Elementary school greets new students through spring entrance ceremony SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - First-grade students wearing paper crowns attend their entrance ceremony for the 2026 academic year at Wonchon Elementary School in Seocho District, Seoul, on Monday. The new students took commemorative photos with their families at a designated photo zone before touring their classrooms and school grounds where they will spend the coming years. Instead of delivering a traditional welcome speech, the school principal read aloud the children’s book March 3, 2026

Middle East Crisis: Brewing oil shock sparks tantrum across Seoul markets SEOUL, Mar 03 (AJP) - Oil supply disruption following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the critical artery through which most Middle Eastern crude flows to Asia — is raising fears of another wave of currency volatility and fuel-driven inflation, analysts warned. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards declared the waterway shut, threatening to “set on fire” vessels entering waters bordering Iran. The strait handles roughly 20 percent of global oil supplies a March 3, 2026

Middle East Crisis: Is Seoul's market binge over — or will it survive? SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) — Is the two-year bull run in Seoul finally running out of steam, or will the market once again absorb an oil shock and move on? Tuesday’s verdict was brutal. The KOSPI plunged 7.24 percent to 5,791.91, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ fell 4.62 percent to 1,137.70 — one of the sharpest single-day routs in recent memory. History offers some comfort. In six major Middle East military crises since 2000, the KOSPI was March 3, 2026

KOSPI rolls back seven days along with sliding Asian markets SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - Asian markets extended losses while Korean market took the biggest fall Tuesday as rising tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran pushed oil prices higher and kept regional risk sentiment fragile. Brent crude climbed to $80.35 per barrel, up from $77.7 a day ago, as concerns grew over potential disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global energy shipments. The waterway accounts for roughly one-fifth of global seaborne cr March 3, 2026

Kookmin University to host international design award in Milan SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - Kookmin University and the Association for Industrial Design (ADI) will co-host the Design Beyond East and West (DBEW) Award 2026, an international competition aimed at redefining the universal values of contemporary design. The university appointed Paola Antonelli, the senior curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), to serve as the jury chair for the event. The award seeks to move beyond geographical and cultural divisions to exp March 3, 2026

First reserve forces training begins amid heightened global tensions SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - Amid growing global uncertainty, this year’s first reserve forces training began on Tuesday in South Korea. As military clashes between Iran and the United States and Israel continue for a fourth consecutive day, reserve troops conducted urban combat drills and video-based simulated live-fire training at the Pyeongtaek–Osan Advanced Reserve Training Center under the Republic of Korea Army 51st Infantry Division in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. March 3, 2026

S. Korea's benchmark KOSPI drops due to war in Middle East SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - The benchmark KOSPI plunged on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions escalated following the outbreak of war between the United States and Iran. The KOSPI closed at 5,791.91, down 452.22 points, or 7.24 percent, from the previous session. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also fell 55.08 points, or 4.62 percent, to finish at 1,137.70. An electronic board at the dealing room of Hana Bank in central Seoul displayed the sharp decline in the benchmark index. March 3, 2026

Middle East crisis: Korea pulled into war axis with 70% oil exposure SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - South Korea sources roughly 70 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East — and about 95 percent of that volume passes through the narrow Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast. Tankers bound for Korea and other Asian destinations must transit the strategic waterway, navigating under the shadow of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has threatened to “set fire” to vessels and “not let a single drop of oil l March 3, 2026

Middle East Crisis: Chipmakers unworried, investors disagree SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - South Korean memory producers do not expect the flare-up in the Middle East to disrupt their unprecedented upcycle, with DRAM prices projected to nearly double in the first quarter from the prior three-month period that already delivered record chip profits. Market tracker TrendForce recently forecast a 90–95 percent quarter-over-quarter surge in conventional DRAM contract prices for the first quarter, driven by sustained artificial intelligence (AI) March 3, 2026

Iranian embassy in South Korea condemns military strikes by US and Israel SEOUL, March 03 (AJP) - The Embassy of Iran in South Korea issued a formal statement on Tuesday strongly denouncing recent military operations by the United States and Israel against Iranian territory. The embassy characterized the air strikes as a criminal act of aggression and a violation of national sovereignty, asserting that Tehran had pursued every available diplomatic avenue to prevent the outbreak of hostilities. The statement follows a large-scale military campaign launch March 3, 2026