• UPDATE: Chip boom lifts Korea's factory jobs after 26-month slide SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) - The extraordinary chip boom fueling full-capacity production and expansion at South Korea’s chip factories has spilled over to the job front, lifting factory employment for the first time in more than two years, although opportunities for young people remained constrained.
• OpenAI pitches AI cyber defense to breach-hit Korea SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) - OpenAI on Friday urged South Korean corporate security chiefs to bring artificial intelligence into their cyber defenses.
• Seoul weighs Cheonghae mission extension amid Hormuz concerns SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) - South Korea is considering extending its Cheonghae anti-piracy mission beyond December, but has yet to finalize the details, the defense ministry said Friday.
• Prosecutors press 30-year prison term for ex-president in appeals trial SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) - Prosecutors on Friday again sought a 30-year prison term for disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol in a separate appeals trial related to his botched martial law debacle in 2024.
• Samsung tops Asia brand ranking for third straight year SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) - Samsung ranked as Asia's most valuable corporate brand for a third straight year, holding off Apple and Nike in Nikkei Research's latest regional survey.
• Three Samsung products named among TIME's list of best inventions SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) - Three products from tech giant Samsung Electronics have been included in TIME magazine's list of the "Best Inventions" for this year.

AJP Briefing>

• Foreigners end eight-day sell-off as KOSPI, Nikkei rebound SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) - Foreign investors turned net buyers of South Korean stocks on Friday for the first time in nine sessions, but the rebound after the previous day's crash recovered less than a quarter of the losses before losing steam sharply. The benchmark KOSPI rose 113.83 points or 2.05 percent to close at 5,668.05 after climbing as high as 5,809.94 during the session. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also jumped 33.96 points or 4.46 percent, triggering a buy-sidecar, a five-minute suspensi
• KOSPI rebounds nearly 3% after seven-day rout SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) — After an epic 20-percent slide in just seven trading sessions, Seoul shares finally reversed direction as local players turned to the two chip majors for bargain hunting. The benchmark KOSPI stood at 5,704.91 as of 10 a.m., up 2.71 percent from Thursday’s close of 5,554.22. It opened 1.80 percent higher at 5,653.99 and extended its gains. The rebound offered some relief after seven consecutive sessions of losses that wiped about 20 percent off the benchmar

AJP ScaleUP

• Four firms win preliminary approval for KOSDAQ listings SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) — Four South Korean companies have cleared preliminary reviews for listings on the KOSDAQ, moving closer to initial public offerings (IPOs) on the country's junior stock market. The Korea Exchange (KRX) approved listing applications on Thursday from four companies across financial technology, pharmaceuticals, battery materials and manufacturing artificial intelligence (AI). They include E9pay, an international money transfer company, and Innovo Therapeutics, a
• NH-Amundi points to security ETFs as AI agents spread SEOUL, October 14 (AJP) - Investor appetite for exchange-traded funds tied to AI infrastructure and cybersecurity is growing as agentic AI, which makes decisions and carries out tasks on its own, gains ground, NH-Amundi Asset Management said Wednesday. Frontier models arrived in quick succession last month, the South Korean asset manager said in its HANARO ETF Monthly Report. It cited OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra, Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 and Google DeepMind's Gemini 4 Argon, which brou

ASIA Insight

• South Korea can help close AI divide: World Bank VP SEOUL, October 15 (AJP) - South Korea’s digital expertise, manufacturing strength and rapid modernization make it well placed to help narrow a global wealth divide that artificial intelligence could deepen, a senior World Bank executive said. “What we call Big AI is an ecosystem dominated by just a handful of advanced countries — not even all advanced countries — and a small number of global corporations,” said Kim Sangbu, the World Bank Group’s vice presiden by Lee Jung-woo
• Ukraine war poses different stakes for South Korea, Japan SEOUL, October 14 (AJP) - The Russia-Ukraine war is nearing the five-year mark with little sign of an exit, with both sides expanding attacks on energy infrastructure and extending the war’s repercussions to draw East Asian countries closer to the epicenter. Japan has entered a defense deal with war-engaged Ukraine to purchase battlefield-tested Ukrainian interceptor drones. South Korea is equally engaged with Kyiv but in the opposite direction — a diplomatic spat triggered by Ukrai by Lee Jung-woo

AJP Watch

• Miss Gee Collection brings a vintage glow to timeless elegance SEOUL, October 15 (AJP) — The Seoul Arts Center added color offstage as Miss Gee Collection brought a softly faded vision of spring to its autumn grounds, reaffirming the enduring appeal of one of South Korea’s longest-running designer labels. For spring/summer 2027, founder Gee Chun-hee stayed close to the classical, feminine grace that has defined her work. The freshness came through color, texture and movement — familiar silhouettes seen in a gentler light. Pastels carried
• AI in the room poses new headache ahead of Korea's CSAT SEOUL, October 15 (AJP) - Artificial intelligence can now outperform humans on some academic tests, making it a dream stand-in for test-takers. A few have begun taking the risk — only to be caught because their high-tech helpers were too easy to spot. A proctor at the University of Seoul flagged an applicant's thick, oddly shaped frames during an Oct. 3 essay exam for early admission. They were smart glasses. The student was removed from the exam room, failed the test and was barred

AJP Focus

• Korean bonds join global safe-haven rally on equity rout SEOUL, October 15 (AJP) — An equity rout driven by concerns over AI overspending is steering investors toward government bonds in Seoul and other major markets despite stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation and the prospect of a prolonged monetary tightening cycle. The three-year Korean government bond yield closed Thursday 1.6 basis points lower at 3.867 percent, while the 10-year yield fell 6.8 basis points to 4.193 percent, its lowest since Aug. 5. The 20-year and 30-year yields droppe
• Will Sejong make the FSC a backseat driver in Korean finance? SEOUL, October 14 (AJP) - The Financial Services Commission (FSC) got its orders to move to Sejong on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it was running command in central Seoul against a hacking spree that has hit 16 financial companies, the kind of crisis that relocation will soon test. After second emergency response meeting held Wednesday at Government Complex Seoul, the FSC said intrusions had been confirmed across banks, savings banks, mutual finance, card and capital firms, peer-to-peer lenders and c