Container ship orders surge, defying global shipping slowdown

SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - Global orders for container ships surged in early 2025, defying broader trends in the maritime industry and signaling a shift driven by environmental regulations and geopolitical trade tensions. As of the first week of May, new container ship orders reached approximately 1.65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), nearly equaling the 20-year annual average of 1.71 million TEUs, according to industry data released Wednesday. That figure represents a 285 pe

May 14, 2025

LG Electronics expands global 'Life's Good' campaign with community initiatives

SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - LG Electronics is broadening the reach of its global brand campaign, “Life’s Good,” with a series of initiatives aimed at fostering environmental stewardship and social engagement across several continents. In the United States, LG’s North American headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has taken a hands-on approach to urban ecology. Employees recently installed more than 150 handcrafted bird nests on company grounds and at their own

May 14, 2025

Protesters get prison terms for violent court intrusion

SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - Two far-right YouTubers were sentenced to prison terms on Wednesday for resorting to violence in a protest against disgraced former President Yoo Suk Yeol's arrest over his botched martial law debacle late last year. The Seoul Western District Court handed down a sentence of one and a half years in prison to a 35-year-old man surnamed Kim, and a one-year sentence to another man in his late 20s surnamed So, for their violent intrusion into the court building

May 14, 2025

Lee Jae-myung urges Busan voters to hold PPP accountable in election

SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung called on voters in the southern port city of Busan to deliver a clear judgment on the People Power Party (PPP), taking direct aim at the conservative bloc for its support of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Speaking at a campaign rally in Seomyeon on Wednesday, Lee described Busan as a city with a proud democratic history and urged its citizens to reflect on the PPP’s role in backing Yoon, who w

May 14, 2025

PHOTOS: 'Korea Day' marked at Osaka Expo with arrival of historic ship

SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - A celebration of Korean culture and history unfolded at the Osaka Expo on Tuesday with the observance of "Korea Day," a designated event by organizers to honor participating nations. The centerpiece of the commemoration was the arrival ceremony and performances highlighting the Joseon Tongsinsa vessel, a historical symbol of diplomatic exchange between Korea and Japan. The ship represents the official envoys dispatched by the Joseon Dynasty's monarch to Jap

May 14, 2025

Presidential candidates embrace cryptocurrency as major campaign issue

SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - Cryptocurrency has emerged as a central campaign issue, with major presidential candidates pledging sweeping regulatory reforms — including the approval of spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — ahead of the June 3 election. Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party and Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party have each unveiled ambitious digital asset agendas aimed at expanding access to crypto markets and integrating the

May 14, 2025

SK hynix tops Korea's corporate rankings, surpassing Samsung, Hyundai

SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - SK hynix has emerged as South Korea’s top-performing company, overtaking Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor in a prominent annual corporate management evaluation. The memory chip manufacturer claimed the No. 1 position for the first time in six years, earning 622.9 out of a possible 800 points in the latest assessment by CEO Score, a firm that tracks corporate performance. The results were released on Wednesday. Samsung Electronics held steady in

May 14, 2025

N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects special military drill

SEOUL, May 14 (AJP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a special military drill on Tuesday that included a joint firepower demonstration featuring armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons, and drones, according to state media. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Wednesday that Kim visited a training camp under the capital city defense force, where he observed a demonstration involving various military systems and training officers. During the visit, Kim reportedl

May 14, 2025

INTERVIEW: SNU professor explains why Pansori resonates beyond words

SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - When Anna Yates-Lu first sat down for a live Pansori performance, she barely understood a word. At the time, she had studied Korean for just six months and couldn’t keep up with the subtitles and the stage at the same time. But that didn’t matter. “The sound alone completely captivated me,” she said in an interview with Aju Press on May 9. “I didn’t need to understand the words. The voice, the gestures, the rhythm. All of i

May 13, 2025

SK Earthon expands resource development in Southeast Asia

SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - SK Earthon, the energy resource development unit of SK Innovation, is ramping up its presence in Southeast Asia, with Vietnam emerging as a focal point in the company’s ambition to become a global player in oil and gas exploration. The company is pursuing a “clustering strategy” in Vietnam, a country estimated to hold 4.4 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves. The approach echoes SK Earthon’s long-running operations in Peru, where it

May 13, 2025