KOSPI regains ground after chip-stock sell-off, but recovery remains fragile SEOUL, July 29 (AJP) - Seoul stocks opened higher on Wednesday after the previous day's rout, but gave up most of their early gains within the first hour, leaving the rebound looking less convincing. The KOSPI climbed back above 6,200 in early trade before fading to 6,078.77, up 0.9 percent. Samsung Electronics led the recovery, rising 3.9 percent to 228,500 South Korean won (US$157), while SK hynix barely moved, edging up 0.1 percent to 1,551,000 won. That divergence shaped the session, July 29, 2026

SK hynix rewrites record books, but misses lofty Q2 profit forecasts SEOUL, July 29 (AJP) - SK hynix rewrote the record books in the second quarter as booming demand for artificial intelligence memory chips drove another quarter of historic earnings, though operating profit fell short of lofty market expectations. Operating profit for the April-June period came to 60.54 trillion won, up 61 percent from 37.61 trillion won recorded in the previous quarter. The figure fell short of the market consensus of approximately 64.1 trillion won, according to financial July 29, 2026

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