• Uber's Baemin bid goes under Korean antitrust review SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) - Uber’s bid to take control of Baemin, South Korea’s largest food delivery platform, for around $15 billion faces the first regulatory test with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) launching a preliminary antitrust review of the proposed combination of taxi-hailing and delivery services.
• Humanoids show their moves — and limits — at first Seoul summit SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) - Two small wheeled robots zipped across the floor of COEX in southern Seoul on Tuesday until one rammed into the back of the other. The pair locked together like a Transformer, reared up and trotted off on four legs.
• DMZ blast hits troops ahead of UNC inspection SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) - South Korean troops hit by a suspected land mine explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone were clearing a route ahead of a planned United Nations Command inspection of terrain changes detected near the inter-Korean military demarcation line.
• English level tests to be banned for kindergartners in Korea SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) - Private crammers will be prohibited from administering level tests and other assessments to preschoolers starting next month, the Education Ministry said on Tuesday.
• BOK in dilemma as rate hikes ease imbalances, raise default risks SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) – Back-to-back rate hikes are expected to accelerate deleveraging and ease financial imbalances but risk pushing delinquency rates higher, a Bank of Korea financial stability report said Tuesday.
• Korea to launch smaller prosecution service SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) -South Korea will launch a new prosecution service next month with around 80 to 85 percent of the country’s statutory prosecutor quota, in line with its diminished role.

AJP Briefing>

• Hanwha Solutions eyes China's offshore wind power cable market SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) - Hanwha Solutions is showcasing next-generation extra-high-voltage cable materials and recycling technologies at Wire China 2026 in Shanghai as it seeks to expand its presence in China's offshore wind and power transmission markets. The company said Tuesday that its Wire & Cable division is participating in the exhibition from Sept. 21 to 24, displaying materials for super extra-high-voltage (SEHV) cables as well as circular solutions. Among the products on
• KOSPI rises nearly 2% on chip gains as yields, oil ease SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) – Korean shares extended gains Tuesday on hopes that this week’s summit and United Nations meetings would bring greater clarity on U.S.-China relations and the war in Iran. The benchmark KOSPI stood at 7,135.97 as of 10:11 a.m., up 1.83 percent, after reaching 7,169.01 earlier in the session. Foreign investors bought a net 131.2 billion won ($96 million) of KOSPI shares, while institutions purchased 344.2 billion won and retail investors sold 800.7 billion

AJP ScaleUP

• Operator of self-photo booths seeks KOSDAQ listing SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - South Korean self-photo booth operator Seobuk filed for a preliminary review to list on the KOSDAQ on Monday, starting the formal process toward an initial public offering (IPO) for its flagship Photoism brand. The company applied to list 12.63 million shares including 2.6 million shares planned for the public offering, according to Korea Exchange (KRX). Founded in 2020, Seobuk is a global entertainment platform that operates flagship brand Photoism, a self-photo bo
• Neosapience surges over 200% in KOSDAQ debut SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - Generative artificial intelligence (AI) voice technology firm Neosapience surged more than 200 percent above its initial public offering (IPO) price on its KOSDAQ debut on Monday. Shares traded at 27,350 won (US$19.76) as of around 2 p.m., up 173.5 percent from the IPO price of 10,000 won. The stock rose as high as 30,750 won during the session after opening at 25,250 won. The sharp debut followed strong retail demand. The Sept. 10-11 public offering drew orders fo

ASIA Insight

• When AI becomes a confidant, how much should we tell it? SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) - Plug in your personal details, desires, weaknesses and troubles. Artificial intelligence suddenly becomes a confession box, healer, consultant, judge, friend and even accomplice. For Jang, an office worker in his 30s from Bundang, south of Seoul, the familiarity is unsettling. "When I talk to AI about my problems, sometimes it scares me to think that it will eventually know me better than I know myself," he said. The sense of privacy and closeness can be by Ryu Yuna
• Esports has the money. Can it run a tournament? SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - Krafton launched PUBG Asia Stars on Sept. 17 ambitiously dubbed as a new pan-Asian showcase with 48 participants from six regions, a $70,000 purse and a format inspired by the Asian Games. Within two days, it had lost control of the competition. All eight Korean participants boycotted the second day over the handling of suspected cheating. Krafton removed two Vietnamese participants, revoked their PUBG Partner status and, on Sunday, canceled the final day. It said by Kim Dong-young

AJP Watch

• For Gen Z, adulthood comes in small treats SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) - Once a week, a 28-year-old nurse working at a small hospital in central Seoul walks into a gift shop in Jongno-gu and buys herself something small. It has become a ritual since she changed jobs two years ago. She does not drink or have particularly expensive hobbies. After rent, student loan payments, food, transportation and her phone bill, she says there is little left to save. The life she once imagined for 28 looked very different. “When I moved from Nort
• Giant hand to truck-boat, local projects raise questions on cultural spending SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - Lee Ji-hye, a 33-year-old resident of Songdo in Incheon, took her young son to see a new sculpture that had appeared along the waterfront in their neighborhood. His immediate reaction was "Rock and roll," she said, copying the hand gesture. Her son also thought it looked like Spider-Man's hand. "There was a lot of discussion because we simply couldn't make it out," Lee told AJP. She could only laugh when she read the explanation at the b

AJP Focus

• Korea looks beyond HBM. Can HBF prove as big? SEOUL, September 22 (AJP) - South Korean memory makers racing to sustain a comfortable lead on the next-generation chip front have their eyes on the next big thing; high-bandwidth flash, or HBF. Six months ago, one prominent chip researcher predicted it would define the AI path. "HBM defined the last decade, but HBF will likely determine the next," Joung-ho Kim, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), told AJP in March. The proposition is now a
• Care leavers remain on South Korea's social periphery SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - Home is easily taken for granted. Some people grow up never quite knowing what it means to have one. A Korean activist in her 20s, who asked not to be named because she does not want her childhood history to follow her into adulthood, is one of them. When she was six or seven, she and her younger sibling were placed in a residential child care facility after their father found himself unable to raise them alone. She remained in institutional care into her early 20s