Seoul backs K-beauty inroads to Saudi Arabia SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) -South Korea is stepping up support for K-beauty companies seeking to enter Saudi Arabia, betting the kingdom's rapidly expanding consumer market will become the industry's next major growth engine as Korean cosmetics exports continue to break records. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Monday it will launch a new program to help small and medium-sized cosmetics companies expand into Saudi Arabia, one of the Middle East's fastest-growing beauty June 29, 2026

Lee to unveil mega chip cluster plan amid already heated debate SEOUL, June 28 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung is set to unveil a mega plan this week to build a new semiconductor cluster, an initiative involving massive investment that could reshape the country's chip industry. Lee is expected to outline details of the plan during a press briefing scheduled for 2 p.m. on Monday, with Samsung Group chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won also in attendance, according to presidential spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung on Sunday. June 28, 2026

South Korea, Japan seek deeper cooperation as defense chiefs meet in Seoul SEOUL, June 28 (AJP) - South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back held talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi in Seoul on Sunday. Their talks came amid efforts to improve ties between the two neighboring countries and strengthen cooperation across defense and other sectors. Koizumi's visit also follows Ahn's trip to Tokyo in January this year, after the two met multiple times in recent months on the sidelines of international gatherings and other occasions. June 28, 2026

South Korea backs AI with $130B R&D plan SEOUL, June 26 (AJP) - South Korea adopted a new five-year national science and technology blueprint on Friday, pledging to invest more than 200 trillion won ($130 billion) in government-funded research and development through 2030 as the Lee Jae Myung administration seeks to make artificial intelligence the centerpiece of future economic growth. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the National Science and Technology Advisory Council approved the Sixth Basic Plan for Science and June 26, 2026

Chipflation after Gulf-flation may keep prices sticky SEOUL, June 26 (AJP) -The KOSPI ended Friday at 8,411.21, nearly 8 percent below the 9,000 milestone it celebrated just a week earlier. Friday's rout — the second intraday plunge of more than 8 percent this week — cannot be dismissed simply as a long-overdue correction. The Gulf war inflation scare is fading. Oil has retreated toward pre-war levels and the immediate fear of an energy shock has eased. Yet investors are beginning to confront a second, potentially mor June 26, 2026

Lee calls for dialogue with North Korea in message to Washington advocates SEOUL, June 26 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung has called for the resumption of dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea as well as between the two Koreas, saying that rebuilding trust is essential to achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula, in a message to a conference held in the U.S. earlier this week. In a written congratulatory message to a conference in Washington, D.C. on Thursday hosted by the Korean American Public Action Committee (KAPAC), Lee said his administration has June 26, 2026

Japanese defense minister to visit Seoul for talks this weekend SEOUL, June 26 (AJP) - Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is set to visit to South Korea over the weekend for talks, the Ministry of National Defense said on Friday. Koizumi will arrive in Seoul on Saturday and hold talks with his South Korean counterpart Ahn Gyu-back the following day. Koizumi will arrive in Seoul on Saturday and hold talks with his South Korean counterpart Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul the following day, in what both sides describe as part of ongoing "shut June 26, 2026

Seoul to freeze utility charges and lower pump price cap SEOUL, June 26 (AJP) -South Korea will freeze public utility rates in the second half and lower the ceiling on gasoline prices to help restore energy costs to pre-war levels and contain inflation under 3 percent, while rolling out 1 trillion won ($647 million) worth of fresh food discounts and aid for the self-employed to ese their burden from high prices, the government said Friday. The measures mark the first phase of the government's gradual rollback of emergency economic re June 26, 2026

South Korea, Uzbekistan seek deeper cooperation SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) - South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun-cheol met with his Uzbek counterpart in Seoul to discuss ways to expand bilateral economic cooperation, the ministry said on Thursday. During their meeting the previous day, Koo and Uzbekistan's Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade Laziz Kudratov agreed to expand cooperation in strategic fields including artificial intelligence, energy and critical mineral supp June 25, 2026

Korean PM reaffirms limiting prosecutors to indictment SEOUL, June 25 (AJP) -The South Korean government remains firm to its reform outline to keep prosecutorial role strictly to indictment, said Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said Thursday. Speaking at a policy briefing at the Government Complex Seoul, Kim said the Lee Jae Myung administration’s core principle for prosecution reform is the separation of investigation and indictment functions. “The basic principle of prosecution reform pursued by the Lee Jae Myung governm June 25, 2026