Tungsten race puts Kazakhstan between US and China SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Last November, at a summit in Washington where President Donald Trump hosted the leaders of all five Central Asian nations, the United States signed a deal giving an American company development rights to what independent feasibility studies describe as the world's largest known undeveloped tungsten resource. The host country was Kazakhstan. The metal was tungsten. The company is Kaz Resources, a newly formed American firm backed by up to $1.6 billion in June 29, 2026

S. Korean military cites analysis for delayed disclosure of N. Korean launches SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - South Korea’s military said Monday that it did not immediately disclose North Korea’s June 25 weapons launches because it was still analyzing the projectiles, responding to criticism over why the public was not informed on the day of the test. The South Korean and U.S. militaries detected and tracked multiple projectiles in real time between 7:27 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. on June 25 and closely coordinated against any possible contingencies, the Defense M June 29, 2026

Lee's approval rating remains below 50% for another week SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating has stayed below 50 percent for another week, extending its decline for six consecutive weeks. In a survey of more than 2,500 adults nationwide conducted by pollster Realmeter last week and released on Monday, 46.5 percent of respondents said Lee was doing well, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous week. About 49.5 percent disapproved of Lee's performance, also down 0.2 percentage points, but still June 29, 2026

Young Koreans take their revote campaign to university district SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) -Young South Koreans demanding an investigation into the June 3 presidential election over ballot shortages have shifted their protest to Seoul's university district as the movement's original rally site in Jamsil has increasingly come to be dominated by hard-line conservative activists. The steady beat of drums drew curious glances from pedestrians in Hongdae on Saturday as hundreds of young demonstrators marched through one of Seoul's busiest com June 29, 2026

KOSDAQ nearly 7% higher ahead of major infrastructure spending SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) -South Korea's junior KOSDAQ index stole the limelight amid broad retreat in Asia, gaining more than 6 percent Monday morning on expectations of the government's unveiling of mega industrial projects led by Samsung Electronics and SK Group expected to announce private-sector investments that could exceed 1 quadrillion won over the next decade. President Lee Jae Myung is set to chair a national briefing later in the day outlining the projects, which c June 29, 2026

K-AI models take root from broadcasting to public administration SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - South Korean firms are widening the reach of homegrown artificial intelligence, deploying domestically built models across sectors including television production, government work, and chip-powered sovereign computing. The Ministry of Science and ICT disclosed Monday a series of field cases showing how the country's so-called 'K-AI' models, developed under a state-backed sovereign AI drive, are moving from the lab into everyday industrial and publi June 29, 2026

South Koreans to have slightly more days off next year SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - South Koreans with a five-day workweek will get 72 holidays next year, two more days than this year. According to next year's calendar released by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute on Monday, there will be 52 Sundays and 24 annual public holidays including substitute days off in 2027. If additional Saturdays off are counted, there will be 124 days off work. But several holidays including Labor Day (May 1), Constitution Day (July 17), June 29, 2026

Nexon Games to bring 'Blue Archive' to Korean craft art SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Nexon Games announced it will support the creation of craft artworks based on its popular subculture mobile game "Blue Archive," joining a social contribution project run by the Nexon Foundation. The studio signed a memorandum of understanding on June 26 with the Nexon Foundation and the Korea Ceramic Foundation to launch the initiative, dubbed "Borderless: Craft Archive." The three parties will oversee artwork production, exhibitions an June 29, 2026

LG AI Research secures ISO 27001 certification for entire AI lifecycle SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - LG AI Research has obtained the ISO 27001 certification for its entire artificial intelligence operations, seeking to accelerate its push into highly regulated sectors, the company said on Monday. The ISO 27001 is a leading international standard for information security management systems. The newly acquired certification covers the research center's full AI lifecycle, ranging from planning large language models and processing training data to deploying June 29, 2026

Ryu Hae-ran captures maiden LPGA major title in breakthrough victory SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) - Golfer Ryu Han-ran on Sunday won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship to claim the first LPGA major title of her career. In the fourth and final round at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, the 25-year-old carded a 2-under 70 to finish at 13-under 275, securing her long-awaited maiden major championship. She also became the first South Korean to win the tournament since Amy Yang claimed the title two years ago. The win came after an imp June 29, 2026