Author: Jae young
October 2, 2025SEOUL – South Korea is stepping up efforts to secure accommodations for participants in the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, scheduled for Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, according to news reports Wednesday.The meeting will bring together leaders from 21 member economies, including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, the United States and Vietnam. The Preparatory Office for the 2025 APEC summit estimated that about 20,000 people — including diplomats, politicians and business leaders — will travel to Gyeongju during the event.Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom (57 BC-AD 935), is renowned for…
October 2, 2025 The 2,300 unionised workers at the nation’s 15 airports are seeking better pay arrangements, more rest days and a safer working environment, a representative of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union – one of the unions participating in the strike – said in a statement.
October 2, 2025SEOUL – President Lee Jae Myung met OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the US entrepreneur behind the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, as the latter visited Seoul on Wednesday. The two reached tentative agreements to set up two new data centers needed to meet Korea’s growing artificial intelligence demands.At the meeting held at the presidential office in Seoul, Lee and Altman exchanged their views on South Korea’s ambition to become an AI hub for the Asia-Pacific region. Also attending the meeting were Lee Jae-yong, executive chair of chipmaker Samsung Electronics, and Chey Tae-won, chair of SK Group, the parent company of…
October 2, 2025SEOUL – South Korea and the United States have agreed to establish a dedicated “Korean Investor Desk” at the US Embassy in Seoul to address visa issues faced by Korean companies investing in the US.The decision comes nearly a month after a US immigration raid on Sept. 4 at a Hyundai-LG battery plant construction site in Georgia, which had led to the detention of more than 300 Korean workers.The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday the decision was made during the inaugural session of the Korea-US Business Travel and Visa Working Group, held Tuesday in Washington. The working group was…
October 2, 2025BUSAN – Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday agreed with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, whom he spoke with in the southern Korean city of Busan, to work to further develop bilateral relations in a stable manner and bring about more reciprocal visits by the leaders of the two countries.They also agreed on continuously conducting discussions between the nations’ governments regarding common social issues, such as their shrinking populations and overconcentration of population and power in their capital areas.This marks Ishiba’s first visit to South Korea since taking office. It is also expected to be his final…
October 1, 2025SEOUL – As Chinese group tours officially began entering South Korea under a visa waiver scheme this week, the government has faced criticism from far-right communities pushing for the plan’s withdrawal.At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, 300 protesters gathered near the National Assembly in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, western Seoul, to protest the visa-free entry of Chinese tourists.Tuesday’s protests came a day after the start of the visa-waiver program, which runs until June 30. From Monday, groups of three or more Chinese nationals traveling with designated agencies were permitted to enter Korea without visas for up to 15 days.Tuesday wasn’t the…
October 1, 2025SEOUL – Korean Air on Tuesday unveiled a revised mileage integration plan as part of its merger with Asiana Airlines, presenting fair conversion rates and a 10-year grace period as central to its commitment to consumer fairness and regulatory compliance.After months of deliberation, the national flag carrier announced two distinct conversion ratios — a 1-to-1 exchange for flight-accrued miles and a 1-to-0.82 rate for miles accumulated through credit card partnerships.Following consultation with South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, Korean Air explained that the flight-based ratio reflects the similar accrual structures of both airlines’ flight mileage systems, while the discounted…
October 1, 2025SEOUL – US President Donald Trump announced Sunday via Truth Social that he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all movies produced outside the United States, making his second such declaration in five months.The statement came without an implementation timeline or enforcement mechanism.Without providing evidence, Trump claimed that foreign countries were “stealing” American film production through tax incentives. He cited California as being “particularly hard hit.”The announcement left more questions than answers.It remains unclear how such a tariff would work in practice. Would it apply to streaming content or just theatrical releases? How would authorities calculate the…
October 1, 2025BUSAN – The top leaders of South Korea and Japan on Tuesday agreed to collaborate to tackle shared societal challenges such as their aging populations, urban concentration and suicide, as President Lee Jae Myung hosted outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday in their last official meeting.The relevant authorities of the two countries tasked with demographic issues, balanced economic growth, lacking agricultural self-sufficiency, emergency prevention and suicide will “continue to coordinate” on a regular basis by sharing experiences and cases of policy implementation, according to the joint document released after the summit in Busan.“I expect the ties…
September 30, 2025SEOUL – President Lee Jae Myung’s national security adviser said the upcoming working visit by outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will mark the restoration of “shuttle diplomacy” between the two countries, in which leaders frequently take turns visiting each other’s country.The leaders on Tuesday will hold a summit and a dinner in Busan, hosted by President Lee, Wi Sung-lac, director of the presidential National Security Office, told reporters Monday.A joint document will likely be announced following the summit, Wi added.Wi said that Ishiba would be the first Japanese leader to travel to another place within Korea outside…