• 
  KAIST professor Choi Won-ho receives top plasma engineering prize SEOUL, December 05 (AJP) - The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said on December 5 that Professor Choi Won-ho of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering has received the K-T Rie Award at the Asian-European Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering, known as AEPSE 2025, one of the leading global gatherings in applied plasma science and engineering. The K-T Rie Award is presented every two years to an international researcher who has made notable contribut December 5, 2025
• 
  K-wave, riding past China's "Big Ban" China’s internet, fortified by its “Great Firewall,” blocks the platforms through which much of the world consumes culture — YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, Instagram. Yet Korean dramas, music, and entertainment continue to find audiences there, slipping through the cracks via VPNs, unofficial downloads, and fan-run networks. This quiet persistence offers a window into China’s cultural ecosystem, and into the limits of state control. Korean pop December 5, 2025
• 
  Samsung Heavy signs deals in US to boost role for MASGA SEOUL, December 05 (AJP) - Samsung Heavy Industries is deepening its shipbuilding cooperation with the United States, targeting next-generation naval support ships and liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels as part of an expanded push into the U.S. market. At the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans this week, Samsung signed a three-way business cooperation agreement with U.S. shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO and South Korean engineering firm DSEC. The agreement covers col December 5, 2025
• 
  Seoul Metro increases subway trains as heavy snow disrupts commuters SEOUL, December 5 (AJP) - More subway trains were put into service during the morning rush hour in Seoul on Friday to prevent delays and disruptions caused by heavy snowfall the previous night. Seoul Metro said, "To minimize inconvenience due to snow, we increased the number of trains between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m." The capital and other metropolitan areas saw their first snow of the winter the previous day, with more than 5 centimeters falling in just a few hours, paralyzing traff December 5, 2025
• 
  South Korea takes steps to safeguard rare earths, critical energy resources SEOUL, December 05 (AJP) - South Korea has launched a national council to stabilize supplies of rare earth elements and expand strategic reserves, amid heightened global supply chain volatility. The council, chaired by Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jeong-gwan, convened for the first time on Friday with vice-ministers from related ministries to review a comprehensive rare earth supply chain strategy. The body will oversee the government's resource secur December 5, 2025
• 
  When it snows, it downpours in Seoul: first snow causes chaos SEOUL, December 05 (AJP) -Heavy snowfall across Seoul and southern Gyeonggi triggered a wave of accidents and commuter chaos from rush hour in Wednesday evening to late night as icy roads and inadequate snow removal efforts left drivers stranded and public transportation overwhelmed. In Seoul, the first snow has now become something of a pattern: when it snows, it downpours—the second year in a row in which the season’s first flakes arrived as a full-blown snowstorm. December 5, 2025
• 
  Revised Commercial Act adds legal uncertainty to Korea's M&A landscape SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - South Korea’s C-suite and boards must now weigh shareholder rights as heavily as employee considerations under the revised Commercial Act, a shift posing as a setback to bold, owner-driven decision-making long associated with chaebols. The implications of the overhaul were a central focus at a capital markets and M&A seminar hosted in Seoul by law firm Shin & Kim on Thursday, where corporate lawyers and market participants examined how the December 4, 2025
• 
  Korean replaces Chinese as foreign favorite language amid K-pop rise SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - In another sign of Korean pop culture's global reach, Korean has become the sixth most-studied language on Duolingo, one of the world's largest language-learning platforms, increasingly replacing Chinese as a preferred foreign language. According to the 2025 Language Report released Thursday, Korean trailed only English, Spanish, French, Japanese and German in global popularity. It also ranked as the second-fastest-growing language in Western December 4, 2025
• 
  Nikkei soars, KOSDAQ active with robotics helped by Trump's mention SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - Japanese stocks defied concerns over a potential unwinding of the yen carry trade to push back above the 50,000-point threshold, while activity was subdued across most of Asia. South Korea’s KOSPI closed 0.19 percent lower at 4,028.51 on Thursday. After sliding more than 1 percent in early trading, the index pared losses in the afternoon as foreigners took profits and nearly all U.S. megacap tech stocks—excluding AMD—declined overnight. December 4, 2025
• 
  With too many skeletons out of the closet, Coupang founder Kim may have to come out SEOUL, December 04 (AJP) - Coupang earns roughly 90 percent of its estimated $34 billion in revenue from Korea, yet operates and trades as a U.S.-based company often dubbed "Korea's Amazon." Increasingly, however, it resembles something closer to a Chinese tech firm—with opaque recruiting practices and oversight failures that culminated in the mass-scale data leak exposing virtually all of its online shoppers. For negligence and liability related to the loss of December 4, 2025