• Samsung unveils "CUBE" strategy for HBM traction SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) -Samsung Electronics is betting on denser, faster and cooler memory to strengthen its position in the HBM race as artificial intelligence drives a fundamental shift in the global memory market.
• White House explores steps for possible Trump-Kim deal SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - The White House has asked the U.S. agency responsible for recovering missing service members to outline steps it could take in preparation for possible talks with North Korea. Kelly McKeague, director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), said Monday.
• AI expert advises Korea against copying US, China on physical AI SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - South Korea should not chase the United States and China in the race to build humanoid robots but instead exploit its manufacturing strength to carve out a distinct path in physical AI, a leading roboticist said.
• Moreno named temporary Korean national football team manager SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - Former Spain head coach Robert Moreno was named temporary manager of South Korea's men's national football team Tuesday, taking over a side still dealing with the fallout from its early World Cup exit and a long-running scandal over the appointment of his predecessor.
• Korea exceeds $90 billion in exports SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - South Korea's exports topped $90 billion for a third straight month in August, as record semiconductor shipments offset weaker sales of cars and ships, the trade ministry said Tuesday.
• Lee's policy chief bows out and joins reshuffle SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) -President Lee Jae Myung's outspoken policy chief Kim Yong-beom bowed out Tuesday, just two days after surviving a broad reshuffle of the economic team amid mounting pressure over housing policy and controversial single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds.

AJP Briefing

• Asiana Airlines launches daily flights to Kobe SEOUL, September 1 (AJP) - Asiana Airlines launched a new route connecting Incheon to Kobe, Japan, on Tuesday as part of efforts to expand its services to meet demand for travel between the neighboring countries. The route operates daily using the airline's short-haul Airbus A321neo aircraft, with flights departing Incheon International Airport at noon and arriving at Kobe Airport, located on an artificial island in Osaka Bay in western Japan, at 2 p.m. The return flight departs Kobe at 3 p
• Samsung Biologics, union to resume mediation SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - Samsung Biologics and its labor union will resume mediation as early as Sept. 8 in a fresh attempt to settle a wage dispute that prompted the first strike in the South Korean contract drug manufacturer's history. The union said Tuesday it expected the talks to "pick up speed" once mediation opens, as the company has agreed to submit its own proposal after the process begins. The Incheon Regional Labor Relations Commission has agreed to bring the schedu

AJP ScaleUP

• Margin debt swells back as investors rotat into KOSDAQ SEOUL, September 1 (AJP) - South Korean margin borrowing rose for a ninth straight trading day and returned to the levels of mid-July as investors migrated to KOSDAQ outperforming the main index since last month. Outstanding margin loans across the two markets stood at 33.34 trillion won ($24.36 billion) as of Aug. 28, up 8.96 billion won ($6.5 million) from a day earlier, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA). The increase was driven by KOSDAQ stocks, where margin b
• Sky Labs cuts IPO price ahead of KOSDAQ debut SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - South Korean digital healthcare company Sky Labs will make its KOSDAQ debut Friday after setting its offering price at the bottom of its proposed range, with more than 60 percent of institutional orders coming in below the minimum price sought by the company. The company is scheduled to list on Sept. 4 at an offering price of 10,000 won ($7.20) per share, with Korea Investment & Securities serving as the lead underwriter. Retail subscriptions were held on Aug. 26 an

ASIA Insight

• Humanoids can beat Bolt. The harder race starts on the factory floor SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - A humanoid robot ran 100 meters in 8.64 seconds at Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games last week, nearly a full second faster than Usain Bolt's world record. Except that it kept going. Tiangong Ultra hurtled past the finish line, slammed into a padded barrier and crashed to the floor in a shower of sparks, leaving staff to rush in with fire extinguishers before the machine was carried away. Impressive as the machines are, much of humanoid robotics still ends w by Kim Dong-young
• Kazakhstan feels familiar. Family duty runs in reverse SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - Kazakhstan can feel unexpectedly familiar to a Korean visitor. Across Astana, there are faces that at first glance would not look out of place in Seoul. Dark hair, familiar facial contours and gestures of deference toward older people can create fleeting moments of recognition in a country separated from the Korean Peninsula by thousands of kilometers of mountains, desert and steppe. The sense of familiarity runs deeper around the family table. Younger people wait for by Joonha Yoo

AJP Watch

• When the crowd becomes the court SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - The Korean social media audience can be punishing and unforgiving toward celebrities and public figures. Its frenzied, vindictive pile-ons persist despite tragic casualties such as actor Lee Sun-kyun. The latest target is South Korean YouTuber Park Wi. The controversy began after Park, a wheelchair user who runs the popular YouTube channel Weracle, fell while getting off a KTX train on Aug. 14. A week later, he uploaded CCTV footage showing his wheelchair overturning
• G-Star 2026 launches promotional push with first pop-up store SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - South Korea's largest gaming exhibition, G-Star 2026, has begun a pre-opening marketing campaign, unveiling a new "Special Pass" bundle and its first-ever pop-up store, as the country's game industry seeks to broaden its appeal beyond core players. The committee announced Monday that it will open the pop-up store from Sept. 1 to 6 at the Hyundai Department Store's Pangyo branch, south of Seoul, marking the first time the annual show has staged such

AJP Focus

• Korean jobseekers face an AI test with no rulebook SEOUL, September 01 (AJP) - AI literacy is becoming the latest addition to the long list of so-called "specs" young South Koreans need to compete for already-scarce entry-level jobs. The problem is that employers themselves are still figuring out what they want. SK hynix is removing its traditional personal-statement questions from applications in the second half of this year. Instead, applicants will be asked to describe how they have used AI in projects, research and problem-solvin
• Two Koreas reshuffle military command for very different battles SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - South and North Korea are reshaping their military leadership at the same time, but for markedly different challenges. Seoul is turning back to a career general to steady an institution unsettled by contentious reforms, while Pyongyang is tightening party control for stronger push into weapons modernization. President Lee Jae Myung's nomination of retired four-star Gen. Kang Shin-chul as defense minister effectively puts a career military officer back in charge afte