North Korea conducts test of long-range cruise missiles SEOUL, December 29 (AJP) - North Korea test-fired long-range cruise missiles toward the West Sea, state media said on Monday. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), they flew along a preset route "for 10,199 seconds and 10,203 seconds" before striking their targets. The launch, which was conducted the previous day with the country's leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, was part of drills aimed at checking the strategic weapons system's accuracy while strengthening the combat readiness and capabilities of long-range missile units. Expressing "great satisfaction," Kim reportedly said the drills were for self-defense, as the country is "facing various security threats." 2025-12-29 09:09:17

Korean Inc. business sentiment for Jan deteriorates SEOUL, December 29 (AJP) -South Korean companies expect business conditions to remain weak in January, with sentiment slipping across both manufacturing and services amid prolonged weakness in construction and steel and early signs of softer demand in semiconductors, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said Monday. The group said its Business Survey Index (BSI) for January is projected at 95.4, down from 98.7 in December. A reading below 100 means more firms expect conditions to worsen than improve. The sentiment for December business conditions was lower at 93.7. FKI noted that the outlook index has now remained below the 100 threshold since February 2022, underscoring the prolonged downturn in domestic demand and volatile external front. By sector, the manufacturing outlook came in at 91.8, while nonmanufacturing was higher at 98.9. Within manufacturing, pharmaceuticals (125.0) and textiles, apparel, leather and footwear (107.7) were among the few industries expected to improve. General and precision machinery, wood furniture and paper, and food, beverages and tobacco were clustered at the neutral 100 level. Most major industries, however, remained below the baseline. Automobiles and other transport equipment stood at 94.1, electronics and communications equipment at 88.9, metals and metal processing at 85.2, petroleum refining and chemicals at 86.2, and nonmetal mineral products at 64.3. FKI said weakness in construction and steel has persisted, while a temporary slowdown in demand for electronics and communications equipment due to spike in chip prices, has weighed on overall manufacturing activites. In nonmanufacturing, electricity, gas and water scored 115.8, information and communications 113.3, leisure, lodging and dining 107.1, and wholesale and retail trade 103.6, indicating improving conditions. By contrast, transportation and warehousing (95.7), construction (85.7), and professional, scientific and business support services (78.6) were expected to weaken. For January, domestic demand was forecast at 95.4, exports at 96.7 and investment at 92.6. Employment (92.6), financing conditions (94.5) and profitability (94.5) were also expected to remain in contractionary territory.Lee Sang-ho, head of FKI’s economic and industrial policy division, said that although economic growth is expected to improve compared with the previous year, corporate sentiment has yet to recover. “Structural weaknesses in sectors such as construction and steel persist, while rising costs and uncertainty continue to weigh on companies,” Lee said, calling for measures to support industrial restructuring, ease energy and cost burdens, and avoid uniform regulations that increase management uncertainty. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-29 07:26:07

Earthquake in Taiwan, home to TSMC and Micron fabs, to add boon to Korean chipmakers SEOUL, December 29 (AJP) -A powerful level-4 earthquake in Taiwan, home to a large share of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity, has renewed concerns over supply-chain vulnerability and could ultimately strengthen the competitive position of South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, analysts said. Some semiconductor fabrication plants in Taiwan temporarily halted operations after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck the island on Saturday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) activated emergency protocols, evacuating workers at facilities in the Hsinchu Science Park and conducting inspections of equipment and clean rooms. Based on TSMC's statement to local media, no damage has been reported yet, with all plants operating at full capacity and the status of the affected facilities was restored within just ten hours after the earthquake. The quake was the latest in a series of strong earthquakes to hit parts of the Pacific Ring of Fire since October, including areas near Taiwan and Japan, underscoring the region’s seismic risk. Taiwan accounts for roughly 70 percent of global contract chip manufacturing, hosting major players such as TSMC, UMC and Powerchip. The island also houses Micron Technology’s DRAM production facilities. Micron produces about 16 percent of the world’s DRAM, according to industry estimates. While companies are still assessing the impact, analysts project prolonged disruptions could alter competitive dynamics with its closest rival, Samsung Electronics. Semiconductor manufacturing is highly sensitive to interruptions: even brief stoppages can force wafer scrapping and lead to significant financial losses, particularly at advanced nodes. The risk is most acute in leading-edge processes such as 3-nanometer chips, where TSMC and Samsung are among the few global producers and where supply disruptions can influence customer allocations and long-term contracts. TSMC has previously disclosed sizable losses linked to natural disasters. After a magnitude-7.2 earthquake in April last year, the company estimated losses of about $60 million, while earlier incidents — including a major power outage in 2021 and an earthquake in 2022 — also led to wafer losses and tens of billions of won in damages, according to company disclosures and industry reports. The latest quake could also strengthen the negotiating position of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in DRAM pricing talks. If Micron, which produces a large share of its memory chips in Taiwan, experiences output constraints, global memory supply could tighten, supporting higher prices. That would likely provide a tailwind for South Korean suppliers’ earnings next year, analysts said. Historical precedent supports that view. After Japan’s 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, prices of memory products such as DRAM and NAND flash rose more than 20 percent in the short term as markets priced in supply disruption risks. Over the longer term, repeated reminders of seismic and geopolitical risks are expected to reinforce efforts by global technology firms to diversify semiconductor supply chains away from excessive dependence on Taiwan. Online journal Foreign Policy recently noted that major earthquakes highlight how concentrated advanced chip manufacturing remains in a geographically vulnerable location, underscoring broader strategic risks. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are set to start mass production next year of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) for Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence accelerators. Japan’s Nomura Securities recently raised its forecast for Samsung Electronics’ operating profit next year to 133.4 trillion won, citing continued AI-related investment and expanding server demand, and noting that pricing power in the memory market is gradually shifting from buyers to suppliers. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-29 05:55:03

