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KOSPI Plummets Over 5% Amid U.S. Tech Stock Decline, Circuit Breaker Activated The KOSPI opened sharply lower, dropping over 5% due to the weakness in U.S. tech stocks. The index fell below the 6400 mark early in the session and continued to decline, prompting a sell-side circuit breaker as investor sentiment rapidly deteriorated.According to the Korea Exchange, as of 9:14 a.m., the KOSPI was down 462.04 points (6.84%) at 6293.71. The index started the day at 6400.27, down 355.48 points (5.26%) from the previous close, and the losses widened thereafter.In response to the steep decline, a sell-side circuit breaker was triggered at 9:06 a.m. in the securities market. This mechanism is activated when the price of the most traded futures contract based on the KOSPI 200 falls by more than 5% and remains at that level for one minute. When activated, the circuit breaker suspends the effectiveness of sell orders for five minutes before automatically lifting.This marks the 22nd activation of a sell-side circuit breaker in the securities market this year. Including buy-side circuit breakers, this is the 42nd activation overall.In the securities market, foreign investors and institutions have sold a net 486.8 billion won and 277.3 billion won, respectively. In contrast, individual investors have purchased a net 752.9 billion won, indicating a move towards bargain hunting.Most of the top stocks by market capitalization in the KOSPI are experiencing declines. Samsung Electronics is down 8.27%, SK Hynix by 9.91%, SK Square by 9.76%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics by 11.32%, Hyundai Motor by 5.46%, LG Energy Solution by 3.15%, KB Financial by 0.12%, and Samsung Life by 8.03%. However, Samsung Biologics is up 0.65%.At the same time, the KOSDAQ index recorded a decline of 38.12 points (4.98%), standing at 726.74. The index opened at 742.13, down 22.73 points (2.97%), and continued to fall.A sell-side circuit breaker was also activated in the KOSDAQ market at 9:14 a.m., marking the 12th activation this year. Including buy-side circuit breakers, this is the 26th activation overall. The KOSDAQ circuit breaker is triggered when the most recent futures contract for KOSDAQ 150 falls by more than 6% and the KOSDAQ 150 index drops by more than 3% for one minute.In the KOSDAQ market, individual investors have made a net purchase of 44.3 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions have sold a net 31.8 billion won and 12.6 billion won, respectively.Top stocks in the KOSDAQ are also showing weakness, with Alteogen down 1.28%, EcoPro by 5.58%, EcoPro BM by 5.34%, Rainbow Robotics by 7.96%, Juseong Engineering by 11.21%, Rino Technology by 8.17%, Wonik IPS by 12.83%, HLB by 3.82%, ABL Bio by 3.86%, and PSK by 10.34%.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-07-28 09:45:00 -
BJ Cheolgu Admits to Illegal Gambling and Loan Issues Amid Past Revelations First-generation internet broadcaster BJ Cheolgu has acknowledged his involvement in overseas gambling and illegal loans, announcing plans to surrender to the police. This revelation has brought renewed attention to past comments made by Shin Tae-il regarding Cheolgu's gambling habits.On July 27, Cheolgu stated during a personal broadcast, "I have been involved in overseas gambling since the year before last and have used illegal loans from big spenders." He also confessed to borrowing large sums from fellow BJs, including K, Jjapgu, and Kim In-ho, sparking controversy.In the wake of these admissions, a video resurfaced online in which Shin Tae-il discussed Cheolgu. He recounted, "Even before Cheolgu had debts, he occasionally borrowed money from me." Shin added, "I asked him, 'You earn so much from your Excel broadcasts, what do you spend it on?' and he replied, 'I don’t know, just hurry up and let me know if I can get a million won.' This shows he is also an addict. He lost a lot to gambling, which is why he had no savings."Shin also mentioned his own gambling losses, claiming that Cheolgu's losses were even greater. He stated, "I have lost a total of about 2.3 to 2.4 billion won, but Cheolgu's losses are several times that amount." The video has gained traction again following Cheolgu's recent admissions about his gambling and loan activities.Online reactions have varied, with users commenting, "It seems everyone knew about this," "His past statements have turned out to be true," and "What I thought was a joke back then now seems frightening."* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-07-28 09:45:00
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Trump Warns of Strong Military Action if Iran Negotiations Fail President Donald Trump has warned that he will resume military action against Iran if negotiations do not yield results. He temporarily halted airstrikes against Iran at the request of mediating countries but stated he would not allow negotiations to drag on for long.Israeli Channel 12 reported on July 27 that Trump, in an interview, said, "We are having very deep conversations with Iran," and added, "If the negotiations do not go well, we will return to very strong military action."When asked how much time he would allow for negotiations, Trump replied, "Not much."He explained that he suspended airstrikes against Iran starting July 24 at the request of mediating countries, which asked for another chance at negotiations. Trump also indicated that he believes Iran wants to reach an agreement.Currently, Oman, Qatar, and Pakistan are reportedly mediating to normalize shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and to reconcile differences between the U.S. and Iran.However, Iran has denied Trump's assertion that it is negotiating directly with the U.S. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei stated, "Messages from the U.S. are being conveyed through mediating countries, but there are no direct negotiations taking place." He also claimed that discussions with Oman are limited to the issue of shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-07-28 09:45:00
