AI touts in Korean teens' hands are a growing worry for parents SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Gambling used to be a taboo word in South Korea. Real-money betting is prohibited in online games, as are casinos, bingo and lotteries for most citizens. But illegally, online gambling is proliferating — and increasingly invading classrooms. The episode in Netflix's hit drama "Teach You a Lesson," in which an ordinary high school student becomes addicted to gambling, destroys his family life and is eventually pulled into a criminal ri June 24, 2026

BTS' explosive hit song 'Dynamite' amasses 2.1 billion views on YouTube SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - BTS' global megahit song "Dynamite" has amassed more than 2.1 billion views on YouTube, becoming the K-pop juggernaut's most-viewed music video. According to their agency Big Hit Music, the video hit the milestone early Wednesday morning, about nine months after surpassing 2 billion views in September last year. The explosive hit single, which was BTS' first all-English-language song, became their first to achieve the feat. The upbe June 24, 2026

KOSPI rebounds day after record crash SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI rebounded 3.3 percent to close at 8,471.02 on Wednesday, standing apart from a mixed regional session a day after its record crash. The index rose 267.18 points, recovering less than a third of the 910.71 points it lost on Tuesday. The junior KOSDAQ gained 2.0 percent to 909.31. Samsung Electronics powered the bounce, jumping 9.8 percent after it was reported to be mulling a record buyback of $65 billion buyback scheme, while June 24, 2026

Nearly 1 in 5 preschoolers in Seoul are obese, survey finds SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - About one in five preschoolers in Seoul are overweight or obese, according to a recent survey released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday. The city government teamed up with the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity to survey around 6,850 children aged 3 to 5 and assess their overall physical condition through height and weight measurements, along with physical tests to check flexibility and agility. Their average height was 99.10 centimete June 24, 2026

Foreign visitors' card spending in Korea tops $1.4 billion SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Foreign visitors spent a record 2.12 trillion won ($1.4 billion) on credit cards in South Korea in May as cumulative arrivals surpassed 10 million nearly a month earlier than last year, government data showed Wednesday. The May figure, which includes online purchases, marked the first time monthly card spending by foreign visitors exceeded 2 trillion won since data collection began in 2018. Card spending from January through May reached 7.98 trillion wo June 24, 2026

Korea's record birth streak extends to fourth month SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) — South Korea extended its record birth streak this year with four-month tally nearing 100,000 mark for the first time in seven years and helping to bolster the fertility rate closer to 1. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Wednesday, 24,521 babies were born in April, up 3,734, or 18.0 percent, from a year earlier. It was the highest April figure since 2019 and marked the largest year-on-year increase for the month since monthly records June 24, 2026

North Korean soldier crosses border to defect to South Korea SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - A North Korean soldier crossed the military demarcation line overnight, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) here said on Wednesday. "The soldier has been investigated by relevant agencies," the JCS said, without providing further details. But he was reportedly found to have expressed an intention to defect. The last time a North Korean soldier crossed the heavily fortified border to defect was in October last year. That followed two separate defect June 24, 2026

Samsung Elec retakes KOSPI crown on $65 billion buyback plan SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics reclaimed the top spot on South Korea's benchmark KOSPI on Wednesday, ending a two-day reign by rival SK hynix, after unveiling a massive 90 trillion won ($65 billion) stock buyback program over the next three years to support a new employee compensation scheme tied to its AI-driven earnings boom. Samsung Electronics shares closed Wednesday 9.84 percent up at 340,500 won, far outperforming the advances of 3.26 percent in main index an June 24, 2026

Renewables ride the AI power boom, but the grid can't keep up SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Renewables are being fully employed to feed the world's hungry AI data centers as farming Mother Nature is cheap and quick to build. Yet a widening gap between green ambition and grid reality — from Beijing to Naju — is exposing the limits of an energy transition running at full tilt. Global electricity demand from data centers is set to roughly double to about 945 terawatt-hours by 2030 and reach around 1,200 TWh by 2035, the International Ene June 24, 2026

AI K-pop group SweeTeez to releases new single 'Line & View' SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - AI-generated K-pop girl group SweeTeez will roll out its new single "Line & View" on major streaming platforms Wednesday at noon. The single contains two tracks: the title track "Line & View" and "Where You Went, Cloud." Built around synth-pop and future bass, the title track explores repeated encounters and separations between people kept apart by distance and time. The second song deals with remembrance and the cycl June 24, 2026