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  US urges allies to increase defense commitments ahead of tariff talks with Seoul SEOUL, April 24 (AJP) - The U.S. called on its allies for "stronger commitments to shared defense" on Wednesday, just a day ahead of its working-level talks with South Korea in Washington. "If the United States continues offering security guarantees and open markets, then our allies must step up with stronger commitments to shared defense," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a forum hosted by the Institute of International Finance later in the day. April 24, 2025
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  Start-Up Chile CEO promotes collaboration with S. Korean startups at Seoul event SEOUL, April 24 (AJP) - Start-Up Chile CEO Javiera Araneda called for deeper cooperation between Chile and South Korea in building a global startup ecosystem on Wednesday during a pitching and networking event held in the southern Seoul district of Gangnam. The event, hosted by the Embassy of Chile in the Republic of Korea at the Global Startup Center, brought together about 60 participants, including startup founders and entrepreneurs from South Korea and other countries. The ses April 24, 2025
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  SK hynix posts soaring profits on surging AI chip demand SEOUL, April 24 (AJP) - SK hynix reported a sharp rise in first-quarter profits on Thursday, fueled by surging demand for advanced memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications. The company’s operating profit jumped 157.8 percent from a year earlier to 7.44 trillion won, or about $5.21 billion, according to a regulatory filing. Revenue rose 41.9 percent to 17.64 trillion won, while net profit soared 323 percent to 8.11 trillion won. “The memory market impr April 24, 2025
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  Alibaba's 26-year rise as Asia's technology titan Editor's Note: This article is the 15th installment in our series on Asia's top 100 companies, exploring the strategies, challenges, and innovations driving the region's most influential corporations. SEOUL, April 24 (AJP) - In 1999, in a small apartment in Hangzhou, eastern China, a former English teacher named Jack Ma gathered 17 friends and associates to launch a new kind of business. Their goal was audacious: to create an online marketplace that would connect Ch April 24, 2025
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  South Korea sees first monthly rise in births in 11 years SEOUL, April 23 (AJP) - South Korea recorded its first year-on-year monthly increase in births in more than a decade in February, offering a rare glimmer of hope in the country’s ongoing demographic crisis. According to data released Wednesday by Statistics Korea, 20,035 babies were born in February, a 3.2 percent increase from the same month last year, or 622 additional births. This marked the first time since 2014 that February births had risen and the largest such incr April 23, 2025
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  Cardinal You Heung-sik named among contenders for next pope SEOUL, April 23 (AJP) - Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, the prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Clergy, has been named one of the top candidates to become the next pope after the death of Pope Francis earlier this week. Italy's largest daily Corriere della Sera on Tuesday listed him 11th among its "12 likely successors to Pope Francis." He was one of two Asians, along with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, among a dozen contenders that included April 23, 2025
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  Retailers battle for supremacy in booming online fresh food market SEOUL, April 23 (AJP) - South Korea’s major retailers are intensifying their push into the fresh food market, a fast-growing segment that has emerged as a critical battleground for both e-commerce and traditional chains. Coupang, the country’s dominant online retailer, is leading the charge. The company has ramped up its investment in fresh food logistics, forging direct partnerships with regional producers across South Chungcheong, South Gyeongsang, and North Gyeongsa April 23, 2025
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  Prosecutors raid Korea Zinc, brokerages in market manipulation probe SEOUL, April 23 (AJP) - Prosecutors raided the headquarters of Korea Zinc and several major brokerage firms on Wednesday as part of a widening investigation into allegations of unfair trading practices tied to a multibillion-dollar rights offering announced last year. Investigators from the Southern Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office carried out search and seizure operations at six corporate offices and five private residences, including those of Korea Zinc executives and bran April 23, 2025
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  PHOTOS: Jeju Island's famed native horses SEOUL, April 23 (AJP) - More than a hundred Jeju horses, designated national treasures, thundered across the verdant expanse of the Mabangmokji pasture near Mount Halla on April 19 and 20, marking a vibrant festival celebrating the island's equine heritage. The event showcased "ipmok," a time-honored Jeju tradition that ritually ushers livestock into new grazing lands or signals the commencement of spring pasturing. The festival aimed to underscore the profound cultural and hist April 23, 2025
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  INTERVIEW: How Korean culture stole Parisian hearts, devoted advocate explains SEOUL, April 23 (AJP) - "France today is completely different from what I once knew," said Lee Il-yeol, chief of the Korean Cultural Center in Paris, as he began his interview with AJP early this month. Reflecting on his time in the late 1980s when he first arrived in the city of light as a student, he said, "Back then, only a small circle of scholars of Asian studies or diplomats had some interest in South Korea, so the center often remained deserted, visited only by April 23, 2025