Journalist

Lee Hugh
  • Toss, Naver Pay Roll Out Lunar New Year Deals on Gifts, Holiday Food and Travel
    Toss, Naver Pay Roll Out Lunar New Year Deals on Gifts, Holiday Food and Travel Fintech platforms are rolling out Lunar New Year promotions, from holiday gifts and traditional foods to overseas travel perks. According to the financial industry on the 14th, Toss is running Lunar New Year gift and food promotions on its commerce platform, Toss Shopping, through the 15th. The Lunar New Year gift promotion includes about 200 items, with discounts of up to 87% off regular prices. Products priced at 50,000 won or less make up about 68% of the lineup. Featured items include “Seogwipo direct-shipped, sweetness-graded Jeju tangerines,” “Pungnyeonbogam 6-year Korean red ginseng extract All Day Good Time,” “Rucipello toothpaste and mouthwash gift set (six items),” and “Merchant collagen eye cream for wrinkle care and brightening.” The Lunar New Year food promotion covers about 100 items, offering discounts of up to 77%. Items priced at 20,000 won or less account for 67% of the selection. Toss said it is focusing on easy-to-prepare options for holiday tables and family meals, including tteokguk ingredients and seasonal foods. The lineup ranges from rice cakes for tteokguk, beef-bone broth, dumpling tteokguk meal kits, and ready-to-eat soups and stews to holiday ingredients such as seasoned greens, pancake ingredients, japchae, Korean beef and other meats, and seafood. Traditional snacks such as songpyeon, injeolmi, chapssaltteok and yakgwa are also included. Featured items include “Midji Meat LA galbi,” “Susan Eats frozen pollock fillets,” and “Korean bracken that requires no trimming.” Naver Pay has also prepared promotions for users traveling overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday period. Its “Overseas Travel 10% Payback” promotion, which returns 10% of spending made via Npay Overseas QR and the Npay Money Card as points, runs through June. For users whose mobile carrier is KT, those who apply for the event and then sign up for a roaming plan and make at least 20,000 won in overseas QR payments will receive a 10,000 won roaming fee discount and 10,000 points. Naver Pay also offers instant discounts for QR payments at Alipay+ and PayPay merchants, including airports, drugstores and shopping malls in mainland China and Japan.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-14 18:03:00
  • U.S. maritime plan allows initial ship construction in Korea
    U.S. maritime plan allows initial ship construction in Korea SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - The White House on Friday unveiled the “America’s Maritime Action Plan” (MAP), a sweeping strategy to revive the U.S. shipbuilding industry that explicitly signals cooperation with South Korea and Japan. It is widely seen as laying out the blueprint for the so-called MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again) initiative discussed during Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations. The U.S. government states in the report published on the White House website that "it will consult with China on shipbuilding capacity issues and continue its historic cooperation with the Republic of Korea and Japan on revitalizing U.S. shipbuilding." The document makes clear that Washington aims to pursue two goals simultaneously: counter China’s dominance in maritime industries and restore U.S. domestic shipbuilding capabilities, positioning allied cooperation as a strategic pillar in that effort. ‘Bridge Strategy’ allows initial construction abroad A key component of the plan is a so-called “Bridge Strategy,” under which early vessels in a multi-ship contract may be built at a foreign partner’s shipyard, while concurrent capital investments are made in a U.S. shipyard to eventually onshore construction. The MAP describes the concept as a “multi-ship buy wherein the first ships in the contract are built in a foreign shipbuilder’s home shipyard while concurrent direct capital investments are made in a U.S. shipyard … to eventually onshore construction.” Given that the United States currently builds less than one percent of global commercial ships and has limited large-vessel construction capacity, the strategy effectively allows allies such as South Korea and Japan to build initial orders while investing in U.S. facilities, with production gradually shifting to American soil. For Korean shipbuilders, this could open an exceptional pathway to construct early vessels domestically while securing financial incentives tied to U.S. shipyard investment. $150 billion secured for shipbuilding The MAP states that President Donald Trump has secured “at least $150 billion of dedicated investment for America’s shipbuilding industry,” adding that the Department of Commerce “is working to mobilize these funds to achieve the greatest investment in U.S. shipbuilding history.” The $150 billion figure is widely interpreted as corresponding to the shipbuilding-focused package under the MASGA framework, part of the broader $350 billion investment commitments discussed in last year’s Korea-U.S. trade agreement. While the plan opens potential avenues for Korean shipbuilders to participate in early-stage production and U.S. yard investment, it also signals a longer-term shift toward onshoring ship construction and strengthening U.S.