• LG Electronics' Q3 results show it too is riding the AI boom SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) -White-goods powerhouse LG Electronics is rebranding itself as a stalwart of AI data centers and automotive technology, and its latest earnings are a testament to that shift.
• Samsung Electro-Mechanics Q3 more than doubles SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) -Samsung Electro-Mechanics which recently entered strategic partnership with Nvidia to supply ABF substrates for AI processors reported a 165.5 percent jump in third-quarter operating profit Wednesday.
• North Korean IPs scan Korean financial firms 4.4 million times SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Internet addresses traced to North Korea probed South Korean financial firms more than 4.4 million times starting Oct. 21, according to a notice financial authorities sent to the industry.
• S. Korea, US defense chiefs meet amid wartime command dispute SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul met U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for the first time in the Philippines on Wednesday, amid differences over the timing of transferring wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul.
• Korea's FX deposits stretch $14 billion September SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) — South Korea's resident foreign currency deposits at foreign exchange banks stretched by $14.09 billion in September on burgeoning dollar revenue for the Korean Inc. and bond proceeds ,central bank data showed Wednesday.
• Hoarding bans on urea, syringes to be lifted later this week SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - South Korea will lift its temporary bans on hoarding diesel exhaust fluid, urea, syringes and medical needles later this week. After a meeting at the government complex in Seoul on Wednesday.

AJP Briefing>

• Unionized workers at Samsung Biologics to resume wage talks next week SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Unionized workers at Samsung Biologics will resume negotiations over wages and other labor-related issues next week, warning that they will launch strikes if talks with management fail to produce an agreement. According to the biopharmaceutical company's union on Wednesday, the talks, scheduled to begin on Nov. 3, would be "all-or-nothing" negotiations, with the union calling them a final opportunity to reach an agreement. The union also threatened that
• Won slides as hawkish Fed concerns lift dollar SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) — South Korea's won closed down 14.0 won at 1,337.7 per dollar Wednesday as a stronger dollar and concerns over hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve outweighed strong domestic equity gains. The local currency weakened sharply from Tuesday's close of 1,323.7, reversing part of a recent rally that had pushed the won toward its strongest levels in about two years. The won opened at 1,326.0 per dollar before losses accelerated during the session, with doll

AJP ScaleUP

• Optonics bets IPO proceeds to ride K-defense drive SEOUL, October 26 (AJP) - South Korean optical components maker Optonics plans to raise at least 22 billion won ($17 million) from its KOSDAQ listing to expand its military portfolio and capitalize on South Korea’s defense export drive. The proceeds will help expand production of navigation components and develop new products for high-power laser weapons, precision processing and power-grid monitoring, CEO Lee Young-woo said at a pre-IPO press conference Monday. “Even if an investm
• Regenerative medicine firm soars above IPO price on KOSDAQ debut SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - Regenerative medicine firm MS Bio more than doubled from its initial public offering (IPO) price on its KOSDAQ debut Thursday before paring gains later in the day. The stock climbed as high as 19,650 won (US$14.81), about 2.5 times its IPO price of 7,800 won. It was trading at 12,920 won as of around 5 p.m. in after-hours trading, up 65.64 percent from the offering price. The firm priced its shares at the top of its proposed range of 6,800 won to 7,800 won after insti

ASIA Insight

• Guryong becomes no-man's land. What of those who called it home? SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - A shantytown, others may call it. For those who stayed as their neighbors moved away, Guryong Village was home — a place where lives had taken root, however fragile the walls around them. By dawn Wednesday, fire had consumed swaths of the settlement tucked into Seoul’s affluent Gangnam district. It took nearly 13 hours to put out the flames. What would become of the lives they had uprooted was far less certain. One man in his 70s had been asleep after taki by Joonha Yoo
• Two Koreas return to UN after déjà vu DMZ mine crisis SEOUL, October 27 (AJP) - South and North Korea have sent competing complaints to the United Nations Security Council over last month’s land mine explosion, reviving questions about what international diplomacy can achieve in a conflict still governed by a seven-decade-old armistice. The exchange also highlights a distinction between the Security Council’s diplomatic role and the military responsibilities of the United Nations Command (UNC). The 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement by Kim Hee-su

AJP Watch

• AJP On-site: Korean biotech gets hands-on in AI's shadow SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - A glove at the Samsung Bioepis booth turned a reporter's fingers stiff as plaster at BIX 2026 in Seoul on Wednesday. The knuckles would barely bend. The glove simulates the difficulty of moving hands affected by severe rheumatoid arthritis. Even with it on, pulling the cap off the company's pen-type injector took just a flick of the thumb. Pressed against a silicone skin model, the device released its spring-loaded needle with a sharp click. "Patients wi
• Too many captains aboard South Korea's AI ship SEOUL, October 27 (AJP) - Artificial intelligence is as much a common thread in South Korean government as in corporate management. The result is intense competition, even within the government. On Oct. 13, the science and industry ministries hosted separate physical AI showcases two floors apart at Seoul's COEX. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources sponsored the Korea Electronics Show with "CES Asia Unveiled Seoul," while the Ministry of Science and ICT ran its Physical

AJP Focus

• K-choppers struggle to lift off amid factory-floor constraints SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Rows of unfinished helicopters dotted Korea Aerospace Industries’ (KAI) rotary-wing assembly plant in Sacheon, their pale green and peach-colored bodies exposing the nuts and bolts of South Korea’s next defense ambition. Sacheon on South Korea’s southern coast is breeding the country’s next defense ambitions. The problem is they are missing a crucial element for liftoff. "We are currently focusing on mass production of the LAH, and we'
• Korea Inc.'s stock-funded cash calls face a market reckoning SEOUL, October 27 (AJP)— Retail investors borrowed money to buy stocks while Korean companies worked in reverse, using their shareholdings to raise cash. Both strategies came under pressure as stocks plunged and borrowing costs rose. For Korea Inc., one route was the price return swap (PRS), a financial arrangement that allows companies to raise funds while retaining potential gains from the underlying shares. The catch is that they also remain exposed to losses. Companies receive cash w