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  Chinese sanctions on Hanwha Ocean could affect MASGA project, Seoul official warns SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - South Korea’s top defense procurement official warned on Friday that recent Chinese sanctions against Hanwha Ocean’s U.S. subsidiaries could eventually hinder a joint shipbuilding initiative between Seoul and Washington. During a parliamentary audit session, Suk Jong-geon, commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said the Chinese sanctions could affect the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA) project, an effo October 17, 2025
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  Chipotle lands, In-N-Out pops up — Korea rises as test kitchen for Western tastes SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - South Korea is fast becoming the test kitchen for Western food giants eyeing Asia. Chipotle, one of America’s leading fast-casual chains, has chosen Seoul to gauge Asian palates for its Mexican flavors, while California-based In-N-Out Burger has returned with a second pop-up event — underscoring how Western brands increasingly view Korean “Zenners” as the first benchmark to crack the regional market. Chipotle last month partnered w October 17, 2025
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  Hyunmoo-5 deployment to begin by year-end amid rising North Korean ICBM threat SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - South Korea will begin deploying its 8-ton "Hyunmoo-5" ballistic missile by the end of this year, as part of its effort to reinforce deterrence against North Korea's advancing nuclear threat. The Defense Ministry confirmed the plan to AJP on Friday, saying the Hyunmoo-5 — dubbed the "monster missile" for its unprecedented payload — has entered the operational fielding phase and is planned for mass production, with deploym October 17, 2025
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  Exchange, brokers warn as Korea's margin loans surge nearly 50% SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - Leveraged stock investment in South Korea has soared nearly 50 percent this year to surpass 23 trillion won ($16.4 billion), as the benchmark KOSPI’s 50-percent rally fueled aggressive borrowing for equity trades — prompting warnings from regulators and market participants. The balance of margin accounts at securities firms reached 23 trillion won, up 49 percent from 15.8 trillion won at the end of 2024, according to data released Friday by th October 17, 2025
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  Lee's approval rating drops to lowest level since taking office SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating has dropped to a record low since he took office in June this year. According to a survey of over 1,000 adults conducted earlier this week by pollster Gallup Korea and released on Friday, Lee's approval rating stood at 54 percent, down one percentage point from a similar survey at the end of September. His disapproval rating also rose to 35 percent, while about 10 percent of respondents remained undec October 17, 2025
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  Korea's job growth in September hits 19-Month high, manufacturing still tepid SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - South Korea saw the largest job addition in 19 months in September, driven mainly by service-sector hiring under government stimulus measures, while manufacturing and youth employment remained sluggish, data showed Friday. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of employed people aged 15 and over reached 29.15 million in September, an increase of 312,000 from a year earlier. It was the largest on-year gain since February 2023, when emp October 17, 2025
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  INTERVIEW: K-Park in Kazakhstan's smart city embodies fortitude of ethnic Koreans — past and future SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - The K-Park Project, rising in Kazakhstan’s flagship smart city of Alatau, encapsulates both the endurance of the Koryo-saram—descendants of Korean settlers across the Russian Far East in the 19th and early 20th centuries—and their forward-looking confidence as a thriving minority in Kazakhstan’s digital transformation drive. "K-Park is not merely a memorial project. It is a symbol of gratitude toward the Kazakh people who emb October 17, 2025
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  South Korea's Hyosung Heavy opens research center in Netherlands SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - South Korea's Hyosung Heavy Industries has opened its first European research and development center in Arnhem, the Netherlands, as part of efforts to strengthen its position in next-generation power technologies and eco-friendly energy solutions. The new facility marks the company’s first global R&D hub outside Asia and will focus on developing gas-insulated switchgear — a key component in power substations that traditionally relies October 17, 2025
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  Samsung Biologics officially sheds biosimilar unit to expand as pure CMO SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - Samsung Biologics Co., already the world's largest contract-based drugmaker by capacity, has won full shareholders' blessing to shed its biosimilar business and double down on its global biological outreach as a pure contract manufacturing organization (CMO). The Songdo, Korea-based pharmaceutical giant said on Friday 99.9 percent of voting shares backed the spin-off proposal at an extraordinary general meeting in Incheon, attended by about 93 perce October 17, 2025
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  Talks underway with Cambodia for repatriation of dozens of South Koreans SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - Talks are underway with Cambodia to bring back about 59 South Koreans detained over alleged online job scams and other various crimes, a government task force, currently in Phnom Penh, said on Friday. The development comes after the Southeast Asian country said the previous day that the detainees including four women would be deported to Seoul in cooperation with the South Korean Embassy there. "Authorities plan to deport 59 South Korean nationals&h October 17, 2025