• South Korea builds SMRs for the world, none for itself SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - South Korea won the world's first standard design approval for a small modular reactor (SMR) in 2012 and now forges reactor components for American developers, yet not one SMR runs on its soil.
• Pyongyang snubs Seoul's proposal for talks with missile launches SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - North Korea fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, marking its 17th ballistic missile launch of this year and its first in 17 days.
• Hyundai to invest $450 million to expand plant in Alabama SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor plans to invest US$450 million in its U.S. plant to increase production of hybrid vehicles and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), expanding its manufacturing base in North America, the automaker said on Thursday.
• Seoul, Washington postpone annual defense talks until early next year SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to postpone their annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) until early next year.
• SK Innovation Q3 profit hits record on oil, lubricant margins SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - SK Innovation's third-quarter operating profit jumped 532.5 percent from a year earlier to a record 3.7 trillion won ($2.77 billion), the South Korean energy company said Thursday.
• Samsung SDI Q3 profit hits 3-year high on AI data center demand SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - Samsung SDI swung to a third-quarter operating profit of 407.8 billion won ($304.5 million) from a 591.3 billion won loss a year earlier, the South Korean battery maker said Thursday.

AJP Briefing>

• KOSPI slides as Samsung earnings fall short of expectations SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics posted its highest-ever quarterly profit on Thursday, yet its shares fell 4.1 percent. The decline suggested that investors are increasingly focused on shareholder returns rather than record earnings in South Korea's chip sector. The country's benchmark KOSPI fell 1.24 percent or 74.78 points, to 5,937.66, as institutional investors sold a net 457.9 billion won (US$342.9 million) worth of shares. Samsung Electronics closed at 232,000 won, w
• Britain names archaeologist-turned-diplomat new ambassador to Seoul SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - Britain has appointed Rachel Emma-Jane Fentem, a former senior aide to three British foreign secretaries who holds a doctorate in archaeology, as its next ambassador to South Korea, the British government said on Wednesday. Fentem will succeed Colin Crooks, who is leaving the diplomatic service, and take up her post in March 2027, according to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The appointment will mark her first ambassadorial posting following a

AJP ScaleUP

• Hydrogen power supplier makes red-hot KOSDAQ debut SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - Industrial turbomachinery maker TNE Korea surged as much as 125 percent above its IPO price on its KOSDAQ debut on Thursday before surrendering much of its gains. Its shares traded at 21,500 won (US$16.08) in after-hours trading around 4:30 p.m., up 40.52 percent from their IPO price of 15,300 won. The stock opened at 30,350 won and climbed to an early high of 34,500 won, more than double its offering price, before retreating to a session low of 20,200 won. Heavy dema
• 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

ASIA Insight

• US visa refusals raise concerns over bilateral alliance SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - The recent refusal of a U.S. visa to a senior South Korean lawmaker has raised fresh concerns about the bilateral alliance, with lawmakers across the political spectrum and a U.S. security expert offering sharply differing views on what the incident means for relations between the two allies. The controversy began on Wednesday when Rep. Jin Seong-joon of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), chairman of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, disclosed that by Lee Jung-woo
• 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

AJP Watch

• Seoul stocks stumble as record chip earnings fail to lift sentiment SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - South Korea's stock market has turned bullish again, with renewed foreign buying and more than 90 trillion won (US$67.33 billion) in cash held in brokerage accounts raising hopes for a recovery. Yet the KOSPI slipped back below 6,000 on Thursday as retail investors remained wary of taking on more risk after last month's sharp selloff. The benchmark KOSPI closed 1.24 percent lower at 5,937.66 points on Thursday, a day after surging 6.63 percent to 6,012.44. The
• 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

AJP Focus

• Samsung's HBM strides intensify AI memory race SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) -The extraordinary third-quarter earnings of the world's three largest memory chipmakers suggest the artificial intelligence (AI) memory race is only heating up, with latecomer Samsung Electronics making rapid strides against frontrunner SK hynix and U.S. rival Micron Technology. The bigger question is how long the industry can sustain operating margins approaching 80 percent. The profitability is staggering. SK hynix delivered an operating margin of 79.7 percent in
• 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'