-flagged shipping capacity. Industry analysts say the practical impact will depend on how aggressively Washington implements port fees, cargo preference rules and onshore investment requirements in the coming years. Foreign-built vessels face new fees under MAP The MAP also includes measures that could significantly raise costs for foreign-built vessels calling at U.S. ports, potentially affecting Korean shipping and export firms. Under the proposal, Washington would “establish a universal infrastructure or security fee on all foreign-built commercial vessels calling at U.S. ports,” calculated based on the weight of imported cargo. According to the report, a fee of 1 cent per kilogram could generate approximately $66 billion over a decade, while a 25-cent levy could raise as much as $1.5 trillion. The revenue would be directed toward a newly proposed Maritime Security Trust Fund to support U.S. shipbuilding and port infrastructure. The administration also plans to impose a 0.125 percent Land Port Maintenance Tax on goods entering through land borders, effectively applying the levy to exports routed via Canada or Mexico, in line with the Harbor Maintenance Tax on maritime imports. The plan further calls for expanding cargo preference requirements through a new United States Maritime Preference Requirement (USMPR), which would gradually increase the share of U.S.-bound cargo transported on qualifying U.S.-flagged vessels. Taken together, the measures are designed to reduce reliance on foreign-built and foreign-flagged ships while bolstering domestic maritime capacity. However, industry observers warn that the new framework could pressure Korean shipping lines and raise logistics costs for exporters, particularly given that a large share of vessels serving U.S. routes are built in South Korea, Japan and China. 2026-02-14 18:02:33
  • CORTIS Debuts New Song at NBA Crossover Concert Series in Los Angeles
    CORTIS Debuts New Song at NBA Crossover Concert Series in Los Angeles 그룹 코르티스(CORTIS)가 미국프로농구협회(The National Basketball Association) 주관 페스티벌 무대에서 신곡을 깜짝 공개했다. 코르티스는 13일(한국시간) 미국 로스앤젤레스 컨벤션 센터에서 열린 ‘NBA 크로스오버 콘서트 시리즈’(NBA Crossover concert series)에 헤드라이너로 나섰다. 이 공연은 2026 NBA 올스타 주간에 열리는 ‘NBA 크로스오버’의 일환으로, 스포츠와 문화·음악·패션을 결합한 엔터테인먼트 행사다. 코르티스는 이 무대에 오른 첫 한국 가수라고 소속사는 전했다. 공연은 전석 매진됐다. 공연장에는 전날 새벽부터 코르티스 MD와 슬로건을 든 팬들이 몰렸고, 미국 각지에서 온 ‘코어’(팬덤명)로 인파가 건물 밖까지 이어졌다. 코르티스는 ‘What You Want’, ‘FaSHioN’, ‘JoyRide_’ 등 데뷔 앨범 수록곡과 함께, 이날 발표된 팀의 첫 OST ‘Mention Me’도 선보였다. 관객들은 노래를 따라 부르고 응원법을 함께했다. 마틴이 편곡한 리믹스 버전 ‘GO!’가 나오자 관객들은 포인트 안무를 함께 췄다. 앙코르에서는 신곡 ‘YOUNGCREATORCREW_’를 처음 공개했다. 코르티스는 “곧 컴백을 앞두고 있다. 이곳에서 신곡을 처음 들려드리게 돼 기쁘다. ‘코어’분들을 위해 오는 3월 ‘영크리에이터크루’ 무대를 보여드리는 색다른 자리를 마련할 예정이다. 계속 관심 갖고 지켜봐 달라”고 말했다. ‘영크리에이터크루’는 곧 공개할 신보 수록곡이다. 코르티스는 스스로를 팀을 설명하는 키워드인 ‘영 크리에이터 크루’라고 소개하면서도, 한 단어로 규정되고 싶지 않은 감정을 노래한다. 멤버들이 곡 작업에 참여했다. 코르티스는 14일 미국 캘리포니아 기아 포럼에서 열리는 ‘2026 러플스® NBA 올스타 셀러브리티 게임’(2026 Ruffles® NBA All-Star Celebrity Game)에서 K-팝 아티스트 최초로 하프타임 쇼를 펼친다. 행사는 ESPN을 통해 미국 전역에 생중계되며, 한국에서는 쿠팡플레이에서 시청할 수 있다. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-14 17:45:00
  • Lindsey Vonn Faces Fourth Surgery After Crash in Milan-Cortina Olympic Downhill
    Lindsey Vonn Faces Fourth Surgery After Crash in Milan-Cortina Olympic Downhill American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, seriously injured during competition at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, said she hopes to return to the United States as she prepares for another operation. The Associated Press reported on Feb. 14 (Korea time) that Vonn is scheduled to undergo additional surgery on the fracture in her left leg at the hospital where she remains admitted. It would be her fourth operation since the crash. Vonn has already had three surgeries and is continuing rehabilitation treatment. In a social media post, Vonn said the past few days in the hospital had been difficult, but she was “slowly starting to feel like myself again.” She added, “I’m having surgery soon, and if things go well, I think I can go home. But after that, I’ll still need more surgery.” Vonn crashed on Feb. 9 in the women’s downhill at the Tofane Alpine Ski Center in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, falling after hitting a gate shortly after the start. She exited the course about 13 seconds after the accident and was airlifted by helicopter. She competed despite having been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament before the event. After the injury, she received emergency treatment in an intensive care unit at a local hospital before being transferred to a larger hospital for surgery and care.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-14 15:30:00
  • Book-style foldables to dominate global market in 2026 amid memory shortages
