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Korea, NATO agree to open procurement talks for $9.9 bil. defense market

ANKARA — Korea and NATO agreed to open negotiations on a basic procurement agreement that would allow Korean defense companies to participate in NATO's joint procurement market, estimated to be worth 15 trillion won ($9.9 billion) annually, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Tuesday. Wi said the agreement was reached on the occasion of a meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Ankara, where the NATO summit is being held from Tuesday to Wednesday. Lee is attending the summit at Rutte's invitation. "The agreement, once concluded, will provide an institutional framework for Korean companies to participate in NATO's joint procurement market," Wi said during a press briefing, pointing out that the market is estimated to be worth 15 trillion won per year. “The agreement would give Korea a foothold to enter NATO's defense market, the world's largest,” Wi added, referring to NATO's 32 member states, which make up the world's largest defense procurement market with a roughly 55 percent share of global defense spending. Wi said Korea and NATO

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Nobel Laureate Han Kang's Seoul bookstore closes amid gentrification

Korean author Han Kang’s independent bookstore, “Onul Books,” has closed its doors after eight years, Wednesday, marking the end of a literary space that had drawn devoted readers from across the country and abroad. The bookstore, which had opened in Seoul’s Yangjae neighborhood in 2018 and relocated to the city’s historic Seochon neighborhood in 2023, became known not only for its curated selection of books but also for its intimate literary programs such as a book club, reading sessions and writing classes. Han stepped down as head of the bookstore in 2021 and joined its board. “The shared sensory experience of reading together in the bookstore was truly meaningful,” Han told reporters on Tuesday at the bookstore before its last reading session with visitors. Han personally hosted the final reading event, spending time with readers who gathered to mark the closing. The bookstore had gained heightened attention after Han won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024, drawing a steady stream of visitors, including international fans. Han attributed the closure to circumstances

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Binge drinking surges among Korean women in 30s

For a working mother in her 30s using the pseudonym Lim Ji-hyun, alcohol began as a brief escape at the end of the day. After putting her child to sleep, she would pour one or two glasses of soju, a clear Korean liquor, treating the drink as a small reward after hours of work and child care. She felt pressure not to fail at work or home, and that pressure gradually pushed drinking from occasional comfort into a daily routine. "I used to feel better when drinking," Lim said. As the routine continued, her drinking increased. What began as a way to clear her mind turned into binge drinking, and mistakes followed. She forgot her child’s schedule and arrived late for work — lapses she had never before experienced. After her family urged her to seek medical care, Lim went to a hospital, received a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and began inpatient treatment. Drinking alone becomes routine Her case reflects a broader shift that health experts say deserves more attention. A Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency report showed that the monthly binge-drinking rate among women in their 30s r

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Samsung SDS faces collective bargaining demands from fledgling union

Samsung SDS is facing growing pressure to improve its incentive system, as its labor union secured majority support just a day after its launch and demanded collective bargaining with management. According to the company on Wednesday, it has decided to scrap a proposed revision to its incentive system, as support for the plan reached only about 40 percent in an employee vote. The company had held the vote from June 24 through Tuesday, seeking approval from at least half of its employees to replace its existing cash-based “target achievement incentive” with treasury shares worth up to 20 percent of annual salary. However, the proposal faced employee opposition, ultimately prompting workers to establish the company's first labor union. The union, the Samsung Group United Union Samsung SDS Chapter, was officially launched on Monday and secured more than 5,500 memberships the following day, surpassing half of the company's workforce of about 11,000. Membership rose to around 5,800 on Tuesday night before easing to 5,686 as of Wednesday morning. The union on Tuesday requested collective b

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Open USD pushes Korea to rethink stablecoin model

The upcoming launch of Open USD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by more than 140 global financial and technology firms, is expected to reshape Korea's stablecoin debate by shifting the focus from issuers to companies with real distribution power, industry officials said Tuesday. Open USD is challenging the issuer-dominated profit model that has long defined the stablecoin market. Its governance rights and reserve income will be shared among participating companies, with revenue distributed based on the competitiveness of each distribution partner. The launch is scheduled for the second half of this year. In Korea, 13 companies, including Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Financial Group, KB Kookmin Card, Dunamu and Hanwha Group, have joined the initiative. Global firms such as Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase, Google, BNY and Standard Chartered are also among the participants. Industry officials said the emergence of Open USD carries significant implications for Korea as the country debates the introduction of a won-pegged stablecoin. So far, Korea's stablecoin discussion has

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'I wish I'd never met Park Geun-hye': Choi Seo-won breaks silence after 10 years

