• Vietnamese arrivals in Korea surpass Chinese for first time SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - Viet Nam overtook China as the largest source of foreign arrivals in South Korea last year as Vietnamese workers continued to enter the country while more Chinese nationals left, government data showed Thursday.
• SK hynix ADR oversubscribed by 7 times, Chey to ring opening bell SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - SK hynix's American depositary receipt (ADR) offering attracted demand exceeding seven times the shares on offer ahead of pricing, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
• ABC launch forum puts spotlight on Korea's AI ecosystem SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - Aju Media Group's new AI-focused business channel ABC held the AI Ecosystem Innovation Forum in Seoul on Thursday, bringing together government officials, technology executives and industry experts to discuss South Korea's next steps in artificial intelligence.
• BOK reaffirms rate-hike stance on stronger inflation and growth SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea reiterated Thursday that the benchmark rates should go higher, given inflation running above the 2 percent target, stronger growth, and risks to financial stability.
• Rebellions targets Seoul IPO next year, weighs US listing SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - South Korea's Rebellions, a Samsung-backed artificial intelligence chip startup, plans to list on the main KOSPI exchange in the first half of next year, seeking to ride surging investor appetite for AI hardware.
• Police raid Kakao Pay over alleged leak of 40 million users' data to Alipay SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - South Korean police have raided the headquarters of Kakao Pay over allegations that the fintech firm handed the personal data of about 40 million customers to Chinese payment service Alipay without their consent.

AJP Briefing

• KOSPI's fragile rebound fails to calm jittery investors SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - South Korean stocks snapped a three-day losing streak on Thursday, closing marginally higher after surrendering most of their early gains in a volatile session that underscored the fragility of investor sentiment. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 7,291.91, up 0.62 percent. The index opened 3.31 percent higher and briefly climbed above the 7,500 level, but the early rally quickly faded after Bahrain and Kuwait sounded warning sirens and Qatar issued emergency security alerts
• PPP leader turns to hardline conservatives amid loosening grip within party SEOUL, July 9 (AJP) - Jang Dong-hyuk, the leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has taken his fight over a ballot shortage in last month's local elections out of Parliament and onto the streets, alarming lawmakers in his own party who fear that the campaign could pull conservatives back toward election fraud conspiracy theories. Jang began a nationwide tour on Wednesday to demand a re-run of the June 3 local elections along with an investigation into the ballot shortage con
• Convenience store chain CU opens 600th store in Mongolia SEOUL, July 9 (AJP) - Convenience store chain CU has opened its 600th store in Mongolia, about eight years after entering the market, BGF Retail, which operates CU, said on Thursday. The 600th store, located in Bulgan province about 600 kilometers west of Ulaanbaatar, opened on June 26. Spanning about 281 square meters, it targets tourists and long-haul transport drivers. Unlike typical convenience stores, the store offers shower facilities for travelers, following a similar strategy to instal
• Hong Myung-bo to testify at National Assembly hearing SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - Former South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo issued a new public apology Thursday over the national team's early exit from the 2026 World Cup, saying he would appear before a parliamentary hearing if called and take full responsibility for the result. The statement was released through the Hong Myung-bo Scholarship Foundation, a charity the 57-year-old 2002 World Cup hero himself chairs. It was made public on the day the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tou

ASIA Insight

• 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
• The missing ingredient in Korea's AI cake: a foundation model SEOUL, July 08 (AJP) - "Seize this opportunity," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang exclaimed during his visit to South Korea last month, calling the country one of the few capable of owning the entire AI stack — from energy and memory to data-center infrastructure, AI models and applications. Huang may have overrated Korea. By almost every measure, South Korea is among the world's most enthusiastic adopters of artificial intelligence. Yet one crucial ingredient remains missing: a hom by Kim Dong-young

AJP Watch

• Koreans don't fight summer. They accessorize it SEOUL, July 9 (AJP) — When Europe melts, people flock to rivers, lakes and public fountains. When South Korea swelters, shoppers head to Olive Young and Daiso. To withstand increasingly early, longer and more punishing summers, Europeans seek out whatever water they can find. Koreans, long accustomed to humid East Asian heat, have developed another survival strategy: buying a growing arsenal of cooling products that seems to evolve every summer. Cooling patches. Frozen neck wraps. Sun po
• Asian soccer officials face 'fallout' after poor World Cup performance SEOUL, July 8 (AJP) - Disappointing results by Asian teams at this year's World Cup in North America have sparked criticism and calls for accountability across the region's soccer community, including in South Korea and Saudi Arabia, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Monday. "The fallout in Asian football continues as the continent comes to terms with an underwhelming World Cup performance," the AP said, adding that the criticism has gone beyond the results on the field an

AJP Focus

• The mystery behind the near-flat Korea-U.S. sovereign yield gap SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - Foreign appetite for South Korean sovereign bonds has stayed firm this year even as investors dumped Korean equities, but that has not stopped bond prices from falling. The spread between Korean and U.S. 10-year government debt has narrowed to less than 30 basis points, even though the policy-rate gap between the Bank of Korea and the Federal Reserve remains wider than 100 basis points. As of midday Thursday, Korea’s 10-year government bond yielded 4.282 percent, w
• C/A data explains the mystery behind the stubbornly weak won SEOUL, July 08 (AJP) - The foreign-exchange formula used to be simple for South Korea. The current-account surplus set the tone for the Korean won against the U.S. dollar in the export-reliant economy. Strong exports bolstered the won, while a weaker won made Korean goods more competitive overseas. For foreign-exchange watchers, trade data mattered most. Not anymore. The Korean won has hovered around 1,500 per U.S. dollar since late last year. The dollar ended June at 1,549.4 won, compared w