    Book-style foldables to dominate global market in 2026 amid memory shortages SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - The global foldable smartphone market is expected to shift from clamshell-style devices to book-type models in 2026, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research. According to Counterpoint on Saturday, book-type devices are projected to increase their share of the total foldable smartphone market from 52 percent in 2025 to around 65 percent in 2026, accounting for the majority of global foldable shipments. The shift reflects continued improvements in hardware quality and usability, as well as growing manufacturer confidence in high-value form factors. By contrast, clamshell-style foldables are expected to see a gradual decline in market share as they become positioned primarily as style-focused or complementary offerings within the mid- to upper-priced segment. Counterpoint also forecasts that Apple’s entry into the foldable smartphone market will play a meaningful role in this structural shift. Industry observers expect Apple to unveil its first foldable smartphone in the second half of 2026. The device is widely anticipated to adopt a book-type form factor featuring a wide foldable display with a 1:1.414 aspect ratio, optimized for multitasking, document viewing and content consumption. While market performance will depend on pricing, launch timing and product positioning, Apple’s entry is expected to significantly influence leadership dynamics within the book-type foldable segment and accelerate broader market adoption. Android smartphone makers are also adjusting their strategies in response. Samsung Electronics reached a key inflection point in the second half of 2025 as shipments of its Galaxy Z Fold 7 surpassed those of the Galaxy Z Flip 7, signaling improved product maturity for traditional book-type foldables. Samsung is also reportedly preparing to launch a wider-screen book-type model similar in form factor to what Apple is expected to adopt, aiming to enhance multi-panel productivity features. The strategic pivot is becoming increasingly visible across the Android ecosystem as vendors reassess their foldable strategies amid profitability and inventory management concerns. While clamshell models played a critical role in expanding the early foldable market, book-type devices are now seen as central to long-term growth. Motorola unveiled its first book-type foldable at CES 2026, and Google continues to invest in its Pixel Fold lineup. Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint, said tightening supplies of memory components — particularly those used in mid- and low-end smartphones — are clouding demand visibility in the mass market. “In this environment, manufacturers are expected to shift their focus from volume expansion to profitability, prioritizing higher-margin products,” Pathak said. “Book-type foldables, equipped with premium specifications and higher memory configurations, help lift average selling prices and are well positioned within a value-driven growth strategy,” he added. 2026-02-14 13:30:44
  • Olive Young draws crowds at Milano Olympics Korea House with K-beauty booth
    Olive Young draws crowds at Milano Olympics Korea House with K-beauty booth SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - CJ Olive Young has opened a promotional booth at the Korea House during the 2026 Milano–Cortina Winter Olympics, showcasing K-beauty products and supporting South Korea’s national team. According to the company on Saturday, Olive Young has been operating a “Lip Touch-Up Bar” since Feb. 6 at the Korea House in Milan, allowing visitors to experience K-beauty products firsthand. The booth, featuring color cosmetics from Olive Young’s private label brand Colorgram, has drawn heavy foot traffic, at one point prompting temporary crowd control measures due to overwhelming demand. Visitors have reportedly flooded staff with inquiries about where the featured products can be purchased. Olive Young has also provided South Korea’s Olympic athletes with travel-sized “K-beauty kits” comprising 18 items. The kits include six skincare products covering the full K-beauty routine from cleansing to masks, six snack items, and travel-size hair, body and dental care products. The company said the kits were designed with athletes’ extended overseas stay in mind. The growing popularity of K-beauty was also evident during the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Gyeongju last October, when Olive Young saw a surge in sales at its Hwangridan-gil store. At the time, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted photos on social media of 13 Korean cosmetic products she purchased at Olive Young, describing them as “South Korea skincare finds.” The items included sheet masks, cleansing products and lip balms. Diana Carney, spouse of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, also said she received a shopping list from her daughter, who has a strong interest in Korea and specifically requested K-beauty products from Olive Young. Last month, Olive Young signed an official partnership with Sephora, the world’s largest beauty retail chain, accelerating its global expansion. In the second half of this year, the company plans to launch curated “K-beauty zones” across six regions, including the United States and Canada in North America, as well as major Asian markets, through Sephora’s online and offline channels. Olive Young currently operates a global online mall and plans to open its first U.S. offline store in May, followed by additional overseas locations. “The booth was designed to raise the visibility and status of K-beauty at the Olympic stage,” an Olive Young official said. “We will continue efforts to ensure that customers around the world can easily experience and access a wide range of brands.” 2026-02-14 12:58:50
