Lee Jae-myung bets big on artificial intelligence to revive economy

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series examining the economic campaign promises of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. SEOUL, May 20 (AJP) - South Korea’s Democratic Party presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung, is wagering his economic revival plan on a massive national investment in artificial intelligence, vowing to elevate the country into the ranks of the world’s top AI powers with a bold 100 trillion won ($70.6 billion) initia

May 20, 2025

OPINION: Tajikistan promotes global awareness of the crucial importance of glaciers.

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - The International Conference on Glacier Preservation is scheduled to take place in Dushanbe from May 29 to 31 in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly Resolution declaring 2025 as the International Year of Glacier Preservation. The aim of this international conference is to raise global awareness about the crucial importance of glaciers and to prevent their accelerated melting. It seeks to promote international cooperation and joint actions, sci

May 19, 2025

South Korean expats to begin voting for new president this week

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - Overseas voting for the June 3 presidential election is set to begin on Tuesday at some 223 polling stations in 118 countries around the world, election watchdog National Election Commission (NEC) said on Monday. Some 258,254 overseas South Koreans will be eligible to vote over a six-day period that runs until next Monday, at around 182 embassies and consulates abroad, along with some 41 newly added polling stations set up for military units dispatched to Leban

May 19, 2025

SK Telecom breach exposes nearly 27 million subscriber records

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - Nearly all customers of SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest wireless carrier, may have been affected by a major cybersecurity breach that exposed nearly 10 gigabytes of sensitive subscriber identification data, the government said on Monday. A joint investigation by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) found that the breach compromised more than 26.95 million subscriber identification numbers — a figure t

May 19, 2025

Poultry imports from Brazil suspended over bird flu concerns

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - South Korea has suspended imports of poultry from Brazil following an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the South American nation. The suspension, which took effect for shipments departing Brazil on or after May 16, includes hatching eggs, table eggs, day-old chicks, poultry meat and related products, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Monday. For shipments made after May 1 but before the ban's effec

May 19, 2025

Teen South Korean baseball player signs with Texas Rangers

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - Teen baseball player Kim Seong-jun has signed with the Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball in the U.S. Announcing their deal with Kim as an international free agent, the Rangers said on Sunday, "Kim, a shortstop and right-handed pitcher, is in his final year at Gwangju Jeil High School in South Korea and will graduate in January 2026, at which point he will join the organization." "We're so excited about , a world-class talent and

May 19, 2025

Samsung OLED TVs receive Nvidia G-SYNC Compatible certification

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics said its 2025 OLED television lineup has received Nvidia’s "G-SYNC Compatible" certification, a move the company says reinforces its position in the high-end gaming display market. The certification, which ensures smoother gameplay by synchronizing the TV’s refresh rate with a connected graphics card’s frame rate, is the latest in a series of gaming-focused upgrades. The announcement follows Samsung’s ear

May 19, 2025

South Korea downplays market fallout from US credit downgrade

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance convened an emergency meeting on Monday to evaluate the potential ripple effects of Moody’s downgrade of the United States’ sovereign credit rating, concluding that the impact on domestic markets would likely remain limited. The meeting, held via conference call and chaired by Vice Finance Minister Yoon In-dae, came two days after Moody’s Investors Service lowered the U.S. long-term issuer ra

May 19, 2025

Presidential candidates to clash again in televised debate later this week

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - With just two weeks or so left until next month's presidential election, four presidential hopefuls are set to clash once again in another televised debate later this week. During their first televised debate hosted by election watchdog National Election Commission last Sunday, Kim Moon-soo of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), Lee Jae-myung of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), Lee Jun-seok of the minor centrist Reform Party, and Kwon Youn

May 19, 2025

PHOTOS: Coming-of-Age Day

SEOUL, May 19 (AJP) - May 19 is South Korea's Coming-of-Age Day, observed annually on the third Monday of May. Under the nation's civil code, individuals attain adulthood at the age of 19. Historically, the transition to adulthood was marked by traditional ceremonies. For young men, this involved styling their hair in a topknot and donning a gat, a traditional Korean hat. Young women would put their hair up in a chignon and adorn it with a binyeo, an ornamental hairpin. Contempo

May 19, 2025