Seoul's bold choice: an opposition woman to police the purse strings SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) -President Lee Jae Myung’s decision announced on Sunday to appoint Lee Hye-hoon — a former opposition lawmaker — as the first minister of the newly created Ministry of Planning and Budget marks a double departure from precedent in South Korean governance. It places both a woman and a political outsider in charge of the state’s most powerful fiscal authority, a domain long dominated by male technocrats drawn from within the governing camp. The appointment is striking not as a symbolic gesture but as a structural one. The new ministry, set to launch in January 2026, revives a function absorbed into the Ministry of Economy and Finance in 2008 and will oversee budget compilation, expenditure coordination and fiscal discipline. Its head will effectively sit at the center of government decision-making, arbitrating spending priorities across ministries and shaping medium-term fiscal strategy. That role has traditionally been insulated from political experimentation. Entrusting it to a former opposition lawmaker — and a woman — marks a rare convergence of political risk-taking and institutional recalibration. The appointment also sets up a test of whether fiscal restraint can coexist within a liberal administration inclined toward expansionary welfare policy. Cross-party recruitment in a polarized system Korean presidents have occasionally retained senior bureaucrats across administrations, but appointing a senior opposition politician to a core economic ministry remains exceptional. Lee Hye-hoon served three terms in the National Assembly under conservative parties that later became the People Power Party and most recently ran as its candidate in the 2024 general election. Her nomination therefore signals a deliberate attempt by the Lee administration to separate fiscal governance from partisan alignment. It also reflects an effort to bolster the credibility of the newly established budget ministry by placing it under a figure perceived as institutionally independent rather than politically loyal to the presidential office. From a governance perspective, the choice aligns with growing pressure to reinforce fiscal discipline as the country confronts slower growth, rapid population ageing, expanding welfare obligations and long-term debt sustainability concerns from long-running fiscal expansion. Institutional logic behind the choice Lee’s professional background fits closely with the mandate of the new ministry. Trained as an economist with a doctorate from UCLA, she worked as a researcher at the Korea Development Institute and later served on the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee as well as the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts — the legislature’s primary body for scrutinising government spending. Throughout her parliamentary career, she developed a reputation for rigorous oversight, frequent challenges to executive proposals and resistance to what she viewed as poorly designed or politically driven expenditures. Her work consistently emphasized fiscal discipline, program evaluation and procedural accountability. This profile distinguishes her from many previous political appointees to economic posts, who often came from administrative hierarchies or party leadership roles rather than from budget oversight. In that sense, her appointment reflects the stated aim of professionalising fiscal coordination following the institutional separation of budget authority from macroeconomic policymaking. Gender and the architecture of economic power The appointment also carries structural significance in terms of gender. While past governments have appointed women to economic portfolios before — particularly in areas such as small business, trade or consumer policy — control over the central budget apparatus has remained almost exclusively male. The Ministry of Planning and Budget oversees expenditure ceilings, inter-ministerial allocation and medium-term fiscal planning — functions traditionally concentrated within a narrow circle of senior male bureaucrats. Assigning a woman to this post marks a departure from that pattern, not by symbolic inclusion but by granting authority over the state’s most consequential fiscal levers. Lee’s career trajectory helps explain why this boundary could be crossed. Her credibility has rested less on representation or political messaging than on technical competence and legislative scrutiny, allowing her appointment to be framed as functional rather than symbolic. “Solving economic and livelihood challenges is a task that requires cooperation beyond ideology or political affiliation,” Lee said in a statement released after her nomination. “The Ministry of Planning and Budget is responsible for designing the nation’s future, and I will do my utmost to faithfully carry out its role in advancing both growth and social protection,” she added. “At a time when division and polarization have become greater obstacles to governance than ever before, I will devote everything I have learned and built over my lifetime to reviving the economy and fostering national unity,” she said. Meanwhile, following news of her nomination, the People Power Party convened a written meeting of its supreme council and decided to expel Lee from the party. She is currently serving as chair of the party’s Jung-gu–Seongdong B district committee and remains a registered member of the PPP. 2025-12-28 15:51:44

