• Earlier rate hikes preemptive, next moves data-dependent: BOK chief SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) —Preemptive interest-rate hikes in July and August had bought South Korean monetary policymakers time and room to maneuver as they weigh incoming data and financial risks before deciding their next move, Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song said.
• South Korea to tighten military service benefits for artists SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - South Korea plans to tighten eligibility for alternative military service granted to artists, including raising the threshold for international competition winners from second place to first, the Military Manpower Administration said Monday.
• South Korea weighs lobbying registration and disclosure rules SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - South Korea's Justice Ministry is reviewing a proposal to introduce a formal lobbyist registration system requiring individuals and organizations seeking to influence legislation to disclose their activities.
• Samsung, SK hynix to cover 80% of chip power grid costs in Honam: KEPCO SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix would have to shoulder about 80 percent of the 1.4 trillion won ($1.05 billion) needed to build the initial power supply network for a major semiconductor manufacturing complex in South Korea's southwestern Honam region.
• North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles: JCS SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the East Sea on Monday morning, with at least one type traveling more than 900 kilometers, South Korea’s military said.
• Korea maps Artic shipping route but commercial viability in question SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - South Korea’s first container ship to complete an Arctic round trip returned safely to Busan on Sunday, but failed to fill the empty containers, highlighting the commercial challenge behind the shipping milestone.

AJP Briefing>

• KOSPI falls 3.7% to under 6,400 SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - Foreign investors sold South Korean stocks for a 10th straight session on Monday, pushing the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) below 6,400. The selling continued two trading days after Samsung Electronics posted the largest quarterly operating profit ever reported by a Korean company. The KOSPI shed 241.7 points, or 3.6 percent, to 6,384.2. Foreigners net sold 2.02 trillion won ($1.51 billion) of shares on the main board, bringing their October tot
• BOK chief Shin to attend G20, IMF-World Bank meetings SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) — Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song will leave for Bangkok on Tuesday to attend G20 finance chiefs' meetings and the IMF-World Bank annual meetings, the central bank said Monday. Shin will attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting to discuss the global economy, economic growth and global imbalances with counterparts and officials from international financial institutions. He will also take part in the International Monetary Fund-World

AJP ScaleUP

• Hot Stock: Hanmi shares reverse sharply after obesity drug approval SEOUL, October 08 (AJP) - Shares of Hanmi Pharm and its holding company Hanmi Science fell sharply in late-morning trading Thursday, reversing gains sparked by regulatory approval of Korea's first domestically developed GLP-1 obesity drug. Hanmi Science dropped 7.23 percent to 53,900 won after climbing as high as 68,200 won earlier in the session. The stock had surged 13.94 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday to 66,200 won following news of the approval. Hanmi Pharm fell 9.7 percent t
• KOSDAQ cybersecurity stocks surge as bank hacks raise AI attack concerns SEOUL, October 6 (AJP)— South Korean cybersecurity stocks surged Tuesday as a series of attacks on financial institutions and concerns over the possible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in hacking fueled expectations for stronger security spending. AhnLab, one of the country’s largest cybersecurity companies, which provides software and services to protect computers, networks and cloud systems, jumped 15.58 percent to close at 89,000 won ($65.50) on the junior KOSDAQ. Genians, an

ASIA Insight

• South Korea rethinks military privileges as medals collide with fairness SEOUL, October 08 (AJP) - Military service has long been one of South Korea’s most unforgiving tests of fairness, with disputes over who serves and who does not capable of ending public careers. Now the government is revisiting a decades-old system that allows selected athletes and artists to pursue their careers instead of entering regular military service, as a shrinking recruitment pool adds urgency to longstanding questions over privilege. Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul told a parli by Kim Hee-su
• Silver glitters: stocks lift wealth of the gray in Korea, U.S., Japan SEOUL, October 07 (AJP) — Older generations on both sides of the Pacific — seemingly the last to have enjoyed an era of abundant liquidity and cheap borrowing — are benefiting from asset inflation, helping fuel consumer spending this year despite geopolitical risks and elevated interest rates. In South Korea, investors aged 60 and older accounted for 40 percent of individual investors’ domestic stock profits in the first half despite representing less than a third of tra by Ryu Yuna

AJP Watch

• Humanoid ethics: how far have we come? SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - Silicon Valley's billionaire titans are getting the big-screen treatment this fall — brilliant, eccentric and increasingly cast as villains of the AI era. Films about Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman are turning the people shaping the technological future into subjects of public scrutiny. They call for restraint and warn of AI's potential harm to humanity, yet compete fiercely to invest more and roll out ever more powerful systems. If they canno
• Dating shows seek a new spark as romance alone loses its pull SEOUL, October 8 (AJP) — South Korea’s latest dating show does not begin in a villa, on an island or over a candlelit dinner. It begins in the outfield. On streaming platform TVING, “Love at First Hit” pairs fans of rival baseball teams for dates at live Korea Baseball Organization games. Mutual choices lead to romance, while a one-sided choice earns the person chosen a season ticket. Contestants may leave with love, baseball tickets or neither. The pairing appears to

AJP Focus

• Korea Inc.'s delinquencies simmer beneath the chip halo SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) — Strip away the chip halo and stress is deepening across corporate Korea, with overdue loans growing far faster than lending as elevated financing costs push vulnerable smaller companies closer to default. Delinquent corporate loans at domestic banks reached 10.1 trillion won ($7.6 billion) in the second quarter, more than triple the 2.9 trillion won recorded at the end of 2021, according to Bank of Korea data submitted to Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Do-geol. O
• Samsung's staggering profit windfall masks deepening business imbalance SEOUL, October 08 (AJP) - It all began humbly in 1975, with women in protective head coverings bent over workstations assembling integrated circuits for LED wristwatches. More than half a century later, Samsung Electronics has become the world’s largest vendor of memory chips powering everything from smartphones to sprawling AI data centers and turning factory output into profits on a scale unprecedented among the world's technology companies. The scale of that transformation is capt