When asked whether there was a moment in her life she wished she could change, she paused for the first time in the three-hour interview. Until then, she had answered every question without hesitation. After several seconds of silence, Choi Seo-won, formerly known as Choi Soon-sil, spoke softly. A central figure in the 2016-17 state affairs scandal that shook Korea and ultimately led to the impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye, the first sitting president in the nation's constitutional history to be removed from office, Choi reflected on the decision that changed her life. "If I could go back," she said softly, "I wish I had never met former President Park Geun-hye when we were in college." The Hankook Ilbo met Choi, now 70, on June 29 in a conference room at Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul's Yongsan District, where she was accompanied by her attorney. Speaking publicly for the first time since the scandal erupted a decade ago, Choi said her rapidly declining health had prompted her to break her silence. "I feel my health worsening by the day, and I don't think I have m

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Winners of the 22nd Economic Essay Contest

The Korea Times is pleased to announce the winners of its 22nd English Economic Essay Contest for university students. The Grand Prize winners are Alexandra Maria Escobar Garay, a Salvadoran student at Busan University of Foreign Studies, and Ko Kyung-hwan, a Korean student at Hanyang University. Each winner will receive 3 million won in prize money and an award certificate. The runners-up are Sultanova Khadizha, a Kyrgyz student at Woosong University, and Said Jonathan Luviano Lessie, a Mexican student at Ajou University. Each will receive 2 million won and an award certificate. Commendation awards went to Tran Minh Ngoc, a Vietnamese student at Hanoi Financial and Banking University, Narzullaeva Maftuna Shukhrat Kizi, an Uzbek student at Inha University, and Lee Hyo-jeong, a Korean student at the University of California. Each will receive 1 million won and a certificate. The contestants wrote essays addressing one of two subjects. The first topic covered Korean banks and securities firms. The contestants were asked to write an essay based on this writing prompt: Korean banks and securitie

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InterviewSangmyung University builds distinctive global strategy around arts, culture

As Korean universities jostle for global standing, Sangmyung University is leaning into what sets it apart: a concentration in culture and the arts. Three of the university's 10 colleges specialize in culture, the arts and design — a rare institutional structure among Korean universities that Sangmyung University President Kim Chong-hee sees as a strategic asset rather than a legacy to be outgrown. “We are focusing our global partnerships on two key areas — artificial intelligence (AI), our new strategic priority, and culture and the arts, our traditional strength," she said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. Asia's cultural hub Kim said her ultimate goal is to position Sangmyung as Asia's cultural hub, connected to the world, and and the university is building a network of partnerships across Europe and Asia to back that ambition. In November 2025, the university also launched the Arts Management Asia Center as part of its broader push to become a regional hub for arts management. "We want the center to serve as a platform connecting arts management research and education a

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Editor's Pick

Life in Korea

Lifestyle

K-Culture

'Dracula' featuring Jennie climbs to new peak on Billboard 100

"Dracula," a collaboration between Jennie of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK and Australian act Tame Impala, rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, its highest rank to date, according to the chart uploaded Tuesday (U.S. time). The song moved up two notches from the previous week, the chart showed, becoming the highest-placing track by Jennie on the Hot 100 since her debut. Originally released as a solo track by Tame Impala in October last year, "Dracula" gained renewed traction after a remix featuring Jennie was released in February, going viral on short-form video platforms and climbing up the rankings. Elsewhere on the chart, the collaborative single "Iconic By Mistake" by girl groups Le Sserafim, Illit and Katseye reached No. 49, down six spots from the previous week. The BTS single "Swim" remained on the chart for the 15th straight week, coming in at No. 76. On the Billboard 200 albums chart, K-pop boy group Ateez claimed its third No. 1, with its new album, "Golden Hour: Part. 5." "ARIRANG," the fifth studio album by BTS, ranked No. 19, while the original soundtrack for the Netflix animat

1 MIN READ

Celebrities

Despite severing ties, Jang Yoon-jeong dragged back into spotlight by mother's new fraud allegations

Trot singer Jang Yoon-jeong has been thrust back into the public spotlight after fraud allegations surfaced against her estranged mother, reviving questions about whether celebrities should face scrutiny for the actions of their family members. JTBC’s investigative program “Crime Chief” aired a segment on June 30 about a family member of a nationally known celebrity who was allegedly involved in a fraud scheme, soliciting investments by using the celebrity’s name. The program identified the person as Jang’s mother. The mother allegedly sought investments in a trot competition program in which her daughter was set to appear, fabricating text messages that appeared to show conversations with Jang. The program suggested there were multiple victims. Jang, who had largely remained silent on controversies surrounding her mother, issued a rare statement saying she has had no contact with her, apparently out of concern that more people could fall victim to similar fraud schemes. The estrangement dates back to 2013, when Jang, then preparing for marriage, publicly spoke about a yearslon

2 MIN READ