China chip fears send KOSPI plunging over 10% SEOUL, July 28 (AJP) - China's growing push into semiconductors rattled South Korea's stock market on Tuesday. Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix crashed, sparking panic across the market. The sell-off was severe enough to activate automatic trading halts on both the benchmark KOSPI and the junior KOSDAQ, including sidecars and circuit breakers designed to curb sharp market declines. The KOSPI tumbled 10.84 percent to 6,023.66, briefly falling below the 6,000-point mark during July 28, 2026

Seoul sees steady rise in foreign property owners, surpassing 32,000 SEOUL, July 28 (AJP) - The number of foreigners who own real estate in Seoul increased by more than 1,000 over the past year, surpassing 32,000, according to an analysis of real estate registry data from the Supreme Court conducted by real estate app Zippoom. Seoul had 32,870 foreign property owners as of last month, up 3.3 percent, or 1,058, from 31,812 a year earlier. In the first half of this year alone, the figure grew by 473, from 32,397 in January to 32,870 in June. Over the same period, July 28, 2026

Hanwha, KAIST launch space talent program for young students SEOUL, July 28 (AJP) - Hanwha Group and KAIST have launched the fifth class of their youth space talent program, selecting 30 middle school students as South Korea seeks to nurture future talent for its growing space industry. The program, called “Space Pebbles,” began Saturday at Hanwha Building in Seoul, the company said Monday. The program is designed to identify and train promising first- and second-year middle school students from across the country. Hanwha selected 30 student July 28, 2026

KOSPI leads broad Asian selloff with 8% tumble SEOUL, July 28 (AJP) - Korean stocks plunged Tuesday morning, with the benchmark KOSPI falling more than 8 percent to the 6,200 level, as a selloff in U.S. artificial intelligence chip stocks and concerns over China’s growing semiconductor capabilities battered major technology shares. Sell-side sidecars were triggered in both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets shortly after the opening bell, followed by a circuit breaker on the main market that halted trading for 20 minutes. As of 10:30 a. July 28, 2026

China's new chip power triggers Korean selloff, sparks 21st sidecar SEOUL, July 28 (AJP) - South Korean stocks plunged Tuesday, triggering the market's 21st sidecar of the month after a fresh rout in U.S. semiconductor shares combined with growing investor bets on China's emerging memory-chip champion to spark another wave of foreign selling. The Korea Exchange activated a sidecar — a five-minute suspension of program trading designed to cool excessive volatility — shortly after the open as benchmark indices tumbled more than 5 percent. By July 28, 2026

KOSPI rebounds as AI bets outweigh China memory threat SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) — South Korean stocks rebounded Monday after investors looked past the blockbuster debut of Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT and instead focused on fresh artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships, allowing chip shares to recover from early declines. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 6,755.75, up 0.97 percent after reversing an early decline triggered by more than 2 trillion won in foreign selling. The junior KOSDAQ outperformed, rising 2.22 percent to 764.86. The session o July 27, 2026

Korea's AI chip ETF frenzy poised to spread to Tokyo SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) —The chip-linked leveraged ETF frenzy that turned South Korea into a proving ground for AI-fueled speculative trading is poised to spill over to Japan. U.S. asset managers are seeking to launch the first single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds tied to Japanese chipmaker, modeled after single-stock instruments on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to ride on the AI chip fever. According to Bloomberg on Monday, U.S. firms including Kogi Strategies, GraniteShares July 27, 2026

Record dollar deposits lift Koreans' foreign currency holdings by $1 bn in June SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) -South Koreans increased their foreign currency deposits by more than $1 billion, or the largest in in four months in June, driven by hefty semiconductor export proceeds and rising funds parked for overseas stock investments. Resident foreign currency deposits at domestic banks reached $113.33 billion at the end of June, up $1.08 billion from a month earlier, according to data released by the Bank of Korea on Monday. The balance was the highest since February. The increase July 27, 2026

Lee's approval rating falls again, remains below 50% for six weeks SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell for another week, according to a survey by pollster Realmeter released on Monday. In its survey of more than 2,500 adults nationwide last week, 46.3 percent of respondents said Lee was doing well, down 2.1 percentage points from the previous week. Slightly more respondents or 49.5 percent disapproved of his performance, while 4.2 percent remained undecided. Lee's approval rating has now remained in the 40 percent ran July 27, 2026

Kia to hire engineers in large-scale recruitment drive next month SEOUL, July 27 (AJP) - Kia will launch a large-scale recruitment drive to hire engineers for the second half of this year, the automaker said on Monday. Those interested can apply for a two-week period starting from Aug. 10. Applicants must be at least high school graduates, but there are no age or gender restrictions. Kia said it revamped its criteria for evaluating engineering candidates for the first time since 2014 to reflect changes in the manufacturing industry including electrification July 27, 2026