  • CAS Rejects Ukrainian Skeleton Racer Heraskevych’s Appeal Over Memorial Helmet Ban
    CAS Rejects Ukrainian Skeleton Racer Heraskevych’s Appeal Over Memorial Helmet Ban Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, 27, will not compete at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected his appeal of an International Olympic Committee ban, the AP reported. The IOC barred him from competing after he sought to race wearing a “memorial helmet” honoring teammates killed in the war. CAS upheld the IOC decision under Olympic Charter Rule 50.2, which says “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” CAS said it fully sympathized with Heraskevych’s intent and his effort to highlight the suffering of Ukrainians and Ukrainian athletes during the war, but ruled the ban was “reasonable and appropriate.” Heraskevych’s side protested the ruling, arguing it was inconsistent with how other athletes were treated. The article cited examples from the Games: U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov showed photos of his parents who died in a plane crash last year; Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnaller competed wearing a helmet that included a Russian flag image; and Israeli skeleton racer Jared Firestone wore a kippah bearing the names of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The IOC said those cases did not violate the rules. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Naumov displayed the photos in the kiss-and-cry area, not during competition; Fischnaller’s helmet honored all Olympic host cities where he had competed, including the 2014 Sochi Games; and Firestone’s kippah was covered by a beanie. After the decision, Heraskevych said, “The IOC is on the wrong side of history.” He had previously lost his Olympic spot after trying to compete in the men’s skeleton event wearing a helmet with the faces of fallen teammates. “The sacrifice of the athletes who died is why we could be here competing as one team,” he said. “I can’t betray them.” * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-14 11:18:00
  • President Lee to focus on policy planning during Lunar New Year holiday
    President Lee to focus on policy planning during Lunar New Year holiday SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung will scale back public engagements during the five-day Lunar New Year holiday beginning Saturday and remain at the presidential residence to focus on policy planning, officials said. Lee is expected to review a range of pressing domestic and external issues, including tariff negotiations with the United States, efforts to stabilize the real estate market, and administrative integration, while refining his policy direction for the second year of his term. According to the presidential office, Lee will not travel to his hometown of Andong in North Gyeongsang Province or to the presidential retreat on Geoje Island during the holiday period. Instead, he is expected to spend time primarily with family at the residence. During last year’s Chuseok holiday in October, Lee attended an event for displaced Koreans and visited a child welfare facility and a traditional market. He also paid respects at his family graves in Bonghwa and Andong in North Gyeongsang Province. Lee’s increased activity on social media in recent weeks is expected to continue over the holiday. On the eve of the holiday, he posted consecutive messages addressing real estate issues, effectively setting market normalization as a key topic for the festive period. On Friday, Lee uploaded two posts suggesting the need for tighter lending regulations on multiple-home owners. Delays in the National Assembly’s legislative process and escalating tensions between the ruling and opposition parties remain among Lee’s concerns. A planned luncheon with party leaders ahead of the holiday was canceled on Thursday, adding to the political deadlock. The impasse has raised concerns that parliamentary handling of a special bill on U.S. investment, aimed at responding to Washington’s plan to impose a 25 percent tariff increase, could be delayed. With local elections scheduled for June, discussions over potential reshuffles within the presidential office and Cabinet are also expected to take shape. Following the holiday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is scheduled to pay a three-day state visit to South Korea beginning Feb. 22. 2026-02-14 11:12:52
  • OPINION: Koreas economic lifeline: Why its financial system must become transparent
