KOSPI and Samsung Elec tower over Asian bourses SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - Korean stocks continued to dominate regional markets on Wednesday, extending their record-setting streak and reinforcing South Korea’s growing influence in Asian equities. Samsung Electronics powered the rally, becoming the first Korean company to surpass 1,000 trillion won ($688 billion) in market capitalization based solely on common shares. The milestone cemented the chipmaking giant’s role as the anchor behind the KOSPI’s push into uncharted territory. Shares of Samsung Electronics rose 0.8 percent to 168,800 won, lifting its market value to 1,001 trillion won. The achievement was widely viewed as symbolic, marking not only a new chapter for the company but also underscoring a broader re-rating of Korea’s equity market led by heavyweight blue chips. Samsung’s advance helped drive the KOSPI up 1.6 percent to 5,371.1, marking the first close above the 5,300 level. The benchmark opened lower at 5,260.7, tracking overnight weakness in U.S. equities, but quickly reversed course and extended gains through the afternoon. The KOSPI 200 climbed 1.4 percent to 790.4, reflecting renewed institutional appetite for large-cap stocks. Institutions remained the primary driver, buying a net 1.78 trillion won, while foreign investors and retail investors sold 940 billion won and 1.01 trillion won, respectively. Beyond Samsung, gains spread selectively across cyclical and policy-sensitive names. Hyundai Motor rose 2.5 percent, while Doosan Enerbility jumped 5.8 percent, reinforcing strength in energy and infrastructure-related stocks. Sector performance pointed to a clear rotation into energy-linked names. Energy equipment and services stocks surged 16.02 percent, leading the market. Hanwha Solutions soared 30 percent to 36,450 won, while HD Hyundai Energy Solutions jumped 29.8 percent to 70,500 won, driven by expectations of sustained demand for energy infrastructure and storage solutions. EcoPro gained 3.5 percent, and Hanwha Ocean advanced 1.8 percent, extending gains across the broader industrial complex. The KOSDAQ lagged the main board but still closed higher, rising 0.5 percent to 1,149.4. The tech-heavy index underperformed as investors remained cautious toward growth stocks following recent volatility. On the secondary market, individual investors bought a net 234.5 billion won, while foreigners and institutions sold 53.9 billion won and 144.4 billion won, respectively. Some pockets of weakness persisted. SK hynix slipped 0.8 percent to 900,000 won, while NAVER fell 1.7 percent to 264,500 won. Healthcare technology was the weakest sector, down 2.5 percent, reflecting continued profit-taking. The won weakened further, with the dollar rising 2.1 won to 1,453.1. Global developments remained a key overhang. U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on Chinese goods. Although he later granted a one-month delay for Canada and Mexico after the two countries pledged stronger border controls, Trump warned that tariffs on China could be raised further if negotiations fail. European markets slid sharply on fears that similar measures could be extended to the European Union. Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.8 percent to 54,293.4 amid trade jitters, while China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 percent to 4,102.2, supported by selective buying in industrial and energy-linked stocks. 2026-02-04 17:42:54

BTS Comeback D-45: From humble beginning to a career build on accumulation Editor’s Note — As BTS prepares to return as a full seven-member act with a new album set for March 20 and an open-stage performance at Gwanghwamun on March 21, following a near four-year hiatus for rotational military service, AJP revisits the group’s 13-year trajectory. This series reexamines BTS’s history, music, performance identity and enduring appeal. The first installment traces the group’s roots and early growth. SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - It took nearly two years after their 2013 debut for BTS — short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, meaning “bulletproof boy scouts” — to secure their first win on a Korean music show. What followed was not a sudden ascent, but a career built through steady accumulation: album by album, market by market, audience by audience. BTS debuted on June 13, 2013, with the single album 2 Cool 4 Skool. The title track “No More Dream” failed to break into the upper tiers of major domestic digital charts and did not earn a music show trophy. The album peaked at No. 5 on the Gaon Album Chart, now known as the Circle Chart. In the early phase, BTS placed less emphasis on short-term chart performance than on momentum through continuous releases. Following O!RUL8,2? later in 2013, the group released Skool Luv Affair and its first full-length album Dark & Wild in 2014, forming what would later be called the “school trilogy.” While these releases remained