Bank of Korea signals cautious policy stance for 2026 on FX volatility SEOUL, December 25 (AJP) -The Bank of Korea plans to take a cautious and data-dependent approach to monetary policy in 2026, as financial markets showed heightened volatility in December and capital flows continued to shift overseas, according to its latest policy statement and financial stability report. In its Monetary Policy for 2026 report released Thursday, the central bank said it will decide “whether and when” to implement further base-rate cuts after comprehensively assessing inflation and growth conditions, as well as risks to financial stability. While inflation is expected to remain near the target level, the Bank warned that upward pressures could intensify due to elevated exchange rates and a recovery in domestic demand. Growth is projected to move toward its potential level of around 1.8 percent, but uncertainty remains high, reflecting risks related to the global trade environment, the semiconductor cycle and the pace of domestic demand recovery. From a financial stability perspective, the central bank said it will continue to monitor housing prices in the Seoul metropolitan area, household debt and exchange-rate volatility. Financial markets experienced notable fluctuations toward the end of 2025. According to the Bank of Korea’s Financial Stability Report for December released earlier this week, equity prices rose sharply before showing increased volatility, while foreign-exchange markets remained sensitive to global conditions. The central bank said it would strengthen monitoring of financial and FX markets and stand ready to implement market-stabilization measures if excessive volatility or herd behavior emerges. It also pledged to enhance cooperation with the government to address structural imbalances in foreign-exchange supply and demand and to improve market accessibility, including through reforms such as extended FX trading hours. According to the report, both U.S. and Korean stock markets posted gains in September and October 2025. During that period, the KOSPI surged 28.9 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 5.9 percent. Despite the rally, individual investors moved in the opposite direction. Domestic stocks recorded net selling of 9.9 trillion won in September and 6.8 trillion won in October, while overseas equity investment surged. In October alone, residents posted net purchases of $6.8 billion in foreign stocks, the largest monthly amount on record. The BOK in the financial stability report said this reflected a strengthening substitution relationship between domestic and overseas equity investment. While domestic and foreign stocks had previously tended to move in tandem as complementary assets, recent patterns show investors increasingly reducing exposure to one market while expanding positions in the other. The central bank attributed the shift largely to differences in long-term returns and exchange-rate expectations. According to the report, the 10-year moving geometric average return on the KOSPI has ranged from –0.7 percent to 5.6 percent since 2020, compared with 7.7 percent to 13.1 percent for the S&P 500. As a result, expectations for long-term returns have remained relatively low for domestic equities but higher for U.S. stocks. When Korean share prices rise sharply above their long-term return trend, investors tend to view the gains as temporary and take profits. In contrast, rising U.S. equity prices are more likely to trigger follow-on buying, reflecting stronger long-term return expectations. The baml also noted that expectations of a weaker won have reinforced the preference for overseas assets. A higher exchange rate increases the potential for exchange-rate gains on foreign investments, further strengthening the relative appeal of overseas equities. Reflecting these dynamics, residents’ net overseas securities investment reached $117.1 billion in the January–October period of 2025, sharply up from $71.0 billion a year earlier. Of the total, equity investment accounted for $89.9 billion, while bond investment reached $27.2 billion, according to the central bank. October marked a record high, with net overseas investment totaling $17.3 billion, driven by expectations of continued strength in U.S. equity markets, particularly in AI-related sectors, as well as expectations of future Federal Reserve rate cuts. The bank said the increase involved a broad range of investors, including the government sector such as the National Pension Service, financial institutions and individual investors. Looking ahead, the Bank of Korea said it will continue to strengthen early-warning systems, stress testing and contingency planning to safeguard financial stability. It will also enhance liquidity support mechanisms for banks and non-bank financial institutions and improve the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission. The central bank emphasized that policy decisions in 2026 will balance inflation control with financial stability, as volatile capital flows and exchange-rate movements play an increasingly important role in shaping domestic financial conditions. 2025-12-25 14:38:05