    OPINION: Korea's economic lifeline: Why its financial system must become transparent SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - Finance is the bloodstream of an economy. When it flows cleanly—transparent, disciplined, and responsive to real demand—industry strengthens, innovation compounds, households build durable wealth, and the state gains room to maneuver without resorting to panic. When that bloodstream is clogged—by political favoritism, regulatory inconsistency, and the quiet tolerance of chronic underperformance—the economy does not merely slow. It decays at the edges first, then at the center, until even its healthiest organs begin to fail. South Korea stands at a familiar crossroads that many advanced economies have faced and few have navigated gracefully: whether to preserve comfort in the short run or credibility in the long run. The choice is not ideological. It is physiological. A nation cannot reach a truly advanced economic status on the back of a financial system that rewards opacity, subsidizes stagnation, and repeatedly invites speculation to masquerade as growth. For too long, Korean finance has lived with an uneasy compromise between market logic and political convenience. In election seasons, liquidity is loosened. In downturns, restructuring is postponed. Under the banner of “stability,” reforms are delayed until they become crises. And under the rhetoric of “support,” policy too often becomes tailored to specific constituencies—by age, by sector, by region—until the market’s signals are dulled and capital is diverted away from productivity and toward influence. The cost of that compromise is now visible in the places where trust should be strongest: the equity market and the fast-expanding crypto-asset arena. They are different worlds in form, but they share a common pathology: weak discipline at the point of entry and an even weaker willingness to enforce exit. Markets can survive exuberance; they cannot survive the loss of standards. Start with the equity market, particularly the growth-oriented tier that was built to finance innovation. Listing was never meant to be a trophy. It is a covenant. A listed company is granted privileged access to public capital on the promise of minimum governance, transparency, and viability. When that covenant is treated as optional—when firms can remain listed for years while failing basic tests of sustainability—an exchange stops being a price-discovery mechanism and becomes a warehouse of disappointments. This is not merely a question of index performance or investor sentiment. It is a question of national resource allocation. When weak firms linger indefinitely, they do more than drag valuations. They absorb the oxygen that should nourish better enterprises: skilled labor, credit, managerial attention, and scarce institutional trust. “Zombie companies” do not die quietly. They distort the entire ecosystem around them, discouraging investment in healthier competitors and turning productivity growth into a casualty of regulatory hesitation. The most consequential reforms in financial history are often the least glamorous: sharper delisting rules, faster enforcement timelines, and a regulatory philosophy that treats exit not as a tragedy but as a necessary function of a living market. In the United States, the harshness of the public markets is frequently criticized. Yet the logic is clear. There is a widely understood expectation that a firm that cannot meet minimum standards—whether in governance, disclosure, or basic market viability—will be forced out within a defined period. This is not cruelty for its own sake. It is the price of maintaining an exchange whose name still signals credibility. Europe, too, has learned this lesson, sometimes painfully. Mature exchanges and regulators emphasize disclosure discipline and internal controls not because they distrust business, but because they understand what markets become when trust is optional: they become casinos with better typography. Over time, investors do not merely discount a handful of questionable firms. They discount the entire jurisdiction. And the “country discount” becomes a structural tax on every company, including the best ones. Korea’s chronic undervaluation has many causes—corporate governance traditions, capital allocation habits, geopolitical risk, and more. But one cause is particularly actionable: the perception that rules are negotiable and enforcement is slow. When delisting takes years, when lawsuits and reconsiderations become routine, when the market treats failure as a prolonged administrative process rather than a definitive outcome, the signal to investors is unmistakable: standards are soft. That softness does not protect investors. It exposes them. A more rigorous exit regime is therefore not an anti-market intervention. It is pro-market maintenance. But it must be paired with a principle that separates necessary discipline from avoidable harm: predictability. Delisting should not be a sudden lightning strike; it should be the final step in an announced procedure. That means stronger early warnings, more transparent escalation, better disclosure during distress, and a regulatory architecture that makes it impossible for the average investor to claim—credibly—that they were never told. This is where policy must show both firmness and fairness. The goal is not to punish risk; it is