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Air Premia Plans 1.1 Trillion Won Capital Increase Amid High Oil Prices and Exchange Rates Air Premia announced on July 28 that it will pursue a capital increase of 1.1 trillion won.The company explained that this capital increase is aimed at improving its financial structure and ensuring sustainable growth amid ongoing uncertainties in the aviation industry, including high exchange rates and volatile oil prices.The capital increase will be conducted through a rights offering for existing shareholders, issuing a total of 550 million common shares to raise approximately 1.1 trillion won. The record date for the new share allocation is August 19, with subscriptions set for September 18 and payment due on September 29.The funds raised will be used to enhance the company's financial structure and strengthen its business foundation. This is part of a plan to stabilize its financial base and secure long-term growth momentum.Notably, this capital increase is being pursued as part of a financial restructuring plan submitted to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The company aims to establish a stable management foundation and ensure sustainable growth through capital expansion.Air Premia is currently maintaining stable operations based on its competitive long-haul routes primarily to North America and is preparing to launch new routes in Asia during the upcoming winter flight season.With this capital increase, the company plans to further enhance its business competitiveness and smoothly implement growth strategies, including the launch of new routes.Park Kwang-eun, head of Air Premia's management division, stated, "This capital increase is a process to establish a foundation for improving our financial structure and ensuring sustainable growth. We will continuously enhance our business competitiveness to meet the trust of our customers and the market."* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-07-28 09:40:00
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Kakao Releases Four Open-Source Lightweight Language Models Optimized for Devices Kakao has released four open-source lightweight language models (SLM) developed under its artificial intelligence (AI) brand, Kanana. This initiative aims to enhance AI technology competitiveness and contribute to the domestic ecosystem.On July 28, Kakao announced the open-source release of four lightweight language models that can operate on devices such as smartphones. The models are part of the Kanana-2 series and include: △Kanana-2-1.3B-base △Kanana-2-1.3B-instruct △Kanana-2-3B-base △Kanana-2-3B-instruct.Kakao explained that it has been continuously researching lightweight language models that can deliver service-level performance despite their smaller size. This release reflects the growing importance of lightweight models that can run directly on devices like smartphones and personal computers, amid a competitive landscape focused on large language models (LLMs). Global companies are also prioritizing on-device AI as a key strategy, with many releasing lightweight open-source models to establish a foothold in the lightweight AI ecosystem.The models released are based on the technology and experience accumulated during various model development processes. Currently, Kakao's lightweight models are utilized in services such as 'Kanana in KakaoTalk,' 'KakaoTalk Conversation Summary and Call Summary,' and 'AI National Secretary.'Despite their small size, the models demonstrate global-level performance in both Korean and English. They have outperformed most representative benchmarks, including Korean, English, knowledge, mathematics, and code, compared to similar-sized state-of-the-art open-source models. Notably, the Kanana-2-1.3B-instruct model, released as open-source, along with the smaller Kanana-2-0.9B-instruct, shows competitive performance in real service applications, including conversation, knowledge, code, mathematics, instruction execution, and tool invocation, rivaling global models like Qwen and Gemma.Additionally, Kakao has applied its self-developed Korean-specific tokenizer, improving Korean text processing efficiency by over 30%. The tokenizer is a key technology that determines how an AI model breaks down text into smaller units. By using a tokenizer optimized for Korean, the same sentence can be processed in fewer units, resulting in faster computation speeds and reduced costs. Kakao has implemented this Korean-specific tokenizer across all models to enhance performance and cost competitiveness.The models are designed to be optimized for on-device environments, such as smartphones, where memory and computational resources are limited. To address the issue of rapidly increasing memory usage during long conversations, a 'sliding window attention' structure has been introduced. This allows for stable performance while reducing memory usage by up to 72.7% for conversations of up to 32K tokens (approximately 24,000 words).Kakao will distribute these models under the 'Kanana Open License,' allowing commercial use. Developers, startups, and research institutions can utilize the technology without restrictions, contributing to the expansion of high-performance Korean AI model applications and the activation of new service development in the country.Noh Byeong-seok, leader of Kakao's Unified Foundation Model Performance, stated, "As we prepare for the era of agentic AI, we recognize the importance of both large-scale AI in the cloud and lightweight AI on devices. Kakao is enhancing its technological competitiveness in both areas, and we hope that these open-source models will lead to the development of new AI services by more developers and companies, contributing to the activation of the domestic AI ecosystem."Kanana is Kakao's integrated AI brand, encompassing not only language models but also multimodal, voice, and image generation models, along with related services and development organizations. Kakao has progressively advanced its models, starting with the lightweight Kanana Nano in 2025, followed by Kanana 1.5, which enhances coding, mathematics, and tool invocation capabilities, and Kanana-2, which focuses on agentic AI.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-07-28 09:32:00