Seoul offers tax incentives to induce capital "reshoring" to prop up local won SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - South Koreans who shift funds from overseas stocks back into domestic equities over the next year will be exempted from capital-gains taxes, under a new government initiative aimed at correcting capital outflows that have contributed to the structurally weak won. The tax incentive, unveiled Wednesday by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, offers a full exemption on capital gains from overseas stock sales if the proceeds are converted into won and reinvested in Korean equities for at least one year. The benefit will be phased down depending on when the funds return, with a 100 percent exemption for capital repatriated by March 2026, 80 percent by June and 50 percent in the second half of the year. The measure is the latest in a series of government efforts to stabilize the currency, which has hovered near levels last seen during financial crisis periods amid persistent capital outflows and strong dollar demand. Despite one of the strongest equity performances globally this year — with the KOSPI up 71.6 percent and the KOSDAQ gaining 35.6 percent — retail investors have continued to move money abroad. Overseas stock investment by Korean individuals reached $30.9 billion through November, while they were net sellers of 11.6 trillion won worth of domestic shares during the same period. At the core of the package is the creation of a so-called Reshoring Investment Account (RIA) for individual investors. Under the plan, investors who sell overseas stocks they held as of Dec. 23, 2025, convert the proceeds into won and invest in domestic equities for a minimum holding period — for example, one year — will qualify for a temporary exemption from capital-gains tax on overseas stock sales. The exemption will apply for one year, subject to a per-person cap on eligible sale proceeds, tentatively set at 50 million won ($36,000). To encourage early participation, the tax benefit will be front-loaded, with the most generous exemptions offered to those who repatriate funds in early 2026. In another measure, the government will support the launch of forward foreign-exchange contracts tailored for individual investors, addressing a long-standing lack of FX risk-management tools for retail participants. Major brokerages will be encouraged to roll out “retail forward-selling” products, allowing investors to hedge against a stronger won without selling their overseas equity holdings. To reinforce uptake, the government will introduce an additional tax deduction tied to currency hedging. For overseas stocks held as of Dec. 23, 2025, investors who hedge their FX exposure through forward contracts will be allowed to deduct five percent of the hedged amount — capped at 5 million won — when calculating capital-gains tax on overseas stock sales. The annual FX-hedging recognition limit will be set at 100 million won per individual. Authorities expect the measure to have an immediate stabilizing effect on the foreign-exchange market by increasing dollar supply through hedging activity, while also protecting retail investors from currency losses if the won strengthens. The third pillar of the package targets corporate capital flows. The government will raise the income-exclusion ratio on dividends received by Korean parent companies from overseas subsidiaries from 95 percent to 100 percent, effectively eliminating residual double taxation. Officials said the move is intended to encourage multinational firms to bring profits back to Korea, supporting domestic investment and employment. Taken together, the measures are aimed at easing pressure on the won by addressing what policymakers describe as a structural imbalance in foreign-exchange supply and demand. As of the third quarter, Korean individuals held $161.1 billion in overseas equities, according to international investment position data. Even a partial shift of those holdings back into domestic assets or into currency-hedged positions could significantly expand foreign-currency supply, the ministry said. The government plans to pursue swift legislation through amendments to the Special Tax Treatment Control Act. Tax benefits tied to RIAs and retail FX hedging will apply from early 2026, once the accounts and products are formally launched, while the expanded dividend tax exemption will take effect for dividends received from Jan. 1, 2026. The announcement comes amid heightened FX market volatility. The U.S. dollar fell more than 1 percent, or 29.1 won, to 1,452.90 won as of 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, following heavy hedging activity after the greenback briefly breached the 1,480-won level — a threshold last seen in April during tariff-driven market turmoil and during the 2009 global financial crisis. 2025-12-24 15:05:15

Korean won rises 1.3% after strong verbal intervention SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - The Korean won surged more than 1 percent against the U.S. dollar in early trading Wednesday in Seoul, as suspected dollar-selling flows followed a strong verbal warning from authorities, amplifying a broader retreat in the greenback across major currencies. The dollar fell 22.8 won to 1,459.2 won as of 10 a.m., outperforming the dollar index’s 0.34 percent decline to 97.61. In a joint message issued before the market opened, senior officials at the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea warned of their "strong will and policy capacity" to curb what they described as "undesirable" and excessive weakness in the local currency. The warning came after the dollar briefly tested the 1,480-won level earlier this month, nearing its annual trough in April amid renewed market volatility triggered by Washington's tariff-related measures. A foreign-exchange trader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a large volume of forward dollar selling and currency-hedging transactions appeared to enter the market in tandem with the authorities' verbal intervention. Earlier this month, the National Pension Service extended a US$65 billion foreign-exchange swap agreement, giving the fund greater flexibility to conduct strategic hedging when the exchange rate reaches certain thresholds. The suspected hedging activity has reinforced market expectations that authorities are effectively defending the 1,480-won level as a key psychological and policy line. 2025-12-24 10:30:13

