CU convenience stores to offer quick respite for delivery riders in Seoul SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - Delivery riders in Seoul will be able to use nearby CU convenience stores as places to take short breaks, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Friday. The city government said it will designate about 3,000 CU stores across the city as temporary shelters for delivery riders under a program starting next month, allowing them to rest without having to make extra trips away from their delivery routes. About 3,000 delivery riders working in Seoul will be August 28, 2026

Trilateral Freedom Edge to proceed next month as planned SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - South Korea, the United States and Japan will conduct their annual Freedom Edge multi-domain exercise next month as scheduled, even as Washington scales back bilateral drills with Seoul. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that the three countries will hold Freedom Edge from Sept. 7 to 11 in international waters southeast of Jeju Island. The five-day exercise is aimed at strengthening the three countries' ability to respond to North Ko August 28, 2026

Red Velvet to release remix album SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - K-pop girl group, Red Velvet will release a remix album for its latest single "Surfin' Boy" on Friday, SM Entertainment said. The album, "iScreaM Vol. 40: Surfin' Boy Remixes," will be released at 1 p.m (0400 GMT) on major music platforms. It marks the 40th installment of iScreaM, a remix series run by ScreaM Records. ScreaM Records is SM Entertainment's dance music label, which releases electronic and remix projects b August 28, 2026

ANALYSIS: US tariff push tests Korea's memory red line SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) -SK hynix has broken ground on a more than $4 billion HBM facility in Indiana and Samsung Electronics is preparing to bring its long-delayed Taylor, Texas fab online. Both investments deepen South Korea's semiconductor footprint in the United States. They nevertheless stop at the fault line Washington is increasingly pressing Korean chipmakers to cross — producing advanced memory wafers on American soil. SK hynix's Indiana plant illustra August 28, 2026

South Korea to dispatch multipurpose aircraft for rescue efforts in flood-hit Nepal SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - South Korea will dispatch a KC-330 Cygnus multipurpose aerial refueling aircraft to Nepal to support search and rescue operations following devastating floods and landslides that have left hundreds of people missing including nine South Korean workers. The Ministry of National Defense said in a statement late Thursday that it was discussing details with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for deploying the KC-330 to transport rescue personnel, relief equipment a August 28, 2026

SK hynix breaks ground on first U.S. HBM packaging plant, targets 2029 production SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - SK hynix broke ground Thursday on a more than $4 billion advanced packaging facility in Indiana, laying the foundation for its first U.S. production base for high-bandwidth memory as the Korean chipmaker moves closer to major American AI customers. The world's leading HBM supplier held a groundbreaking ceremony at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, attended by SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, senior SK Group executives and U.S. state and governme August 28, 2026

On the steppe, a place of prayer: Astana's grandest mosque In the heart of Astana, rising from the vast Kazakh steppe, stands the Hazrat Sultan Mosque, one of Central Asia's largest Islamic sanctuaries. Completed in 2012, the mosque is difficult to miss. Four slender minarets rise high above its gleaming white facade, framing an enormous blue dome that seems to float against Astana's broad, open sky. On a clear afternoon, sunlight washed across the white stone, making the mosque almost luminous. From the edge of the vast p August 27, 2026

Apple's first foldable iPhone expected to heat up competition with Samsung SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone next month, intensifying competition with rival Samsung Electronics in the growing foldable phone market. Apple on Wednesday announced it will hold an event on Sept. 9 at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, which will also be streamed online. Although Apple did not disclose which products will be unveiled, market watchers expect the handset maker to introduce the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, alo August 27, 2026

US-Canada tariff war squeezes Korean autos, opens crude door SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - South Korean manufacturers accustomed to being caught between Washington and Beijing now find themselves on a new trade battlefront much closer to their factories. Korean companies poured billions of dollars into North America to escape the heavier tariffs and geopolitical risks of President Donald Trump's second term. The escalating U.S.-Canada trade conflict is now threatening the very assumption behind that strategy - that the United States, Canada August 27, 2026

AI windfall buys homes, cars and luxury watches in Korea's chip enclave HWASEONG, August 27 (AJP) - At Lotte Department Store in Dongtan, a saleswoman sizing up a customer offers a pitch that would sound peculiar almost anywhere else. "Your husband makes a lot of money this time. You can afford to treat yourself," she coos. There is no need to specify who the husband works for. Dongtan sits inside South Korea's semiconductor heartland, within commuting distance of Samsung Electronics' chip operations in Hwaseong and Giheung as August 27, 2026