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Kim Min-seok takes S. Korea's ruling party helm
SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - South Korea's governing party handed its leadership on Monday to the man who served as President Lee Jae Myung's first prime minister, giving the president's closest political partner control of the party machine three days after his approval rating fell to the lowest level of his term. Kim Min-seok took 54.08 percent of the vote at the Democratic Party of Korea's na
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Korean trade minister flies to US as $200 bln deal snags
SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - South Korea's industry minister arrived in Washington on Sunday and said that detailed disputes had surfaced in the final stretch of talks over a $200 billion investment package, casting doubt on a late-August announcement of the first project Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan told reporters at Dulles International Airport on August 16 (local time) that vid
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Trump orders cut to US-S. Korea joint military drill
SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - Hours before South Korea and the United States opened their largest annual exercise, United States President Donald Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military drills on the peninsula, pointing to his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was not happy the United States had agreed long ago to take p
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Chey seeks stock-cash mix in $666 million divorce, ex-wife holds out for cash
SEOUL, August 16 (AJP) - SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won balked at a court order to hand his former wife 944 billion won ($666.3 million) in cash because the two sides could not agree on how the record divorce settlement should be paid. Chey, 65, proposed settling part of the award with SK shares alongside cash, but Roh Soh-yeong, 65, the director of the Art Center Nabi and
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Most workers see bias against fixed-term staff, survey finds
SEOUL, August 16 (AJP) - About 80 percent of South Korean workers believe discrimination exists between fixed-term and permanent employees, according to a survey released on Sunday, underscoring persistent tensions in the country's labor market as the government weighs loosening rules on non-regular hiring. The civic group Gabjil 119 said 80.4 percent of respondents to a poll cond
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LG Electronics opens second Brazil plant to press Global South push
SEOUL, August 16 (AJP) - LG Electronics has begun production at a new home-appliance plant in Brazil, deepening its drive into the Global South as the South Korean group leans on emerging markets to offset softening demand in the developed world. The factory in Parana state started operations on Thursday, the company said Sunday, b
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Gartner sees one in five firms pulling back on AI by 2028 as costs mount
SEOUL, August 16 (AJP) - South Korean companies racing to embed artificial intelligence across their operations face a mounting threat that has little to do with the technology itself: the bill. By 2028, about one in five organizations worldwide will scale back or abandon AI in parts of their operations and return to conventional software development, unable to rein in runaway costs,
MASGA gets liftoff with drones with Washington's push
SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - Washington's push to rebuild strategic industries at home while reducing dependence on China is creating new openings for South Korean companies in two seemingly different sectors: shipbuilding and drones. The latest U.S. moves point to a broader strategy of tapping production capacity from trusted allies where American industry cannot immediately meet demand, while using tariffs, investment and procurement rules to steer strategic supply chains away from China. Fo
by Kim Hee-su
Why North Korean leader keeps putting his daughter in spotlight
SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - In one of the world's most closed societies like North Korea, what matters may lie in what happens before a successor is ever named. For decades, the isolated country's hereditary Kim dynasty has shown that power is not simply passed down when the previous leader dies. It has to be prepared, groomed and carefully managed to prevent any chaos. That process now appears to be underway for current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's daughter Ju-ae. In recent years
Samsung, hynix literally 'people's stocks' with entries near 1 in 4 Koreans
SEOUL, August 15 (AJP) - Minority-shareholder entries at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix nearly doubled from a year earlier to 11.43 million at the end of June, a tally equivalent to about 22 percent of South Korea's population, underscoring how the first-half chip frenzy dramatically broadened ownership of the country's two memory giants. Minority shareholders held nearly seven out of every 10 shares in both chipmakers — 66.24 percent of Samsung Electronics and 67.98 percent of
Is the Seoul stock party over or just cooling down?
SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) — South Korea's KOSPI has rebounded after a heavy crash in July. But the crazy roller-coaster ride has shifted to a duller plateau, with the main drivers quietly taking a back seat. The benchmark index flirted with 7,000 Friday, rebounding more than 30 percent from its late-July intraday low of 5,262.77. Yet trading activity and cash on standby remain well below the levels seen during the market frenzy in June. The ebb is evident. Investor deposits — cas
CJ targets 12 tln won North America sales by 2028
Third-heaviest rainfall in Korean records kills 1 in southern city
Today's Photo
Extreme heat drives up vegetable prices
Today's Photo
Extreme heat drives up vegetable prices
