Annual contest invites participants to share their first encounters with Korean culture SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - A Korean culture-themed annual international contest began accepting entries on Monday, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on Monday. Under the theme "My First K-Culture Moment," this year's “TalkTalk Korea” contest invites foreign nationals worldwide to share how they first encountered Korean culture through videos, photographs, illustrations and written works. Those interested can submit entries by Sept. 28 about ho July 27, 2026

Why Nvidia needs Korea as much as Korea needs Nvidia SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - When Jensen Huang toured Seoul last month, Nvidia's chief executive said he had found a full five-layer AI cake in South Korea. Over the weekend, he stayed true to that discovery, emerging as both the biggest customer and investor in that cake. Nvidia placed itself at the center of South Korea's all-out AI push as Huang headlined the government-hosted AI summit in San Francisco before joining President Lee Jae Myung and Korea's business leaders for July 27, 2026

How AI redrew the chip map and put Korea at its center SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) -The generative artificial intelligence boom has not simply created another semiconductor supercycle. It has redrawn the geography of the global chip industry. Three years after ChatGPT triggered an unprecedented race to build AI infrastructure, South Korea's semiconductor trade map looks markedly different. Taiwan has become Korea's second-largest chip export destination. The Netherlands has overtaken Japan as largest supplier of semiconductor manufa July 27, 2026

Record dollar deposits lift Koreans' foreign currency holdings by $1 bn in June SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) -South Koreans increased their foreign currency deposits by more than $1 billion, or the largest in in four months in June, driven by hefty semiconductor export proceeds and rising funds parked for overseas stock investments. Resident foreign currency deposits at domestic banks reached $113.33 billion at the end of June, up $1.08 billion from a month earlier, according to data released by the Bank of Korea on Monday. The balance was the highest since February. July 27, 2026

NCT 127 to mark 10th anniversary with seventh studio album SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - K-pop boy group, NCT 127 will mark the 10th anniversary of its debut with the release of its seventh studio album, "BLINGY," on Aug. 24, the group's first full-length release since 2024's "Walk." The nine-track album will be released at 6 p.m. KST across global streaming platforms, with physical editions arriving the same day, SM Entertainment said Monday. Preorders opened Monday through online and offline retailers. According July 27, 2026

KakaoBank strike spotlights uncommon union structure SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - KakaoBank employees are set to stage a full-day strike on Friday - in what would be the first labor action by a South Korean online-only bank - after this year's wage negotiations collapsed over performance-based compensation. Instead of belonging to the Korea Financial Industry Union, KakaoBank employees are members of the Kakao chapter of a union representing chemical, textile and food industry workers, which also covers workers across Kakao affiliates July 27, 2026

Lee's approval rating falls again, remains below 50% for six weeks SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell for another week, according to a survey by pollster Realmeter released on Monday. In its survey of more than 2,500 adults nationwide last week, 46.3 percent of respondents said Lee was doing well, down 2.1 percentage points from the previous week. Slightly more respondents or 49.5 percent disapproved of his performance, while 4.2 percent remained undecided. Lee's approval rating has now remained in th July 27, 2026

Seoul to hold petroleum price cap until Gulf tensions ease SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung said South Korea should maintain its ceiling on petroleum prices until instability in the oil market has clearly subsided, signaling that the emergency measure will remain a central part of the government’s response to renewed tensions in the Middle East. “I ask that the petroleum price ceiling remain in place until instability in oil prices has clearly been resolved, and that policy tools such as fuel-tax reductions be ma July 27, 2026

South Korea breaks ground on $791 million light source facility SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - South Korea broke ground on a 1.16 trillion won ($791.5 million) fourth-generation synchrotron radiation facility, a flagship research complex the government hopes will free domestic scientists and industry from reliance on overseas laboratories. The Korea Light Source, or KLS, is being built on a site in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province, and is targeted for completion by the end of 2029, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Basic Science Institute July 27, 2026

SK hynix tops Samsung as students' employer of choice SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - SK hynix has retained its position as the company South Korean university students most want to work for, outpacing Samsung Electronics for a second straight year as the memory chipmaker continues to benefit from strong demand for AI semiconductors. The chipmaker ranked first with 14.2 percent of respondents in a survey of 1,811 university students conducted by recruitment platform Incruit. Samsung Electronics followed with 8.0 percent, while CJ Olive Young, July 27, 2026