Weak won squeezes Korean airliners, KAL's profit to fall by double digits Weak won squeezes South Korea’s airlines, with Korean Air the lone profit holdout SEOUL, December 29 (AJP) -The Korean won, averaging its weakest level on record this year, has eaten into profitability across South Korea’s airline industry by driving up U.S. dollar-denominated costs for aircraft leases and fuel. According to financial data provider FnGuide, Korean Air’s consolidated operating profit for the year is estimated at 1.40 trillion won ($1.05 billion), down 33.5 percent from 2.14 trillion won a year earlier. The decline largely reflects rising costs linked to the weaker exchange rate. Airlines are particularly vulnerable to currency swings because a significant share of their expenses — including fuel, aircraft leases and maintenance — is denominated in the greenback. The weak won has also dampened outbound travel demand by raising overseas travel costs for Korean passengers. The blow would have been heavier on smaller carriers. Brokerage-house consensus forecasts show Asiana Airlines posting an operating loss of about 245 billion won this year, partly reflecting the impact of its cargo business divestment. T’way Air is projected to see operating profit fall by 223.1 billion won, Jeju Air by 140.9 billion won, and Jin Air by 4.2 billion won. Intensifying competition on short-haul routes — particularly to Japan and Southeast Asia — has compounded the pressure alongside the weak currency. Choi Min-gi, a senior researcher at Shinhan Securities, said Korean Air is relatively insulated because it earns a higher share of revenue in foreign currencies from inbound passengers and cargo, providing a form of “natural hedge.” Other airlines, he noted, are more directly exposed to exchange-rate fluctuations, which feed quickly into earnings volatility. Foreign-currency expenses account for roughly half of airlines’ operating costs, according to industry estimates. Using an exchange rate of 1,400 won per dollar as a benchmark, the sector calculates that every 10-won depreciation adds about 75.2 billion won in operating costs for Korean Air, 5.1 billion won for Jeju Air, 3.9 billion won for Jin Air and 5.9 billion won for T’way Air. The won that hovered around 1,480 for most of the month eased to 1,440.3 last Friday following verbal intervention and measures to stabilize foreign-exchange supply and demand. Market participants, however, say uncertainty over the currency outlook remains elevated. Asiana Airlines has moved to reinforce its financial buffer by issuing 200 billion won in perpetual bonds. Lee Jong-woo, a professor of business administration at Ajou University, said it would be difficult for both the exchange rate and broader economic conditions to improve meaningfully next year. He added that if industry restructuring and consolidation move forward, reduced competition could eventually help stabilize airline profitability. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-12-29 05:38:21

