President Lee pitches South Korea as AI testbed SEOUL, July 25 (AJP) - The country that makes most of the world's memory chips now wants to be the first country to put artificial intelligence to work everywhere else. President Lee Jae Myung carried that argument to San Francisco on Friday, delivering what his office named the San Francisco AI Declaration to a room holding the chief executives of Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Broadcom. The declaration made two promises at once. South Korea would keep AI chips moving to globa July 25, 2026

Lee departs for San Francisco to begin multi-nation overseas trip SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung left for San Francisco in California on Friday to begin a multi-nation overseas trip that will also take him to three South American countries and Germany. During the trip, which will last about 11 days until early next month, he is expected to seek stronger cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI)-related industries, investment and economic partnerships. In San Francisco, the first leg of his trip, Lee will spend two days meeting July 24, 2026

Finance chief raises growth outlook as South Korea nears $40,000 per-capita income SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Friday that stronger-than-expected economic growth has put South Korea on track for annual growth of around 3 percent and per-capita income of US$40,000, although many households have yet to feel the effects of the stronger economy. The finance chief said the economy had sustained its growth momentum after a robust first quarter. "The likelihood of achieving 3 percent annual growth and per-c July 24, 2026

FM holds talks with UK, ASEAN counterparts on sidelines of ASEAN meeting in Manila SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held a series of bilateral meetings in Manila this week on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) including talks with newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said on Friday. According to the ministry, Cho congratulated Miliband on his appointment and the launch of the new U.K. government led by Prime Minister Andrew Burnham. Miliban July 24, 2026

Seoul vows further consultations with Washington over new 12.5% tariff SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) - South Korea will closely consult with the U.S. after Washington announced a new 12.5 percent tariff on South Korean goods the previous day, Cheong Wa Dae said on Friday. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said its investigation under the Section 301 of the Trade Act launched in March found that 60 economies had failed to adopt or enforce bans on imports of goods made with forced labor, leading it to impose tariffs ranging from 10 percent to July 24, 2026

Korea faces 12.5% tariff under new U.S. Section 301 SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) -South Korean exports to the United States will effectively face a tariff floor of 12.5 percent under President Donald Trump's new Section 301 action targeting imports linked to forced labor, but Seoul avoided being placed in the blanket tariff category after Washington cited its bilateral trade agreement with Korea. Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum directing the U.S. Trade Representative to impose tariffs of 10 percent to 12.5 percent on impor July 24, 2026

Washington keeps Seoul on FX watchlist, backs KRW stabilization actions SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) -The United States kept South Korea on its currency monitoring list on Thursday, saying the country continued to run large external surpluses while acknowledging Seoul's intervention to curb excessive volatility in the won and its efforts to further liberalize the foreign exchange market. The U.S. Treasury again designated South Korea as a currency monitoring country in its semiannual report to Congress on the macroeconomic and foreign exchange policies of July 24, 2026

Korea and U.S. launch shipbuilding center to drive MASGA SEOUL, July 24 (AJP) -South Korea and the United States on Thursday launched a shipbuilding cooperation center in Washington to facilitate the planned US$150 billion investment in the U.S. shipbuilding sector that Seoul committed to under last year's bilateral trade and investment agreement. Senior government officials, lawmakers and industry executives from both countries attended the opening of the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Center (KUSPC), which will serve as the ope July 24, 2026

Seoul weighs separate crypto custody regime SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - South Korea’s financial regulator is considering establishing cryptocurrency custody as a separate regulated business as it prepares to expand corporate access to the country’s digital asset market. The Financial Services Commission is reviewing licensing requirements and conduct rules for custody providers under the government’s planned second-phase digital asset legislation, Kim Sung-jin, director of the FSC’s Virtual Asset Division, July 23, 2026

South Koreans top longevity as well as suicide in OECD scale SEOUL, July 23 (AJP)—South Koreans are among the world's longest-living people, but also have the highest suicide rate in the OECD. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's analysis of the OECD Health Statistics 2026 released Thursday, South Korea again recorded the highest suicide rate among OECD members in 2023. A total of 24.8 people per 100,000 died by suicide, more than double the OECD average of 10.9. Despite that grim statistic, the country ranke July 23, 2026