OPINION: Why Korea Zinc's US smelter deal makes strategic sense SEOUL, December 19 (AJP) - Korea Zinc recently signed a strategic partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Commerce, agreeing to pursue a joint investment to build a large, integrated smelter in Tennessee. The U.S. administration has increasingly treated critical minerals as strategic assets essential to national defense and economic security, elevating supply self-reliance and trusted supply chains to top policy priorities. Against that back December 19, 2025

Kookmin University undergraduates publish SCI paper through UROP research SEOUL, December 19 (AJP) - Two undergraduate students at Kookmin University have published a research paper in an international SCI-indexed journal after participating in the university's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), highlighting the growing role of hands-on research in undergraduate education. Kim Min-su and Lee Jeong-hun, students in the Department of Nanoelectronics and Physics, recently published a paper in Materials, an international journal publis December 19, 2025

OPINION: A Periodic Table war at play The world is already in a war — just not the kind most people picture. There are no gunshots, troop movements or televised front lines. Yet its outcome will shape industrial competitiveness and long-term national resilience. The battlefield is the periodic table. This “periodic table war” is the intensifying global competition for the elements that underpin modern industry and technology: copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite, rare earths, ga December 19, 2025

Kakao releases advanced AI language model Kanana-2 as open source SEOUL, December 19 (AJP) - South Korea's Kakao Corp. said on Friday it has released its next-generation large language model, Kanana-2, as open source. The company said it published the in-house model on Hugging Face, adding that the release showcases technology optimized for building AI agents capable of understanding context and executing tasks autonomously. Kakao began unveiling its Kanana model lineup last year and has since released successive versions as open sourc December 19, 2025

Korea's producer prices accelerate as fuel and chip cost jump SEOUL, December 19 (AJP) -South Korea’s producer prices accelerated in November despite easing international commodity prices, driven by a weaker won and a spike in semiconductor production costs. The producer price index (PPI) rose 0.3 percent from the previous month to 121.31 in November (2020 = 100), extending gains since September, the Bank of Korea said. From a year earlier, the index increased 1.9 percent, accelerating from a 1.6 percent rise in October. By cat December 19, 2025

Seoul, Washington agree to 'speed up' implementation of bilateral agreements SEOUL, December 19 (AJP) - Some progress appeared to have been made in follow-up talks on the comprehensive joint fact sheet signed between Seoul and Washington last month, which outlines agreements on bilateral trade and security. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lak, who met with key U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright earlier this week, reportedly said the two countries agreed to speed up the implementation of the bilateral a December 19, 2025

Hyundai Motor Group sees China sales rebound SEOUL, December 19 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor’s operations in China are showing signs of recovery, supported by rebounding domestic sales and a strategy to turn its Chinese plants into export hubs. The pickup in vehicle production is also lifting parts maker Hyundai Mobis, which is on track to surpass 4 trillion won in China revenue for the first time in five years. Beijing Hyundai Motor, Hyundai’s China joint venture, sold 12,016 vehicles in November, up 71.7 percent December 19, 2025

As South Korea shrinks, Seoul keeps growing - at the nation's expense SEOUL, December 19 (AJP) -South Korea’s growth potential has slipped below a critical threshold. According to the OECD, the country’s potential growth rate has fallen to 1.9% this year and is projected to drop further to 1.7% next year—less than half the pace recorded in the early 2000s. Among 41 OECD economies, South Korea is expected to rank only 24th next year, trailing not only the United States but also smaller, slower-growing peers such as Australia and December 19, 2025

Tax watchdog launches audit of trendy bakery café SEOUL, December 18 (AJP) - The National Tax Service on Thursday launched a special tax audit of trendy bakery café London Bagel Museum, which has come under scrutiny following the death of a young employee in his 20s allegedly due to overwork. According to industry sources, tax authorities raided the café's operator LBM in central Seoul and seized tax-related documents. Specific reasons for the audit were not immediately disclosed, with the tax watchdog saying i December 18, 2025

SK hynix wins Intel certification for 256GB DDR5 server DRAM module SEOUL, December 18 (AJP) - SK hynix said on Thursday it has obtained Intel Data Center certification for its 256GB DDR5 registered dual in-line memory module (RDIMM), becoming the first supplier to validate a 32Gb-based high-capacity DDR5 module on Intel’s latest Xeon 6 server platform. The module is built on the company’s fifth-generation 10-nanometer-class (1b) 32Gb DRAM and is designed for data center servers that require higher memory density as artificial intellig December 18, 2025