South Korea’s Kospi Slips After Topping 6,750 as Foreign Selling Spurs Profit-Taking South Korea’s Kospi climbed above the 6,750 level in intraday trading on April 30 but reversed to finish lower as foreign investors sold and overseas uncertainties weighed on sentiment. Ahead of a holiday, profit-taking erased earlier gains and pushed the benchmark back into the 6,590 range. According to the Korea Exchange, the Kospi closed down 92.03 points, or 1.38%, at 6,598.87. It opened up 48.49 points, or 0.72%, at 6,739.39 and briefly topped 6,750 before turning negative. April 30, 2026

LG’s EXAONE AI to Power Korea’s Safety Report System, Pilot Service Due This Year LG AI Research is accelerating the use of artificial intelligence in public safety services. LG AI Research said April 30 that it has completed the first phase of development of an “AI Safety Report System” based on its EXAONE model, in cooperation with the Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), and will launch a pilot service within the year. The system is designed to analyze more than 39,000 safety reports filed each day and automate the full workflow — from intake to screeni April 30, 2026

K Bank Q1 Net Profit Jumps 107% to 33.2 Billion Won on Strong Corporate Lending K Bank said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that it posted net profit of 33.2 billion won ($?) in the first quarter, up 106.9% from a year earlier, as asset growth continued on strong corporate lending. Total customers reached 16.07 million at the end of the quarter, up 540,000 from the end of last year. Deposits totaled 28.22 trillion won, up 1.5% from 27.80 trillion won a year earlier. Loans rose 10.7% to 18.75 trillion won from 16.94 trillion won. Despite a tighter stance on house April 30, 2026

LG CNS Q1 Operating Profit Rises 19.4% to 94.2 Billion Won LG CNS said Thursday it posted broad first-quarter growth across its businesses, helped by expanding AI and cloud operations. The company said rising demand for AI transformation, along with growth in external projects, lifted both profitability and sales. LG CNS reported first-quarter revenue of 1.315 trillion won and operating profit of 94.2 billion won. Revenue rose 8.6% from a year earlier and operating profit increased 19.4%. Revenue from its AI and cloud business, a key growth dri April 30, 2026

South Korea to Overhaul 2027 R&D Budget, Shift Funds to Strategic Technologies The government is moving to restructure funding for 2027 research and development, concentrating investment on national strategic technologies such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, advanced bio and quantum technology. It also plans to streamline R&D spending across ministries by cutting discretionary outlays by about 15% and mandatory spending by about 10%. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Office of Budget Planning said they held a budget strategy meeting on the afternoo April 30, 2026

South Korea Supreme Court backs workers in Dong-A Transport wage suit, orders overtime pay The Supreme Court has largely sided with workers in a wage lawsuit involving Seoul city bus operator Dong-A Transport, a case that helped spark labor unrest in the sector. According to the legal community on Wednesday, the court’s Third Division, with Justice Lee Sook-yeon as the presiding justice, partially overturned an appellate ruling and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court. The top court left most of the lower court’s decision intact, overturning only part of the portion in wh April 30, 2026

BNK Financial Posts 211.4 Billion Won Q1 Net Profit, Up 26.9% on Year BNK Financial Group said Thursday in an earnings disclosure that its consolidated net profit for the first quarter of 2026 totaled 211.4 billion won. The result was up 26.9%, or 44.8 billion won, from a year earlier. The group said higher selling and administrative expenses and weaker noninterest income were offset by steady net interest income and lower credit-loss provisions. By segment, banking net profit came to 175.6 billion won, up 20.6 billion won from a year earlier. BNK Busan Ba April 30, 2026

Korea Fund Assets Near 1,500 Trillion Won in Q1 as Stock Funds and ETFs Surge South Korea’s fund market expanded sharply in the first quarter, with total net assets nearing 1,500 trillion won as inflows concentrated in equity funds and money market funds, and exchange-traded funds posted strong growth. The Korea Financial Investment Association said Thursday in its “2026 first-quarter fund market trends” report that total net assets for public and private funds stood at 1,493.9 trillion won at the end of March, up 117.6 trillion won, or 8.5%, from 1,376.3 trillion April 30, 2026

Samsung Posts Record Q1 Results, but Profits Rely Heavily on Semiconductors Samsung Electronics posted record first-quarter results, but the company’s growing reliance on semiconductors underscored weakness in its device businesses, including mobile, TVs and home appliances. In its finalized earnings release on Wednesday, Samsung said first-quarter revenue rose to 133.9 trillion won and operating profit to 57.2 trillion won, the highest quarterly performance ever recorded by a South Korean company. Most of the operating profit, however, came from the semiconducto April 30, 2026

Kim Gyeong-bae Named President of Korea Craft and Design Foundation Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young appointed Kim Gyeong-bae, a professor at Kyonggi University’s Graduate School of Hallyu Culture, as president of the Korea Craft · Design Culture Promotion Agency, effective April 30, and presented him with a letter of appointment. Kim’s term is three years. Kim earned a master’s degree in industrial design from the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom and has built more than 30 years of experience in the convergence of des April 30, 2026