Nearly half of jobless young Korean graduates out of work for over a year SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) -Nearly half of South Koreans aged 15 to 29 who had completed their education but were not working had remained without employment for at least a year as of May, the highest share since the global financial crisis. Nearly two in 10 — a record high — had gone at least three years without work, pointing to a widening pool of young adults left on the sidelines. The proportion of graduates unemployed for at least one year rose 2.0 percentage points July 23, 2026

Lee seeks broad consensus on housing to avoid Japan-style property bust SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) -Normalizing property prices distorted by "abnormal" demand and supply is the purpose of housing policy, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Thursday, calling for a broad social consensus on how to balance housing supply, lending restrictions and taxation to prevent the country from following Japan's decades-long property bust. "Real estate is one of the biggest challenges facing the Republic of Korea," Lee said in opening remarks July 23, 2026

Korean growth runs above potential of 2% H1 on AI chip boon SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - South Korea's economy cooled in the second quarter from the blistering pace of the previous three months, but stayed comfortably above its estimated growth potential and on track to achieve the government's annual growth target of 3.0 percent, Bank of Korea data showed Thursday. Gross domestic product expanded 0.6 percent in the April-June period after expanding 1.8 percent in the first quarter. The Bank of Korea portrayed the moderation as a health July 23, 2026

North America trade shake-up rattles Korean firms: Survey SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - Nearly half of the South Korean companies with operations in North America expect a coming overhaul of the region's main trade pact to disrupt their business, according to a survey released this week, after Washington declined to renew the agreement in its current form and opened a decade of uncertainty across one of South Korea's biggest export markets. The finding comes from a poll of 43 South Korean firms with a presence in the United States, Mexi July 23, 2026

S. Korea courts Turkmenistan with water technology SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - South Korea spent three days this week showing Turkmenistan how it manages water, hosting a government delegation from one of the world's driest countries as Seoul works to turn its water industry into an export business across Central Asia. The visit, which ran Tuesday through Thursday in Seoul, brought officials from Turkmenistan's State Committee for Water Resources, the body overseeing the country's water policy and projects, along with its July 23, 2026

Seoul, Washington, Tokyo tighten diplomatic tempo SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) - The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan met Wednesday for the second time in just over two weeks, a pace the three governments framed as the point itself, a show of alignment staged in front of Southeast Asia's assembled diplomats in Manila. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun sat down with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu on the margins of the ASEAN-related foreign ministers' meetings, July 23, 2026

Korea's Q2 GDP slows, but annual growth stays above 3% on chip demand SEOUL, July 23 (AJP) -South Korea’s economy grew 0.6 percent in the second quarter, with quarter-on-quarter growth nearly halving from a surprising 1.8 percent jump in the first three months of the year, but maintaining a robust annual pace and staying on track to meet the government's 3.0 percent growth target on strong semiconductor demand, preliminary data showed Thursday. According to the Bank of Korea, gross domestic product expanded 3.7 percent from a year earlier, l July 23, 2026

Lee to court AI giants before South America diplomacy on five-nation tour SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will begin a five-nation overseas trip on Friday with meetings in Silicon Valley alongside the world's leading artificial intelligence executives before heading to South America for summit diplomacy aimed at expanding South Korea's economic and strategic partnerships with the Global South. The trip, running from July 24 to Aug. 3, will take Lee to San Francisco, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Germany, the presidenti July 22, 2026

Lee receives credentials from 8 new ambassadors to Seoul SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday received letters of credence from eight newly appointed ambassadors to South Korea. At a ceremony at Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul, the fourth since Lee took office, ambassadors from Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Nigeria and Tanzania presented their credentials to Lee. They were Brazil's Fernando Meirelles de Azevedo Pimentel, Colombia's Yovani Velásquez Quintero, El Salvado July 22, 2026

Seoul denies receiving US Hormuz warship request SEOUL, July 22 (AJP) - No request has come from Washington for South Korea to send any specific military asset to the Strait of Hormuz, South Korea's presidential Blue House said Wednesday, pushing back against reports that a formal demand for a naval deployment was close. The denial is narrow, and the wording matters. The presidential office said the government has not been asked recently to dispatch a particular asset in connection with the safety of international sea lanes July 22, 2026