• Police raid KFA as World Cup fiasco revives coach probe SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) - South Korea's football association was raided by police Thursday after its former president and former national team coach were grilled by lawmakers over the country's embarrassing exit from the latest FIFA World Cup.
• Korea's chip windfall swells C/A to record black while foreign equity exit deepens SEOUL, August 6 (AJP) - South Korea's semiconductor-driven export boom lifted its current account surplus to a record US$191 billion in the first half, nearly four times a year earlier.
• Gwangju airport move to Muan may come sooner under chip cluster plan SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) - The planned relocation of domestic flights from Gwangju Airport to Muan International Airport could take place earlier than expected as the government moves to secure the Gwangju military air base site for a semiconductor cluster.
• Makeshift igloo draws 30,000 to sweltering Seoul SEOUL, August 6 (AJP) - More than 30,000 Seoul residents visited a makeshift shelter set up at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul to seek relief from the scorching heat that has gripped the country in recent weeks, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Thursday.
• Heat-related illness cases surpass 500 in Gyeonggi Province SEOUL, August 6 (AJP) - With a heatwave advisory in place across Gyeonggi Province for about two weeks, more than 60 people have been treated for heat-related illnesses per day, bringing the cumulative total above 500.
• Seoul is boiling, but protests go on SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) - A prolonged and deadly heat wave is tightening its grip on South Korea, with 21 suspected heat-related deaths and 2,441 patients reported nationwide between May 15 and Aug. 4.

AJP Briefing

• T'way Air begins new chapter as Trinity Airways SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) - T’way Air has rebranded as Trinity Airways, unveiling a new service model, brand identity and employee uniforms as it seeks to position itself as a global carrier. The airline presented the changes at a brand launch and uniform runway event in Seoul on Aug. 6, its first official event since changing its corporate name. Cabin crew, pilots and other employees modeled the new uniforms during the event. Trinity Airways introduced “Relaxed and Reliable” a
• SK hynix plunge sinks KOSPI despite broader gains SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) -The KOSPI on Thursday reversed, weighed down by two heavyweights - SK and Samsung. The KOSPI, the main board of the Korea Exchange, closed at 6,296.4, down 4.6 percent, after SK hynix fell 10.4 percent to 1,495,000 won ($1,050) and Samsung Electronics dropped 6.3 percent to 230,500 won ($161.90). SK, the de facto holding company of the memory chipmaker, also lost 9.4 percent. The two chipmakers are worth roughly half the main board between them, and a weaker than expec

AJP ScaleUP

• KOSDAQ-listed processed meat producer seeks capital boost SEOUL, August 6 (AJP) - KOSDAQ-listed processed meat producer Wing Yip Food said Thursday that its chairman and major shareholders will further increase their stakes by investing 20.8 billion won in newly issued shares to strengthen the company's capital base. According to a disclosure filed with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), its chairman, Wang Xiantao, purchased 18,355 shares the previous day at an average price of 1,148 won per share, spending about 21.1 million won entirely wi
• Kakao Games trims losses, eyes recovery with new lineup SEOUL, August 05 (AJP) — Shares of South Korean game developer Kakao Games fell Wednesday morning trading after the company reported lower second-quarter revenue, although its operating loss narrowed from the previous quarter. According to a filing with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Wednesday, the company posted revenue of 75.0 billion won ($54 million), down 35.2 percent from a year earlier, while its operating loss narrowed to 23.0 billion won from 25.5 billion won in the prev

ASIA Insight

• Kangaroo families become the new normal from Seoul to San Francisco SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) - Suddenly, kangaroos seem to be multiplying around the world. Not in the Australian outback, but in family homes from South Korea to the United States, where growing numbers of young adults are delaying independence and staying in — or moving back to — their parents' houses as soaring housing costs outpace wages. The once-stigmatized "kangaroo family," in which adult children remain in the parental home, is increasingly becoming an economic nec by Lee Jung-woo
• Korean won emerges as winner in U.S. "prosper-thy-neighbor" yen defense SEOUL, August 05 (AJP) - Currency intervention has long been viewed as a classic beggar-thy-neighbor policy, with governments weakening their currencies at the expense of trading partners. The latest U.S.-Japan operation appears to be doing the opposite, giving the South Korean won an unexpected tailwind alongside the yen. That raises an obvious question: Has Washington suddenly become more generous? Why would an administration that has championed "America First" intervene in a way th by Kim Yeon-jae

AJP Watch

• Won rides U.S.-Japan intervention as Seoul stays muted, Beijing cries foul SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) - South Korea has kept a studied silence over the first openly acknowledged U.S.-Japan currency intervention in decades, even as the won emerged as one of its biggest beneficiaries, while China condemned the operation as a self-serving bargain that is unlikely to alter the yen's long-term decline. The contrasting reactions underscore how Washington and Tokyo's joint defense of the yen has rippled differently across Asia. Seoul has avoided publicly commenting on th
• Korean scam ring shifts to Central Asia on SE Asia crackdown SEOUL, August 05 (AJP) -South Korean fraud rings are spreading from Southeast Asia into Central Asia to stay ahead of law enforcement, with authorities dismantling their first known Korean-run scam operation in Kazakhstan and bringing home 14 suspects. The arrests underscore what South Korean police called a "secondary balloon effect," in which criminal organizations relocate to increasingly distant countries as crackdowns close traditional operating bases across Southeast Asia. A go

AJP Focus

• Korea's battery makers find ESS gold rush at home SEOUL, August 05 (AJP) - In a high-profile display, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, flanked by chip titans Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics and Chey Tae-won of SK Group, unveiled a nearly $1 trillion vision to transform the country from the world's high-tech factory into an AI factory. That ambition extends far beyond semiconductors. Every AI factory — from chip fabrication plants and advanced packaging facilities to hyperscale data centers and AI inference clusters — r
• Odds of Korea's back-to-back rate hike fall on softer headline inflation SEOUL, Aug. 4 (AJP) — The surprising stall in South Korea's inflationary run in July has lowered expectations for a back-to-back interest-rate increase by the Bank of Korea this month, although policymakers remain wary of persistent underlying price pressures. Consumer prices rose 2.8 percent from a year earlier in July, slowing from 3.2 percent in June and falling below the 3 percent mark for the first time in three months. Core inflation, which Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song has