Alibaba's artificial intelligence (AI) model, Qwen, has achieved the top position in global open-source AI model downloads. According to Bloomberg on August 18, Alibaba recently announced that the cumulative global downloads of its Qwen series of open-source AI models have surpassed 3 billion in the past six months. The company has released 460 different types of Qwen models as open-weight models, with over 300,000 derivative models created based on them. Open-weight models allow developers to d

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are rising, putting upward pressure on the won-dollar exchange rate.As of 9:10 a.m. in the Seoul foreign exchange market on August 18, the exchange rate for the Korean won against the U.S. dollar is trading at 1,415.5 won.The 60-day negotiation period established under a memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran in June ended on August 17 without significant progress. The U.S. has announced plans to impose strong economic sanctions on Iran t

The KOSPI opened with a rise of over 2% on the back of foreign buying and strong semiconductor stocks. As global memory semiconductor stocks show a robust upward trend, expectations are growing that investments in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and a prolonged memory supply shortage will continue to drive up major semiconductor companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.According to the Korea Exchange, as of 9:07 a.m., the KOSPI was trading at 7,126.81, up 148.87 points (2.13%) f

신테카바이오's shares fell to the lower limit after the company received a 'disclaimer of opinion' from its auditor in its semi-annual review report. On August 18, at 9:10 a.m., Shintech Bio's stock was trading at 1,048 won, down 449 won (29.93%) from the previous trading day. The company announced that it received a 'disclaimer of opinion' from Samjeong Accounting Corporation regarding its consolidated and separate financial statements for the first half of this year. In the same period last y

International credit rating agency Moody's has raised its economic growth forecast for South Korea to 3.5% for this year, citing a semiconductor supercycle and strong export performance that are expected to support growth at least until mid-2027.According to relevant authorities on August 18, Moody's released a report following its recent review of South Korea's sovereign credit rating, projecting the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates at 3.5% for this year and 2.7% for next yea

Starbucks Korea announced that from August 18 to 21, it will hold a 'Summer Happy Hour' offering a 30% discount on nine popular summer beverages every day from 2 PM to 6 PM.The eligible drinks include Red Bean Matcha Coco Frappuccino, Grapefruit Mango Coco Frappuccino, Pineapple Blue Coco Frappuccino, Sea Salt Caramel Cold Brew, Coco Cold Brew, Sea Salt Foam Black Tea, Watermelon Juice Blended, Apricot Joyful Medley Shaken Tea, and Pink Peach Coconut Refresher.During the event hours, customers c

The government is set to scrutinize unreasonable employment practices in the public sector, including 364-day contracts and repeated contracts under one year, aimed at avoiding severance pay.Starting August 18, the Ministry of Employment and Labor will conduct a two-month intensive inspection of 200 public sector agencies to ensure compliance with labor conditions for irregular workers.This inspection follows a planned review conducted from March 11 to April 30, which focused on 30 local governm

KT is partnering with NH Financial Group and Microsoft to drive innovation in AI and cloud-based retail transformation. On August 18, KT announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding with both companies at its headquarters in the Gwanghwamun area of Seoul. This collaboration follows KT's transition of the NH Sing Sing Mall, a specialized online agricultural product platform, to a public cloud. KT migrated the mall's on-premises systems, infrastructure, network, and security environment

Unprecedented heavy rainfall, the highest recorded in South Korea, struck Geoje and the southern coast, raising interest in how the damage was mitigated despite the extreme weather.The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters reported that from midnight on August 15 to 5 p.m. on August 17, Geoje recorded a cumulative rainfall of 910.0 mm.Intense rain led to a landslide near an apartment in Okpo-dong, Geoje, burying homes and vehicles, resulting in one death and four injuries. Repo