• FMs of South Korea, Iran hold phone talks as Hormuz deployment debate grows SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - The foreign ministers of South Korea and Iran talked over the phone on Friday as Seoul considers how to help ensure maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.
• Bank of Korea's AI rate-setters keep choosing not to decide SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) — Artificial intelligence can help analyze economic data, but it cannot be relied upon for policymaking because of its susceptibility to bias, a Bank of Korea study showed.
• Korea's fiscal red shrinks to a 5-year low on chip boom SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - South Korea's fiscal deficit thinned to a five-year low as of July as chip-driven corporate earnings and bigger employee bonuses along with brisk property and stock-market activity swelled tax receipts.
• Korea's Sept. 1-10 exports hit record $35 bn, up 83% on yr SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - South Korea's exports roared on, surging 82.6 percent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of September to a record $35 billion.
• PM Han rejects claims Korea discriminates against U.S. firms SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - Prime Minister Han Seong-sook on Friday rejected claims that South Korea discriminates against U.S. companies, saying the country's laws and regulations apply equally to domestic and foreign businesses.
• Recent missing-person cases cast shadow over Jeju tourism SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - Jeju was long celebrated as the "island of three absences," or Sammu in Korean, a traditional expression meaning there were no thieves, no beggars and no front gates because residents had little reason to fear one another.

AJP Briefing

• KOSPI closes below 7,000 as foreign selloff outweighs chip exports SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - South Korean stocks fell nearly 2 percent on Friday as concerns over oil prices and interest rates led to heavy foreign selling, outweighing strong semiconductor exports. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 6,909.91, down 1.76 percent from the previous session. The index opened 3.29 percent lower at 6,802.50 before recovering part of its losses in afternoon trading. Foreign investors sold a net 2.29 trillion won (US$1.70 billion) of KOSPI shares, while institutions unload
• Korean 3-yr yield tops 4% for first time since 2023 SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) — South Korea's three-year government bond yield closed above 4 percent Friday for the first time in nearly three years, while the won weakened as oil-driven inflation fears sent global yields sharply higher. The three-year Korean government bond yield jumped 8.8 basis points to 4.018 percent, crossing the 4 percent threshold for the first time since Nov. 1, 2023. The yield had last closed above the level at 4.071 percent on Nov. 1, 2023, before falling to 3

AJP ScaleUP

• KOSDAQ delisting clock starts ticking as menswear brand exits SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - South Korea's tougher new rules have led to the first KOSDAQ delisting, with men's apparel company Wonpung Mulsan set to leave the market after 29 years and several other micro-cap companies facing a similar fate. Wonpung Mulsan, one of the KOSDAQ's earliest-listed companies and once the South Korean licensee of French fashion brand Nina Ricci, failed to recover the minimum market capitalization of 20 billion won (US$14.5 million). Its shares plunged mor
• XIIlab rises after winning NVIDIA-backed AI vision challenge SEOUL, September 9 (AJP) - South Korean artificial intelligence startup XIIlab rose nearly 5 percent Wednesday after winning a computer vision competition that tested whether models trained on synthetic images could perform effectively in real-world conditions. Shares traded at 11,760 won ($8.46) as of 2:09 p.m. on the KOSDAQ, up 4.91 percent from the previous close of 11,210 won. The stock opened at 11,800 won and climbed as high as 12,690 won during the session before giving back part of its

ASIA Insight

• In Korea's delivery republic, gratitude comes without the tip SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - Any homebody knows the small thrill — the doorbell, footsteps outside and finally the arrival of dinner, groceries or the sneakers you have been waiting weeks for. In South Korea's delivery republic, that moment is woven deeply into everyday life. Increasingly, some customers are finding small ways to acknowledge the people who make it possible, whether through an iced drink, a snack, an extra meal or simply a note saying thank you and ride safely. The ges by Ryu Yuna
• BOJ September hike view hardens across major houses SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) — Expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will raise its policy rate this month have hardened across economists, markets and major financial houses, although some forecasters still favor an October move. A Reuters poll conducted from Sept. 1 to 8 showed 66 of 68 economists, or 97 percent, expecting the BOJ to raise its policy rate to 1.25 percent on Sept. 18. The figure was up sharply from 57 percent in the previous survey. The survey figure does not represent by Kim Yeon-jae

AJP Watch

• Korean shamanism finds new life in pop culture SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - Drums pound, bells shake and chants rise as a mudang, or Korean shaman, appears to slip between worlds, communicating with spirits through an electrifying ritual of music, dance and trance. For millions of moviegoers, the spectacle became familiar through a famous gut scene in director Jang Jae-hyun's 2024 occult blockbuster "Exhuma." Gut, an ancient Korean shamanic ritual performed to communicate with spirits, comfort the dead, seek blessings or ward
• Korean games swap console blockbusters for phone anime in Tokyo SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - South Korea's biggest game publishers arrive at Tokyo Game Show next week with a lineup that fits in a pocket, trading the console blockbusters they hauled to Gamescom three weeks ago for free-to-play anime games built mostly for phones. Nexon, Netmarble, NC and Smilegate are all bringing what the industry calls subculture titles — character-driven games drawn in Japanese animation style and largely monetized through randomized character draws. Nearly all

AJP Focus

• AI comes at a price: $3,000 for a phone SEOUL, September 11 (AJP) - Apple is ready for a strong comeback after losing loyal Korean consumers to Samsung's foldables, with the iPhone's first foldable form rolling out across Korea on Oct. 23. The appeal to lure back long-term iPhone users is apparent, if form had been the sole put-off. The sole damper is the starting price tag of 3.29 million won for the entry-level 256-gigabyte model and 5.09 million won for the top-end 2-terabyte iPhone Duo. Apple has again set the bar by pus
• Chip boom: boon or curse for Korea's household debt? SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - The chip bonanza is not just lifting South Korea's nominal growth to levels unseen in decades. It is also pushing the household debt ratio toward an 11-year low as gross domestic product expands much faster than borrowing. The household debt-to-GDP ratio could fall toward 80 percent this year - or the lowest level since 79.2 percent in 2015 - if double-digit nominal growth of 15 to 20 percent is sustained in the second half. The ratio had already fallen to 85.3