distant from Korea’s mainstream digital charts, the group’s fan base expanded steadily. Internationally, BTS began to register on niche overseas rankings, including Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart. Between 2014 and 2015, BTS embarked on its first solo concert tour, The Red Bullet Tour, which ran from October 2014 to August 2015 across 18 cities in Asia, Australia, North America and South America. The tour is now widely viewed as a precursor to the group’s later global touring scale. The release of “I NEED U” on April 29, 2015, marked BTS’s first music show win. Promotions continued with “RUN” and “Fire,” during which public recognition rose incrementally rather than explosively. In 2016, the group released WINGS, its first million-selling album. The title track “Blood Sweat & Tears” achieved an all-kill on domestic digital charts, topping real-time rankings across Melon, Genie, Mnet and Naver Music shortly after release. The song claimed six music show victories and topped the Gaon Digital Chart. At the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards, “Blood Sweat & Tears” won Best Male Dance Performance, while BTS received Artist of the Year — cementing the group’s position at the top of the domestic market and laying the groundwork for expansion into the U.S. charts, including their first entry on the Billboard 200. From 2017, BTS consolidated album-level success with the Love Yourself series — Her, Tear and Answer. During this period, the group repeatedly posted high rankings on the Billboard 200, signaling a sustained presence rather than a one-off crossover. A decisive turning point came on Aug. 21, 2020, with the release of “Dynamite,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequent singles “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” also topped the chart, establishing BTS as a K-pop act with multiple Hot 100 No. 1 singles. Streaming metrics underscore the group’s reach. As of Nov. 26, 2025, BTS had accumulated 45 billion total streams on Spotify, earning a Guinness World Records title as the most-streamed male group on the platform. Key contributors included “Dynamite,” “Boy With Luv” and “My Universe.” Live performance has been another pillar of growth. BTS expanded into stadium tours across North America and Europe, drawing millions of attendees and consistently ranking among the top artists in global tour revenue. Between 2021 and 2022, the group staged the Permission to Dance on Stage concert series in cities including Seoul and Las Vegas. Earlier, in 2019, the concert film Love Yourself in Seoul was screened exclusively in theaters across 102 countries. Looking ahead, a new world tour spanning 34 cities and 80-plus shows is planned for 2026 and 2027, following the release of the group’s upcoming full-length album ARIRANG. BTS’s lineup has remained unchanged since debut. The group consists of RM (leader), Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — all of whom have songwriting, composition and production credits. Each member has also released official solo albums or singles during the group’s hiatus. The official fan club, ARMY, was established on July 9, 2013. Often described as standing for “Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth,” the fandom has demonstrated organized participation across album sales, streaming and touring — patterns that have consistently aligned with the group’s chart performance. At debut, BTS did not command Korea’s main charts. Over time, however, the group accumulated achievements across albums, touring and streaming, building a record that expanded from domestic recognition to sustained global presence. The next installment will examine the individual career paths and records of each BTS member. 2026-02-04 10:43:10

Asian equities tumble as Fed leadership shift triggers selloff SEOUL, February 02 (AJP) - Asian equities tumbled on Monday, with South Korean markets suffering steep losses as global risk appetite deteriorated amid renewed uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy, prompting investors to dump risk assets across the region. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 5.26 percent to close at 4,949.67, the index’s sharpest single-day decline since April 7, 2025. The index opened sharply lower and extended losses through the session as foreign and institutional investors accelerated selling. The KOSPI 200 index, which tracks large-cap stocks, slid 5.6 percent to 725.5. Trading data highlighted the scale of the selloff. Foreign investors sold a net 2.59 trillion won worth of shares on the main board, while institutional investors offloaded 1.99 trillion won. Retail investors moved in the opposite direction, buying a net 4.45 trillion won in an attempt to absorb the market’s decline. Market heavyweights led losses. Samsung Electronics fell 6.3 percent, while SK hynix dropped 8.7 percent, erasing much of their recent gains. Automakers and battery makers also retreated sharply, with Hyundai Motor down 4.4 percent and Samsung SDI losing 8.7 percent, while Hanmi Semiconductor plunged 11.3 percent. The Korea Exchange triggered a program trading sidecar at 12:31 p.m., temporarily halting sell orders linked to index futures after sharp declines. The measure slowed selling momentum but failed to reverse negative sentiment. