South Korea to create second chip cluster at $520 billion *Updated with additional information SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) -South Korea envisions transforming itself into a "Chip Republic," committing more than 800 trillion won ($520 billion) to build a second semiconductor belt spanning the country's southwestern region in an unprecedented industrial strategy designed to preserve its leadership in AI-era chips. The master plan calls for four new wafer fabrication plants in the southwestern Honam region, an advanced semiconduc June 29, 2026

SMEs shed 98,000 jobs in April amid sluggish production and rising costs SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) saw their workforce shrink amid sluggish production, as the lingering conflict in the Middle East pushed up energy and raw material costs, the Korea Small Business Institute said on Monday. According to the state-run research institute, the number of employees at SMEs or workplaces with fewer than 300 employees totaled 29.12 million, down 98,000 from a year earlier. In contrast, employment at workplaces with 300 or June 29, 2026

Uzbekistan, Georgia set $1 billion trade target SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid an official visit to Georgia as the two countries pledged to more than triple bilateral trade, from $267.6 million in 2025 to $1 billion. The target is ambitious given where the relationship currently stands. Trade between the two countries tripled between 2017 and 2025, climbing from $89 million, but the flows remain heavily skewed. In 2025, Georgia exported $190.4 million worth of goods to Uzbekistan, mo June 29, 2026

Korean justice minister calls to scrap statute of limitations on state crimes SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - South Korean Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho on Monday called for abolishing the statute of limitations for crimes committed by the state, saying those responsible for torture and other forms of state violence must be held accountable regardless of how much time has passed. In a post on X, Jung referred to the so-called Nakdong River murder case, a wrongful conviction that was overturned in a retrial after two men spent more than two decades in prison for a ki June 29, 2026

KAIST appoints Bae Choong-sik as 18th president SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has appointed Bae Choong-sik, a mechanical engineering professor and specialist in carbon-neutral propulsion technology, as its 18th president, following a vote by the university's board of directors on Monday. The board, chaired by Kim Myung-ja, met at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology's (KAIST) Seoul campus in Gangnam District to make the selection. Founded in 1971 as South Kor June 29, 2026

Hyperscalers run the infrastructure the AI world stands on a SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - The history of civilization has always been, in part, a history of whoever controlled the core infrastructure. The 19th century was completed by the railway and the steam engine; the 20th was driven by oil and electricity. If the internet and the smartphone reshaped daily life in the early 21st century, then today — with generative AI in full swing — the world stands once again in the middle of a vast civilizational shift. At its center sits a new June 29, 2026

Tajikistan-led UN resolution establishes international peace through 2036 SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - The U.N. General Assembly has adopted a resolution proclaiming 2027 - 2036 as the International Decade of Strengthening of Peace for Future Generations, following an initiative introduced by Tajikistan, the country's embassy in Seoul said Monday. The resolution, adopted on June 25, calls for greater international efforts to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation while encouraging cooperation across generations to ensure that the interests of future g June 29, 2026

Stay-at-home fathers in South Korea hit record high in first quarter SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - The number of South Korean men staying out of the workforce to care for preschool children or manage household duties climbed to a record high in the first quarter, while the number of women doing the same fell to the lowest level since comparable data became available. According to data released Monday by Statistics Korea through the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), 274,000 men were classified as economically inactive because of childcare or June 29, 2026

Young South Korean Ph.D.s face record employment crisis SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - More than one-third of South Korea's newly minted Ph.D. graduates were without jobs last year, with the share of unemployed or economically inactive doctorate holders exceeding 30 percent for the first time since the government began compiling the data, according to a government survey released Monday. The survey also showed that more than half of doctorate recipients under age 30 were jobless, underscoring worsening employment prospects even among the c June 29, 2026

Hyundai, Kia win Cannes Lions bronze for child safety technology campaign SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor and Kia won a bronze award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for a campaign using vehicle safety technology to protect children near school buses, the companies said Sunday. The campaign, titled "Vision Pulse," received bronze in the Design: Use of Emerging Technology category. Cannes Lions, held annually in Cannes, France, is one of the world's leading advertising and creative industry festivals. This ye June 29, 2026