OPINION: Korea's markets in 2025: prices surged, structures quietly weakened By the end of 2025, South Korea’s financial markets offered a paradox. Prices moved sharply, yet the system did not break. Equity indices surged, bond yields rose and the won weakened — but none of this tipped into crisis. Beneath the surface, however, the numbers tell a more uneasy story: stability was preserved, but vulnerabilities quietly accumulated. The Bank of Korea’s semiannual Financial Stability Reports capture this duality well. The Financial Stress Index stood at 15.0 in November, down from 18.6 in June — safely below crisis territory. But the Financial Vulnerability Index climbed to 45.4 in the third quarter, closing in on its long-term average of 45.7. Stability improved at the margin; structural fragilities did not. Equities: a rally powered by policy and narrative The stock market’s performance was striking. The KOSPI rose from around 2,399 in early June to 4,144 by December 9, ending the year just below that level at 4,129.7. Few developed markets posted a comparable surge in such a short period. The first-half rally had clear drivers: expectations of capital-market reform, enthusiasm around artificial intelligence, and anticipation of supplementary fiscal stimulus. The second half of the year told a more complicated story. Trade tensions, policy uncertainty and profit-taking amplified volatility, while November brought renewed debate over whether AI valuations had run ahead of fundamentals. Yet prices continued to push higher. The rally was sustained less by earnings than by narrative — a familiar pattern in late-cycle markets. This distinction matters for 2026. Upside may remain, but direction will be less important than volatility. If AI earnings disappoint or valuation concerns resurface, corrections could be abrupt rather than gradual. Bonds: higher yields, but no credit stress Government bond yields rose through the year, with the three-year Korean Treasury yield ending around 3.1 percent. On its own, that would normally signal tighter financial conditions. But credit markets told a different story. Corporate bond spreads remained close to long-term averages. AA-rated spreads hovered near 55 basis points, while A-rated spreads stayed around 150 basis points. Even in November, when rising government yields and heavier bank bond issuance pushed spreads modestly wider, there was no sign of systemic strain. This resilience is central to the BOK’s assessment that the financial system remains broadly stable. Prices moved sharply; credit transmission did not fracture. Foreigners versus residents: the real story lies at home Looking only at foreign flows would give a misleading picture. In the first half of 2025, foreigners sold about $10.6 billion of Korean equities while buying roughly $25 billion in bonds. By year-end, their equity ownership ratio had actually risen to 32 percent, and their share of bond holdings to 12.1 percent. Net foreign inflows into bonds for the year reached roughly $47 billion. The more consequential shift came from Korean residents themselves. Between January and October, residents invested $117.1billion net in overseas securities — including $89.9 billion in equities and $27.2 billion in bonds. October alone recorded a record $17.3 billion outflow. This was not short-term currency speculation but a structural reallocation of portfolios. In effect, Korean households and institutions increasingly chose to place marginal savings abroad rather than at home. That shift matters more for market dynamics than foreign positioning. FX: a high plateau becomes the norm The won’s trajectory in 2025 reflects this structural change. From around 1,350 per dollar in June, it weakened into the 1,470s by October and November, reaching 1,472 on December 9. Toward year-end, verbal intervention and hedging flows helped stabilize the rate near 1,440. On annual basis, the dollar would have averaged 1,421.9 won, set for a record. The past average high for the pair was 1,394.9 won in 1998 amid IMF bailout. The central bank attributed to “large fluctuations” rather than crisis conditions, noting that external funding conditions remain sound. But the level itself is telling. The exchange rate has moved onto a higher plateau. Trade balances alone no longer anchor the won. Capital flows do — particularly outbound portfolio investment by residents. In that sense, the exchange rate in 2025 was shaped less by exports than by asset allocation. Valuation gaps and the logic of capital flight One reason behind the surge in overseas investment is the valuation gap between US and Korean equities. In 2025, the S&P 500 traded at roughly 20 times earnings, with the Nasdaq even higher. Korea’s market, by contrast, has long hovered in the high single digits to low teens. This is not simply a question of “cheap versus expensive”. It reflects expectations of earnings durability. The U.S. markets are anchored by AI, platform businesses and intellectual-property-intensive sectors, supported by shareholder-friendly governance and deep capital markets. Korea, by contrast, still carries a structural discount tied to earnings volatility, governance concerns and policy uncertainty. As a result, new investment increasingly bypasses the domestic market altogether. Rather than selling Korean shares to buy US ones, investors often send fresh capital abroad from the outset. The Bank of Korea itself notes that resident overseas investment is increasingly long-term and strategic in nature. Household credit: mortgages cool, other loans reawaken Household debt dynamics underline the same shift. Mortgage growth slowed markedly in 2025. Outstanding housing loans reached 1,159.6 trillion won by the third quarter, up 4.3 percent year on year — a deceleration from earlier periods. But other forms of credit told a different story. “Other loans” rose to 685.4 trillion won, turning positive year on year for the first time in some time. Monthly increases reached 4.9 trillion won in October and 4.1 trillion won in November. The central bank explicitly links this rebound to demand for equity investment. In other words, leverage did not disappear; it changed channels. As mortgage lending was restrained, borrowing increasingly supported financial investment — including overseas exposure — with implications for both asset prices and the exchange rate. The policy challenge for 2026: structure, not rates The lesson of 2025 is not primarily about whether interest rates should fall or stay put. Marke data point to a deeper issue. Financial stress is contained, but vulnerabilities are rebuilding. The FVI stands at 45.4. Housing prices in Seoul are accelerating again. Non-mortgage lending is reviving. Overseas investment continues to surge. These are not crisis signals — but they are early warnings. The success or failure of policy in 2026 will hinge less on the direction of rates than on whether imbalances are allowed to compound. Three questions matter most: Can authorities contain renewed overheating in Seoul’s housing market? Can leverage flowing into equities and derivatives be monitored without choking markets? Can surging overseas investment be absorbed without destabilizing the exchange rate? 2025 was a year of prices. 2026 will be a test of structure. * The author is the managing editor of AJP. 2025-12-28 16:19:27

