KLPGA Winner Yoo Hyun-jo Climbs to No. 45 in Women’s World Golf Ranking Yoo Hyun-jo, who captured her first win of the 2026 season on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour at the DB Women’s Championship (total purse 1.2 billion won), moved back inside the top 50 in the women’s world golf rankings. In the rankings released May 5 (Korean time), Yoo rose eight spots from last week to No. 45. Her career-best ranking is No. 33, set after she finished tied for third at the Hana Financial Group Championship in September last year. Yoo won the DB Women May 5, 2026

Seoul Jeonse Crunch Deepens as ‘Two-Tier’ Deposits Split Even Within Same Complex As Seoul’s jeonse market tightens, a “two-tier pricing” pattern is spreading, with large gaps in deposits even for the same complex and the same size unit. The split is most pronounced in high-priced complexes where home prices have surged and in complexes with a large share of public rental units that anchor cheaper jeonse deals. According to the Transport Ministry’s real-transaction disclosure system, a new jeonse contract for an 84-square-meter unit in Eunpyeong New Town’s Gupabal 10 C May 5, 2026

South Korea’s Koo Yun-cheol Meets Uzbek President, Seeks More Openings for Korean Firms Koo Yun-cheol, South Korea’s deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance, met with Uzbekistan’s president and agreed to strengthen cooperation in emerging industries, including biotech, as Seoul seeks to broaden opportunities for Korean companies in Central Asia. South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said Tuesday that Koo met President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on May 3 (local time) in Samarkand to discuss the planned Korea-Central Asia summit in September and the direction May 5, 2026

Bank Deposits Shift to Stocks as KOSPI Rally Fuels 'Money Move' Expectations that the KOSPI will break above 7,000, along with forecasts of a rally in large-cap technology shares, are accelerating the shift of money from bank deposits into the stock market. Analysts say the trend reflects a clearer move away from deposit-centered asset management as investors chase higher returns. According to the Bank of Korea’s Economic Statistics System, the number of time-deposit accounts at commercial banks with balances of 100 million won ($72,000) or less total May 5, 2026

AI Big Three Cut New-Model Release Cycles to About 50 Days, Raising Barriers for South Korea Google, OpenAI and Anthropic have effectively compressed their new AI model release cycles to roughly a monthly cadence, as competition accelerates in the era of agent AI, where falling behind is widely seen as fatal. An analysis of the three companies’ major model launches over the past six months shows an average interval of 50 days, down about 62% from the three-year average of 130 days. By company, Google posted the shortest average at 39 days, followed by OpenAI at 43 days and Ant May 5, 2026

Seoul mayoral rivals clash over villas as answer to rental crunch Seoul mayoral candidates Jung Won-oh of the Democratic Party and Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party, who have traded barbs for days over the city’s housing policy, clashed again on Monday over whether “villas” can help ease the rental crunch. Oh’s campaign said Jung’s suggestion that supplying villas and similar housing could resolve the monthly rent and jeonse squeeze within two to three years was “dangerous.” Jung’s camp responded that villas are a legitimate form of housing and accu May 5, 2026

Trump Says Tariffs Aren’t High Enough, Signals Push for Additional Duties President Donald Trump said current tariff levels are not high enough, openly signaling interest in additional duties as large-scale refunds are set to begin next week following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated his administration’s “reciprocal” tariffs. The Trump administration is expected to use this week’s hearings under Section 301 of the Trade Act to press ahead with what it has described as “alternative tariffs.” According to CBS and other outlets, Trump told a White Hou May 5, 2026

South Korea reviewing U.S. call to join Hormuz operation, citing legal steps and readiness South Korea’s government said May 5 it is reviewing U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Seoul to take part in a military operation in the Strait of Hormuz following an explosion and fire involving a South Korean vessel, citing readiness on the Korean Peninsula and domestic legal procedures. The government also said it will move quickly — and accurately — to determine the cause of the incident and disclose findings transparently to the public. The presidential office said the gover May 5, 2026

South Korean Opposition Blasts Proposed Special Counsel With Power to Drop Charges Opposition parties including the People Power Party and the New Reform Party on May 5 stepped up attacks on a bill to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations of “fabricated investigations and fabricated prosecutions” under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. They criticized President Lee Jae-myung’s comments a day earlier that the issue requires public input and deliberation, arguing he was seeking to delay action until after the June 3 local elections. People Power Party le May 5, 2026

US Treasury chief urges China to press Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz The United States is publicly pressing China to help end the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz ahead of a U.S.-China summit. The New York Times reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he was urging China to join what he called an international effort and to use diplomacy to persuade Iran to reopen the strait. “Iran is the largest state sponsor of terror, and China has been buying 90% of Iran’s energy, so it is effectively funding the lar May 5, 2026