• Gov't unveils over 800 trillion won budget plan with push for AI and chips SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korea plans to increase next year's government spending to more than 800 trillion won and set up a fund to use extra tax revenue for investment in artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, regional development and younger generations.
• SK hynix ETF frenzy heads to Wall Street after record ADR debut SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) -A wave of leveraged exchange-traded funds tied to SK hynix's newly listed American depositary receipts is set to hit Wall Street this week, extending the AI chipmaker's explosive rise from South Korea's stock market to the world's largest financial market.
• Homeplus set for bankruptcy filing as rehabilitation collapses SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - Homeplus is expected to begin shutting stores this week and file for bankruptcy, moving into effective liquidation after a court ended its rehabilitation proceedings on July 3.
• South Korea to steer record tax revenue into AI, physical AI push SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korea will channel its largest-ever projected tax revenue into a new future-response fund, pouring resources into three mega-projects led by artificial intelligence.
• Financial watchdog urges asset managers to improve transparency SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - Financial watchdog Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Monday urged asset managers to improve disclosure practices by providing clearer information on voting rights and strengthening internal controls.
• Korean golfers sweep with Ryu Haeran's major double and Tom Kim's Open win SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) -South Korea enjoyed one of its most successful weekends in international golf as Ryu Haeran captured her second consecutive major championship and Tom Kim ended a difficult two-year spell by claiming the Genesis Scottish Open.

AJP Briefing

• KOSPI suffers worst session in months as chip stocks tank SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI suffered one of its worst sessions on record Monday as the unwinding of the semiconductor trade that fueled this year's rally turned into panic selling, sending the index below 7,000 points for the first time in more than two months. The index shed 669.01 points or 8.95 percent to close at 6,806.93. The crash, which forced the Korea Exchange to halt trading for 20 minutes, was driven by the same two stocks that had fueled the rally i
• KOSPI falls below 7,000 as chip stocks nosedive SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korean stocks plunged sharply on Monday afternoon, with the benchmark KOSPI falling below the 7,000 level for the first time in more than two months as heavy selling in semiconductor heavyweights triggered another market-wide selloff. As of 1:30 p.m., the KOSPI was trading at 6,880.97, down 7.96 percent, while the junior KOSDAQ fell 4.33 percent to 801.20. The KOSPI's drop below 7,000 marked its first breach of the level since May 4, extending a steep correctio
• KOSPI opens higher despite SK hynix's retreat after record-setting Nasdaq debut SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korean shares opened higher on Monday as gains in Samsung Electronics and battery and defense stocks offset a decline in SK hynix, whose shares retreated after its record-setting Nasdaq debut last Friday. The benchmark KOSPI added 14.24 points or 0.2 percent, to 7,490.18 in early trade. SK hynix fell 3.1 percent to 2,113,000 won (US$1,408.10), giving back part of the run-up into its American depositary receipt (ADR) listing, which raised $26.5 billion in the larges
• Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor begin partial strike as wage talks stall SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor began a partial strike on Monday after wage negotiations with management broke down. The walkout marks the union's first strike this year and the second consecutive year it has gone on strike. Under the three-day strike plan, which runs through Wednesday with two-hour partial strikes each day, production staff on the morning shift will stop work two hours early at 1:30 p.m., while workers on the afternoon shift will also end their sh

ASIA Insight

• Why Middle East conflict remains stuck after nearly five months SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - About five months have passed, yet the end of the conflict in the Middle East remains nowhere in sight. Fighting has appeared close to stopping several times, only to break out again. Negotiations are underway, but renewed military clashes have left the prospects for a resolution increasingly uncertain. U.S. President Donald Trump continues to criticize Iran, calling it "scum," while Tehran has responded with increasingly hostile rhetoric. Even if an agreement i by Lee Hugh
• 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

AJP Watch

• BOK dismisses peak concerns over chip cycle as AI demand still outpaces supply SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea has dismissed concerns that the global semiconductor cycle has already peaked, saying investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is driving demand faster than manufacturers can expand supply. According to a report submitted to People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Park Seong-hoon and released on Monday, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said the current semiconductor upcycle differs from previous ones because it is being driven by intense investment as
• 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

AJP Focus

• Gov't tightens household loans while mulling pension-backed borrowing options SEOUL, July 13 (AJP) - South Korea is tightening conventional household lending to contain debt growth while considering measures that could make it easier to borrow and invest against retirement savings, exposing a potential contradiction in its financial policy. One channel of household leverage is being restricted just as another could be opened. Household lending at the country's five largest banks - KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup - excluding government-backed loans r
• South Korea joins the world's new era of extreme summer SEOUL, July 12 (AJP) — South Korea has officially entered what meteorologists increasingly describe as the era of extreme summer, with authorities activating the country's highest-ever heat alert for the first time as scorching temperatures spread well beyond their traditional hotspots. The Korea Meteorological Administration on Sunday issued its inaugural Heat Wave Emergency Warning for Pohang and Gyeongsan after apparent temperatures were forecast to exceed 38 degrees Celsius follo