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

President Lee taps conservative veteran Lee Hye-hoon as first budget minister SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has nominated Lee Hye-hoon, a prominent three-term lawmaker from the rival conservative bloc, to lead the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget, the presidential office announced Sunday. The surprise appointment is a rare instance of cross-party recruitment in South Korean politics, signaling a shift toward bipartisan economic governance as the administration prepares to launch a major government reorganization in January. Presidential spokesperson Lee Kyu-yeon stated that the nomination reflects President Lee's intention to "use the playing field widely," disregarding political ideology in matters of public livelihood and the economy. In South Korea's political landscape, where cabinet posts are typically reserved for ruling party loyalists or aligned bureaucrats, nominating a heavyweight politician who ran as a candidate for the ruling People Power Party as recently as last year is highly unusual. Lee Hye-hoon is a representative figure of the conservative camp, having served three terms in the 17th, 18th, and 20th assemblies under the banners of the Grand National Party, Saenuri Party, and Bareun Party. An economic expert with a doctorate in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a research background at the Korea Development Institute, Lee is expected to lead the ministry's focus on fiscal soundness and long-term national strategy. Her nomination comes as the government prepares to dismantle the current Ministry of Economy and Finance. Effective January 2, the ministry will be split into two separate entities—the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of Finance and Economy—marking a return to a dual-structure system intended to check the concentration of power in financial governance. Alongside the cabinet nomination, President Lee filled key advisory posts with experts possessing legislative and technical backgrounds. Kim Sung-sik, a former two-term lawmaker and policy expert who chaired the Special Committee on the 4th Industrial Revolution, was appointed Vice Chairperson of the National Economic Advisory Council. For the Vice Chairperson of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology, the president tapped Lee Kyeong-soo, the chairperson of Enable Fusion and a former deputy director-general of the ITER Organization. The president also promoted seasoned bureaucrats to vice-ministerial roles. Kim Jong-gu, formerly the head of the Grain Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, was named Vice Minister of the same agency. In a parallel move, Hong Ji-sun, a civil engineering expert and former Vice Mayor of Namyangju, was appointed Second Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Additionally, President Lee solidified his political inner circle by appointing two close allies to special advisory roles. Jo Jeong-sik, a six-term lawmaker and former Democratic Party secretary-general, was named Special Advisor for Political Affairs, while Lee Han-ju, a long-time policy architect for the president and current chairperson of the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities, and Social Sciences, was appointed Special Advisor for Policy. 2025-12-28 15:26:01

