Korea's job strength mostly led by temp hires in services, youth jobless deepens SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s labor market continued to show an increasingly asymmetric pattern in November, with headline employment gains masking a deepening slump among young adults and a widening pool of NEET (not in education, employment or training) youth. The number of people on payroll reached 29.05 million, up 225,000 from a year earlier, yet employment among those aged 15 to 29 fell by 177,000 over the same period, according to the Ministry of Data and S December 10, 2025

Park Chan-wook's film picks up more nominations at US awards SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Director Park Chan-wook's latest film "No Other Choice" has been nominated for the annual Critics Choice Awards to be presented early next month. Park's 12th feature, adapted from American writer Donald E. Westlake's novel "The Ax," earned two nominations for "Best Adapted Screenplay" and "Best Foreign Language Film." The 139-minute thriller revolves around a man who believes he has achieved everything December 10, 2025

SK Gas, POSCO form alliance to lead push for hydrogen ecosystem SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - SK Gas and POSCO Holdings have launched a new industry alliance aimed at building a domestic blue hydrogen ecosystem in South Korea, as companies and public institutions move to accelerate the transition to lower-carbon energy. The “K-Blue Hydrogen Alliance” was inaugurated on Wednesday at the POSCO Center in Seoul, bringing together 15 organizations including SK Ecoengineering, POSCO, the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancem December 10, 2025

Busan subway to ban e-scooters, high-capacity lithium batteries over fire risk SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Busan plans to ban personal mobility devices and large-capacity backup batteries equipped with high-capacity lithium batteries from its subway system, citing growing fire safety concerns. The Busan Transportation Corporation said on Wednesday it is revising its passenger transport regulations to introduce the ban. The restrictions will apply to personal mobility devices that use lithium batteries and to backup batteries with capacities exceeding 160 wa December 10, 2025

Samsung SDI secures $1.36 billion U.S. deal, marking foray into LFP battery market SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Samsung SDI announced Wednesday its U.S. subsidiary has clinched a deal worth more than 2 trillion won ($1.36 billion) to supply lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to an American energy infrastructure company, Samsung SDI America signed the multi-year contract with an undisclosed U.S. energy infrastructure developer and operator to supply LFP batteries for energy storage systems over three years starting in 2027. The deal represents about 15 percent of December 10, 2025

ChatGPT unrivalled 2025 app winner in Korea SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - OpenAI's generative artificial intelligence ChatGPT was the standout app winner in South Korea this year, expanding user base nearly threefold between January and November, according to analytics firm WiseApp/Retail Wednesday. The AI assistance recorded a 196.6-percent surge in users from January to November, far outpacing growth across Korea's most competitive sectors from ecommerce to beauty and fintech. Other fast risers included bargai December 10, 2025

Asian markets continue to hold breadth until Fed chair speaks SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Asian markets moved cautiously on Wednesday as investors held their breadth ahead of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee decision, due at 6 a.m. Thursday Korean Standard Time, leaving the region in a subdued holding pattern for clues on next year’s rate path. The Korean won was steady at 1,469 per dollar as of 10:50 a.m., with traders perplexed by speculation that the National Pension Service may issue foreign currency–denominated bonds as December 10, 2025

60s movie star Kim Ji-mee dies in US SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Veteran actress Kim Ji-mee, one of the biggest stars of South Korean cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, died of age-related complications in the U.S., film industry sources said Wednesday. She was 85. Born in 1940 in South Chungcheong Province, the prolific actress appeared in around 700 films since making her screen debut in director Kim Ki-young's 1957 film "Twilight Train," with her career spanning from the 1950s through the 1990s. Her pers December 10, 2025

Peru to buy South Korea's K2 battle tanks, armored vehicles in $1.5 billion deal SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Peru has agreed to purchase South Korea’s domestically developed K2 main battle tanks, becoming the first Latin American country to acquire the platform, South Korea’s presidential office said on Wednesday. The contract, valued at about 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion), covers the supply of 54 K2 tanks and 141 armored vehicles, for a total of 195 units, and represents South Korea’s largest-ever defense export to Latin America. If im December 10, 2025

AI sparks a creative rebirth in Korean short films SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s short drama market is undergoing a rapid transformation as artificial intelligence moves from an experimental tool to a full-scale production engine, slashing costs and widening the boundaries of what can be created. At the center of the shift is Vigloo, operated by Spoon Labs, which will release a slate of AI-driven short dramas in 2025, including "My Savior from Hell" and "Seoul: 2053." The projects were dev December 10, 2025