• UPDATE: Inflation holds steady as price pressures persist SEOUL, November 3 (AJP) - South Korea's consumer inflation remained elevated at 2.8 percent in October, as core inflation and service prices continued to rise steadily.
• KAI's first two FA-50M jets arrive in Malaysia SEOUL, November 3 (AJP) - South Korean aircraft maker Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said Monday that its first two FA-50M light combat aircraft had arrived at Malaysia's Kuantan Air Base.
• Toss files antitrust complaint against Naver SEOUL, November 03 (AJP) - Toss Place, the offline payment arm of South Korean fintech app Toss, has filed a complaint with the country's antitrust regulator.
• Korea opens first data factory to train humanoids SEOUL, November 03 (AJP) - South Korea's first facility built to mass-produce training data for two-legged humanoid robots opened Tuesday, the state-funded Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) said.
• Seoul defends DMZ warning shots in newly released UN letter SEOUL, November 03 (AJP) - South Korea defended its warning shots along the inter-Korean border as legitimate defensive measures in a letter to the United Nations Security Council.
• L&F clinches $778 mln LFP cathode deal with LG Energy Solution SEOUL, November 03 (AJP) - South Korean battery materials maker L&F will supply 1.035 trillion won ($770.8 million) of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials to LG Energy Solution over four years from 2028, the company said Tuesday.

AJP Briefing>

• KOSPI tumbles over 3% as foreign sell-off continues on AI concerns SEOUL, November 3 (AJP) - South Korean stocks plunged more than 3 percent on Tuesday as concerns over returns on massive artificial intelligence (AI)-led spending triggered heavy foreign selling, dragging semiconductor shares lower and wiping out the previous session's gains. The benchmark KOSPI fell 3.59 percent or 210.29 points to close at 5,648.79. Foreign investors sold 1.52 trillion won (US$1.13 billion) worth of shares, while institutions unloaded 511.3 billion won. Retail investors
• KOSPI opens lower amid lingering AI woes ahead of US midterms SEOUL, November 3 (AJP) - South Korean stocks plunged more than 3 percent in early trading on Tuesday, wiping out the previous day's gains as renewed concerns over returns on artificial intelligence (AI)-related investment triggered heavy selling in semiconductor shares, just a day ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix led the decline, while retail investors absorbed selling by foreign and institutional investors. The benchmark KOSPI stood at 5,6

AJP ScaleUP

• Aei Robot sounds China alarm after Robot World win SEOUL, November 02 (AJP) - South Korean humanoid developer Aei Robot won a top prize at Robot World 2026 for its Alice 5 robot and warned that Chinese machines already hold more than 95 percent of the global humanoid market, the company said Monday. Alice 5 was named one of 10 Vanguard winners, the award's highest tier, at the exhibition running Wednesday to Friday at KINTEX in Goyang, just outside Seoul. Judges weighed technical innovation, readiness for industrial use and originality, an
• YoungKwang doubles on KOSDAQ debut SEOUL, November 2 (AJP) — South Korean shipbuilding and industrial equipment maker YoungKwang more than doubled its initial public offering (IPO) price on its KOSDAQ debut Monday, following strong demand from institutional and retail investors. Shares traded at 34,100 won ($25.58) as of 9:40 a.m., up 100.59 percent from their IPO price of 17,000 won. The stock opened at 21,350 won and rose as high as 37,400 won, 120 percent above its offering price, before paring some of its gains. Retai

ASIA Insight

• AI necessity draws Korean chipmakers closer to Japan SEOUL, November 02 (AJP) - History has often intruded on business between South Korea and Japan, two of Asia’s technology powerhouses. In 2019, a dispute over compensation for wartime forced labor spilled into semiconductor supply chains. Japan tightened export controls on critical chipmaking materials, and the two countries removed each other from lists of preferred trading partners. Since then, Korean manufacturers accelerated efforts to replace Japanese supplies with domestic products by Candice Kim
• 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

AJP Watch

• South Korea gets new supercomputer to get back in race amid global AI boom SEOUL, November 3 (AJP) - The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is often told as a story of chips and data centers, but underneath both lies a race for raw computing power that South Korea has just rejoined. Hangang, the country's sixth supercomputer, was switched on Monday at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) in Daejeon. Its theoretical peak of 614 quadrillion calculations per second is 24 times that of Nurion, the 2018 machine it replaces. That f
• 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 Focus

• Korea's factory recovery broadens beyond chips – albeit uneven SEOUL, November 3 (AJP) — The AI revolution is moving at a speed that could make the Industrial Revolution look glacial. In South Korea, its shock waves are beginning to reach factory floors beyond the semiconductor cleanrooms that have long powered the country's industrial growth. Chips remain a pillar of Korean manufacturing and exports, but the AI investment boom is beginning to lift production in other industries. The spillover is becoming more visible, although the recovery remai
• South Korean, Canadian experts discuss AI safety amid cyber threats SEOUL, November 3 (AJP) - South Korea's push for stronger oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) gained fresh urgency on Tuesday as President Lee Jae Myung called for the establishment of a government-wide cybersecurity agency, while South Korean and Canadian experts gathered at the National Assembly to discuss international cooperation on AI safety and governance. A forum titled "Who Shapes the Future of AI?" was held in Seoul, bringing together academics, cybersecurity expert