Coupang founder apologizes for data breach as government weighs suspension SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - Kim Bom-suk, the founder of South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, released a public apology Sunday regarding a massive data breach, acknowledging the company's failure to communicate promptly with affected users. The statement comes a month after the leak was discovered and amid intensifying scrutiny from regulators, who have signaled that the company could face severe penalties, including a potential suspension of operations. In a statement released under his name as chairman of Coupang, Kim offered a "sincere apology" on behalf of all employees. He admitted that the company's initial response was insufficient and that the lack of clear, direct communication fueled fear and anxiety among users regarding the safety of their personal information. Addressing the criticism over the month-long delay in his public response, Kim explained that he had initially believed the company should recover "100 percent" of the stolen data before making an announcement. He stated that he viewed data recovery as the entirety of restoring customer trust, but in retrospect, waiting until all facts were verified was a "wrong judgment." Coupang, often described as the "Amazon of South Korea" and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has faced mounting public backlash not only for the breach itself but for its handling of the crisis. Government authorities have taken an unprecedentedly hardline stance, launching a pan-government task force and indicating a strict crackdown that could legally lead to a suspension of Coupang's services in South Korea if systemic failures are found. Regarding the ongoing investigation, Kim maintained that Coupang has cooperated fully with the government and strictly adhered to confidentiality requests, even as misinformation spread. He pledged to invest in building a "world-class cyber security system" to prevent future incidents. The apology was released just two days before a major joint hearing at the National Assembly involving six standing committees. Despite the public statement, Kim submitted a notice on Saturday that he would not attend the hearing as a witness, citing overseas business schedules. Critics view the timing of the apology as an attempt to mitigate public anger while avoiding direct questioning by lawmakers. 2025-12-28 14:55:28

KAIST technology cuts AI service costs by 67 percent using personal GPUs SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - SEOUL, South Korea — Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a technology that significantly reduces the operating costs of large language models (LLMs) by utilizing consumer-grade graphics processing units (GPUs) found in personal computers and mobile devices. The university announced on December 28 that a team led by Professor Han Dong-su from the School of Electrical Engineering has created "SpecEdge," a framework that integrates low-cost edge GPUs into the infrastructure typically reserved for expensive data centers. AI services currently rely heavily on high-performance GPUs housed in centralized data centers. This dependency results in high operational expenses and creates significant barriers to entry for new AI technologies. While consumer-grade hardware, such as the NVIDIA RTX 4090, offers substantial computing power at a fraction of the hourly cost of data center equipment, existing systems have struggled to effectively coordinate these distributed resources with central servers. SpecEdge addresses this by distributing the inference workload. The system employs a technique known as "speculative decoding." In this process, a smaller language model running on a local device—such as a personal computer or smartphone—rapidly generates a sequence of draft words, or "tokens." The massive language model in the data center then verifies these drafts in a single batch. To maximize efficiency, the local device does not wait for the server's validation before proceeding. Instead, it continues to generate subsequent words, eliminating idle time. This allows the system to function effectively even over standard internet connections without requiring specialized high-speed networks. By offloading a portion of the computation to local devices, the research team reduced the cost per token by approximately 67.6 percent compared to systems relying solely on data center GPUs. The approach also improved server throughput by 2.22 times and cost efficiency by 1.91 times compared to performing speculative decoding exclusively on the server. "Our goal is to utilize edge resources around users as part of the LLM infrastructure, going beyond data centers," said Professor Han Dong-su. "We aim to lower the cost of providing AI services and create an environment where anyone can utilize high-quality AI." The research team included Dr. Park Jin-woo and Cho Seung-geun, a master's student at KAIST. The findings were presented as a "Spotlight" paper—a distinction awarded to the top 3.2 percent of submissions—at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2025), held in San Diego from December 2 to December 7. The project was supported by the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) under the "AI-Native application service support 6G system technology development" project. 2025-12-28 13:38:48

South Korea's biotech technology exports top 20 trillion won led by platform deals SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - South Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies saw technology exports surge 162 percent to a record $14.5 billion this year, driven by robust demand for platform technologies and new drug candidates. The Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association said Sunday that total non-confidential contract values jumped from $5.5 billion last year, demonstrating the sector's growing global competitiveness. Bio-platform deals led the charge. ABL Bio secured the year's largest contract in April, a $3.0 billion agreement with GSK for its "Grabody-B" blood-brain barrier shuttle technology, followed by a $2.6 billion licensing deal for the same platform with Eli Lilly last month. Other major agreements included Alteogen's March deal with AstraZeneca's MedImmune to export its human hyaluronidase technology for $1.4 billion, and Rznomics' $1.4 billion licensing pact with Eli Lilly for RNA editing therapies in May. Exports of new drug candidates were also strong. Abion signed a $1.3 billion joint development deal for its antibody therapeutic in June. Recently, ADEL licensed its Alzheimer's candidate to Sanofi for $1.0 billion, while Aimed Bio signed a contract with Boehringer Ingelheim worth nearly $1.0 billion. Industry observers attribute the streak of large-scale deals to strategic pipelines that match global demand. Experts emphasize that companies must now aggressively reinvest these profits into R&D to ensure sustainable growth, a strategy ABL Bio has already committed to following its recent windfalls. 2025-12-28 13:11:37