Korean won nears annual trough despite all-out defense SEOUL, December 23 (AJP) - The Korean won is nearing its annual trough of 1,487.6 per dollar last seen on April 9, when global markets reeled from renewed risk aversion triggered by Donald Trump’s tariff barrage, despite all-out defensive efforts by South Korean authorities. The dollar closed Tuesday in Seoul at 1,483.6 won, up 3.5 won even as the dollar index eased 0.23 percent to 98.072 and the greenback softened against the Japanese yen — underscoring idiosyncratic weakness in the won rather than broad dollar strength. The dollar is down 0.96 yen at 156.12 yen. The won’s slide through the psychologically critical 1,480 “defense line” came against the tide of foreign equity inflows, with overseas investors buying 955 billion won worth of KOSPI shares amid a global technology-stock shopping spree. The breach has raised questions over the effectiveness and limits of authorities’ FX-defense capabilities, particularly as equity inflows failed to translate into currency support. Ha Joon-kyung, senior presidential secretary for economic growth, became the latest official to join the chorus of intervention, warning in a local media interview on Monday that “one-sided market behavior has become pronounced since November,” and that speculative bets on further won weakness are intensifying. “It would be a misjudgment to think the government will stand by in the face of excessive market concentration,” Ha said — a pointed signal that authorities are prepared to act. Authorities have hinted all possible actions to defend the won, including dollar-selling and hedging operations by the National Pension Service, heightened real-time monitoring of FX flows, and repeated assurances that disorderly, speculative moves will not be tolerated. The Bank of Korea has supplemented with liquidity incentives, including interest payments on banks’ FX reserve deposits and a temporary waiver of the FX stability levy, while signaling readiness for additional liquidity support and market-smoothing operations to counter disorderly won moves. 2025-12-23 11:11:21

K-ramyeon, AI chip and doll: Korean ramyeon joins WSJ's culture list for 2025 SEOUL, December 23 (AJP) -A vivid-red bowl of Korean instant noodles—slurped onscreen by a purple-braided K-pop heroine—has joined the Wall Street Journal’s list of the “20 objects defining culture in 2025,” placing Korean ramyeon alongside China’s viral toy craze Labubu and global pop phenomenon Taylor Swift. The ramyeon moment, drawn from Netflix’s animated smash KPop Demon Hunters, ranked third on the Journal’s list, following the monster-doll Labubu—produced by China’s Pop Mart—and Swift’s engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce. The list, presented as a playful guessing game, also featured viral markers of the year ranging from Nvidia chips to matcha lattes. At the center of the phenomenon was KPop Demon Hunters, which blended K-pop spectacle with Korean shamanistic motifs in a story about embracing one’s whole identity. Released in June, the animated film became the most-watched title in Netflix history across both film and television categories, surpassing even Squid Game. Directed by Korean Canadian filmmaker Maggie Kang, the U.S.-produced film follows Huntr/x, a fictional girl group that battles evil spirits using the power of music. Its original soundtrack proved equally potent. “Golden,” performed by Korean American artists Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight nonconsecutive weeks and led the UK’s Official Singles Chart Top 100 for 10 nonconsecutive weeks. The song marked a new milestone for K-pop-linked music, seamlessly blending Western pop sensibilities with Korean melodic structures and partially Korean lyrics—an approach increasingly resonant with global audiences. The cultural spillover was not limited to music. Riding the momentum of the anime’s global success, South Korea’s ramyeon exports surged, surpassing $1 billion as of September, underscoring how pop culture continues to translate into tangible trade gains for Korean consumer brands. 2025-12-23 07:59:10

Korean Inc. braces for tougher 2026 on FX risk and import-driven inflation: FKI SEOUL, December 22 (AJP) -More than half of South Korea's big companies predict a tough year ahead, citing challenging foreign-exchange conditions and sluggish domestic demand weighed down by inflationary pressure. According to a survey on corporate management conditions for 2026 by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), 52 percent of respondents forecast difficult management conditions next year, including 18 percent who expect the environment to be “very challenging.” Only 3.4 percent anticipate a very favorable year. The business lobby surveyed the country’s 1,000 largest companies by sales, with responses collected from 150 firms. A weak industry outlook was cited as the most significant headwind, followed by a prolonged economic slowdown and persistent global uncertainty. On the domestic front, delayed