• Seoul reviewing options for contribution to Hormuz security, top security adviser says SEOUL, August 01 (AJP) - South Korea is reviewing various options for a possible contribution to international efforts to stabilize the Strait of Hormuz, but no specific measure has been decided yet, Presidential National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Friday. “We are at the stage of reviewing various possibilities,” Wi told reporters when asked about Seoul’s possible practical contributi
• Korean comic wins Eisner Award for first time SEOUL, August 01 (AJP) - A Korean comic has won a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for the first time, marking a milestone for Korean graphic novels in the U.S. comics market. Sanho’s “Purgatory Funeral Cakes,” originally published in Korea as “Funeral Cake Shop Yeonokdang,” won the award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia at the 38th Eisner Awards, accord
• Record foreign buying sends Seoul's chip titans to daily limit SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) - South Korea's stock market staged one of the most dramatic reversals in its history Friday as record foreign buying and twin near-30 percent surges in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix erased days of panic selling.
• Chip stock swings push Korea's FX turnover to record on hedging demand SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) - The same forces driving wild swings in South Korea's semiconductor stocks are now reshaping the country's foreign-exchange market.
• SK Siltron joins Doosan in $1.65 billion buyout SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) -South Korea's Doosan Group will acquire a controlling stake in SK Siltron, the world's third-largest silicon wafer manufacturer, in a deal that reshapes the country's semiconductor supply chain.
• Korea's powerful prosecution loses core powers SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) -South Korea's once-powerful prosecution, long regarded as one of the country's most influential institutions, will effectively cease to exist in its current form after parliament approved legislation.

AJP Briefing

• South Korea to set up 20 trillion won strategic fund at KIC SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) - South Korea will establish a strategic investment account worth more than 20 trillion won ($14 billion) at the Korea Investment Corp. to supply long-term equity capital to artificial intelligence, semiconductors and other industries deemed critical to national competitiveness. The fund’s initial capacity to make new investments, however, is expected to be limited to about 600 billion won because most of its capital will consist of government-held shares rather than
• Lee arrives in Argentina for final leg of South American trip SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday arrived in Buenos Aires for the final leg of his South American trip, after visiting Brazil and Chile earlier this week. It marks the first visit to Argentina by a South Korean president since former President Roh Moo-hyun visited the country in 2004. Lee, who arrived at Ezeiza International Airport late Thursday night with first lady Kim Hea Kyung, is scheduled to hold a summit with Argentine President Javier Milei the following day t

AJP ScaleUP

• ETF boom pushes public funds to overtake private funds for 1st time SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) - South Korea's public investment funds overtook private funds in total assets for the first time in the first half of this year, driven by surging demand for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as retail investors poured money into the stock market. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) on Friday, public funds jumped 47.3 percent from the end of last year to 897.4 trillion won (US$646 billion), while private funds grew 9.2 percent to 837.1 trillion w
• South Korea opens door to three more tech firms on KOSDAQ SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) — South Korea moved three more technology companies a step closer to the stock market after the Korea Exchange approved their preliminary applications for a KOSDAQ listing. The Korea Exchange's KOSDAQ Market Division said Thursday that Melcon, a manufacturer of precision temperature and humidity control equipment, Lablup, an artificial intelligence infrastructure software developer, and MBD, a medical device company, had passed the exchange's listing eligibil

ASIA Insight

• BTS' quiet Grammy boycott speaks volumes  SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) - It is hardly Grammy season, but BTS brought the awards debate into the middle of summer with a quiet boycott that produced loud repercussions. On July 29, all seven members of BTS posted the same message on their Instagram Stories within minutes of one another. There was no press conference, no statement from HYBE and no explanation beyond a few lines translated from Korean: they would not submit their comeback album, ARIRANG, for consideration at the 69th Grammy Awards. by Joonha Yoo
• Arrival of new US envoy presents fresh test for alliance SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) - The arrival of a new U.S. ambassador to South Korea would, under ordinary circumstances, have been a routine moment in the long history of the bilateral relationship. He or she would present credentials, offer familiar words about friendship and cooperation, and begin the quiet work of diplomacy. But these may not be ordinary circumstances. Michael Steel's arrival on Thursday has drawn unusual attention here, not so much because she is another Korean-American envoy to by Lee Hugh

AJP Watch

• K-pop trains idols for debut, but not for what comes after SEOUL, July 30 (AJP) - If surviving South Korea's fiercely competitive education system seems difficult, try becoming a K-pop trainee. "Once school ends, you go straight to the practice room," one trainee recalled. "There's no time to see friends or even grab something to eat together." For thousands of teenagers, that routine is the price of pursuing one of the country's biggest dreams. K-pop has built one of the world's most sophisticated talent factories.
• After BTS comeback year, what's next for K-pop? SEOUL, July 29 (AJP) - K-pop continues to debut new groups, dominate global streaming platforms and fill concert halls from Los Angeles to Bangkok. The industry's talent pipeline remains as prolific as ever, producing acts not only in South Korea but increasingly through overseas partnerships and local adaptations. Yet beneath the steady flow of new debuts lies a quieter reckoning. While visibility has never been broader, far fewer acts are reaching the commercial scale needed to generate t

AJP Focus

• AI chip boom begins to warm South Korea's broader domestic front SEOUL, July 31 (AJP) - Red-hot chip demand, which earned South Korea's two chipmakers 150 trillion won ($108 billion) in combined second-quarter operating profit — equivalent to about 6 percent of the country's entire 2025 nominal GDP — is beginning to warm the broader domestic front, with the AI boom spilling from exports into factories, construction sites and household spending. The latest government data suggest the country's semiconductor-driven expansion is no long
• Chip boom fuels Samsung heyday, beggars its device business SEOUL, July 30 (AJP) - A trophy child often comes at the expense of a sibling, and the "beggar-thy-family" concept can scarcely be better illustrated than by Samsung Electronics' second-quarter results. The South Korean technology behemoth reported that its Device Solutions (DS) semiconductor division generated an operating profit of 89.2 trillion won ($64.4 billion) on revenue of 127.5 trillion won in the second quarter, translating into a jaw-dropping operating margin of 70.0 pe