Made-in-Korea brands epitomise the rise of Asia's integrated value chain SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - A Samsung Galaxy phone can no longer be described as “made in Korea” in any literal sense. Battery materials mined in Indonesia, memory chips manufactured in Korea, components sourced from Japan and final assembly in Vietnam or India all feed into a device that takes weeks to complete and crosses multiple borders before reaching a consumer. The smartphone illustrates how Samsung Electronics has secured its position at the premium end of the g December 1, 2025

K-pop may have to lose the "K" as it sits as a genre, not a category SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - K-pop has broken a historic barrier at the Grammy Awards — one of the highest measures of global music recognition — entering a "Big Four" category for the first time. Since the Grammys began in 1959, no Korean artist had ever been nominated in any of the major categories. That changed when the Recording Academy announced its 68th Grammy nominees in early November, naming BLACKPINK's Rosé, the OST "Golden" from December 1, 2025

South Koreans attempt catchup in AI race between U.S.–China with early-adoption strategy SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - South Koreans are the world’s second largest paid users of ChatGPT after Americans and six out of ten young employees daily incorporate AI assistance for their tasks, which explains why AI frontier players Nvidia and OpenAI value Korea as a crucial market despite its humble standing between superpowers U.S. and China. Despite its IT advances and heavy R&D spending ratio against GDP, South Korea has not a single domestically developed model to boa December 1, 2025

PHOTOS: South Korea enters winter season SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) – South Korea is entering the full winter season, with cold northern air sweeping across the country. Seoul’s morning low stood at 3.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday, a drop of 6 degrees from the previous day. Signs of winter have begun to appear across the capital as well. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said a stronger surge of cold air from the north will bring a pronounced cold wave from the middle of the week, with brisk winds furt December 1, 2025

LG Electronics named best TV brand in Europe SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - LG Electronics said on Monday it was selected as best TV brand at the Euroconsumers Awards 2025, an honor determined by expert testing and consumer satisfaction surveys across Europe. The awards are jointly hosted by consumer media outlets from Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Brazil, all members of ICRT, an alliance of 37 consumer organizations including U.S.-based Consumer Reports and UK-based Which?. This marks the first year the seven-year-old awa December 1, 2025

Fast-track immigration at Inchon Airport now available for travelers from 18 countries SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - Eighteen countries are now eligible for automated immigration clearance, up from four, the Ministry of Justice said on Monday. The move aims to shorten waiting times for foreign visitors entering the country. The newly eligible countries include Australia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the U.K., and others. The ministry said, "We December 1, 2025

Asian markets mixed as BOJ rate-hike fears hit Tokyo shares SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Asian stock markets closed mixed on Monday, with Japanese shares tumbling on renewed speculation that the Bank of Japan may soon raise interest rates. In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI slipped 0.2 percent to 3,920.37, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ rose 1.1 percent to 922.38. Institutional investors offloaded a net 233 billion won ($158 million) worth of shares, outweighing net purchases of 53 billion won by retail investors and 216 billion won by foreigners. December 1, 2025

Korean memory makers set to benefit whoever wins in GPU vs TPU SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - As Google’s tensor processing unit (TPU) rises as a formidable challenge to Nvidia’s near-monopoly in AI computing, the clearest signals of how the rivalry is unfolding may not be found in the chips themselves, but in the earnings and order books of Korea’s two memory giants: Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Samsung is said to have supplied more than 60 percent of the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in Google’s TPU designs throu December 1, 2025

Coupang's meteoric rise meets its most serious stress test yet SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Coupang’s latest data leak has renewed scrutiny of the South Korean e-commerce giant, underscoring concerns that its operational systems have not kept pace with its rapid expansion. The company said on Monday that 33.7 million user accounts were affected — an extraordinary figure showing the breach could have affected nearly the country's entire population. The disclosure comes as Coupang remains under pressure over workplace safety fo December 1, 2025

NewJeans drop social media moniker ahead of comeback after legal dispute SEOUL, December 1 (AJP) - K-pop girl group NewJeans has deleted their short-lived social media account used during their dispute with management agency ADOR, sparking anticipation for their impending comeback. The account under the name of "NJZ," which served as the quintet's main channel to communicate with fans, is no longer accessible as of Monday. The girls created the account earlier this year under their own new name to rebrand themselves amid escalating ten December 1, 2025