INTERVIEW: Solana pivots to Korea as key APAC blockchain hub

SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - A passionate crypto community backed by financial stability and regulatory transparency rarely found across Asia-Pacific makes South Korea a key strategic focus for Solana, one of the world’s top five blockchain platforms, according to its regional head. "For us, South Korea within APAC is definitely one of our key strategic focus areas," said Alex Scott, head of Solana Middle East, in an exclusive interview with AJP during the Expand No

October 22, 2025

INTERVIEW: Tourism chief aims to boost Seoul's global appeal

SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - Ghil Gi-yeon, who recently secured a third term as CEO of the Seoul Tourism Organization, has been instrumental in revitalizing the tourism industry since assuming his post in July 2021, helping restore the city's vibrancy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. "With support from Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, we carried out several major projects swiftly and efficiently, including opening a marketplace at Gwanghwamun Plaza, organizing a series of sea

October 22, 2025

INTERVIEW: Europe's largest Korean Cultural Center powers hallyu expansion in Budapest

SEOUL, October 21 (AJP) - One in every 200 Hungarians has joined a Korean cultural program in recent years — a sign that Budapest has become the beating heart of the Korean Wave in Central Europe, according to the head of the Korean Cultural Center in Budapest. "In the past three years, more than 51,000 people have taken part in the center’s programs — an impressive figure in a country of only 9.6 million, meaning roughly one in every 200 Hungarians has join

October 21, 2025

INTERVIEW: K-Park in Kazakhstan's smart city embodies fortitude of ethnic Koreans — past and future

SEOUL, October 17 (AJP) - The K-Park Project, rising in Kazakhstan’s flagship smart city of Alatau, encapsulates both the endurance of the Koryo-saram—descendants of Korean settlers across the Russian Far East in the 19th and early 20th centuries—and their forward-looking confidence as a thriving minority in Kazakhstan’s digital transformation drive. "K-Park is not merely a memorial project. It is a symbol of gratitude toward the Kazakh people who emb

October 17, 2025

Creativity and farsightedness, key to global IB outreach: SK Securities global chief

SEOUL, October 06 (AJP) - Abundant investment opportunities lie in diverse global markets when matched with Korea’s high-tech, manufacturing, and soft-power competitiveness, said Patrick Han, head of Global Business at SK Securities. "Identifying needs before demand arises and aligning them with Korean capital is the path forward for Korean investment banking," Han told AJP in an exclusive interview, highlighting that Korea’s financial sector lags far behi

October 7, 2025

INTERVIEW: Young N. Korean defectors seek to break stigma inside and outside

SEOUL, October 02 (AJP) - Portraying North Korean life in a truer light—rather than through stigmatized or patronizing lenses—and linking the reclusive state with the outside world through flash drives is the core mission of young defectors, according to a human rights activist. "While media coverage has shifted from rumor-driven reports to more fact-based accounts, portrayals still tend to be oversimplified," said Seongmin Lee, who heads the Korea desk and p

October 2, 2025

INTERVIEW: Global Cybersecurity Forum speakers warn of Korea's vulnerability to cyberattacks and crimes

SEOUL, October 1 (AJP) - South Korea’s position as one of the world’s most digitalized societies also makes it highly vulnerable to cyberattacks and crimes, warned guest speakers at the Global Cybersecurity Forum. "Traditional defenses like fences and soldiers are no longer sufficient. Cyber resilience must be treated as a core part of national security, not an afterthought," said Heidi Crebo-Rediker, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

October 1, 2025

OPINION: The age of restless youth

Kim Sang-chul, director of Global Business Research Center The world today feels as if it is locked in a cycle of turmoil. Wars drag on, economies falter, and political dysfunction seems the rule rather than the exception. For many, especially young people, frustration has boiled over into anger, and anger into action. In recent months, Southeast Asia has seen its youngest citizens — largely Gen Z — take to the streets in protest. From Jakarta to Manila, Dhaka to Dili, de

September 25, 2025

INTERVIEW: Climate expert urges Seoul's new climate ministry to finalize NDC

SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - South Korea must commit to a long-term pathway to reduce carbon emissions now that it is set to launch a new ministry integrating energy, climate, and environmental functions, said a leading climate scientist. "The most urgent task for the ministry would be to finalize the 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)," said Axel Timmermann, director of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Center for Climate Physics at Pusan National Unive

September 18, 2025

Alliance reaffirmed, substance lacking: Korean-American lawmaker on Lee–Trump summit

SEOUL, September 08 (AJP) - Two weeks after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and the United States President Donald Trump held their first summit, U.S. lawmakers are offering mixed assessments, praising its reaffirmation of ties but also pointing to unresolved challenges such as defense costs and trade issues. Rep. Young Kim, a Republican from California and one of the first Korean American women elected to Congress, said the summit served as a "necessary reaffirmation&qu

September 8, 2025