Korean Air to absorb Asiana, launch new carrier Dec. 17 SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - South Korea’s transport ministry has conditionally approved the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, clearing the way for the country’s two largest full-service carriers to launch an integrated airline on Dec. 17. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday it had completed its review of Korean Air’s application to merge with its subsidiary Asiana under the Aviation Business Act. The two airlines signed a merger a June 25, 2026

S. Korea to retain conscription while expanding tech-focused NCO track SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - A stable career in high-tech military service is the incentive South Korea is dangling to attract young people as it grapples with a shrinking pool of military recruits while facing a persistently hostile North Korea. The outline is to retain the country's decades-old mandatory military service system while giving military-age men greater choice between serving as enlisted conscripts and pursuing a longer-term, technology-focused noncommissioned officer (N June 25, 2026

KOSPI, Nikkei 225 refueled by revived chip fever SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) — The KOSPI moved to the brink of reclaiming the 9,000-point milestone amid a tense market rivalry between the country's two chip heavyweights, while the junior KOSDAQ sank further as bets narrowed on chip infrastructure. The benchmark KOSPI closed up 5.42 percent at 8,930.30 after briefly climbing above the 9,000-point threshold during afternoon trading. Trading was volatile throughout the session. A buy-side sidecar was triggered shortly after t June 25, 2026

Strike looms at Hyundai Motor after mediation fails SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) -The labor union of South Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Co., secured the legal right to strike on Thursday after labor authorities suspended mediation in the company's wage negotiations, raising another labor risk at a major industrial workplace following Samsung Electronics. According to Hyundai Motor and its union, the National Labor Relations Commission decided to suspend mediation in the dispute, concluding that the gap between labor and June 25, 2026

Seoul turns to water-spraying drones as lovebug season returns SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - Strange insects known as lovebugs have started swarming park pathways and hiking trails, prompting the Seoul Metropolitan Government to deploy water-spraying drones ahead of their expected mass appearance this summer. City officials on Thursday tested the drones in areas around Mt. Bulamsan in northwestern Seoul on Thursday, where large numbers of lovebugs have been spotted, before deploying them in heavily infested areas. Complaints have surged in recent y June 25, 2026

KAIST works on brain-to-robot system for paralysis patients SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - People with quadriplegia currently depend on clinical settings and human assistance to carry out basic physical tasks. A South Korean research consortium has begun developing a system intended to connect the human brain directly to a full-body robotic exoskeleton and route sensations captured by the robot back to the user's nervous system, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Thursday. Brain-computer interface technology has alread June 25, 2026

US assets make up nearly half of Korea's external financial holdings SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - South Korea's financial exposure to the United States topped $1 trillion for the first time last year as Wall Street's rally deepened the country's tilt toward Uncle Sam assets. The Bank of Korea said Thursday that Korea’s external financial assets, excluding reserve assets, rose by $344.8 billion from a year earlier to $2.44 trillion at the end of 2025. The United States accounted for $1.15 trillion, or 47.1 percent of the total, t June 25, 2026

More Korean ships clear Hormuz, but hull fouling delays departures SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - Five more Korean-operated vessels stranded inside the Strait of Hormuz have passed through the waterway and resumed normal operations, South Korea’s Oceans Ministry said Thursday, reducing the number inside the strait to 13. The five ships are carrying a total of 21 Korean crew members, with one of them bound for South Korea, according to the ministry. A total of 87 Korean nationals remain aboard vessels inside the strait, including 33 serving on fore June 25, 2026

Lee to meet former President Moon at Cheong Wa Dae next week SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung will hold a lunch meeting with former President Moon Jae-in in Seoul next week, Cheong Wa Dae said on Thursday. In a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters that Lee and Moon are scheduled to have lunch at 11:30 a.m. at Cheong Wa Dae on July 1. It will be Lee's first official meeting with Moon since taking office in June last year, drawing attention to what topics the two will discuss. The mee June 25, 2026

Korea's Arirang 6 satellite delayed again SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - South Korea has pushed back the launch of its Arirang 6 Earth observation satellite to at least the second quarter of 2027, a fresh delay that leaves the 370 billion won ($239.8 million) spacecraft grounded for a fifth straight year. The satellite, an all-weather imaging-radar craft capable of distinguishing objects as small as 50 centimeters day or night, was due to fly this year aboard Europe's Vega-C rocket. Development delays in a co-passenger satellit June 25, 2026