Kim Jong-un invited to Russia: Russian deputy foreign min SEOUL, September 25 (AJP) - Russia has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit the country, with the timing to be arranged through diplomatic channels, as Moscow and Pyongyang deepen a relationship that has evolved from political alignment into a military alliance. “Kim Jong-un has been invited to visit our country. Russia will always be glad to welcome the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rude September 25, 2026

Park Ji-hyun becomes first Korean actress nominated for International Emmy SEOUL, September 25 (AJP- South Korean actress Park Ji-hyun has become the first Korean woman nominated for an acting prize at the International Emmy Awards, while Disney+ medical thriller “Hyper Knife” gave South Korea a second nomination at this year’s global television honors. Park was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress for her role in Netflix series “You and Everything Else,” according to the International Academy of Television Arts & September 25, 2026

Washington must not be pushed to Beijing's 'correct' stance on Taiwan: congressman SEOUL, September 25 (AJP) -President Donald Trump should resist pressure from Beijing to alter longstanding U.S. policy toward Taiwan, a senior Democratic lawmaker said, after Chinese President Xi Jinping used his state visit to Washington to call on the United States to adopt what Beijing described as the “correct” position against Taiwan independence. “I would hope President Trump upholds our decades-long commitments to the ‘one China’ policy,&rdquo September 25, 2026

Lee regrets Kyiv breaking confidentiality over N. Korean POW transfer SEOUL, September 25 (AJP) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, still on a state visit to Mexico, expressed regret over Ukraine’s public disclosure of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea and pushed back against opposition claims that his government had improperly concealed the sensitive operation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed in his U.N. General Assembly speech that two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia h September 25, 2026

Xi brings pandas, not business deals as Trump rolls out red carpet SEOUL, September 25 (AJP) - Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at the White House to one of the most elaborate welcomes Washington has staged for a foreign leader, but the pageantry produced few immediately visible breakthroughs on the economic and geopolitical disputes dividing the world's two largest economies. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greeted Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan with a red carpet, military honors and a fighter-jet flyover before talks and September 25, 2026

Korea, Mexico seal investment pact overhaul, open oil supply-chain channel SEOUL, September 25 (AJP) - South Korea and Mexico agreed to deepen economic and supply-chain ties spanning oil, critical resources and investment while expanding cooperation into artificial intelligence, aerospace and defense, as President Lee Jae Myung and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sought to give new momentum to relations between the two major manufacturing economies. The two leaders adopted a 2026–2030 Korea-Mexico Joint Action Plan during their summit at the Na September 25, 2026

K-beauty, BTS loom large over first Korean presidential visit to Mexico in 16 years SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) -K-beauty and BTS are set to loom large over President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to Mexico, as South Korea seeks to turn the enormous popularity of Korean culture into deeper business ties with Latin America's second-largest economy. Lee arrived in Mexico City Wednesday for the first state visit by a South Korean president in 16 years, with a summit with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum scheduled for Thursday. While electric vehicles, batt September 24, 2026

North Korea vows "irreversible" nuclear-state status SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) -North Korea vowed Thursday to keep its nuclear weapons “forever,” rejecting a renewed denuclearization push by South Korea, the United States and Japan as Seoul seeks to revive long-stalled dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said Pyongyang's nuclear status was irreversible and would remain unchanged for “a hundred or a thousand years,” according to a statement carried by the state-run Korean September 24, 2026

Chip boom, job squeeze redraw Korea's Chuseok migration SEOUL, Sept. 24 (AJP) — South Korea is booming, with nominal gross domestic product growing at a pace unseen in decades, the stock market up nearly 70 percent and the Korean won about 6 percent stronger than at the end of 2025. But little of that buoyancy can be felt this Chuseok, with youth unemployment hovering near 7 percent as of July and inflation running at around 3 percent. Fewer Koreans are making the traditional journey home. More young adults are staying in Se September 24, 2026

Seoul does not deny Zelensky's claim 2 North Korean POWs sent to South Korea SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed at the United Nations that two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia have been transferred to South Korea, an announcement Seoul stopped short of confirming but did not deny. “Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea,” Zelensky said in his address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. He gave no details on when or how the t September 24, 2026