recovery in demand topped corporate concerns at 32.2 percent, followed by sticky inflation at 21.6 percent and uncertainty over interest-rate policy at 13.1 percent. Externally, firms pointed to heightened foreign-exchange volatility, including exchange-rate fluctuations, as the leading risk at 26.7 percent. Rising trade barriers accounted for 24.9 percent, while concerns over a global economic slowdown (19.8 percent) and uncertainty surrounding energy and raw-material imports (15.3 percent) also featured prominently — underscoring how inflationary pressures linked to a weak won are emerging as a key challenge for Korean companies. Reflecting a more defensive posture, companies signaled restraint in capital spending. Rather than pursuing new growth engines, 34 percent said they would prioritize upgrades to existing operations, while 23.6 percent planned investment aimed at future growth. Another 8.2 percent indicated a focus on cost-cutting and business rationalization. 2025-12-22 09:34:00

OPINION: When all that glitters mixes with FX markets For decades, gold sat politely outside the foreign-exchange conversation. It was a hedge against inflation, a shelter in crises, an asset of last resort—but rarely a variable that moved currencies themselves. Exchange rates were explained in the familiar grammar of trade balances, interest-rate differentials and capital flows. Gold belonged to another chapter. That separation is beginning to fray in Asia. The first clear signal has come from Thailand. In recent months, the baht has emerged as one of Asia’s strongest currencies, an outcome that sits uneasily with the country’s weak growth, high household debt and persistent political uncertainty. Conventional explanations—exports, rates, fiscal policy—only go so far. Markets have increasingly looked elsewhere. They have looked to gold. Thailand is unusual in one important respect: private ownership of physical gold is widespread, and gold trading is deeply embedded in the domestic economy. When global gold prices rise, households and traders sell physical holdings, receive dollars and convert them into baht. In effect, higher gold prices translate directly into foreign-exchange demand. Thailand’s central bank has acknowledged this linkage openly. Officials estimate the correlation between gold prices and the baht at around 0.7, among the highest in Asia, and note that on certain days gold transactions account for a substantial share of currency flows. In some episodes, gold trading has reportedly driven close to half of the upward pressure on the baht. This matters because it challenges a long-standing assumption: that gold is a passive store of value rather than an active force in currency markets. The global backdrop reinforces the point. According to the World Gold Council, headline gold demand reached 1,257.9 tonnes in the third quarter of 2025, up 5 per cent year on year. Jewellery consumption continued to contract under the weight of record prices, but investment demand surged 47 per cent, while central banks added 219.9 tonnes, a 10 per cent increase from a year earlier. Gold is no longer merely being hoarded; it is being mobilised. Thailand’s trade data shows how directly this feeds into the currency. Between January and September 2025, gold imports reached 207.9 tonnes, up 41.9 per cent from a year earlier, with the import value rising 18.4 per cent to 462.7 billion baht. Over the same period, the baht appreciated roughly 9–10 per cent against the dollar, making it one of the region’s best-performing currencies. What makes this episode more than a local curiosity is that it coincides with a second structural shift: the digitisation of gold itself. Gold is quietly being rebuilt for a financial system that no longer runs exclusively through banks. Tokenised gold—digital tokens backed one-for-one by physical bullion—now trades around the clock, across borders, without reference to foreign-exchange market hours or banking intermediaries. The combined market capitalisation of tokenised gold has climbed to roughly $4.3 billion, with a single product, XAUT, accounting for just over 52 per cent of the total. This is not a return to a gold standard, nor is it a substitute for fiat currency. But it does introduce a new channel for capital movement—one that sits outside traditional FX statistics. When savings migrate from local currency not into dollars, but into gold value directly, the pressure on exchange rates becomes harder to trace, and easier to misread. Asia is particularly exposed to this shift. Trust in gold remains high, digital adoption is rapid, and cross-border financial experimentation is already well advanced. Thailand has demonstrated how physical gold can feed straight into currency strength. Tokenised gold has the potential to accelerate that mechanism, compressing time and distance, and moving value without ever passing through the visible plumbing of the FX market. The implications extend beyond Thailand. In countries such as South Korea, persistent currency weakness has become harder to reconcile with headline trade surpluses. Policymakers have tended to blame outward portfolio investment or global dollar strength. Those factors matter—but they may no longer be the whole story. If part of the capital outflow is bypassing foreign-exchange markets altogether, moving instead into gold or gold-linked digital assets, the traditional diagnostic tools are incomplete. This is not a revolution. No central bank is anchoring its currency to bullion. But gold is reclaiming a quasi-monetary role at the margins of the system—acting less as insurance, and more as an alternative expression of trust. Thailand is already feeling the effects in its exchange rate. Others may follow. The foreign-exchange market still speaks the language of banks and dollars, but capital is learning new dialects. Gold, characteristically, is doing so without saying a word. *The author is the managing editor of AJP 2025-12-20 19:17:23

