• Korea corporate loan delinquencies more than triple over 5 yrs SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) — Corporate loan delinquencies at South Korean banks topped 10 trillion won ($7.5 billion) for the first time at the end of June as unpaid debt grew far faster than overall lending over the past five years.
• Korea's retail crypto buying remains unfazed in 2026 SEOUL, October 12 (AJP)—South Korean retail investors remained quietly invested in crypto even as it surrendered much of its limelight to equities in 2026.
• Seoul tightens public drinking rules with Seoul Station plaza ban SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) -Seoul is poised to become less lenient on drinking in public spaces. Seoul Station Plaza will become an alcohol-free zone on Nov. 9, with violators facing fines of 50,000 won ($35) starting March 1, 2027, Seoul’s Jung-gu district announced Monday.
• Korean banks had AI hacking warning weeks before data breaches SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - Weeks before hackers used artificial intelligence tools to steal customer data from seven South Korean financial firms, the sector's security agency had walked those firms' security staff through a similar AI attack on a domestic lender, according to documents the agency submitted to a lawmaker. The breaches began in late September. They exposed data on about 40,000 Yegaram
• Failing Army servers await Assembly budget decision SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - The South Korean army is experiencing a surge of server failures in its front-line commander network, but the government has cut every won the military requested for next year to start replacing the aging hardware. The Army Tactical Command Information System, known as ATCIS-II, logged about 400 server failures last year, compared with about 10 in 2020, according to military docum
• Weak won lifts BOK's reserve earnings to record SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - South Korea's central bank earned a record 16.9 trillion won ($12.6 billion) from managing its foreign assets in 2025, helped by a weaker won that raised the value of its overseas earnings, data showed Sunday. The total was up 32 percent from 12.8 trillion won in 2024, according to data the Bank of Korea (BOK) submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-wook, who sits on

AJP Briefing>

• Foreign selling drags KOSPI below 6,500 SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - Foreign pullout from the Seoul bourse went on Monday upon returning from a three-day break with chip bellwethers becoming the primary target. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.09 percent, to 6,487.53, set to extend the losing streak for the fourth straight session. Foreign investors sold a net 356.5 billion won ($266.5 million). SK hynix fell 2.6 percent, more than twice Samsung Electronics’ 1.2 percent loss. SK hynix dropped to 1,637,000 w
• Korea corporate loan delinquencies more than triple over 5 yrs SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) — Corporate loan delinquencies at South Korean banks topped 10 trillion won ($7.5 billion) for the first time at the end of June as unpaid debt grew far faster than overall lending over the past five years. Outstanding corporate loans at domestic banks rose 30.7 percent to 1,400.5 trillion won at the end of the second quarter from 1,071.1 trillion won at the end of 2021, according to data the Bank of Korea submitted to lawmaker Ahn Do-geol. Over the same period, d

AJP ScaleUP

• Hot Stock: Hanmi shares reverse sharply after obesity drug approval SEOUL, October 08 (AJP) - Shares of Hanmi Pharm and its holding company Hanmi Science fell sharply in late-morning trading Thursday, reversing gains sparked by regulatory approval of Korea's first domestically developed GLP-1 obesity drug. Hanmi Science dropped 7.23 percent to 53,900 won after climbing as high as 68,200 won earlier in the session. The stock had surged 13.94 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday to 66,200 won following news of the approval. Hanmi Pharm fell 9.7 percent t
• KOSDAQ cybersecurity stocks surge as bank hacks raise AI attack concerns SEOUL, October 6 (AJP)— South Korean cybersecurity stocks surged Tuesday as a series of attacks on financial institutions and concerns over the possible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in hacking fueled expectations for stronger security spending. AhnLab, one of the country’s largest cybersecurity companies, which provides software and services to protect computers, networks and cloud systems, jumped 15.58 percent to close at 89,000 won ($65.50) on the junior KOSDAQ. Genians, an

ASIA Insight

• South Korea rethinks military privileges as medals collide with fairness SEOUL, October 08 (AJP) - Military service has long been one of South Korea’s most unforgiving tests of fairness, with disputes over who serves and who does not capable of ending public careers. Now the government is revisiting a decades-old system that allows selected athletes and artists to pursue their careers instead of entering regular military service, as a shrinking recruitment pool adds urgency to longstanding questions over privilege. Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul told a parli by Kim Hee-su
• Silver glitters: stocks lift wealth of the gray in Korea, U.S., Japan SEOUL, October 07 (AJP) — Older generations on both sides of the Pacific — seemingly the last to have enjoyed an era of abundant liquidity and cheap borrowing — are benefiting from asset inflation, helping fuel consumer spending this year despite geopolitical risks and elevated interest rates. In South Korea, investors aged 60 and older accounted for 40 percent of individual investors’ domestic stock profits in the first half despite representing less than a third of tra by Ryu Yuna

AJP Watch

• Dating shows seek a new spark as romance alone loses its pull SEOUL, October 8 (AJP) — South Korea’s latest dating show does not begin in a villa, on an island or over a candlelit dinner. It begins in the outfield. On streaming platform TVING, “Love at First Hit” pairs fans of rival baseball teams for dates at live Korea Baseball Organization games. Mutual choices lead to romance, while a one-sided choice earns the person chosen a season ticket. Contestants may leave with love, baseball tickets or neither. The pairing appears to
• K-drama, K-pop — and now Hangeul joins the K-wave SEOUL, October 07 (AJP) - A decade ago, learning Korean was a way to catch the nuances of K-drama dialogue and song lyrics. Today, foreigners are learning it to enter universities, build careers and make a life in Korea. Few can dispute the global ascent of Korean pop culture as K-everything fills social media feeds. All three seasons of Netflix’s “Squid Game” occupy the top three spots on the platform’s all-time ranking of non-English television series. Its first seas

AJP Focus

• Samsung's staggering profit windfall masks deepening business imbalance SEOUL, October 08 (AJP) - It all began humbly in 1975, with women in protective head coverings bent over workstations assembling integrated circuits for LED wristwatches. More than half a century later, Samsung Electronics has become the world’s largest vendor of memory chips powering everything from smartphones to sprawling AI data centers and turning factory output into profits on a scale unprecedented among the world's technology companies. The scale of that transformation is capt
• South Korea is a de facto abolitionist state – or is it? SEOUL, October 07 (AJP) - Fifty-two people remain on death row, growing old under sentences the state has left unfulfilled for nearly three decades. Their average age is 58.7. Among them are serial killers Yoo Young-chul and Kang Ho-soon, who killed 20 and 10 people, respectively. As the World Day Against the Death Penalty approaches on Oct. 10, South Korea remains caught between its long suspension of executions and a public largely unwilling to abandon them. A September survey commissioned b