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  JYP Entertainment's new boy band set for debut next week SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - Seven-member boy band KickFlip will make their debut next week. "KickFlip will kick off their activities on Jan. 20 with the release of their first mini album, 'Flip It, Kick It!'," said their agency JYP Entertainment on Wednesday. Comprising five South Koreans and two Japanese, a couple of them including rapper Kyehoon have gained some recognition through their appearance on terrestrial broadcaster SBS' audition program "LOUD," January 15, 2025
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  Korea's imported car market shrinks for second straight year SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - South Korea's imported car market contracted for the second year in a row in 2024, marking the first such downturn since the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, according to data released Wednesday by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA). New registrations of imported passenger vehicles fell 2.9 percent to 263,288 units in 2024, down from 271,034 units the previous year. This follows a 4.4 percent decline in 2023. January 15, 2025
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  Hyundai E&C to introduce Korea's first autonomous delivery robots for apartments SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - Hyundai Engineering & Construction will become the first South Korean construction company to commercialize autonomous door-to-door delivery robots, a system designed to handle packages, food delivery, and even security patrols in residential complexes. The company said Wednesday its integrated indoor-outdoor autonomous delivery service, developed in collaboration with Mobinn, a robot startup affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, will debut at a high-e January 15, 2025
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  PHOTOS: What makes Sangju's staple dried persimmons special   SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - Dried persimmons are among the most delectable winter delicacies for many South Koreans, with roughly 60 percent of their output coming from Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province. Farmers in Sangju usually get busy in mid-October as they start peeling persimmons and drying them for about two to three months, just before the chilly winter wind begins to blow. Persimmons, a versatile fruit eaten either fresh or dried, are harvested in late autumn w January 15, 2025
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  PHOTOS: Investigators try again to detain Yoon SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and police made a second attempt early Wednesday to execute an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, following the failure of their initial effort 12 days earlier on Jan. 3. At around 4 a.m., CIO investigators and police arrived near the presidential residence, where a standoff quickly developed. Initial physical clashes with the Presidential Security Service occurred but have since de-escalat January 15, 2025
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  Investigators negotiate with Yoon's legal team over arrest warrant execution SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) announced during a press briefing at around 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday that it is negotiating with President Yoon Suk Yeol’s legal team regarding the execution of an arrest warrant. At approximately 5:00 a.m., about 500 investigators — including CIO officers, police, and detectives — arrived at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, near central Seoul, to execute arrest w January 15, 2025
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  Silicon Valley hosts Korean entrepreneurs for startup summit REDWOOD CITY, January 13 (AJP) - The United Korean Founders (UKF) 82 Startup Summit brought together over 1,100 Korean entrepreneurs from around the globe in Silicon Valley on Jan. 10. The summit, one of the largest overseas Korean startup communities, highlighted the crucial role of innovation in driving Korea's economic growth. "Korean startups are not just thriving. They are becoming a source of hope and pride, achieving significant milestones in Silicon Valley,&quo January 14, 2025
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  BTS' explosive hit song achieves new milestone with 2 billion streams on Spotify SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - K-pop juggernaut BTS' hit song "Dynamite" has garnered over 2 billion streams on Spotify. According to their agency BigHit Music on Tuesday, the septet boy band became the first K-pop act to achieve the milestone on the world's largest music streaming site with a single track. Known for its upbeat rhythm, the song helped them reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 at the time of its release in 2020 and also earned a Grammy nomination th January 14, 2025
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  Constitutional Court rejects Yoon's request to exclude justice amid alleged bias concerns SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - The Constitutional Court of Korea on Tuesday unanimously rejected President Yoon Suk Yeol's request to exclude Justice Jeong Gye-seon from the bench overseeing his impeachment trial. Jeong, a newly appointed justice who joined the bench earlier this month after being nominated by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), is part of the panel handling the trial over Yoon's botched martial law debacle last month. The court said that Yoon's req January 14, 2025
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  Dried seaweed prices double on soaring global demand SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - The price of dried seaweed in South Korea nearly doubled in 2024 compared to the previous year, driven by surging global demand and robust exports, according to the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives on Tuesday. Data from 214 fisheries auction houses nationwide revealed a 4 percent increase in the trading volume of dried seaweed, known locally as "gim," to 536,000 tons in 2024. However, the trading value skyrocketed by 88 percent to January 14, 2025