BTS tops Billboard 200 for 3rd week, heads to Japan this week SEOUL, April 13 (AJP) -K-pop supergroup BTS wrapped up its three-day concert run in Goyang over the weekend, drawing more than 132,000 attendees, while extending its record as the first Korean act to top the U.S. charts for three consecutive weeks. According to Billboard on Sunday (local time), BTS’ fifth studio album ARIRANG held on to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — the industry’s main weekly albums ranking based on sales, streaming and track-equivalent units &mda April 13, 2026

S. Korean researchers develop smart OLED patch to accelerate wound healing speed SEOUL, April 13 (AJP) - A research team in South Korea has developed a wearable electronic patch that can speed up the skin wound-healing process by about 200 percent using organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), compared to conventional wound treatment methods. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) said Monday that a joint research group led by Professor Choi Kyung-cheol successfully created the self-regulating platform that uses light to control the relea April 13, 2026

Lee set to hold first summit in decades with Polish leader to boost defense cooperation SEOUL, April 13 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung is set to hold talks with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday. The first meeting between the two leaders also marks the first visit by a Polish leader in 27 years and Tusk's first trip to a non-European country since taking office in December 2023. Tusk, who arrived in South Korea on Sunday for a two-day visit at Lee's invitation, is scheduled to hold talks with Lee, followed by expanded discussions with ke April 13, 2026

Two firefighters killed in cold storage warehouse blaze in southern South Korea SEOUL, April 12 (AJP) - Two firefighters were killed after becoming trapped inside a burning cold storage warehouse in South Korea's southwestern county of Wando, authorities said, in a blaze that triggered a vapor explosion and prompted a national outpouring of grief. The fire broke out at about 8:25 a.m. Sunday at a seafood processing plant in Wando County, South Jeolla Province, according to fire authorities. A seven-member crew arrived within six minutes and entered the 3,69 April 12, 2026

Search for escaped wolf at South Korean zoo drags into fifth day SEOUL, April 12 (AJP) - A wolf that tunneled its way out of a government-run zoo in the central city of Daejeon remained at large as search teams armed with thermal-imaging drones combed nearby hillsides for a fifth straight day without success. The two-year-old male wolf, nicknamed Neukgu, was last detected by a thermal camera mounted on a drone at about 1:30 a.m. on April 9, the day after its escape. Trackers lost the animal's trail when the drone was pulled back for a battery April 12, 2026

S. Korea secures 80 pct of May crude needs without tapping reserves, minister says SEOUL, April 12 (AJP) - South Korea has secured about 80 percent of its crude oil import needs for May and expects to weather the ongoing supply disruptions triggered by the Middle East conflict, Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan said. Kim said the volume of crude oil locked in for May had risen by 10 percentage points from the previous week, bolstered by private-sector stockpiles held by domestic refiners. "We believe we can get through April and May w April 12, 2026

EcoPro secures C$6 mln from Canada to develop all-solid-state battery materials SEOUL, April 12 (AJP) - South Korean battery materials maker EcoPro said it has secured 6 million Canadian dollars (about $4.3 million) in research funding from Canada's federal government to develop lithium metal anode technology for next-generation all-solid-state batteries. The grant, awarded to EcoPro Lithium — a unit of subsidiary EcoPro Innovation — falls under Ottawa's Energy Innovation Program, which aims to bolster domestic battery supply chains. EcoPro April 12, 2026

UPDATE: U.S.-Iran talks collapse in Islamabad over nuclear, Hormuz disputes SEOUL, April 12 (AJP) - The United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement after 21 hours of grueling negotiations in the Pakistani capital, plunging the fragile two-week ceasefire into uncertainty with its April 21 expiration now looming. The marathon session, mediated by Pakistan, stretched across multiple rounds from Saturday evening through Sunday morning but ultimately foundered over deep divisions on Iran's nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. April 12, 2026

Police intensify search as escaped wolf remains at large for fourth day SEOUL, April 11 (AJP) - Authorities in the central city of Daejeon have deployed drones and specialized tracking teams on Saturday to locate an escaped wolf that fled a zoo safari as the search enters its fourth day without a confirmed sighting. The two-year-old male wolf was last detected by a thermal imaging camera at 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, but it has since vanished into the rugged terrain surrounding the facility. Recent heavy rainfall and deteriorating weather conditions hinde April 11, 2026

Police launch manhunt as burglar flees with BTS entry bracelets SEOUL, April 11 (AJP) - Law enforcers in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, have launched an intensive manhunt on Saturday for a burglar who snatched 500 BTS concert entry bracelets from a ticket booth, police said. The robbery could spark a massive security disruption involving scalpers and ordinary fans. The suspect reportedly seized the cache of credentials at approximately 3:20 p.m. (0620 GMT) before escaping the scene, prompting the police to secure surveillance footage and monito April 11, 2026