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Jin Jong-o vows to resist disciplinary action from People Power Party Jin Jong-o, a member of the People Power Party, stated on July 28 that the party's Central Ethics Committee has initiated disciplinary proceedings against him for supporting independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon in the June 3 by-election. He emphasized that what the People Power Party needs is not coercive disciplinary politics aimed at factionalism, but rather the restoration of public sentiment.In a post on his Facebook page, Jin said, "If walking toward the public sentiment for conservative reconstruction is a crime, I will gladly accept that sin," but added, "If this is a baseless disciplinary action for factionalism, I will firmly resist it."He further asserted, "No power has ever won public sentiment through disciplinary politics," and stressed, "The public will not vote for a party that turns its weapons inward."Jin also expressed his intention to fully explain the circumstances and intentions behind his actions during the ethics committee proceedings, stating, "The evaluation will be made not by them, but by the public and party members."Previously, the ethics committee announced on July 27 that it had begun disciplinary procedures against lawmakers Jo Kyung-tae, Kwon Young-jin, and Jin for supporting Han, who is classified as part of the pro-Han Dong-hoon faction, in the by-election for Busan North Gap.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-07-28 09:32:00
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Amorepacific Integrates 70 Years of Research Data Using AI Amorepacific has established a data system that integrates over 70 years of research and development materials, including raw materials, formulations, and patents, for use by generative artificial intelligence (AI). On July 28, Amorepacific announced the development of its research-focused generative AI service, 'AI Assistant LEMON,' through a collaborative 'Data Highway' project with KT. Since establishing the first cosmetics research lab in South Korea in 1954, Amorepacific has accumulated millions of structured and unstructured research assets, including raw material information, formulation data, research reports, patents, and academic papers. Previously, this data was scattered across individual systems, making it time-consuming to locate and utilize necessary information. To address this, Amorepacific, in partnership with KT, has built an 'AI Data Hub' based on 'AI Ready Data' that allows AI to learn and utilize information instantly. The resulting research-focused large language model (LLM) service, 'LEMON,' assists researchers in quickly and accurately exploring and analyzing the entire process from research and development to production, quality control, and global regulatory compliance. In beta testing conducted with researchers at Amorepacific's R&I Center, the time required for essential research materials and regulatory reviews during the product planning phase was significantly reduced from approximately 12 days to just 5 minutes. Similarly, the analysis of past research history and product applicability for specific raw materials was cut down from 6 days to 5 minutes. Amorepacific plans to enhance LEMON by adding AI agent capabilities, evolving it into a system that not only assists with data searches but also supports research projects. The goal is for AI to handle repetitive information searches and data organization, allowing researchers to focus on formulating new hypotheses and developing product technologies. This platform development is part of Amorepacific's long-term strategy, 'AI First.' The company has been expanding its AI applications across research and customer service, including the launch of the Amore Mall app in March, which allows users to search and compare products within the ChatGPT environment. Seobyeong-hwi, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Amorepacific's R&I Center, stated, "Good AI becomes a research partner only when it encounters good data. In the future, the AI platform will handle repetitive searches and analyses, allowing researchers to concentrate on creative questions and innovation."* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-07-28 09:32:00
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KB Financial Partners with Google to Implement AI Solutions KB Financial Group is partnering with Google Cloud to enhance operational efficiency and customer service through artificial intelligence (AI). On July 28, KB Financial announced a strategic collaboration with Google Cloud. The two companies plan to expand their cooperation in areas such as AI-driven operational innovation, improving customer financial experiences, data-driven decision-making, and building an AI financial platform. KB Financial has developed a data analysis AI agent called 'KB Davis' using Google's generative AI model, Gemini. This service allows employees to ask questions in everyday language and receive analyses based on internal regulations, operational manuals, and product and market data. In the customer service sector, KB Financial will introduce an interactive AI agent named 'KB Star Byeoli.' This agent can understand voice, text, and images to provide product comparisons and personalized portfolio guidance. KB Financial plans to enhance Byeoli into a finance-specialized AI platform by adding real-time translation in over 70 languages, along with features for financial, economic, and lifestyle information. A representative from KB Financial stated, "We aim to apply global AI technology to the financial field to improve operational efficiency and customer convenience." 2026-07-28 09:32:00
