Seoul, Ottawa hold joint naval drills off Canadian coast SEOUL, June 06 (AJP) - The South Korean and Canadian navies conducted joint maritime drills off Canada’s western coast from June 3 to 4, involving submarines, warships, and maritime aircraft from both countries, the South Korean Navy said Saturday. The exercises involved the South Korean Navy’s 3,000-ton Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine, the 3,100-ton frigate Daejeon and an AW-159 maritime helicopter. Canada deployed the 2,200-ton submarine Corner Brook, the 4,000-ton fri June 6, 2026

From PC cafés to pork belly: Inside Jensen Huang's unconventional Seoul summit SEOUL, June 05 (AJP) - Neon lights, the rapid clatter of keyboards in a bustling Hongdae PC café, and the unmistakable sizzle of meat hitting a hot grill—these are hardly the traditional backdrops for high-stakes tech diplomacy. Yet, on the evening of June 5, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang traded the polished boardrooms of Silicon Valley for the vibrant, everyday rhythms of Seoul. Immersing himself first in South Korea's grassroots digital culture, Huang eventually made his June 5, 2026

Semiconductor selloff raises questions over AI rally SEOUL, June 5 (AJP) - A sharp selloff in semiconductor stocks is raising questions about the future of the artificial intelligence-driven rally, following HSBC's prediction on Thursday that the current chip boom is entering a broader phase, with gains spreading beyond chipmakers. While chipmakers such as Nvidia have dominated the AI rally so far, HSBC, one of the world's largest banking groups, said that the current AI cycle has produced an uneven pattern of growth, with AI- June 5, 2026

Won plummets past 1,540 as bonds extend losses SEOUL, June 5 (AJP) - South Korea's financial markets remained unsettled on Friday as the won-dollar exchange rate closed at about 1,540 won, for the first time in nearly 17 years and bond yields extended their rise. Heavy foreign selling in local equities continued to weigh on the won and debt markets, while traders saw no clear signs of actual intervention by foreign exchange authorities. In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the exchange rate closed at 1,539.1, down 9.4 fr June 5, 2026

Seoul stands firm on building nuclear submarines domestically SEOUL, June 05 (AJP) - South Korea’s presidential office said Friday there has been no major change to plans to build nuclear-powered submarines domestically, as Seoul and Washington seek to make tangible progress in related talks by the end of the year. A senior presidential official told reporters that South Korea and the U.S. held productive discussions on nuclear-powered submarines, uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing. “Representatives from various sect June 5, 2026

South Korea signs free trade deal with Serbia SEOUL, June 5 (AJP) - South Korea has signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), a broader form of free-trade agreement, with Serbia, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said on Friday. The agreement, which comes after about two years of negotiations, was signed in Belgrade by South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and his Serbian counterpart Jagoda Lazarević. The broader deal goes beyond tariff reductions to include economic and supply-chain coopera June 5, 2026

Six-term DP lawmaker Cho Jeong-sik elected National Assembly speaker SEOUL, June 5 (AJP) - Cho Jeong-sik, a six-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), was elected on Friday as National Assembly speaker for the second half of the year. Cho won 267 of 276 votes cast during a parliamentary plenary session to assume the independent and impartial role. It follows his selection as the DP's candidate for the role after winning a majority in an internal party vote on May 13. His two-year term as speaker will run through May 2028. The June 5, 2026

'Black Friday' chip sell-off sends KOSPI plunging more than 5% SEOUL, June 5 (AJP) - South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI plunged more than 5 percent on Friday to close at 8,161.59 points, as semiconductor stocks led a sharp sell-off across global markets. The decline followed an artificial intelligence (AI)-led chip outlook from U.S. chipmaker Broadcom, which reignited fears that the AI boom has run ahead of itself. The drop of about 479 points from the previous session was sharp enough to trigger a "sidecar," an automatic curb on pro June 5, 2026

South Korea pushes hydrogen trucks in final pitch for Canada's submarine race SEOUL, June 5 (AJP) - South Korea has proposed a multibillion-dollar hydrogen truck project in Canada as part of its final push to win Ottawa's next-generation submarine contract, turning an earlier request for automotive investment into a broader industrial package centered on hydrogen mobility, local manufacturing and jobs. The proposal, code-named "Project Beaver," was disclosed by Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik in an interview with Canada's CTV News, June 5, 2026

Mourners pay respects to Hanwha Aerospace workers killed in Daejeon blast SEOUL, June 05 (AJP) - Funeral altars were set up at Yuseong District Office in Daejeon on Friday for the five workers killed in an explosion at Hanwha Aerospace’s Daejeon plant four days earlier. The victims had been working in a cleaning room in Building 56 of the company’s Daejeon plant when an explosion of unknown cause occurred on Monday. Funeral arrangements were delayed as the bodies were severely damaged in the blast, complicating the identification process. A June 5, 2026