• Rising flu cases among children spur early vaccinations SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - Influenza is spreading unusually early this autumn, with cases rising sharply among young children, prompting health authorities to move up vaccination schedules for vulnerable groups including children and older adults.
• Seoul markets take Japan's 31-year high rate in stride SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) -South Korean capital markets responded coolly to the Bank of Japan's rate hike to a 31-year high Friday, with the widely expected move causing little ripple as the global tightening cycle had largely been priced in.
• South Korea sees growing use of electronic prepaid payments SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - South Korea's use of prepaid electronic payment services jumped 21.9 percent in the first half of this year, driven by growing use of simple payments and money transfers, according to data by the Bank of Korea (BOK) released on Friday.
• Korea's producer inflation reaccelerates toward 8% annual gain SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) -South Korea's producer prices spiked toward an on-year increase of 8 percent on re-accelerating energy costs and unrelenting chip prices, pointing to sticky price pressure and a tightening bias in the latter half, central bank data showed Friday.
• North Korea's nuclear tests reactivated dormant faults, study finds SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - North Korea's underground nuclear tests reactivated dormant faults beneath Mt. Mantap, triggering years of seismic activity, a new study published Thursday in the U.S. academic journal Science found.
• National Museum of Korea visitors top 5.25 million SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - The National Museum of Korea drew more than 5.25 million visitors in the first eight months of 2026, crossing the 5-million mark about six weeks earlier than last year, when it set an annual attendance record.

AJP Briefing>

• Sumair launches South Gyeongsang tour package from Gimpo SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - Regional airline Sumair has launched a package tour connecting Seoul-area travelers with smaller cities in South Gyeongsang Province, combining flights, accommodation, meals and local guides. The airline said Friday it partnered with the Gyeongnam Tourism Foundation and Hadong Nolluwa Cooperative to launch the three-day “South Coast Local Tour,” covering Sacheon, Namhae and Goseong. Sumair has operated four daily round trips between Gimpo and Sacheon sin
• KOSPI gains 1.8% as foreign buying lift market SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - South Korean stocks rebounded Friday morning as falling U.S. Treasury yields and oil prices lifted technology shares, with foreign investors leading the chip buying spree. As of 10:30 a.m., the benchmark KOSPI stood at 6,835.12, up 1.8 percent. The index opened sharply higher and climbed as high as 6,885.70 before trimming gains. Foreign investors bought a net 151.5 billion won ($109 million) of KOSPI shares, reversing course after eight consecutive sessions of n

AJP ScaleUP

• AI voice technology firm set to debut on KOSDAQ next week SEOUL, September 16 (AJP) - Neosapience, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI voice technology company will be listed on the KOSDAQ next week, according to its report filed with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Wednesday. Some 23.21 percent of its shares will be available for trading starting from next Monday, down from an earlier estimate of 28.66 percent. The smaller number of shares available for trading comes after institutional investors agreed to lock up 44.02 perce
• Korean robots may lag, but stocks are flying SEOUL, September 16 (AJP) -South Korean humanoid robots may still be grounded and stand awkwardly compared with their Chinese peers, but stocks of their makers are flying, helping sustain the junior KOSDAQ market against broadly bearish sentiment in Seoul. A correction took hold Wednesday, but robotics stocks have stood out throughout the month and remained strong through Tuesday despite renewed anxiety over artificial intelligence investment in the United States. Shares of Robotis fell 5.24

ASIA Insight

• The world of K-beauty, pulled into one Seoul office SEOUL, September 17 (AJP) — K-beauty spent years carrying Seoul to bathroom shelves, beauty counters and social-media feeds around the world. Inside one skincare office in southern Seoul, that current is running the other way: the world has come to work. At Mary&May, a Korean skincare brand sold in more than 60 countries, employees from 15 nationalities sit inside the machinery of K-beauty's global expansion — choosing products, creators, words and images for markets thousan by Ryu Yuna
• K-fashion next big K-thing in Japan after K-pop SEOUL, September 15 (AJP) - Takuya Enomoto, a 32-year-old pharmacist in Tokyo, watched his girlfriend's infatuation with South Korea move from SEVENTEEN on her playlist to her clothing collection. She first became a fan of the K-pop group, particularly member Hoshi, before branching out to other Korean acts and then Korean dramas, he said. Following K-pop artists on Instagram brought still more Korean content into her feed. "I think the algorithm exposed her to more and more Korean by Joonha Yoo

AJP Watch

• Asia tests punishment, treatment to curb repeat drug use SEOUL, September 17 (AJP) - South Korea has abandoned its once-prized claim to being a drug-free country. Dramas, public campaigns and advertisements now warn teenagers away from drugs, reflecting how quickly illicit drug use has spread. Society — and the system meant to respond to it — has struggled to keep up. Rapper Kim Gam-jeon, 22, was back in the headlines after being arrested on suspicion of using liquid cannabis while still under a suspended sentence for an earlier marijuan
• AI music can make the charts. Can it win fans? SEOUL, September 14 (AJP) - Pitchfork, one of America's best-known music publications, does not hand out zeroes often. But in August, American rapper Tyga's "$TARFACE" got one. The album had already drawn attention after Tyga acknowledged using artificial intelligence as a production tool, including for 1980s-style synthesizers and guitar solos, while saying the lyrics and vocals remained his own. Pitchfork did not reject the album simply because AI was involved. Its critici

AJP Focus

• Trump-Xi chip bargaining puts Korean memory makers on alert SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) -From tariffs and rare earths to Iran and artificial intelligence, the U.S.-China summit on Sept. 24 has a crowded agenda. For South Korean chipmakers, the business issue to watch would be whether semiconductors become bargaining currency in a broader trade deal between the world's two largest economies. Chinese President Xi Jinping is said to be assembling an unusually large business delegation, possibly to match the high-profile entourage U.S. President Donald T
• Korean battery makers under Trump whims – from EV retreat to datacenters SEOUL, September 17 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump's retreat from Biden-era electric-vehicle policies has upended the American growth plans of South Korean battery makers, leaving factories built for an EV boom idled, scaled back or searching for a new purpose. Now, some are finding one in the power-hungry data-center boom. Canceled U.S. EV and battery projects between January 2025 and August this year had promised about 27,000 jobs, according to a Reuters analysis of Atlas Public Poli