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ index mirrored the decline, falling 4.44 percent to 1,098.36, its first drop exceeding 4 percent since Aug. 1, 2025. The index briefly slid more than 5 percent during intraday trading as investors reduced exposure to high-growth and high-volatility shares. The downturn followed renewed uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy after former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh was nominated as the next Fed chair, reviving concerns that policy could turn more hawkish. The development triggered repricing across global markets, lifting the dollar and pushing investors away from risk assets. Currency and commodity markets also saw sharp moves. The won weakened by 11 won to 1,463 per dollar. Precious metals also fell sharply, with gold sliding 9.9 percent and silver plunging more than 31 percent as investors liquidated positions across asset classes. The simultaneous selloff in equities, commodities and cryptocurrencies resembled past episodes of risk-off shocks, prompting market participants to label the session a “Black Monday” rout. Elsewhere in Asia, losses were also widespread. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 2.5 percent, adding to regional market unease. 2026-02-02 16:58:46

K-pop acts walk away without trophies but leave mark on Grammy stage SEOUL, February 02 (AJP) — K-pop artists left the 68th Grammy Awards without major wins on Sunday, but delivered high-profile performances and historic nominations that underscored the genre’s expanding presence on the global music stage. The awards ceremony was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, bringing together leading figures from the international music industry. BLACKPINK member ROSÉ became the first K-pop female solo artist to receive a Grammy nomination, earning a nod for Song of the Year for her collaborative track “APT.” with Bruno Mars. The award went to Billie Eilish for “Wildflower.” Despite missing out on the trophy, ROSÉ performed “APT.” with Mars during the ceremony, marking her Grammy stage debut and the first main-stage performance by a K-pop female soloist at the event. Released in October 2024, “APT.” is a pre-release single from ROSÉ’s first full-length album rosie. The song drew global attention upon release, debuting at No. 1 on Spotify’s Global chart and entering the UK Official Singles Chart Top 100 at No. 4 — the highest ranking achieved by a K-pop female solo artist. According to Spotify, the track surpassed 1 billion streams within 100 days of release and has since reached 2.2 billion cumulative streams. Rookie girl group KATSEYE also appeared on the Grammy stage as part of the Best New Artist showcase, performing “Gnarly.” The group, formed through K-pop-style training by HYBE and Geffen Records, received nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Gabriela.” The Best New Artist award went to Olivia Dean, while Best Pop Duo/Group Performance was awarded to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for “Defying Gravity.” 2026-02-02 14:16:52

'Golden' takes home one grammy out of four nominations SEOUL, February 02 (AJP) - Expectations were high, but the climb proved steep for “Golden,” the original soundtrack from Netflix’s animated hit K-Pop Demon Hunters, at this year’s Grammy Awards. Despite entering the ceremony with four nominations, “Golden” secured just one trophy — Best Song Written for Visual Media — during the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony. The track was also nominated for Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and Best Remixed Recording (Non-Classical). The coveted Song of the Year, one of the Grammys’ top General Field honors recognizing songwriting excellence regardless of commercial success, ultimately went to Billie Eilish for “Wildflower.” Released on June 20, 2025, “Golden” had drawn significant attention ahead of the ceremony following its strong global reception. Powered by the popularity of K-Pop Demon Hunters, the track became the first K-pop song to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Official Singles Chart, a rare crossover achievement for the genre. K-Pop Demon Hunters ranked among Netflix’s most-watched films of 2025 and emerged as a notable piece of global pop culture. With “Golden’s” Grammy win — in addition to its Golden Globe victory and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song — the film has already delivered a landmark moment for K-pop on the global awards stage. The Best Song Written for Visual Media award is presented to songwriters rather than performers, making all contributors to the track official Grammy Award winners. The song was co-written and produced by EJAE (Lee Jae), Teddy, 24, and producer collective IDO, comprising Lee Yu-han, Kwak Jung-kyu and Nam Hee-dong. The win marked the first Grammy Award for K-pop songwriters or producers for their creative work — a milestone widely noted within the global music industry. The Song of the Year category featured a particularly competitive lineup, including “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter, “luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, “APT.