VISUALS: Preparing for Buddha's Birthday celebrations

SEOUL, May 08 (AJU PRESS) - With a week to go until Buddha's Birthday, Jogyesa in Jongno hosts preparatory events and bazaar ahead of the main celebration. Especially 'Mirae-seum Bazaar', The three-day bazaar, running from May 8 to 10, aims to raise funds for university student support programs. Buddha's Birthday preparations including lotus lantern and various events are underway until the main celebration.

May 9, 2024

Some uncomfortable with Yoon's 'The BUCK STOPS here' plaque

SEOUL, May 09 (AJU PRESS) - A detail that captured particular attention during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s nationally televised address to the nation on Thursday was a plaque displayed on his desk. Yoon, dressed in a black suit and red tie, spoke from behind a desk adorned with a plaque inscribed with the words "The BUCK STOPS here." The well-known motto was used by Harry S. Truman, who served as the U.S. president from 1945 to 1953. Truman famously kept a plaque wi

May 9, 2024

Gwanghwamun Square voted Seoul's top landmark by foreigners

SEOUL, May 09 (AJU PRESS) - Foreigners chose Gwanghwamun Square as Seoul's most symbolic place, while Seoul citizens considered the Han River as the city's top landmark, a survey reveals. According to the annual survey released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Thursday, nearly half of foreign respondents or 45.9 percent picked Gwanghwamun Square as the capital's main landmark, followed by nearby royal palaces (41.4 percent), Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a multi-p

May 9, 2024

SK E&S constructs world's largest liquified hydrogen plant

SEOUL, May 09 (AJU PRESS) - SK E&S, the green energy arm of Korea's SK Group, has constructed the world's largest hydrogen liquefaction plant in the western port city of Incheon. The company held the dedication ceremony Wednesday for the plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons of liquid hydrogen, enough to fuel 5,000 hydrogen buses for a year. SK E&S said it has invested about 700 billion won ($511.7 million) in the construction between 2021 and 2023. Liquefi

May 9, 2024

Opinion: Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections – but is it playing into the far right's hands?

SEOUL, May 09 (AJU PRESS) - Ahead of the European parliament elections in June, Germany has lowered the age limit on participation to 16. This makes it the largest of just a handful of states in the EU to allow people under the age of 18 to vote. Austria, Belgium and Malta have already enfranchised 16 and 17-year-olds, and Greece is to allow anyone turning 17 in 2024 to participate in the June vote. Around 4.8 million young Germans – plus about 300,000 young people from othe

May 9, 2024

Opinion: Boeing's Starliner launch – delayed again – will be an important milestone for commercial spaceflight

SEOUL, May 09 (AJU PRESS) - Already years late, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft continues to face delays as it prepares to launch NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams into space. The latest delay came as a problem with its ride to orbit, an Atlas V rocket, caused the first launch attempt late on May 6, 2024, to be scrubbed. When it does launch from the Kennedy Space Center, no earlier than May 17, this last crucial test for Starliner will try out the new spacecraft an

May 9, 2024

LIG Nex1 displays guided missiles at defense exhibition in Kuala Lumpur

SEOUL, May 08 (AJU PRESS) - LIG Nex1 is displaying its mid-range surface-to-air missile defense system "Cheongung-II" at the Defence Services Asia (DSA), which kicked off on Monday for a four-day run in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. More than 1,200 companies from some 60 countries are participating in the defense exhibition hosted by the Malaysian government. The Cheongung-II, also known as M-SAM, features the function of intercepting ballistic missiles at an altitude of ab

May 8, 2024

Hangeul forum inaugurated in Sejong City

SEOUL, May 08 (AJU PRESS) - The inaugural forum on promoting the use of Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, was held in Korea's administrative capital, Sejong City, on Wednesday. Hosted by the Sejong Institute of Korean Language and Culture, the forum provided a platform to discuss ways to raise public awareness of the importance of preserving the Korean language. Notably, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Hyungwon Kang, dedicated to the globalization of Korean cultural heritage,

May 8, 2024

Coupang swings to net loss in first quarter amid growing competition from Chinese rivals

SEOUL, May 08 (AJU PRESS) - Korea's e-commerce giant, Coupang, turned to a net loss in the first quarter in the face of growing competition from Chinese rivals, namely Aliexpress and Temu, the company announced Wednesday. Coupang reported a net loss of $24 million (31.9 billion won) for the first three months of 2024, snapping its six-quarter run of profitability. Sales increased 28 percent year-on-year to $7.11 billion. But operating profit plummeted 61 percent to $40 million

May 8, 2024

Hanwha Q Cells begins operation of second solar module factory in US

SEOUL, May 08 (AJU PRESS) - Hanwha Q Cells, the solar power unit of Korea's Hanwha Group, has begun operation of its second solar module factory in the United States. The company said Tuesday it completed the construction of its new plant in Cartersville, Georgia, last month, capable of generating 3.3 gigawatts of solar modules annually. Together with its plant in Dalton, Georgia, Hanwha now has a total annual capacity of 8.4 gigawatts in the U.S., sufficient to power about 1

May 8, 2024