• The world is scorching and Korea's climate envoy sees opportunity in crisis SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korea issued its first top-tier heat warning Sunday as temperatures neared 39 degrees Celsius in the southeastern cities of Pohang and Gyeongsan, joining countries across Europe and North America confronting summers that are becoming longer, hotter and increasingly dangerous.
• Stricter delisting rules rattle KOSDAQ-listed companies SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - South Korea's tougher delisting rules are starting to shake up the stock market sooner than expected. Less than two weeks after the new delisting regulations took effect on the South Korean bourse earlier this month.
• Foreigners pull out record $110 bn from Korean equities H1 SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Foreign pulled out $110 billion from Korea's red-hot stock market in the first six months, with nearly $31 billion taken out in June alone, data showed Tuesday.
• Seoul to debut first privately developed UAM aircraft SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Seoul will unveil its first urban air mobility aircraft developed by a domestic private company on Wednesday, with the vehicle set to perform a short flight demonstration.
• KF-16 fighters to fly nonstop to Australia for Pitch Black exercise SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - South Korea’s Air Force will take part in Pitch Black 2026, a multinational air combat exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force, at Darwin Air Base from Friday to Aug. 7, the Air Force said Tuesday.
• Koreans raid retirement savings to chase the stock bull SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) — South Koreans are dipping into pension and long-term funds to join the stock market rush, risking their retirement nest eggs as they chase short-term returns.

AJP Briefing

• KOSPI makes modest recovery after sharp plunge, but KOSDAQ stays volatile SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - South Korean stocks rebounded Tuesday after the previous session's steep selloff, although another sell-side sidecar on the junior KOSDAQ showed continued volatility in the local market. The benchmark KOSPI rose 49.90 points or 0.73 percent to close at 6,856.83. The modest gain followed another volatile session. The index opened 0.56 percent lower at 6,769.06, climbed to an intraday high of 6,979.92 and later fell to 6,448.86 before recovering into the close, a swing
• Tycoons' stock wealth falls 6 trln won without Samsung, SK chiefs SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - The combined stock wealth of South Korea’s major business group chiefs jumped by more than 29 trillion won ($19.6 billion) in the second quarter, but the headline increase masked losses across most of the group as gains were overwhelmingly concentrated in Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Excluding Lee and Chey, the value of shares held by the remaining 44 group leaders fell by 5.97 trillion won, or 8.6 percent, between th
• Samsung wins eight Red Dot Design Awards, including two top honors SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics said Monday it received eight awards, including two "Best of the Best" honors, in the Design Concept category at the Red Dot Design Award 2026, one of the world's major international design competitions. The company's top-winning entries were Samsung Home Appliances Accessories, a concept that uses color coding to help users identify how appliance consumables should be reused, recycled or disposed of, and Dremo & Minimo, an AI-pow
• Naver, Kakao, telecoms and startups line up for Korea's free AI project SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - South Korea's biggest technology names are jostling to join the government's "AI for All" project, a state drive to build a homegrown artificial intelligence service that every citizen can use free of charge, as the contest for a slice of the initiative gathers pace. Kakao and LG Uplus have confirmed their bids, while Naver, SK Telecom and KT are weighing entry, industry sources said on Tuesday. AI startups and mid-sized firms are also sounding out cons

ASIA Insight

• Why Middle East conflict remains stuck after nearly five months SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - About five months have passed, yet the end of the conflict in the Middle East remains nowhere in sight. Fighting has appeared close to stopping several times, only to break out again. Negotiations are underway, but renewed military clashes have left the prospects for a resolution increasingly uncertain. U.S. President Donald Trump continues to criticize Iran, calling it "scum," while Tehran has responded with increasingly hostile rhetoric. Even if an agreement i by Lee Hugh
• Türkiye's NATO moment arrives, but the price of trust remains unpaid SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - For years, Türkiye occupied an uncomfortable place inside NATO: too important to expel, too difficult to embrace. It was the ally that bought a Russian air defense system over Washington’s objections. The country that refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The state that could sell drones to Kyiv while keeping open channels to the Kremlin. The government whose president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, jaile by Lee Jung-woo

AJP Watch

• Home ownership becoming a pipe dream for young Korean SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Home ownership among young South Koreans has fallen at one of the fastest rates in recent years, underscoring how soaring housing costs are pushing ownership further out of reach even as the government expands housing support that remains largely centered on public rentals rather than ownership. An analysis of anonymized household microdata from the Survey of Household Finances and Living Conditions, reported by Munhwa Ilbo on July 13, showed that the owner-occupancy rate
• BOK dismisses peak concerns over chip cycle as AI demand still outpaces supply SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea has dismissed concerns that the global semiconductor cycle has already peaked, saying investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is driving demand faster than manufacturers can expand supply. According to a report submitted to People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Park Seong-hoon and released on Monday, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said the current semiconductor upcycle differs from previous ones because it is being driven by intense investment as

AJP Focus

• Homeplus goes dark, exposing the cost of Korea's biggest retail buyout SEOUL, July 14 (AJP) - Homeplus, once South Korea's second-largest hypermarket chain and a symbol of the country's modern retail boom, switched off the lights across its remaining stores on Monday after running out of cash, leaving roughly 12,000 employees, hundreds of suppliers and thousands of shopping mall tenants caught in what is becoming Korea's biggest retail collapse in decades. The nationwide shutdown marks the dramatic end of a company that once challenged E-mart for indus
• Gov't tightens household loans while mulling pension-backed borrowing options SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korea is tightening conventional household lending to contain debt growth while considering measures that could make it easier to borrow and invest against retirement savings, exposing a potential contradiction in its financial policy. One channel of household leverage is being restricted just as another could be opened. Household lending at the country's five largest banks - KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup - excluding government-backed loans r