Mirae Asset Securities Seen Leading Q1 Operating Profit on SpaceX Valuation Gain ◆Ajou Economy Top Stories ▷Mirae Asset Securities may reclaim the top spot after four years; Q1 operating profit seen at 1.36 trillion won -Mirae Asset Securities is projected to post first-quarter operating profit of 1.3572 trillion won, potentially overtaking Korea Investment & Securities (822.0 billion won) to regain the No. 1 position. -A valuation gain from its investment in SpaceX is expected to be reflected, raising expectations it will surpass 1 trillion won in quarterly operat April 28, 2026

Rubio: U.S. Won’t Accept Iran Controlling Strait of Hormuz or Having Nuclear Weapons U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Iran is still seeking to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz, calling that unacceptable for the United States. He also reaffirmed that Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. His remarks, made as talks on ending the war with Iran face difficulties, were widely seen as a clear statement of U.S. red lines. According to Yonhap News Agency, Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that if Iran’s idea of keeping the strait April 28, 2026

Sejong Center Chief Kim Se-jin: Full Shift Away From Middle East Is Impossible; Redesign Supply Chains “It’s time to move supply-chain management beyond cost minimization and rebuild it around ‘sovereignty risk’ in three areas: resources, routes and contracts,” said Kim Se-jin, head of the Trade and Industry Policy Center at Sejong law firm. “Instead of focusing only on where to buy cheaply, companies must factor in which country the resource comes from, which sea lane it travels through, and whether the contract will actually be honored.” April 28, 2026

Korea-Vietnam Cultural Exchanges Expand With Festivals in Hanoi and Suwon Cultural and tourism events linking South Korea and Vietnam were held alongside President Lee Jae-myung’s state visit, highlighting exchanges that have broadened beyond government and business cooperation into culture and travel. Vietnamese media outlets including Zing Viet reported that the “2026 Korea Culture and Tourism Festival” ran from the 23rd to the 26th at Lotte Mall West Lake in Hanoi. Co-hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization and the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam, the ev April 28, 2026

Lee Jae-myung’s Vietnam state visit yields 85 MOUs, sets $150B trade goal by 2030 President Lee Jae-myung wrapped up his state visit to Vietnam with a series of major agreements through the final day. The two countries signed a total of 85 memorandums of understanding — 12 government-to-government MOUs covering areas such as nuclear power, railways and artificial intelligence, and 73 MOUs between companies — and formally set a goal of raising bilateral trade to $150 billion (about 221 trillion won) by 2030. The outcome was described as a step toward moving the comprehe April 28, 2026

Korea Bond Yields Rise on Middle East War, Inflation Fears Despite WGBI Boost South Korea’s government bond yields are climbing again as Middle East war risks and rising inflation pressure outweigh the boost from the country’s inclusion in the World Government Bond Index, or WGBI. While index-tracking foreign inflows are adding downward pressure, concerns about prolonged conflict, higher prices and possible policy-rate hikes are dominating, increasing borrowing costs across the market. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on the 27th, the three-y April 28, 2026

Korea to Host 13th ISO Health Organization Management Standards Meeting in Seoul The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s Korean Agency for Technology and Standards said Monday it will hold the 13th International Standards Meeting on Health Organization Management in Seoul for three days through April 30. The meeting will be the first hosted by South Korea since it took on the chair and secretariat roles for ISO/TC 304 (health organization management). South Korea plans to serve as a designer and coordinator for global health and medical standardization work du April 28, 2026

South Korea launches AI project to turn factory know-how into data, speed M.AX shift The South Korean government is launching a project to convert skilled manufacturing workers’ experience and know-how — known as “tacit knowledge” — into artificial intelligence data for use on factory floors, as concerns grow that aging workforces could disrupt the transfer of core techniques. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on 28 it will 추진 the “AI model development project based on manufacturing tacit knowledge.” The program will use 48 billion won in central governmen April 28, 2026

South Korea Weighs Second Extra Budget as Higher Rates Raise Debt-Funding Concerns With high oil prices and inflation pressures tied to the Middle East still unresolved, lawmakers are again raising the idea of a second supplementary budget. Unlike the first extra budget, which relied on higher-than-expected tax revenue, a second package would likely require issuing deficit-financing government bonds, adding to upward pressure on interest rates. The first supplementary budget used 25 trillion won in excess tax revenue, allowing spending to expand without issuing new bond April 28, 2026

Surging Treasury Yields Raise Fears of Uneven Blow to Vulnerable Borrowers, Weak Firms A renewed surge in South Korean Treasury yields is fueling concerns that the hit will fall hardest on vulnerable borrowers and financially weak companies. With household loans still heavily tied to floating rates, higher rates could quickly raise interest burdens, curb spending and weigh on domestic demand, analysts said. According to the financial sector on April 27, Treasury yields have continued to rise as markets price in inflation pressure tied to Middle East geopolitical risks and April 28, 2026