NCT 127 to appear on 'America's Got Talent' SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - K-pop boy group NCT 127 will appear as a special guest on NBC's "America's Got Talent" next week, adding a high-profile U.S. television stage to the rollout of its upcoming seventh full-length album, "BLINGY," SM Entertainment said Thursday. The group is set to perform during the live broadcast on Aug. 19, U.S. time, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. The performance comes five days before "BLING August 13, 2026

Satellite antenna maker jumps 41% in KOSDAQ debut SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) — Shares of South Korean satellite communications equipment maker KNS Inc. surged on their KOSDAQ debut Thursday, trading more than 40 percent above their initial public offering price. The stock was trading at 15,480 won ($10.93) as of 2:37 p.m., up 40.73 percent from its IPO price of 11,000 won. It more than doubled to an intraday high of 24,600 won before giving back some of the gains. The strong debut comes as the company expands from commercial August 13, 2026

Seoul defends nuclear submarine plan against Pyongyang's warning SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - South Korea's planned nuclear-powered submarines will carry only conventional weapons and sit entirely within the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday, rejecting North Korea's warning that the program will set off a nuclear domino across the Asia-Pacific. The position rests on a document the Ministry of National Defense released on May 26, the first time Seoul set out publicly how it intends to build and o August 13, 2026

Korea's July auto exports hit record as eco-friendly cars drive gains SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - South Korea's auto exports reached a record high for July, led by stronger shipments of eco-friendly vehicles to North America and Europe even as domestic sales barely grew, government data showed Thursday. Auto exports rose 7.0 percent from a year earlier to $6.24 billion in July, the highest figure ever recorded for the month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR). The previous July highs were $5.90 bill August 13, 2026

Sejong Center to stage Korean premiere of Chong Wishing's 'Sumire Hair Salon' SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - Sejong Center for the Performing Arts will stage the Korean premiere of "Sumire Hair Salon," the final work in playwright and director Chong Wishing's trilogy on Zainichi Koreans, from Sept. 12 to Oct. 3 at Sejong M Theater in central Seoul. The play closes a trilogy Chong developed over roughly two decades, following "Like a Flower Blooming in a Field" and "Yakiniku Dragon" the 2008 family drama that won him the Asahi P August 13, 2026

Central Asia emerges as South Korea's AI frontier SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) -South Korea wants to become one of the world's top three artificial-intelligence powers, and Central Asia may offer something lacking at home - ample space, energy and governments willing to build the physical infrastructure that AI requires. But Seoul is arriving at a market where U.S., Gulf, Chinese and Japanese players are already staking out positions. Kazakhstan is planning a data-center zone with eventual capacity of 1 gigawatt. Uzbekistan is August 13, 2026

Tax watchdog raids KB Kookmin Bank in latest audit of financial sector SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - About 30 tax officials from the National Tax Service (NTS) on Thursday raided KB Kookmin Bank to conduct a tax audit. They searched the lender's headquarters in Yeongdeungpo, western Seoul, to secure accounting records and other documents needed for the audit. In the probe, which is expected to continue through the end of this year, the NTS is reportedly looking into suspected tax evasion and other irregularities, although the specific reasons for o August 13, 2026

KOSPI surges 4.1% , outperforms in Asia amid chip-led rally SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - South Korean stocks surged Thursday morning, with the benchmark KOSPI jumping more than 4 percent above the 6,800 mark as foreign investors piled into semiconductor heavyweights, extending a rapid rebound from last month's market rout. The KOSPI stood at 6,847.66 as of 10:30 a.m., up 4.1 percent from the previous session. The index climbed as high as 6,895.63 after touching a low of 6,773.92, leaving an intraday trading range of 121.71 points. F August 13, 2026

Incheon Airport tops world in international passenger traffic for first time SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - Incheon International Airport ranked first in the world for international passenger traffic in the first half of this year, marking the first time it has claimed the top spot since opening in 2001. Incheon International Airport Corp. said Thursday that the airport handled a provisional 38.39 million international passengers from January through June, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier. The figure was the highest among 1,234 airports worldwide, according t August 13, 2026

SK hynix to break ground on chip packaging facility in Indiana SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) -SK hynix is set to break ground later this month on its $3.87 billion advanced semiconductor packaging plant in Indiana, the chipmaker’s first U.S. production base for packaging high-bandwidth memory used in artificial intelligence systems. The West Lafayette project will also include an advanced packaging R&D facility and is scheduled to begin mass production in the second half of 2028. According to industry sources on Thursday, the South Kor August 13, 2026