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars, “DtMF” by Bad Bunny, “Anxiety” by Doechii, and “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga. While “Golden” did not take home the night’s top songwriting honor, its nomination — coupled with its historic win — underscored the expanding presence of K-pop creators in the Grammys’ most competitive categories, long dominated by Western artists. 2026-02-02 14:16:36

K-pop OST "Golden" wins Grammy, marking first victory for K-pop songwriters SEOUL, February 02 (AJP) -“Golden,” an original soundtrack from Netflix’s animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters, won Best Song Written for Visual Media at the Grammy Awards, marking the first-ever Grammy win for K-pop songwriters and producers. The award was announced during the Premiere Ceremony of the 68th Grammys held in Los Angeles. Unlike performance-based categories, Best Song Written for Visual Media is awarded to songwriters and producers, recognizing excellence in composition for film and television. With the win, all creators involved in “Golden” are officially credited as Grammy Award winners. Riding on the global success of K Pop Demon Hunters, “Golden” also achieved a rare chart milestone, becoming the first K-pop song to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Official Singles Chart, underscoring the genre’s expanding reach in major Western markets. The track was co-written and produced by EJAE (Lee Jae), Teddy, 24, and producer collective IDO, which includes Lee Yu-han, Kwak Jung-kyu and Nam Hee-dong. Additional credited writers include Park Hong-jun, Seo Jung-hoon and Mark Sonnenblick. While Korean engineer Hwang Byung-joon and Korean-American engineer Youngin have previously won Grammys in technical categories, this is the first time K-pop songwriters or music producers have received the award for their creative work — a milestone signaling a shift in how K-pop is recognized within the global music industry. “Golden” led the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack as a self-empowerment anthem performed in character by EJAE as a member of the fictional girl group Huntr/x. The song topped the Hot 100 for eight consecutive weeks in 2025 and received four Grammy nominations this year, including Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. In the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category, where “Golden,” Rosé’s “APT.” and KATSEYE’s “Gabriela” were nominated, the award went to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. K-Pop Demon Hunters was one of Netflix’s most-watched films in 2025 and a standout piece of global pop culture. With “Golden’s” Grammy win — along with its Golden Globe victory and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song — the film has now delivered K-pop its first Grammy triumph. 2026-02-02 09:28:36

Asian Culture Calendar SEOUL, January 30 (AJP) - South Korea Feb. 13 – 22 Daegwallyeong Snow Festival Feb. 2 – 4 Tamnaguk Ipchun Gut Nori Feb. 4 – 8 Gongju Gunbam Festival Japan Feb. 7 – 27 As The Sun Rose at UltraSuperNew Kura Feb. 3 Setsubun Festival Japan Jan. 20 – Feb.8 Kobe Luminarie Thailand Feb. 21 – 22 Chiang Mai Flower and fusion Festival Feb. 11 – 15 Singha Park chiangrai International Ballon Fiesta Feb. 15 Kyoto Marathon Singapore Feb. 27– Mar. 2 HSBC Women’s World Championship Feb. 11 Thaipusam 2026 Taiwan Feb. 25 – Mar. 15 Taipei Lantern festival 2026-01-30 14:54:40

Korean stocks remain turbo-charged, local won returns to year-end level SEOUL, January 28 (AJP) - Korean markets are on a roll, refreshing new heights, with traction added by overnight news from Washington hinting at room for compromise before it moves to slap higher tariffs on Korean exports. As of 10:30 a.m. Seoul time, the benchmark KOSPI jumped 1.6 percent to 5,165.03, extending its advance into uncharted territory. The KOSPI 200 climbed 1.6 percent to 757.5, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ surged 3.2 percent to 1,116.7, marking another strong push toward higher valuation ground. The Korean won strengthened, with the U.S. dollar falling 2.20 won to 1,433.3 won. The currency briefly revisited the sub-1,430 level for the first time since late last month, when authorities went all-out to stabilize the local currency toward year-end. Sentiment was lifted by comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he would “work something out with South Korea” before departing for a