• Korean LCCs face uneven summer recovery despite easing fuel costs SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - Falling jet-fuel prices are beginning to ease travel costs for South Koreans, but the country's low-cost carriers are unlikely to enjoy an equally smooth recovery as a weak won, elevated operating costs and cautious capacity expansion continue to weigh on profitability during the peak summer vacation season.
• South Korea to reassess single-stock leveraged ETFs amid volatility concerns South Korea's newly-introduced single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are under scrutiny after those linked to the country’s largest two chipmakers suffered heavy losses, raising concerns about market volatility and investor protection.
• US wants Korean chipmakers to make memory in US: Lutnick SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) -The United States is ratcheting up pressure on South Korea's memory chipmakers to expand manufacturing in the United States after Seoul unveiled nearly 1 quadrillion won ($650 billion) in new domestic semiconductor investment plan last week.
• BTS' 'SWIM' lawsuit centers on alleged path from demo to hit song SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - A copyright lawsuit over BTS' chart-topping single "SWIM" is focusing not only on alleged musical similarities.
• Seoul says U.S. may consider building military ships in Korean yards SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s presidential office said Washington does not appear to rule out the possibility of having U.S. military vessels built in Korean shipyards, even as existing U.S. law poses major barriers to foreign construction of Navy ships.
• Samsung union blasts bonus voucher plan SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics' largest labor union on Friday urged lawmakers to withdraw a proposed revision to South Korea's Labor Standards Act that would allow part of workers' wages, including performance bonuses, to be paid in local gift certificates with employee consent.

AJP Briefing

• SK hynix's record Nasdaq debut lifts everything in Seoul except SK hynix SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - South Korean stocks surged on Friday after SK hynix priced the largest United States listing ever by a foreign company, but the company that supplied the spark closed lower while the rest of the market rallied around it. The main index in Seoul added 184.03 points to 7,475.94, up 2.5 percent. The close understates the session. The KOSPI jumped more than 5 percent past the 7,700 line at midday, forcing the Korea Exchange to halt program buy orders for the 34th sidecar of
• Samsung SDI cells win two-thirds of Korea's first AI-powered grid ESS project SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - Batteries made by Samsung SDI have been selected for the majority of South Korea's first government-backed program to build artificial-intelligence-powered energy storage systems along regional distribution lines. Six of the nine operators chosen for the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment's 2026 AI-based ESS deployment project will use Samsung SDI cells, industry sources said Friday. One operator opted for LG Energy Solution cells and two turned to SK On.
• Korea, Mongolia expand cooperation in critical minerals, AI, finance SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - South Korea and Mongolia agreed to expand cooperation in critical minerals, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and healthcare, while strengthening ties in central banking and trade finance. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol held separate meetings Thursday with Mongolian First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy and Development Minister Jadamba Enkhbayar and Finance Minister Zagdjav Mendsaikhan during President Lee Jae Myung&rsquo
• Lee's approval rating edges down to 53% SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating edged down slightly this week after a brief rebound last week. In a survey of more than 1,000 adults nationwide conducted by pollster Gallup Korea earlier this week, 53 percent of respondents gave a positive rating to Lee's job performance, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier. But his disapproval rating also fell 1 percentage point to 35 percent, with 12 percent undecided. Among those who approved of Lee, the mos

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

• Teen's killing tests South Korea's family exemption law SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - A serving police officer destroyed evidence in his own son's murder case, and under South Korean law he cannot be prosecuted for it. That fact, uncovered during the investigation into the killing of a high school girl in the southern city of Gwangju in May, has pushed South Korea into a national debate over a decades-old provision of its Criminal Act that shields relatives from punishment when they hide offenders or destroy evidence on their behalf. Prosecutors say J
• 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

AJP Focus

• Korea's rate hike to 2.75% in July seen unanimous in AJP poll SEOUL, July 10 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea is expected to resume monetary tightening next week with its first interest-rate increase in three and a half years, according to an AJP survey of economists, with an overwhelming majority also expecting another rate hike before the end of the year. All 10 economists surveyed by AJP forecast the Monetary Policy Board will raise the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent from 2.50 percent at its July 16 meeting, marking the central ban
• 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