• South Korea to send special envoy to UN climate summit in Türkiye SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) - Kang Geum-sil, South Korea's ambassador for global climate and the environment and a former justice minister, is set to attend the COP31 World Leaders' Summit in Türkiye this week as a presidential special envoy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
• Seoul inspects fishers over migrant worker rights SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - South Korea began inspecting about 160 fishing businesses employing foreign seasonal workers on Monday, following earlier findings of widespread labor and housing violations, government officials said.
• South Korea introduces rules for seizing cryptocurrency assets SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - South Korea has introduced new rules allowing courts to seize and liquidate cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to enforce civil judgments, the Supreme Court's National Court Administration said Monday.
• AI fuels growth for Korea, leaves behind households; KDI SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) — South Korea's economy continues to expand on strong AI-related exports and investment, while household consumption remains stubbornly sluggish, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said Monday.
• Nvidia says simulation is key to Korea's factory robots SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - Robots bound for South Korea's factories should learn their trade in virtual replicas of the shop floor before they ever touch a car door, a senior Nvidia executive said Monday.
• Disgraced stem cell scientist appears to lose South Korean citizenship SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) - Disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk appears to have lost his South Korean citizenship after acquiring United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationality, according to an official government notice released on Monday.

AJP Briefing>

• KOSPI barely holds above 5,000 amid heavy foreign selling SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) - South Korean stocks struggled to hold above the 5,000 mark on Monday as persistent foreign selling wiped out an intraday rebound, overpowering bargain hunting despite gains among major chipmakers. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 5,021.97, down 0.75 percent from Friday's 5,059.69. The index briefly slipped below 5,000 in early trading before climbing as high as 5,172.94. It surrendered those gains in the afternoon as selling pressure intensified, finishing near the da
• International Hydrographic Organization to open infrastructure center in Seoul SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) will open an infrastructure center in Busan on Tuesday to support the development of global digital maritime information standards, South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Monday. The opening ceremony will take place at the Busan International Finance Center 2 (BIFC2), with around 100 participants from 30 countries expected to attend, including the IHO secretary-general, government officials and maritim

AJP ScaleUP

• Alteogen plunges 14% on US drug pricing, patent fears SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) — Shares of South Korean biotechnology company Alteogen plunged more than 14 percent on Monday as investors worried that new U.S. drug pricing rules and a European patent dispute could threaten its future royalty revenue. The stock fell as much as 23.94 percent to 152,500 won ($112.64) before recovering to 169,000 won as of 3:11 p.m., down 15.71 percent from Friday's close of 200,500 won, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX). Alteogen develops technology that
• Rebellions to pair Korean AI chip with Nvidia GPUs SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - South Korean AI chipmaker Rebellions will plug its next-generation chip into Nvidia's computing platform and SK Telecom's data centers to build sovereign AI infrastructure on homegrown silicon, the company said Monday. Rebellions unveiled the plan at Nvidia AI Day Seoul 2026 at COEX in southern Seoul. Its R200 neural processing unit (NPU) will link to Nvidia systems through NVLink Fusion and anchor rack-scale inference systems built on Nvidia's MGX server

ASIA Insight

• Won defies stock selloff as export dollars offer support SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) — South Korea’s won strengthened alongside the Japanese yen Monday despite continued foreign selling of Korean equities as exporters’ dollar conversions helped cushion the currency against concerns over slowing AI investment. The divergence reflects two different forces: stock investors are reassessing future semiconductor earnings, while exporters are still converting dollars earned from strong overseas sales. The won closed daytime trading at 1,347.1 by Kim Yeon-jae
• Is regulation best answer to Korea's teen social media addiction? SEOUL, November 05 (AJP) - South Korea is mulling restrictions on children’s access to social media, joining a global push to shield young users from addictive feeds and harmful content. A country that once ordered teenagers off online games at midnight faces a déjà vu question over whether state intervention is the best answer. President Lee Jae Myung — himself an active social media user — instructed the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) at a Ca by Lee Jung-woo

AJP Watch

• The no-sweat Namsan: A hiking guide in which nobody hikes SEOUL, November 06 (AJP) - One bus, three snacks, a churro, and a fortune about a crate of liquor. AJP takes the introvert's route up Seoul's favorite mountain. This is a hiking guide in which no hiking takes place. Namsan, the 265-meter peak in the middle of Seoul, is on every visitor's list, and in crisp late autumn it fully deserves its place. But you don't need boots, a training plan or a single conversation with a stranger to reach the top. You need a transit card, a bus t
• The 1,000-won souvenir: What foreign tourists are hauling home SEOUL, November 06 (AJP) - Scrub towels that sting, socks with ears, and enough pens to last a year. AJP followed the baskets and checked the prices. “It hurts a little,” Roy Yamamoto admits, turning a coarse green towel over in his hand. “But afterward, I feel really clean.” The 43-year-old from Osaka buys Korean scrub towels every time he visits. He first saw them in a Korean TV drama, where bathhouse regulars scrubbed themselves pink and looked oddly happy about it.

AJP Focus

• Data center reckoning: A blessing in disguise for Korean chipmakers? SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - The foreign flight from Korean chip stocks over fears of slower U.S. data center construction need not spell the end of the AI fairy tale since power constraints unsettling investors could instead reward Korean chipmakers’ years of investment in energy efficiency, according to a semiconductor expert. Investors risk equating fewer new data centers with fewer memory orders, overlooking demand for upgrades at existing facilities, said Lee Jong-hwan, a professor of
• US midterm lays bare Korean chipmakers' exposure to AI politics SEOUL, November 06 (AJP) - A US midterm vote half a world away hit the Seoul bourse and its biggest chipmakers hardest. Foreign investors fled, and local players are split on whether this is excess panic or a rightful correction. SK hynix tumbled 10.76 percent Friday after 9.46 percent a day earlier after sweeping Democrat win became evident. Samsung Electronics lost 6.35 percent on top of Thursday's 7.57 percent retreat. They had been hammered even before the election results on concerns