Saturday, Sep 05, 2026
  • State bank relocation sparks mass finance strike in Seoul
    State bank relocation sparks mass finance strike in Seoul SEOUL, September 04 (AJP) - State bank relocation sparks mass finance strike in Seoul Strikes have been a common scene in Korea this year, and the traditional banking picketers took to the streets that they surrendered to IT workers earlier on demanding bigger compensations from AI windfall.
  • Samsungs aggressive HBM4 bet narrows gap with SK hynix
    Samsung's aggressive HBM4 bet narrows gap with SK hynix SEOUL, September 04 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics, making up for its passivity and late start in high-bandwidth memory, has ushered in the next generation with an aggressive bet on HBM4 that is paying off by sharply narrowing the gap with frontrunner SK hynix.
  • Samsung, SK hynix hold nearly half of global NAND market
    Samsung, SK hynix hold nearly half of global NAND market SEOUL, September 4 (AJP) - South Korea's two major chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix retained the top two spots in the global NAND flash market in the second quarter, together accounting for nearly half of global sales.
  • UPDATE: Koreas H1 C/A surplus second only to China
    UPDATE: Korea's H1 C/A surplus second only to China SEOUL, September 04 (AJP) - South Korea posted its second-largest current account surplus on record at $42.08 billion in July.
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ASIA Insight>

Cabinet reshuffle turns into political headache for South Korea's Lee SEOUL, September 04 (AJP) - The roster for President Lee Jae Myung’s 2.0 reshuffle has generated a rumpus before the nominees even arrive at South Korea’s legislative confirmation hearings, denting the already fragile popularity of the presidency. According to the latest Gallup Korea poll, 40 percent of respondents positively assessed Lee’s job performance, while 51 percent gave a negative assessment. The positive rating was the lowest since he took office, while the negative
Cabinet reshuffle turns into political headache for South Koreas Lee
Will America risk New York for Seoul? Will America risk New York for Seoul? SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and ordered scale-back in U.S.-South Korea military drills that anger Pyongyang and cost Washington heavily, reigniting a long-running question in Seoul: Should South Korea arm itself with nuclear weapons? Once taboo, the idea is gaining broader public acceptance. Sixty-five percent of South Koreans support the country possessing nuclear weapons, while 30 percent oppose it, according to the la

AJP Focus>

AI spending binge steepens Korea's bond curve SEOUL, September 03 (AJP) - As the race for AI supremacy sends government and corporate spending into the stratosphere, investors are demanding more to lend for decades — a shift showing up starkly in South Korea, where yields have risen progressively faster toward the long end of the government bond curve. The yield chart over the past year shows an increasingly steep repricing toward longer maturities. The 30-year yield has climbed the most, touching a record 4.751 percent in August, wh
AI spending binge steepens Koreas bond curve
Will AI contracts shield Korean chipmakers from boom-and-bust cycle? Will AI contracts shield Korean chipmakers from boom-and-bust cycle? SEOUL, September 02 (AJP) - Investment banks and market trackers are betting South Korea's memory giants can extend their red-hot earnings streak into a third year in 2027 and possibly beyond, as AI pushes the business away from the spot-price-driven boom-and-bust cycles that have long defined memory chips. Before the rise of AI, earnings at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were heavily exposed to prices for mass-market DRAM and NAND flash, commodities notorious for swinging between shortag

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