Korea unveils five-year plan to promote crafts as K-culture industry SEOUL, June 30 (AJP) - South Korea will seek to make traditional crafts a larger part of its cultural exports and tourism industry under a new five-year government plan announced Tuesday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism released its second basic plan for promoting the craft culture industry, covering 2026 to 2030. The plan is built around four areas: production, distribution, public access and policy infrastructure, with the government aiming to raise the industry's June 30, 2026

Months-long beauty festival kicks off in Seoul in bid to attract foreign tourists SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Seeking to turn growing global interest in South Korean beauty products into tourism, the country's annual beauty festival kicked off its months-long run on Wednesday, offering foreign visitors hands-on experiences ranging from skincare consultations to K-pop-inspired makeup sessions. Organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in collaboration with the Korea Tourism Organization, the festival will run through Sept. 30, with major pop-up event June 24, 2026

AI touts in Korean teens' hands are a growing worry for parents SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Gambling used to be a taboo word in South Korea. Real-money betting is prohibited in online games, as are casinos, bingo and lotteries for most citizens. But illegally, online gambling is proliferating — and increasingly invading classrooms. The episode in Netflix's hit drama "Teach You a Lesson," in which an ordinary high school student becomes addicted to gambling, destroys his family life and is eventually pulled into a criminal ri June 24, 2026

Nearly 1 in 5 preschoolers in Seoul are obese, survey finds SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - About one in five preschoolers in Seoul are overweight or obese, according to a recent survey released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday. The city government teamed up with the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity to survey around 6,850 children aged 3 to 5 and assess their overall physical condition through height and weight measurements, along with physical tests to check flexibility and agility. Their average height was 99.10 centimete June 24, 2026

Foreign visitors' card spending in Korea tops $1.4 billion SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Foreign visitors spent a record 2.12 trillion won ($1.4 billion) on credit cards in South Korea in May as cumulative arrivals surpassed 10 million nearly a month earlier than last year, government data showed Wednesday. The May figure, which includes online purchases, marked the first time monthly card spending by foreign visitors exceeded 2 trillion won since data collection began in 2018. Card spending from January through May reached 7.98 trillion wo June 24, 2026

KMU captures 80-year history in free custom fonts SEOUL, June 24 (AJP) - Digital typography acts as the unspoken visual voice of an institution, meaning the subtle shape of a written letter projects an organization's deeper philosophy to anyone reading it. To ensure its eighty-year heritage serves as a living tool for everyday human communication rather than a static monument, a Seoul institution has translated its core identity into two custom digital fonts to be shared with the world, Kookmin University said Wednesday. Conv June 24, 2026

Sorry isn't enough: When corporate apologies fail to save a brand SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - "It is a management error, but the entire staff has to pay the price. It's like the whole family being forced to attend an alcohol awareness class after the father gets caught drinking and driving," one Starbucks Korea employee grumbled. More than 2,000 Starbucks Korea stores closed early at 3 p.m. Monday for a crash course in democracy history to make amends for last month's "Tank Day" blunder. The self-imposed remedial measur June 22, 2026

Starbucks Korea closes early for a crash course in democracy history SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) -Contemporary South Korean history spanning the country's democracy movements from the 1960s to the 1980s has become mandatory study material across Starbucks Korea's more than 2,000 outlets, as well as for the C-suite of retail giant Shinsegae, including Chairman Chung Yong-jin, following last month's "Tank Day" controversy. Chung and executives from companies under Shinsegae's E-Mart division will watch a two-hour recorded lecture June 22, 2026

CJ Olive Young sees 11-fold jump in repeat foreign shoppers SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - CJ Olive Young, South Korea's largest beauty retail chain, said on Monday the number of foreign tourists who returned to South Korea to shop during its seasonal sale events has risen 11-fold over the past three years. The company said the figure was based on an analysis of foreign customer data conducted with Global Tax Free, which it described as the country's largest tax refund operator. The analysis compared foreign tourists who visited South Kore June 22, 2026

Drawing the hairline: Korea debates insuring hair loss  SEOUL, June 19 (AJP) -Going bald is personal matter, except in South Korea. It is quickly turning into a political and social hot potato. The South Korean government is weighing whether to extend National Health Insurance coverage to androgenetic alopecia, the common hereditary form of hair loss often associated locally with M-shaped hairlines. What had been thought as one of the most extreme populist campaign promises from liberal candidate Lee Jae Myung in his first preside June 19, 2026