to punish deception, negligence, and chronic noncompliance. A market that protects people from all losses is not a market—it is a political program. But a market that allows avoidable losses through preventable opacity is not a market either. It is a breach of public duty. If equity-market reform is about restoring the meaning of “listed,” the crypto challenge is about restoring the meaning of “regulated.” Korea’s crypto-asset space has matured beyond the stage where it can be dismissed as a fringe playground. It is now a meaningful segment of household speculation, tech ambition, and financial experimentation. That makes its shortcomings more dangerous, not less. Recent controversies surrounding major platforms—the foggy lines of ownership, the questions around internal controls, and the broader problem of opaque practices—are not “industry growing pains.” They are stress tests of institutional seriousness. In any system where vast sums move at high speed, the core question is simple: do customers know where their assets are, how they are handled, and what happens if the platform fails? In many jurisdictions, regulators have moved—sometimes unevenly—toward clearer answers. In the United States, the debate often turns on whether certain crypto instruments should be treated as securities, and therefore subject to the disclosure and conduct standards that securities law demands. In Europe, the introduction of comprehensive frameworks has aimed to do what every credible financial regime must do: impose rules on issuance, custody, market conduct, and consumer protection so that innovation can occur without turning public trust into collateral damage. Korea’s task is not to copy any single model. It is to embrace a standard that all credible models share: transparency in custody, separation of customer assets, robust controls against insider trading and market manipulation, and disclosure regimes that do not collapse under the pressure of hype. A platform that cannot prove—continuously—that it is handling customer assets responsibly should not be treated as a national champion. It should be treated as a risk to the public. This is the moment where “mercy” becomes a sophisticated form of irresponsibility. There is a Korean phrase that captures the moral weight of necessary harshness: cutting off a favored general for the survival of the army. In finance, the principle is the same. If a dominant exchange or major listed firm is found to have serious deficiencies, the question is not whether enforcement will cause disruption. It will. The question is whether failing to enforce will guarantee a larger disruption later—one that arrives with deeper losses, broader contagion, and a more lasting collapse of trust. Trust, once broken, is not repaired by slogans. It is repaired by rules that bite. The deeper problem in Korea’s financial history is not a lack of clever policy instruments. It is the habit of treating finance as an extension of political timing. The impulse is understandable: loosen conditions before elections, postpone restructuring when headlines are uncomfortable, rescue favored sectors with cheap funding, and reassure households that tomorrow will be easier if the state absorbs today’s pain. But the world has changed. In a global capital market, credibility travels faster than political promises. If a country’s rules appear elastic, international investors respond with the only language markets trust: higher risk premiums, lower valuations, reduced participation, and a quiet migration of capital to places with clearer standards. Over time, even domestic investors internalize the message and behave accordingly—favoring short-term speculation over long-term investment because the system itself encourages it. What, then, should be done? First, Korea should treat equity-market exit as a pillar of modernization, not an embarrassment. Delisting standards should be clearer, stricter, and, most importantly, faster. A market that cannot remove chronic underperformers in a timely fashion is a market that cannot credibly price anything else. Second, enforcement must be depoliticized. Regulatory agencies should be insulated—by law and by culture—from the temptation to delay discipline for the sake of short-term calm. The calm is illusory. It merely transfers the shock to the future, at a higher cost. Third, crypto markets must be normalized through regulation that focuses on fundamentals: custody, transparency, market conduct, and governance. Innovation deserves room to grow, but it must grow inside a framework that protects the public from the most predictable forms of abuse. The state’s job is not to guarantee profit. It is to guarantee integrity. Fourth, investor protection should be strengthened not by cushioning losses after the fact, but by reducing informational asymmetry before the fact. That means better disclosure standards, stronger auditing and oversight, and real consequences for misrepresentation. Finally, Korean policymakers should embrace a simple global truth: genuine “value-up” is not built on public relations campaigns or one-off shareholder return measures. It is built on ecosystem integrity—where weak firms exit, strong