campaign-related trip to Iowa. The remarks followed a social-media post a day earlier threatening to raise tariffs on South Korean automobiles and other products from 15 percent to 25 percent, citing delays in the Korean legislature’s ratification of a trade agreement. Investors interpreted the latest comments as a sign that negotiations, rather than unilateral tariff action, are likely to continue. Retail investors stepped in aggressively, absorbing selling by institutions and foreign funds. On the KOSPI, foreign investors sold a net 378.9 billion won ($264.6 million), while institutions offloaded 354.1 billion won. Individual investors bought a net 757.3 billion won. On the KOSDAQ, foreign and institutional investors led buying, adding 252.2 billion won and 859.1 billion won, respectively, while individuals sold a net 1.044 trillion won, suggesting a rotation by retail investors toward the larger bourse. Sector performance was broadly strong, led by wholesale and distribution-related shares and electrical equipment names. Battery stocks drew particular attention, with LG Energy Solution rising 4.4 percent to 426,500 won. The gains came after local media speculated the company is in talks with Tesla and several Chinese humanoid robotics firms over battery supply and joint development, while robust operating profit growth reported earlier this month continued to support sentiment. Large-cap technology shares also advanced. Samsung Electronics climbed 1.6 percent to 162,000 won, while SK hynix surged 5.5 percent to 843,000 won, extending gains on optimism over sustained demand for high-bandwidth memory. Elsewhere, EcoPro jumped 13.2 percent to 156,900 won, while Hyundai Motor added 1.1 percent to 494,000 won. Among laggards, Doosan Enerbility slipped 1.3 percent to 92,400 won, while LG CNS fell 3.0 percent to 69,800 won, reflecting profit-taking in select recent outperformers. Across the region, markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5 percent to 53,068 as investors locked in gains after recent advances, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.07 percent to 4,142.7. 2026-01-28 11:54:59

Remembrance as obligation: where Koreans, Germans and Israelis find common ground SEOUL, January 27 (AJP) - Skeletons dance across the ruins of civilization, fiddling among the wreckage of Western art, science and technology. Human life has vanished into ash and rubble. Only kites drifting overhead retain faint traces of emotion, their faces suspended between innocence and despair. Painted in hiding in Brussels and dated April 18, 1944, Death Triumphant is believed to be the final work of German-Jewish painter Felix Nussbaum. Often described as a modern danse macabre, the painting confronts the collapse of human values at a moment when the artist himself was living under constant threat. “If I perish, do not let my paintings die,” Nussbaum wrote. “Show them to the people.” “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness,” Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel would later say. More than eight decades on, Nussbaum’s works have traveled to an unlikely place to fulfill that charge: a museum dedicated to democracy in downtown Seoul. The exhibition, jointly organized by the Israeli and German embassies, presents his art not merely as historical record but as testimony — an insistence that memory endures beyond annihilation. In Self-Portrait with Jewish Identity Card (1943), Nussbaum depicts himself branded by the Star of David and an identification document imposed by Nazi authorities. While red lettering on the card defines him as Jewish under racial law, his birthplace, Osnabrück, is deliberately blurred, signaling the erasure of home and legal identity. Facing the viewer directly and wearing a bourgeois hat, Nussbaum clings to his identity as an artist even as persecution tightens. That intimate defiance expands in The Damned, completed on Jan. 5, 1944. The painting shows persecuted figures waiting in hiding, their gestures and expressions suspended between fear, resignation and quiet endurance. Nussbaum places himself among them, echoing earlier self-portraits while replacing symbols of autonomy with imagery that suggests the inevitability of death. Speaking at the opening ceremony, German Ambassador Georg Schmidt warned against reducing the Holocaust to abstraction. “The Holocaust is often reduced to numbers that defy comprehension,” Schmidt said. “Six million is a figure that goes beyond human imagination. It is much easier to connect with individuals. That is why we are telling the story of the German-Jewish painter Felix Nussbaum.” Schmidt pointed to Germany’s postwar constitutional commitment — that “human dignity shall be inviolable” — as a direct response to the crimes of the Nazi era, rooted in the recognition that unchecked nationalism and racial fanaticism lead to catastrophe. Israeli Ambassador Raphael Harpaz cautioned against treating the Holocaust as a closed chapter of history. “The Holocaust