KOSPI plunges 7% as sell sidecar triggered SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - South Korean stocks plunged on Wednesday, triggering a sell-side trading curb as surging global bond yields battered chip shares. The Korea Exchange activated a sell-side sidecar at 9:06 a.m. after KOSPI 200 futures fell 6.02 percent from the previous session's reference price. The benchmark KOSPI was down 6.74 percent at 6,407.14 at the time. The sidecar temporarily halts program sell orders for five minutes when KOSPI 200 futures fall at least 5 percent and remai August 19, 2026

KOSPI wipes out early gains to close below 7,000 after weeklong rally SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - South Korean stocks surrendered sharp early gains on Tuesday as rising global bond yields and institutional selling erased a semiconductor-led rally, while trading remained subdued. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 6,869.83 points, down 1.55 percent from the previous session, ending a five-session winning streak. The index opened at 7,127.77 and surged more than 3 percent to an intraday high of 7,216.62 before reversing course and falling as low as 6,788.78. Foreign inves August 18, 2026

Chinese FM set to visit Seoul for talks this week SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is set to visit Seoul this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. At a regular press briefing, the ministry's spokesperson Park Doo Soon said Wang is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday for a two-day visit and hold talks with his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun. Their talks are expected to cover various issues including bilateral ties, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and other regional matters. It August 18, 2026

Chip rally pushes KOSPI past 7,200 SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI opened 3.3 percent higher on Tuesday, led by SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, which extended a two-week rally driven by foreign investors, even as most stocks on the main board declined. The index opened at 7,211 on Tuesday, up 233.06 points, in its first session since Friday after Monday's substitute holiday for Liberation Day. Decliners outnumbered advancers 630 to 234, even as the large-cap KOSPI 200 rose 4 percent. The diverge August 18, 2026

Foreigners lift KOSPI while other Asian market quiet SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) -Foreign money kept buying Seoul for a fifth straight session Friday, but this time the leadership came from telecom and automakers rather than the two chipmakers that drove both the market's first-half rally and its July collapse. The KOSPI closed at 6,977.94, up 164.60 points, or 2.42 percent, ending the week 11.5 percent higher and edging back toward the 7,000 level it surrendered a month ago on July 13. Foreign investors bought a net 3.04 trillion won ($2.14 billi August 14, 2026

Ottogi second-quarter net profit falls 2.7% as margins tighten SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - Ottogi, one of South Korea's largest food manufacturers, announced that its second-quarter net profit fell 2.7 percent from a year earlier, as rising costs squeezed margins even though sales climbed on the back of instant noodles and stronger overseas demand. According to regulatory filings released Friday, net profit for the April to June period came to 33.2 billion won ($23.4 million). Revenue rose 4.6 percent to 943.8 billion won and operating profit edged up 0. August 14, 2026

Hanwha Systems to equip ROK Navy support ships with EO/IR systems SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - Hanwha Systems will install new electro-optical and infrared observation systems on four Republic of Korea Navy support and rescue ships, expanding technology originally developed for military helicopters into naval applications. The company said Friday that it signed a contract with the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality in July and has begun development. The project covers one logistics support ship, two surface rescue ships and one submarine rescue ship. The August 14, 2026

Korea's game groups press for production and e-sports tax breaks SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - South Korea's game industry associations urged the government to extend tax relief to game production costs and e-sports tournaments, arguing that the country's most lucrative cultural export remains shut out of incentives its rivals take for granted. Five bodies, including the Korea Game Developers Association, the Korea Association of Game Industry and the Korea e-Sports Association, said in a joint statement on Friday that games account for about 60 percent o August 14, 2026

SK hynix surges as KOSPI extends fifth-day rally SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - Seoul's memory trade ran into a fifth straight session Friday, with SK hynix jumping more than 5 percent after a U.S. flash memory maker's long-term margin targets pushed investors to reprice the storage cycle. The KOSPI traded at 6,944.14, up 1.9 percent, after pushing back above the 7,000 line early in the session and then slipping under it. The index added 130.80 points. Foreigners bought a net 572.8 billion won ($404.3 million) of Seoul shares, while indiv August 14, 2026

KOSPI recovers above 6,800 as foreign buying fuels broader tech rally SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) - South Korean stocks jumped more than 3 percent on Thursday as foreign investors returned to the market, extending the rally for a fourth straight session, with an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven rebound spreading beyond Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to chip equipment makers and other technology shares. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 6,813.34, up 234.30 points or 3.56 percent from the previous session. The index climbed as high as 6,895.63 during the day before par August 13, 2026