firms attract capital, and the market’s signals are respected rather than managed. There is no way to reform finance without discomfort. Every serious modern economy has learned this. The question is not whether there will be pain. The question is whether the pain is concentrated and purposeful—like surgery—or prolonged and degenerative, like disease. Korea’s economic ambition is not in doubt. Its industrial capacity, technological talent, and entrepreneurial energy remain formidable. But ambition without financial integrity is like speed without steering. In the end, it does not produce greatness. It produces wreckage. Finance is the bloodstream of the economy. Korea can choose to keep the system warm with compromise and delay, and watch the discount deepen. Or it can choose to restore discipline—strict standards, predictable enforcement, and transparent markets—and earn, over time, the one asset no nation can fake: trust. In finance, trust is not a sentiment. It is a structure. And structures, unlike slogans, can carry the weight of a nation’s future. 2026-02-14 10:56:00
  • Cha Jun-hwan narrowly misses bronze by less than a point, sets Korean record
    Cha Jun-hwan narrowly misses bronze by less than a point, sets Korean record SEOUL, February 14 (AJP) - On the ninth day of competition at the 2026 Milano–Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday, South Korean athletes delivered notable performances in figure skating and snowboarding. South Korea maintained its tally of one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, remaining 13th in the overall medal standings. Figure skating: Cha Jun-hwan just off the podium In men’s figure skating, Cha Jun-hwan delivered a solid free skate at the Milano Ice Skating Arena to finish 4th overall, marking the best Olympic result yet for a Korean male singles skater. Cha’s total score of 273.92 saw him narrowly miss the bronze medalist Shun Sato of Japan, who scored 274.90 by less than one point after a strong performance highlighted by a clean quad Salchow, though a fall on his quad toe loop brought a deduction. Cha, who placed 15th at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics — then the best result by a South Korean man in the singles event — improved to fifth at the 2022 Beijing Games. He climbed one spot higher this time to set a new personal Olympic best. Gold-medal favorite Ilia Malinin of the United States struggled under the pressure of his Olympic debut, delivering an uncharacteristically flawed performance and finishing eighth with 264.49 points. With several medal contenders faltering, Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov capitalized to claim a surprise gold medal with 291.58 points, securing his country’s first gold of the Games. Snowboarding: Lee finishes sixth in halfpipe, Woo competes in cross At Livigno Snow Park, Lee Chae-un competed in the men’s snowboard halfpipe final and finished 6th with 87.50 points. The 19-year-old landed signature tricks including the frontside triple cork 1620 but fell short of the medals against a deep field. His run showcased Korean progression in snowboarding disciplines. Woo Su-bin, in South Korea’s first Olympic appearance in snowboard cross, was unable to advance to the 16-athlete round after a mid-race slip. She completed her heat despite the fall and won applause from the crowd. Curling: Korea improves to 2-1 in round robin South Korea’s women’s curling team defeated Britain 9-3 in its third round-robin match at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The team, skipped by Kim Eun-ji, bounced back from an opening 4-8 loss to the United States with consecutive wins over Italy (7-2) and Britain to improve to 2-1. South Korea moved into a tie for third place among the 10 teams in the standings. In the round-robin format, the top four teams advance to the semifinals. Sweden leads at 3-0, followed by Switzerland. South Korea will face Denmark (1-2) and Japan (0-2) in its next two matches on Feb. 15. Skeleton, Biathlon and Cross-Country: Jung posts second straight top-10 finish In men’s skeleton at the Cortina Sliding Center, Jung Seung-gi clocked a combined time of 3:45.90 over four runs to finish 10th. After placing 10th in his Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games, Jung secured another top-10 finish at his second Olympics. Veteran Kim Ji-soo, competing in his first Olympic appearance since the 2018 PyeongChang Games, finished 16th with a four-run total of 3:48.11. In women’s skeleton at the same venue, Hong Su-jung recorded a combined time of 1:57.33 over two runs to place 22nd among 25 competitors. At the Anterselva Biathlon Arena, Choi Du-jin finished last in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint, crossing the line in 28:05.7 after missing three shots in the prone stage. In cross-country skiing, Lee Jun-seo placed 73rd out of 113 athletes in the men’s 10km interval start free at the Tesero Cross-country Skiing Stadium, finishing in 24:25.4. Norway’s Johannes Klæbo won the event in 20:36.2 to claim his third gold medal of the Games and the eighth Olympic gold of his career, tying the all-time Winter Olympic record. 2026-02-14 10:41:43