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  AI war jolts Seoul into bipartisan push for defense chips SEOUL, March 19 (AJP) - The U.S.-Israel war on Iran — increasingly described as the world’s first “AI war” — is forcing South Korea to confront a critical vulnerability: its heavy reliance on foreign semiconductors in defense systems. Both Washington and Tel Aviv have confirmed deploying a “variety” of artificial intelligence tools in combat, from targeting systems to leadership strikes. The conflict has underscored how modern warfare is rap March 19, 2026
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  Kookmin University study explores shifts in Chinese monetary policy amid global uncertainty SEOUL, March 19 (AJP) - A research team led by Kookmin University Professor Oh Eun-young has published a study analyzing the evolution of China's monetary policy regimes, the university said Wednesday. The research specifically examines how the country has adapted its financial strategies in response to increasing global policy uncertainty. The paper, titled "Dynamics of monetary policy regimes in China under rising global uncertainty: A time-varying approach," was f March 19, 2026
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  Seoul raises crude alert to Level 2 as Hormuz blockade bites SEOUL, March 18 (AJP) — As the Middle East conflict continues to disrupt global energy supplies, the South Korean government Wednesday raised its crude oil security alert one notch to Level 2 ("Caution"), opening the way to direct intervention, including the possible release of strategic oil reserves. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced the upgrade from Level 1 ("Interest") to Level 2 effective as of 3 p.m. local time (6am UTC) We March 18, 2026
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  South Korea launches committee tasked with implementing US investment pledges SEOUL, March 18 (AJP) - A committee tasked with setting up a fund to implement massive investment pledges to the U.S. was launched with its first meeting in Seoul, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said on Wednesday. The committee, consisting of seven officials from government agencies and financial institutions, was formed as a follow-up step just a day after a special bill outlining bilateral agreements with the U.S. including investment pledges of US$350 billion under a broad March 18, 2026
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  Lee thanks Japan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia for helping evacuate South Koreans from Middle East SEOUL, March 18 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung has sent letters to the leaders of Japan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia to thank them for their cooperation in evacuating South Korean nationals from the Middle East, Cheong Wa Dae said on Wednesday. In a written press briefing, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said that Lee sent the letters the previous day to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Qatar's Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Al and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed b March 18, 2026
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  South Korea to inject over 1 billion in supplementary budget SEOUL, March 18 (AJP) - The government is coming up with a set of measures including a 1.5 trillion won (US$1.01 billion) in supplementary budget to buttress an economy hit by the escalating conflict in the Middle East, which began with U.S.‑led airstrikes on Iran late last month. In an emergency meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol in Seoul on Wednesday, he pledged the swift implementation of the supplementary budget and o March 18, 2026
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  Korea's Feb job growth led by elderly and service, AI substitution hits entry jobs SEOUL, Mar. 18 (AJP) — South Korea’s labour market showed a deceptive resilience in February, with headline employment rising for the second consecutive month, but the underlying data reveals a deteriorating quality of jobs and a deepening structural crisis, as high-value industries shed workers and youth unemployment surged to its highest level in years. The number of employed people rose by 234,000 (0.8 percent) from a year earlier to 28.41 million, according to da March 18, 2026
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  Korean legislative finally moves on FX support as won levels breach crisis levels SEOUL, Mar. 17 (AJP) - South Korea’s National Assembly is scrambling to fast-track a package of exchange-rate support bills after sitting on them for months as the won comes under renewed pressure from the widening Gulf war. The urgency reflects not just broad dollar strength but a sharper loss of confidence in the won itself. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the won weakened 4.12 percent against the dollar as of Monday from end-February, before the war e March 17, 2026
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  Cabinet approves bill to implement investment pledges under trade deal with US SEOUL, March 17 (AJP) - A special bill outlining South Korea's massive investment pledges to the U.S. was approved at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Lee Jae Myung at the government complex in the administrative city of Sejong on Tuesday. The approval comes about a week after the bill was passed at a plenary session in the National Assembly and roughly two months after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened in January to raise reciprocal tariffs on South Korea from 15 March 17, 2026
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  FM tight-lipped over possible warship dispatch to Middle East SEOUL, March 17 (AJP) - There has been growing speculation about a possible deployment of South Korean troops to the Middle East, after U.S. President Donald Trump urged allies to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. In a parliamentary session at the National Assembly in Seoul on Tuesday, when asked whether the U.S. formally asked Seoul to deploy warships to the strategically important waterway, he declined to elaborate, ambiguously saying "It may or may March 17, 2026