Korean won opens weaker near 1,480 per dollar on prolonged Middle East supply fears The South Korean won opened weaker against the U.S. dollar on worries that energy supply disruptions tied to the Middle East could last longer than expected. As of 9:31 a.m. on April 30, the won was trading at 1,484.6 per dollar. It opened at 1,486.5, up 7.5 won from the previous session’s close. The move was attributed to rising demand for safe-haven assets as ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran remained stalled, fueling concerns over prolonged supply turmoil. Overnight, April 30, 2026

Vietnam’s $67B North-South High-Speed Rail Spurs Financing Race as China Emerges Rival Vietnam is moving ahead with its North-South high-speed rail project, a national initiative estimated at $67 billion (about 98.9925 trillion won), as China emerges as a major rival in the global bidding race. With a public-private partnership, or PPP, seen as the likely approach, financing capacity is becoming a key factor in who wins contracts. Vietnam has completed a feasibility study and is drawing up plans to tender construction for some sections under a PPP model, the construction i April 30, 2026

Vietnam Restarts Ninh Thuan Nuclear Project, Intensifying Competition for Early Deals President Lee Jae-myung’s recent state visit to Vietnam has sharpened attention among South Korean builders on Vietnam’s large infrastructure pipeline, as expectations grow that the country and the broader Southeast Asian market could open more fully for nuclear power plants and data centers, both still at an early stage. Industry officials expect competition to intensify as companies seek an early foothold. According to foreign media reports cited on April 28, the Vietnamese government r April 30, 2026

KB Kookmin Bank, SSG.com Launch ‘Ssg KB Bank’ Financial Services in Shopping App KB Kookmin Bank and SSG.com are expanding cooperation by rolling out a “bank in platform” service that lets users access banking within the shopping app. KB Kookmin Bank said on the 30th it launched “Ssg KB Bank,” a comprehensive financial service designed for everyday use. In April last year, the Financial Services Commission designated SSG.com as an innovative financial service, allowing the nonfinancial platform to advertise and broker financial products. With the launch, customers April 30, 2026

South Korea Foreign Ministry Replaces Senior Embassy Posts in Washington The Foreign Ministry on the 29th announced personnel changes affecting its North America line, including the head of its North American Affairs Bureau. In the reshuffle of some mission chiefs and director-general-level posts, the ministry appointed Lee Won-woo, currently a senior official in the North American Affairs Bureau, as the new director-general. Officials said the embassy in Washington is also expected to replace its minister-level economic and public diplomacy posts in the nea April 30, 2026

Survey: More South Korean men say men are socially disadvantaged than say women are A new survey shows South Koreans sharply divided over how gender affects social standing. According to the “2026 Gender Perception Survey” released on the 29th by Korea Research, based on 1,000 adults nationwide ages 18 and older, 23% of men said women are socially disadvantaged — less than one in four. By contrast, 33% of men said men are socially disadvantaged. That was about three times the share of women who agreed with the same statement (11%). Views on whether society favors one g April 30, 2026

Big Tech Stocks Diverge as AI Spending Lifts Alphabet, Amazon and Weighs on Meta Global Big Tech companies broadly posted higher results, but investors reacted differently. Alphabet and Amazon gained on signs of continued cloud and advertising momentum, while Meta’s heavier investment plans drew more attention. According to company announcements on April 29 (local time), Google parent Alphabet reported first-quarter revenue of $109.9 billion, up 22% from a year earlier. Google Cloud revenue rose 63% to $20.0 billion. Shares climbed more than 6% in after-hours trading April 30, 2026

South Korea’s Content Industry Revenue Hits 161 Trillion Won in 2025, Up 2.6% South Korea’s content industry posted 161 trillion won in revenue last year, with growth led by music, knowledge information, comics and animation. According to the “2025 Q4 and Annual Content Industry Trends Analysis Report” published on the 30th by the Korea Creative Content Agency, 2025 annual revenue for the domestic content industry rose 2.6% from a year earlier to 161.4839 trillion won. By genre, music grew 15.8%, knowledge information 7.8%, comics 7.4% and animation 6.8%, the repo April 30, 2026

Leeum Museum Recreates Jeong Kang-ja’s Censored 1970 Immersive Work "You are now inside my work." Jeong Kang-ja’s “Non-Body Exhibition” has no solid form, yet it creates a claustrophobic tension that pushes viewers backward. White smoke seeps from the corners of a square room. A red siren blares. A flat voice repeats, “You are now inside my work,” evoking the sense of being confined in South Korea’s closed society of the 1970s. The smoke, intangible but insistent, keeps rising to knee level no matter how far one retreats. Leeum Museum of Art h April 30, 2026

Doosan Robotics shares jump 14% on expectations of Nvidia collaboration Doosan Robotics surged more than 14% in early trading on Thursday as investors bet on potential cooperation with Nvidia. According to the Korea Exchange, shares of Doosan Robotics were trading at 116,600 won as of 9:15 a.m., up 14,400 won, or 14.09%, from the previous session. The rally appeared to be driven by news that Madison Huang, senior director of product marketing for Omniverse · Robotics and the eldest daughter of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, visited Doosan Robotics April 30, 2026