National Assembly passes arrest motion for PPP's former floor leader

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - The National Assembly on Thursday passed a motion to arrest Choo Kyung-ho, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s former floor leader over his alleged involvement in disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law debacle in December last year. The motion, proposed by independent prosecutors investigating the debacle, comfortably passed with 172 votes in favor, four against, two abstentions, and two invalid votes at the parliamentary

November 27, 2025

LG Chem replaces CEO, taps materials chief Kim Dong-chun to lead next phase

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - LG Chem has appointed Kim Dong-chun, head of its advanced materials division, as its new chief executive officer, marking the first leadership change in seven years. Kim succeeds Shin Hak-cheol. The board approved Kim’s promotion to president and CEO on Thursday. Kim is credited with boosting profitability within the advanced materials division and broadening the company’s global customer base, particularly in high-tech sectors. “K

November 27, 2025

Asian shares mostly positive; Korean won rebounds as debt yields jump on BOK warning

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - Asian equity markets extended gains Thursday, led by tech stocks benefiting from Google’s dual breakthroughs in AI chips and the Gemini 3.0 model. In Korea, the won strengthened sharply while government bond prices slumped after the Bank of Korea governor struck a hawkish tone on FX risks and inflation after keeping the base rate at 2.50 percent in the final policy meeting of the year. The 3-year yield jumped 11.8 basis points to 3.013 percent a

November 27, 2025

South Korea imposes sanctions on Prince Group and others over online scams in Southeast Asia

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - The government has imposed sanctions on 15 individuals and 132 business entities including Cambodia-based conglomerate Prince Group for their involvement in online scams and crimes targeting South Korean citizens in Southeast Asia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday. This marks the country's first independent and largest sanctions against transnational criminal activities. According to the ministry, the sanctions target criminal orga

November 27, 2025

Nvidia-Google rivalry translates to bigger AI chip pie for Korean memory foundries

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - Expectations that Google’s in-house tensor processing units (TPUs) will challenge Nvidia’s near-monopoly in AI accelerators are translating into a bigger market for memory giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in Korea and Micron Technology in the United States. Nvidia still commands an overwhelming share of the global AI accelerator market. But growth of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and neural processing units (NPUs) &m

November 27, 2025

Stray Kids earn six new RIAA certifications

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - K-pop boy band Stray Kids received six new certifications from the U.S. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Wednesday. They earned a "gold" certification for their latest album "Karma," after selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S. since its release in August this year, bringing their total certified albums to six, including the previous ones like "Ate," "Maxident," and "5-Star." They a

November 27, 2025

Sticky prices and weak won to stretch Korea's belt-tightening to next year

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - Koreans tightened their belts through most of the year as stubborn inflation and the steepest depreciation of the won eroded purchasing power, government data showed Thursday. Nominal household income rose 3.5 percent on year in the July–September period to 5,439,000 won ($3,713), while real income—adjusted for inflation—grew 1.5 percent, supported largely by government stimulus handouts, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics

November 27, 2025

LG Electronics names home appliance chief as new CEO

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - LG Electronics has appointed Ryu Jae-cheol, head of its Home Appliance & Air Solution (H&A) division, as chief executive officer, replacing Cho Joo-wan. The board approved the leadership change on Thursday as part of its executive appointments and organizational restructuring. Ryu, known for his technical background and operational experience within LG’s flagship appliance unit, will be tasked with sharpening the company’s compet

November 27, 2025

Kia successfully tests remote driving on public roads

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - Kia has become the first South Korean automaker to successfully demonstrate remote driving on public roads. Remote driving allows a vehicle without a driver to be operated from a control center via 4G and 5G mobile networks. Considered a near-term solution compared with fully autonomous systems, the technology can intervene when self-driving functions fail and is drawing growing interest for applications in car-sharing, logistics and mobility support i

November 27, 2025

No-fly zone around Cheong Wa Dae to expand as Lee prepares to move in

SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - A no-fly zone around the former presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul is expected to be expanded, once President Lee Jae Myung returns to the palatial compound by the end of this year. Lee, who took office in early June following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, was unable to immediately use the compound due to the need to enhance security and overhaul facilities, and ha

November 27, 2025