Hwang You-min wins Lotte Championship and entry to LPGA Tour SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - Hwang You-min became the sixth South Korean player to win on the LPGA Tour this year, capturing her maiden title at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii on Saturday. The 22-year-old clinched victory at the Hoakalei Country Club in Oahu with a final-round 5-under 67, finishing at 17-under 271 overall. The win immediately secures her LPGA Tour membership, though she has the option to defer it until the start of the 2026 season. Hwang earned a winner’s October 5, 2025

South Korea sees surge in online drug trafficking cases, most found on X SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - The number of online drug trafficking cases referred to police by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has risen to its highest level in five years, with most illegal activity detected on X, formerly known as Twitter. According to data released by Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Mi-hwa on October 5, the MFDS reported 85 cases of online narcotics trafficking to investigative agencies between January and August this year. That figure October 5, 2025

Pyongyang unveils new weapons, warns Seoul and Washington at military exhibition SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country will continue to strengthen its military capabilities to counter what he called growing threats from the United States and South Korea, as he opened a major military hardware exhibition in Pyongyang showcasing new missile systems, including what appears to be a hypersonic variant of the KN-23. The exhibition, titled "Defence Development-2025," opened in the North Korean capital on October 4 to mar October 5, 2025

Government restores 132 systems after Daejeon data center fire, mobile ID service back online SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - Ten days after a massive fire crippled South Korea's main government data network, 132 of the 647 affected information systems have been restored, including 22 top-priority platforms, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on October 5, 2025. As of 6 a.m. Sunday, the overall recovery rate stood at 20.4 percent, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous day. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said that the parti October 5, 2025

Breakfast habits change in South Korea as more young adults skip morning meals SEOUL, October 05 (AJP) - Breakfast is falling out of favor in South Korea, especially among young adults, according to new government data showing a steady rise in people skipping their morning meal. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Sunday in its 2024 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey released on October 5, 2025, that 35.3 percent of Koreans aged one and older did not eat breakfast regularly last year. That means more than one in three October 5, 2025

PHOTOS: Parade marks National Foundation Day SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - On Oct. 3, Kukhakwon members held a commemorative parade from Anguk-dong Rotary to Jonggak in Seoul’s Jongno District, followed by a ceremony to mark National Foundation Day. The holiday, known as “the day the sky opened,” commemorates the founding of Gojoseon, the first Korean state established by Dangun Wanggeom, and celebrates the beginning of Korean history. October 3, 2025

President Lee urges humanitarian progress on divided families SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung said on October 3 that communication among divided families must move forward and pledged to ask North Korea to treat the matter on humanitarian grounds. Lee invited eight displaced people to the Peace Observatory in Ganghwa, Incheon, on the first day of the Chuseok holiday. He told them decades of separation between relatives were the result of political failures and vowed to work toward improving inter-Korean relations. " October 3, 2025

Korean automakers turn out sales growth despite US tariffs SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - South Korea’s five major automakers posted a 5.4 percent increase in sales in September from a year earlier, overcoming stronger U.S. tariffs and partial union strikes at home. The companies shipped 683,150 vehicles last month, up 5.4 percent from a year ago, according to disclosures.Hyundai Motor sold 66,001 units domestically, up 18.3 percent, and 306,297 units overseas, up 6.4 percent, buoyed by robust performance of its key brands. “Ou October 3, 2025

LG Energy Solution to resume US trips one month after detention of S. Korean workers SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - LG Energy Solution is sending staff back to the United States, ending a one-month freeze on business travel triggered by the mass detention of South Korean workers at its joint battery plant in Georgia. The move signals a step toward normalizing operations for South Korea’s battery industry, which had been rattled by the unprecedented crackdown. The company announced on October 2 that it would restart trips gradually after the Chuseok holiday, South October 3, 2025

Survey shows 80% of South Koreans reject U.S. upfront demand in tariff talks SEOUL, October 03 (AJP) - A strong majority of South Koreans believe Washington's demand for a $350 billion upfront investment in the ongoing tariff negotiations is unfair, according to a survey of 1,008 people aged 18 and older, conducted by pollster Realmeter. The poll found that 80.1 percent of respondents said the demand was unreasonable. Within that group, 61.4 percent called it "very unreasonable" and 18.7 percent said it was "somewhat unreasonable." October 3, 2025