Consumer complaints surge against South Korean fashion platforms SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - Consumer complaints against South Korea’s fast-growing online fashion platforms have soared more than 30 percent in the past year, the Korea Consumer Agency said Thursday. The agency said it had logged 1,650 complaints from 2022 through June this year against four of the country’s largest platforms — W Concept Korea, Musinsa, Ably Corporation and Kakao Style. The annual caseload nearly doubled in two years, jumping from 278 in 2022 to 44 August 21, 2025

Korean financial regulator inspects firms hit by ransomware attacks SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - South Korea’s top financial regulator has begun on-site inspections of companies struck by recent ransomware attacks, as concerns mount over the security of consumer data in the country’s financial sector. The Financial Supervisory Service dispatched examiners to SGI Seoul Guarantee, the nation’s leading guarantee insurance provider, and to Welrix F&I Loan, a lending affiliate of Welcome Financial Group, according to industry official August 21, 2025

Lee to put past deals on historical issues to rest ahead of summit with Japanese PM SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung said he will respect past deals with Japan on wartime forced labor and former sex slaves, in an interview with Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun published on Thursday, ahead of his trip to Tokyo later this weekend. Lee said that for many South Koreans it would be "very difficult to accept" but "undesirable to overturn" them, referring to a murky deal struck by the former Park Geun-hye administration in 2015 to settle August 21, 2025

TRAVEL: Hahoe Village in Andong, preserved in time ANDONG, August 21 (AJP) - The village of Hahoe, nestled in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, stands as a living testament to the country's past. Here, traditional tile-roofed houses and thatched-roof homes have been meticulously preserved for centuries, encircled by the flowing Nakdong River. The village's name, Hahoe, literally means "to turn and flow," a reference to the river's distinctive S-shaped embrace of the settlement. At the heart of the village August 21, 2025

[K-Pop] Netflix hit animation director explores heart of Korean cultures and treasures SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - Maggie Kang, director of Netflix’s global hit animation film "K-pop Demon Hunters," visited the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on Thursday, where she explored traditional Korean art and culture alongside museum director Yu Hong-jun. Following the tour, Kang expressed admiration for Korea’s cultural icons, calling the tiger character Derpy “a source of national pride” and praising Korea’s symbolic imagery. K-pop De August 21, 2025

[K-Pop] BTS member Jungkook's song garners 2.5 billion streams on Spotify SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - "Seven," a song by Jungkook, a member of K-pop boy band BTS, has garnered over 2.5 billion streams on the world's largest streaming site Spotify, his management agency BigHit Music said on Thursday. Released in July 2023, the song, a serenade about wanting to spend every day with a loved one, became the first K-pop single to achieve the feat and also set a record by remaining on Spotify's global weekly chart for more than 100 consecutive w August 21, 2025

President Lee Jae Myung meets Bill Gates, discusses SMR and global health cooperation SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met with Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation and co-founder of Microsoft, at the presidential office near central Seoul on Thursday. Lee and Gates' conversation focused on collaboration in global public health, next-generation nuclear energy, and South Korea’s role in emerging industries. Gates, visiting South Korea for the first time in three years, opened the meeting by wishing President Lee well in hi August 21, 2025

[K-Defense] South Korea moves to develop its own electronic warfare aircraft SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - South Korea has taken its first steps toward building a domestically produced electronic warfare aircraft, issuing a $1.38 billion tender that would place the country in a select club of nations able to jam and disable enemy radar systems. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration, South Korea’s arms procurement agency, set up the plan last month under the title “Electronic Warfare Aircraft (Block-I) System Development Project,” acco August 21, 2025

Korean firms shift supply chains to Southeast Asia amid US-China tensions SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - South Korean manufacturers are deepening their presence in Southeast Asia, building factories and export hubs in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam as they seek to reduce dependence on China and navigate shifting global trade rules. The push reflects both rising geopolitical risks and the draw of lower labor costs in a region that has emerged as one of the world’s most attractive alternatives to Chinese manufacturing. Southeast Asian governments are co August 21, 2025

[K-Beauty] Korean cosmetics manufacturer Cosmax to set up India subsidiary SEOUL, August 21 (AJP) - Cosmax, the world’s largest cosmetics manufacturer, said it will establish a subsidiary in Mumbai, India, by the end of 2025, underscoring the company’s ambitions to make India a key pillar of its next stage of global expansion. The South Korean company, a leading provider of original design manufacturing (ODM) services for international brands, outlined the plan during an investor relations meeting in Seoul on Wednesday. Founder and Chairman L August 21, 2025