is not a tragedy of the past. It is painfully relevant today,” Harpaz said, pointing to the persistence of antisemitism and its amplification through social media and digital platforms. “Remembrance is not only a responsibility. It is an obligation.” The ceremony was held at the National Museum of Korean Democracy, formerly the Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Investigation Office — a site once associated with torture, state violence and political repression during South Korea’s authoritarian period. Lee Jae-oh, chairman of the Korea Democracy Foundation, said the transformation of the site itself mirrors the purpose of remembrance. “This place was once deeply marked by the scars of state violence,” Lee said. “Today, it stands as a space where we record and reflect on that painful history in order to learn the value of human rights and democracy.” Lee stressed that the Holocaust offers a universal warning about the consequences of abandoning human dignity and failing to restrain state power. “When past suffering is ignored or erased, history regresses,” he said. “By examining Felix Nussbaum’s desperate artistic records and bearing witness to the tragedy of Auschwitz, we awaken our society’s awareness of human rights and strive to build a democratic community where discrimination and exclusion have no place.” Asked what message he hopes visitors will take from the exhibition, Harpaz emphasized the danger of silence. “The message is about refusing silence in the face of hatred directed at people for who they are,” he said. “Recent years have shown how easily antisemitism resurfaces when individuals are targeted not for their actions, but for their identity. There must be zero tolerance for such hatred.” Harpaz noted that the exhibition has drawn strong public interest in South Korea. Since 2017, the German and Israeli embassies have jointly marked International Holocaust Memorial Day in Seoul, pairing official ceremonies with exhibitions and educational programs aimed at younger generations. The exhibition, titled Remembering for the Future, runs from Jan. 27 to March 15, 2026. 2026-01-27 18:08:21

KOSDAQ steals the day in subdued Asian markets SEOUL, January 26 (AJP) - Korea’s secondary KOSDAQ stole the spotlight Monday, surging more than 7 percent as most Asian equities retreated, in a striking display of risk appetite concentrated in higher-beta names. The tech-heavy index jumped 7.09 percent — its biggest daily gain in more than two years — to close at 1,064.4 and return to 1,000-mark in four years. The sharp advance triggered a temporary trading halt under the sidecar mechanism at 9:59 a.m., as program buying accelerated early in the session. Institutions led the charge, snapping up a net 2.6 trillion won worth of shares, while foreign investors added 431.4 billion won. Retail investors were net sellers of 2.91 trillion won, underscoring a rapid rotation of capital out of large-cap defensives and into growth-oriented names. In contrast, the main KOSPI fell 0.8 percent, or 40.5 points, to 4,949.6. The benchmark briefly touched an intraday record high of 5,023.8 before selling pressure intensified in the afternoon, dragging the index below its session low. The pullback followed a short-lived rally that had carried the market higher over the previous week. The KOSPI 200 slid 1.0 percent to 720.04, weighed down by heavy losses in automakers and semiconductor stocks. On the main board, foreign investors sold 158.7 billion won ($110 million), while institutions offloaded 1.54 trillion won. Retail investors absorbed the selling, buying 1.72 trillion won. Currency markets added another layer of volatility. The dollar fell sharply against the won, sliding 14.1 won to 1,441.2, tracking gains in the Japanese yen amid reports that Washington is increasingly tolerant of stronger currencies among key East Asian allies, including South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Sector performance reflected the risk-on tilt. Non-ferrous metal stocks led gains, rising 11.9 percent. Korea Zinc surged 14.4 percent to 1,807,000 won on rising global silver prices and expectations of stronger earnings, while Sam-A Aluminum climbed 12.8 percent and Hyundai BNG Steel advanced 11.0 percent. Battery and platform stocks also posted strong gains. EcoPro soared 23.0 percent to 130,200 won, while Naver rose 2.4 percent to 272,500 won. Samsung SDI added 3.8 percent to 387,000 won. By contrast, logistics and transport-related shares lagged, with the sector falling 3.2 percent. CJ Logistics dropped 3.5 percent, and Hyundai Glovis slipped 3.4 percent. Among large-cap losers, Hyundai Motor fell 3.4 percent, while SK hynix declined 4.0 percent. Elsewhere in the region, markets were broadly weaker. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.8 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite edged down 0.09 percent, reinforcing the contrast between Korea’s speculative surge and a cautious regional backdrop. 2026-01-26 17:19:10