• Samsung, LG tapped for revived AI draft perk SEOUL, September 20 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are among four South Korean conglomerates recommended to host artificial intelligence researchers in lieu of military service, government data showed Sunday. The Ministry of Science and ICT put forward LG El
• Long-term residents drive record foreign jobless payouts SEOUL, September 20 (AJP) - Unemployment benefits paid to foreign workers in South Korea hit the highest with 113.4 billion won ($81.8 million) last year, flowing overwhelmingly to long-settled residents, according to labor ministry data submitted to parliament Saturday. Foreign enrollment in employment insurance swell
• Seoul, Washington discuss Hormuz, investment and North Korea SEOUL, September 19 (AJP) - South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed Friday to deepen cooperation on the Strait of Hormuz and Korean investment in the United States.
• Samsung joins $231 million bet on Dutch AI chips SEOUL, September 19 (AJP) - Samsung has co-led a $231 million funding round in Dutch semiconductor startup Euclyd, backing a young company developing an artificial intelligence chip system with an architecture different from Nvidia’s dominant graphics processing units.
• Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games begin 16-day run SEOUL, September 19 (AJP) - The 20th Asian Games officially open in Japan on Saturday, launching 16 days of competition across Aichi Prefecture and other parts of the country as Japan hosts the continental sporting event for the first time in 32 years.
• Samsung Electronics union shifts to semiconductor-only membership SEOUL, September 19 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics’ largest labor union has voted overwhelmingly to restrict membership to employees in its semiconductor division, effectively splitting the organization along the company’s chip and consumer-electronics businesses after months of disputes over performance bonuses and bargaining strategy.

AJP Briefing>

• KOSPI jumps 2.7% as chips rally on lower oil, yields SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - South Korean stocks jumped nearly 3 percent Friday as falling oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields eased inflation concerns. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix led the broad rebound as foreign investors returned after uncertainties over rate decisions by the U.S. and Japanese central banks were removed. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 6,894.23, up 2.66 percent from the previous session. The index opened 2.54 percent higher at around 6,885 and climbed as high as 6,914.0
• 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

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

• Seoul draws Hormuz line as Tokyo weighs mine-clearing role SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung on Friday ruled out any South Korean military deployment that would draw the country into the war involving Iran, while leaving room for a narrowly defined mission to protect Korean vessels, citizens and energy routes around the Strait of Hormuz. The remarks marked Lee’s clearest attempt yet to draw a line between joining a war and contributing to maritime security as Seoul faces sustained U.S. pressure over Hormuz. “There will be by Kim Hee-su
• 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

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