• BTS' V, Jungkook disclose health concerns amid tour SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - BTS members V and Jungkook opened up about health issues during the group's North American tour, giving fans a rare look at the physical strain they are managing on the road. The two spoke during a Weverse livestream Tuesday.
• Hot Stock: LG Electronics fly on hopes for deeper Nvidia ties SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - Shares of LG Electronics jumped nearly 13 percent on Wednesday, fueled by expectations over an anticipated meeting between LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
• N. Korea fires ballistic missile ahead of UFS, possible hypersonic weapon tested SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea on Wednesday, with analysts raising the possibility that Pyongyang tested a hypersonic short-range ballistic missile or a medium-range weapon flown on a shortened trajectory.
• Money may buy happiness: SK hynix happier than Samsung SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - Who says money can't buy happiness? SK hynix ranked among the top 3 percent of South Korean companies for employee happiness while archrival Samsung Electronics placed around the top 60 percent,
• China grabs over 80% of global ship orders, Korea at 16% SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - With global ship orders falling by more than half in July from the previous month, China accounted for more than 80 percent of the orders, while South Korea accounted for just 16 percent.
• Lee accepts credentials of US Ambassador Steel and others SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung welcomed U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel on Wednesday in their first meeting since the Korean American and former congresswoman took up her post in Seoul.

AJP Briefing

• Demand for Korea's 1-yr central bank bond hits 29-mo low SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - Demand for South Korea's one-year central bank bond fell to a 29-month-month low Wednesday as bids missed the planned issuance, signaling that the enlarged supply could not clear at the yield the Bank of Korea was prepared to pay. The weakness lay not in participation but in the size of the bids, as 15 institutions took part, one more than in July, even as their combined orders fell 41.2 percent. The BOK received 500 billion won in bids for 700 billion won ($494 mi
• KOSPI leads Asian rally on institutional buying SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark stock index surged Wednesday on institutional chase after a potential generous payouts by chip bellwethers. The KOSPI gained 233.51 points or 3.68 percent to 6,579.04 as Samsung Electronics climbed 16,000 won, or 6.7 cent, to 255,500 won and SK hynix 5.5 percent,to 1.504 million won. The advance far outpaced gains across the region, where Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.8 percent to 67,524.06 and Shanghai's composite index 0.4 percent

AJP ScaleUP

• Shares of chip parts maker jump on strong Q2 earnings SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - Shares of semiconductor parts maker Wonik QnC rose on Wednesday after it posted a more than twofold increase in second-quarter operating profit from a year earlier. Its shares closed 5.31 percent higher at 31,750 won (US$22.44). The gain came as consolidated operating profit jumped 119.1 percent from a year earlier to 30.9 billion won ($21.8 million) for the period between April and June, according to its preliminary earnings report released the same day. Revenue also
• Shares of internet infrastructure firm fall despite strong Q2 earnings SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - Shares of KOSDAQ-listed internet service provider KINX fell on Wednesday even after it posted a more than 50 percent jump in second-quarter operating profit. Its shares closed 6.99 percent lower at 151,600 won (US$107.14). The decline came despite a 51.15 percent jump in consolidated operating profit from a year earlier to 8.82 billion won ($6.2 million) for the period between April and June, according to its preliminary earnings report released the same day. Revenue a

ASIA Insight

• Pandemic hangover? Young Koreans opt solo as socializing gets pricey SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - For Jin, a corporate worker in his 30s, some friendships have simply become too expensive to maintain. “I feel uncomfortable meeting friends who want to eat somewhere expensive every single time,” he said. “I also don’t like taking turns paying for meals. Splitting the bill is just easier.” HJ Kim, 32, has reached much the same conclusion. What bothers her is not merely the price of dinner, but the invisible accounting that can begin once by Ryu Yuna
• Military AI sovereignty emerges as Asia's new defense front SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - The next contest for military power is no longer simply about who has the best weapons or even the most powerful artificial intelligence. It is increasingly about who controls the AI when the shooting starts. The United States has demonstrated the advantage of combining its AI software edge with military might. Japan, China and South Korea are now pursuing different strategies to ensure that critical military capabilities do not become dependent on technology controlled by Kim Hee-su

AJP Watch

• Chinese snacks spread across Korean shelves, drawing curiosity and scrutiny SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - Step into an unmanned snack shop in Seoul and the shelves resemble a miniature world market — with China taking an outsized share, from mala konjac and latiao to spicy seafood and candy. The novelty is drawing shoppers, but also closer scrutiny as Korean regulators flag bacterial contamination, high sodium and labeling problems in some imported products. The Chinese packaged fish snack, bought from an unmanned store in downtown Seoul, looked as forceful as its sm
• Even Buddhism gets muddled over election in South Korea SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - Elections can get dirty, and even one of South Korea's oldest religious traditions is not immune to the rough edges of politics. Inside Jogyesa Temple in downtown Seoul on Tuesday, 53 members of the Jogye Order's Central Assembly bowed before the Buddha and recited a declaration supporting incumbent chief administrator Ven. Jinwoo for another four-year term. They praised his first term for making Buddhism more "friendly and warm" and said he was best

AJP Focus

• HBM isn't enough: Chipmakers race to break AI's memory wall SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - The race to build faster artificial intelligence memory is beginning to move beyond simply stacking more DRAM, as chipmakers confront a more fundamental problem: even high-bandwidth memory may not be enough to keep increasingly powerful AI processors fed with data. For the past several years, competition among memory makers has centered on successive generations of HBM, from HBM3E to HBM4 and HBM4E. SK hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron have raced to increase bandwid
• KOSDAQ roars back as leveraged bets unwind SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) — South Korea's long-neglected KOSDAQ is suddenly outrunning its bigger sibling and major stock markets around the world, gaining 19 percent in the first seven trading sessions of August as investors look beyond the leveraged chip trade that dominated the first half. The junior market closed Tuesday at 857.84, up 19.2 percent from 719.76 at the end of July. The benchmark KOSPI, by contrast, has lost 3.8 percent over the same period to 6,345.53. Among major glob