South Korea’s world-class tech ecosystem to realize AI’s potential.” Senior October 24, 2025
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  Asian shares rebound, lifted by optimism over Trump's APEC tour SEOUL, October 24 (AJP) - Asian stocks rebounded Friday, buoyed by news that U.S. President Donald Trump will embark on his first Asia tour of his second term next week — a trip that includes back-to-back summit meetings with leaders of South Korea, Japan, and China during APEC week. Markets welcomed expectations that the visit could bring progress on pending trade and investment issues across the region. The benchmark KOSPI rose about 1.5 percent, reclaiming the 3,900-point October 24, 2025
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  TRAVEL: Seoul's literary escape SEOUL, October 23 (AJP) - On a crisp autumn day, the city air scrubbed clean by recent rain, I embarked on a literary journey high above the Korean capital. The destination: Inwangsan Mountain, a granite peak that has long served as both a defensive wall and a muse to artists. From its summit, the sprawling metropolis of Seoul was laid bare, a tapestry of modern ambition woven against an ancient landscape. Inwangsan has deep roots in Seoul's history, a vital section of the October 24, 2025
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  OPINION: China's rapid AI rise signals new phase in global race SEOUL, October 24 (AJP) - The race to dominate artificial intelligence is accelerating — and China is catching up fast. Once seen as lagging far behind Silicon Valley, China’s AI industry has surged forward, led by DeepSeek, a startup founded in 2023 that has quickly emerged as a formidable rival to OpenAI. Within two years, the company introduced its R1 model, which it claims outperforms OpenAI’s o1 system — and did so at a fraction of the cost, roughly October 24, 2025
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  Trump to hold back-to-back summits with Korea, China, Japan during APEC week SEOUL, October 24 (AJP) -U.S. President Donald Trump will embark on a week-long Asian tour next week, making stops in Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and China for a series of summit talks with regional leaders coinciding with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, the White House confirmed Thursday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s first stop will be Malaysia, where he will meet Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday and a October 24, 2025