KOSPI at 5,000: Retail investors wake from midsummer dream SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) — “It's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun” serves as a swan song for South Korean mom-and-pop stock investors heading for the exit. Jang, who works in Seoul’s trendy Seongsu-dong district and declined to give his full name, said he was done after watching Samsung Electronics and SK hynix spiral downward. The two chipmakers account for 80 percent of his savings. For investors who jumped on the bandwa November 9, 2026

Senior US naval officials visit HD Hyundai shipyard in South Korea SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - Senior U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officials visited HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyard in Ulsan last week to assess South Korea's shipbuilding capabilities, although the company said Monday that such visits were not unusual amid ongoing cooperation discussions. "Visits by U.S. Navy officials to our company are not uncommon," an HD Hyundai official told AJP. "They have visited several times before, so this particular visit does not November 9, 2026

Hyundai teams up with French gas giant on hydrogen vehicles in China SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor Group is teaming up with French industrial gas company Air Liquide to expand its hydrogen-powered vehicle business in China, the South Korean automaker said on Monday. HTWO Guangzhou, its first overseas production base for hydrogen fuel-cell systems, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Air Liquide's Chinese subsidiary during this year's China International Import Expo in Shanghai, which opened last week and runs through Tue November 9, 2026

Seoul steps up AI cheating warnings ahead of CSAT SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) -South Korea has ratcheted up warnings against cheating with AI-equipped smart glasses ahead of the November 19 College Scholastic Ability Test after a nationwide survey uncovered four cases in school exams this year. The Ministry of Education said Monday that a nationwide survey found one case at a middle school and three at high schools. The findings cover detected incidents reported by schools and do not establish how many cases may have gone unnoticed. November 9, 2026

Military academy merger plan remains under review SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - South Korea's defense ministry is revising plans to merge the country's three military academies, amid reports that it may retain the existing institutions under a new joint education system, the ministry said Monday. "The ministry is currently refining its plan to establish a unified armed forces academy to train elite officers capable of leading future warfare," said a ministry spokesperson during a regular briefing. "Nothing has b November 9, 2026

Changdeokgung's main gate undergoes major restoration SEOUL, November 9 (AJP) - Changdeokgung Palace's historic Donhwamun Gate is undergoing its first major restoration in 29 years, ahead of the royal palace's 30th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage site next year. Changdeokgung was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center under the Korea Heritage Service said Monday that workers will begin removing roof tiles from Donhwamun this month as part of an extensive restoration pro November 9, 2026

KOSPI lifted by chip rebound SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) -South Korean shares staged a rebound Monday from last week’s U.S. midterm election shock as institutional investors hunted for bargains in battered chip stocks. The benchmark KOSPI rose 1.61 percent to 5,145.81 as of around 11:08 a.m., recovering from an early dip below 5,000. It traded between 4,990.66 and 5,151.84, with advancing stocks outnumbering decliners 494 to 382. Institutions bought a net 297.3 billion won worth of shares and retail inves November 9, 2026

Korea's sovereign AI finalists tap Nvidia data SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - Datasets from Nvidia's open Nemotron models are feeding South Korea's race to build a homegrown AI model, with SK Telecom, LG AI Research and Upstage all drawing on the technology. Jonathan Cohen, Nvidia's vice president of applied research, named the three at NVIDIA AI Day Seoul 2026 in a session after Deepu Talla's physical AI talk. They are the last teams in a Ministry of Science and ICT project launched to cut Korea's reliance on November 9, 2026

Nvidia says simulation is key to Korea's factory robots SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - Robots bound for South Korea's factories should learn their trade in virtual replicas of the shop floor before they ever touch a car door, a senior Nvidia executive said Monday. "We do not build robots," Deepu Talla, Nvidia's vice president of robotics and edge AI, told NVIDIA AI Day Seoul 2026 at COEX, calling Nvidia a platform company. Its chips train a robot's brain, test it in simulation and run it on the machine, he said. The November 9, 2026

KAIST separator steers lithium ions to speed battery charging SEOUL, November 09 (AJP) - A battery layer that lines up its molecules in a single direction can stop lithium from piling up unevenly during fast charging, a flaw that shortens battery life and can start fires, South Korean researchers said Monday. A team led by Yoon Dong-ki and Byon Hye-ryung, both chemistry professors at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), built the layer from a liquid crystal polymer. Charged at a rate that would theoretically fill a November 9, 2026