Families return to a quiet Itaewon alley with unanswered questions SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Tucked between the European-style cafes and bars of Itaewon, the alley remains in shadow even in daylight. About four meters wide and 40 meters long, it usually draws little more than passing foot traffic. On Wednesday, people came to linger. A day before the fourth anniversary of South Korea’s deadliest crowd crush, bereaved families and other visitors returned to the narrow passage in Seoul’s nightlife district to r October 28, 2026

Seoul ends legal fight over Elliott arbitration award SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - South Korea has decided not to challenge an international arbitration ruling ordering it to pay approximately 153 billion won ($114 million) to U.S. investment fund Elliott Management, the government announced Wednesday. The decision follows a September 30 ruling that upheld Elliott's claim for damages over the controversial 2015 merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. The tribunal ordered South Korea to pay approximately $48.49 million in October 28, 2026

Won slides as hawkish Fed concerns lift dollar SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) — South Korea's won closed down 14.0 won at 1,337.7 per dollar Wednesday as a stronger dollar and concerns over hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve outweighed strong domestic equity gains. The local currency weakened sharply from Tuesday's close of 1,323.7, reversing part of a recent rally that had pushed the won toward its strongest levels in about two years. The won opened at 1,326.0 per dollar before losses accelerated during the se October 28, 2026

S. Korea, US defense chiefs meet amid wartime command dispute SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul met U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for the first time in the Philippines on Wednesday, amid differences over the timing of transferring wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul. The meeting took place in Cebu, where both ministers are attending the 13th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), scheduled for Thursday. South Korea's defense ministry released photographs of the two minis October 28, 2026

Samsung's brand value tops $100 billion, keeps No. 5 spot globally SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics' brand value rose 16 percent to US$105.2 billion this year, keeping it at No. 5 in the latest rankings of the best global brands by consultancy Interbrand for the seventh consecutive year, the South Korean tech giant said on Wednesday. Its brand value rose from $90.5 billion last year, surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time. Samsung was the only Asian company to remain among the world's five most valuable brands e October 28, 2026

North Korean IPs scan Korean financial firms 4.4 million times SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Internet addresses traced to North Korea probed South Korean financial firms more than 4.4 million times starting Oct. 21, according to a notice financial authorities sent to the industry. The scans began at 3 a.m. that day and combed the firms’ networks for software weaknesses and open ports, authorities said in the notice. It went out through FIRST, the financial sector’s integrated security monitoring system. It is the first official confi October 28, 2026

SK hynix payout carries Seoul's benchmark above 6,000 SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - SK hynix pledged about 100 trillion won ($74.7 billion) in 2026 shareholder returns after the largest quarterly operating profit in its history, and the prospects of Samsung Electronics doling out additional rewards pushed the KOSPI above 6,000 for the first time in 10 sessions. The main index in Seoul jumped 374.1 points, or 6.6 percent, to 6,012.4. Foreign investors and institutions bought a combined 1.78 trillion won ($1.33 billion) of shares as SK October 28, 2026

Cash-rich SK hynix spreads the AI bounty as it sees more to come SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Sitting on cash riches of 115 trillion won ($86.8 billion) from a record-setting earnings streak over the last six quarters, SK hynix is sharing its extraordinary AI dividends with shareholders and employees like no other company and defying worries about excessive AI spending by bulldozing ahead with facility expansion. SK hynix is doling out about 100 trillion won in shareholder returns this year alone, including a 40 trillion won buyback completed earl October 28, 2026

AJP On-site: Korean biotech gets hands-on in AI's shadow SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - A glove at the Samsung Bioepis booth turned a reporter's fingers stiff as plaster at BIX 2026 in Seoul on Wednesday. The knuckles would barely bend. The glove simulates the difficulty of moving hands affected by severe rheumatoid arthritis. Even with it on, pulling the cap off the company's pen-type injector took just a flick of the thumb. Pressed against a silicone skin model, the device released its spring-loaded needle with a sharp click. & October 28, 2026

Births rise for 26th month but population keeps shrinking SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - The number of babies born in South Korea continued to rise in August, extending its upward trend for more than two years. According to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Wednesday, the number of newborns in August stood at 23,703, up 2,720 or 13 percent, from a year earlier and the highest figure for the month since 2019, marking the 26th consecutive month of increase since July 2024. The total fertility rate, which gauges t October 28, 2026