OPINION: Oscar Night in 2030 - except that it won't end in one night On a spring evening in 2030, few people will reach for a television remote. They will tap the YouTube icon on the living-room screen instead. The Oscars will not appear on a numbered channel, but at the top of an algorithmic feed, marked simply: "Live now". The ceremony will begin—and almost immediately, it will splinter. Acceptance speeches will circulate as concise summaries. The red carpet will resurface as tagged video clips. Jokes will dissolve into memes. A small audience will still watch the broadcast from beginning to end. Most will not. Yet nearly everyone will encounter the Oscars in one form or another. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has agreed to stream the Academy Awards exclusively on YouTube for five years starting in 2029. The partnership will bring to a close nearly half a century of broadcast exclusivity with ABC, which began in 1976 and will end after the 100th ceremony in 2028. To frame the decision as an attempt to court younger viewers misses the larger point. The question is not age, but where attention gathers. Audiences no longer assemble around broadcast schedules. Live events migrate to platforms where people already spend their time. YouTube has long dominated mobile screens. It has now become a default presence on television sets themselves. Measured by TV viewing time, YouTube has surpassed Netflix—an inflection point that speaks less to the triumph of streaming than to the quiet replacement of broadcasting by platforms as the central architecture of media consumption. The more profound shift lies in what has happened to the live event itself. The Oscars no longer exist as a single night sealed off from the rest of the year. Red-carpet arrivals, backstage exchanges, interviews and short clips circulate continuously, resurfacing through search and recommendation long after the ceremony has ended. AMPAS’s decision to digitize its vast archive with Google reflects the same logic. The awards show is evolving from a one-off spectacle into a perpetually accessed repository of content. For audiences in South Korea, this transformation feels familiar. We no longer speak of “watching television” so much as opening apps. Messaging platforms sustain relationships; video platforms absorb hours; news reaches readers increasingly through summaries, clips and recommendations rather than full articles. As artificial intelligence settles into this environment, the contours sharpen further. Summaries precede full viewing. Experience is completed through circulation. Advertising slips away from traditional commercial breaks into short-form video, commerce and live sales. Viewers are no longer merely audiences; they function as editors, amplifiers and distributors all at once. The Oscars’ move to YouTube does not herald the death of broadcasting. It confirms that broadcasting as a format has already begun to dissolve. What matters now are the questions that follow: Where does public value attach in a platform-dominated media order? When editorial power drifts toward algorithms, who bears responsibility for diversity and balance? And who controls the record? The Academy’s renewed emphasis on archiving acknowledges a reality that extends far beyond Hollywood: platforms are becoming not just spaces of consumption, but custodians of cultural memory. The Oscars of 2030 will likely feel quieter. Some will watch live. Others will catch up the following morning. Many will decide that a handful of clips is sufficient. The ceremony will not vanish—but it will no longer be a moment experienced collectively, in real time. In truth, we already inhabit that world. The Oscars are simply arriving late. 2025-12-18 14:16:38

HOT STOCK: Ford's EV retreat delivers 10% blow to LG Energy Solution SEOUL, December 18 (AJP) -Shares of South Korea’s top battery maker LG Energy Solution have fallen more than 10 percent over the past week after Ford Motor announced it was withdrawing several electric-vehicle models amid changing market conditions. The move triggered the cancellation of a long-term battery supply agreement with LG Energy Solution valued at 9.6 trillion won ($6.5 billion). Shares of LG Energy Solution — the third-largest stock on the KOSPI by market capitalization — slid 6 percent to 388,500 won on Thursday, following the disclosure released after the market closed Wednesday. The stock had already fallen another 6 percent on Tuesday after the U.S. automaker said it would offer steep discounts on several EV models, including the F-150 Lightning. The fallout spread across the battery sector. Samsung SDI shares were down 4.2 percent, EcoPro BM fell 4.8 percent, and L&F, a key cathode material supplier to LG Energy Solution, dropped 6 percent. Ford’s EV pullback has also hit SK On, the unlisted battery arm of SK Group. The U.S. automaker recently walked away from a planned $11.4 billion battery joint-venture plant in Stanton, Tennessee, dealing another blow to Korea’s battery industry. The dissolution of the JV is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2026. 2025-12-18 10:11:58