Korea maps Artic shipping route but commercial viability in question SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - South Korea’s first container ship to complete an Arctic round trip returned safely to Busan on Sunday, but failed to fill the empty containers, highlighting the commercial challenge behind the shipping milestone. The PanStar Acro returned home after a 50-day voyage between Asia and Europe via the Northern Sea Route without a major incident. But its failure to secure import cargo underscored the difficulty of turning a successful trial into a viable r October 12, 2026

Korea's retail crypto buying remains unfazed in 2026 SEOUL, October 12 (AJP)—South Korean retail investors remained quietly invested in crypto even as it surrendered much of its limelight to equities in 2026. Cumulative investments through automatic crypto purchase programs at three domestic exchanges reached 972.92 billion won ($725.6 million) at the end of August, up 78.9 percent from 543.85 billion won at the end of last year, according to data submitted to Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sang-hyuk. The figures cover Upbit, October 12, 2026

Celltrion's Q3 profit hits record on newer biosimilars SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - Celltrion’s third-quarter operating profit surged 69.2 percent from a year earlier to a record 510 billion won ($380.3 million), powered by higher-margin newer biosimilars, the South Korean drugmaker said in a preliminary earnings filing Monday. Revenue climbed 45.8 percent to 1.5 trillion won, also a quarterly high, and the operating margin widened 4.7 percentage points to 34 percent. Quarterly operating profit topped 500 billion won for the first October 12, 2026

Failing Army servers await Assembly budget decision SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - The South Korean army is experiencing a surge of server failures in its front-line commander network, but the government has cut every won the military requested for next year to start replacing the aging hardware. The Army Tactical Command Information System, known as ATCIS-II, logged about 400 server failures last year, compared with about 10 in 2020, according to military documents on the system’s upgrade project provided by the office of Sung I October 11, 2026

Korean banks had AI hacking warning weeks before data breaches SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - Weeks before hackers used artificial intelligence tools to steal customer data from seven South Korean financial firms, the sector's security agency had walked those firms' security staff through a similar AI attack on a domestic lender, according to documents the agency submitted to a lawmaker. The breaches began in late September. They exposed data on about 40,000 Yegaram Savings Bank customers and about 25,000 Shinhan Bank customers. KB Kookmin October 11, 2026

Weak won lifts BOK's reserve earnings to record SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - South Korea's central bank earned a record 16.9 trillion won ($12.6 billion) from managing its foreign assets in 2025, helped by a weaker won that raised the value of its overseas earnings, data showed Sunday. The total was up 32 percent from 12.8 trillion won in 2024, according to data the Bank of Korea (BOK) submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-wook, who sits on the National Assembly's finance committee. The BOK holds its foreign October 11, 2026

N. Korea marks party anniversary quietly as Kim stays silent SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - North Korea marked the 81st anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on Saturday with a stadium performance instead of a military parade, and leader Kim Jong-un let the day pass without a speech or written message, state media reported Sunday. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and Rodong Sinmun, the party’s newspaper, reported that Kim watched the show at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and their daughter, and e October 11, 2026

Starbucks regains top spot in Korea after Tank Day scandal SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - Card spending at Starbucks in South Korea climbed back to first place among coffee chains in September, five months after a promotion that recalled the bloody 1980 crackdown in Gwangju set off a nationwide boycott. Starbucks Korea took in an estimated 121.08 billion won ($90.1 million) in credit and debit card payments last month, according to Mobile Index, a data service run by IGAWorks, released Sunday. That was up 4.3 percent from August and marked a t October 11, 2026

IKBIC forum seeks stronger India-Korea startup, business ties SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - An India-Korea business forum in Seoul brought together diplomats, business leaders and startup representatives from more than 10 countries to discuss investment, market access and cross-border cooperation. The India-Korea Business and Innovation Corridor, or IKBIC, hosted the event on Oct. 9 at Seoul Startup Hub Changdong with several partner organizations, including Indian Students and Researchers in Korea and the Indian Economic Trade Organization. & October 11, 2026

Holiday crowds flock to Busan's stranded shark SEOUL, October 10 (AJP) - Holiday crowds packed Busan's North Port on Saturday, the second day of a three-day Hangeul Day weekend, to catch a glimpse of Bukang, an endangered shark that has stayed in a narrow waterfront canal for 23 days. Visitors to North Port Waterfront Park topped 1.2 million as of Friday. On an ordinary day the park drew about 2,000 people. The shark, first spotted on Sept. 18, is a female dusky shark about 3 meters long. The National Institute of Fis October 10, 2026