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Shinsegae I&C Unveils 'Sparos ScanFree' AI Retail Solution Shinsegae I&C announced the launch of its artificial intelligence (AI) checkout solution, 'Sparos ScanFree,' on July 28. The company aims to accelerate its entry into the domestic and international offline retail AI transformation market by enhancing its AI vision technology-based solutions.The AI checkout solution allows customers to place multiple items on the self-checkout without scanning each product's barcode. According to the company, the previous solution recognized items with 99.5% accuracy in one second, while Sparos ScanFree can identify multiple products simultaneously with 99.9% accuracy in just 0.4 seconds. This innovation reportedly reduces customer wait times by up to nine times compared to standard self-checkout systems.Shinsegae I&C's AI vision-based solution is designed to process data such as images and videos within the store using an edge AI structure, eliminating the need for separate servers or external graphics processing units (GPUs).The number of recognizable product units has expanded to over 5,000 SKUs, including consumer goods and fresh produce like fruits and vegetables. The system can also identify items without barcodes, such as differently shaped breads.An additional feature allows the AI to ask customers for clarification when it encounters ambiguity in judgment. If there are significant similarities in shape or color, the AI presents options for the customer to choose from instead of making a random decision. The AI learns from customer feedback in real-time, improving its recognition accuracy over time.Currently, Sparos ScanFree is implemented in a smart store at the SK Hynix Icheon campus, with discussions underway for deployment in retail locations such as bakeries, convenience stores, and household goods shops.In a store that adopted the 'Sparos ScanCare' solution introduced in 2024, the frequency of customer calls for staff assistance dropped to one-fifth compared to traditional self-checkout operations, as it compares weights before and after checkout.Shinsegae I&C is also intensifying its efforts to penetrate the Asian market, including Japan. With the growing demand for technologies that enhance speed, accuracy, and operational stability in Japan's cashless payment and self-checkout retail market, the company plans to target well-known franchise clients in supermarkets, convenience stores, cafes, and bakeries.CEO Yang Yoon-ji stated, "The success of offline retail AI transformation (AX) depends not just on the introduction of AI solutions but on how accurately and stably stores can operate." She added, "We plan to accelerate our overseas market entry based on our extensive experience accumulated from unmanned stores."Yang also mentioned that the company aims to develop an expandable solution that integrates large language model (LLM) agent functions to support customer service, product guidance, and store operations in the future.Shinsegae I&C is expanding its AI vision-based retail solution business, starting with large-scale unmanned stores. In collaboration with the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency, the company opened a pilot store for the commercialization of fully smart store technology for Emart24 in 2021. It is now enhancing its B2B solution by simply adding AI vision cameras to existing checkouts to reduce costs. 2026-07-28 09:28:00
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Exchange Rate Rises to 1470 Won Amid Risk Aversion The won-dollar exchange rate is trading in the 1470 won range.On July 28, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the exchange rate for the won against the U.S. dollar is 1470.5 won. The rate at 6 a.m. was 1465.2 won, down 3.3 won from the previous trading day.This increase is interpreted as a reflection of heightened risk aversion. The dollar index, which measures the value of the dollar against six major currencies, rose by 0.037% to 101.51.Overnight, the New York stock market showed mixed results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 262.83 points (0.51%) at 52,210.08.The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose by 1.20 points (0.02%) to close at 7,413.18, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell by 43.74 points (-0.18%) to finish at 24,932.08.International oil prices fell sharply. Brent crude for September delivery dropped 8.70% to $88.36 per barrel. September futures for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also plummeted 7.50% to $82.61 per barrel.The exchange rate is expected to face upward pressure. Min Kyung-won, an economist at Woori Bank, stated, "Given the risk aversion stemming from the decline in tech stocks and the strong dollar pressure, we anticipate an increase centered around the high 1460 won range. If the selling trend continues today, following the previous day's significant foreign selling in the domestic market, there is a concern that the dollar buying pressure in the form of custody purchases may intensify during the adjustment process."* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-07-28 09:28:00