news highlight

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  S.Korea swelters as Yangsan hits record 42.5 degrees Celsius SEOUL, August 02 (AJP) - South Korea buckled under its most brutal heat in more than a century on Sunday, as the southeastern city of Yangsan reached 42.5 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever recorded since modern observation began in 1904. The reading, logged at 1:26 p.m., pushed the country past 42 degrees for the first time in 122 years and marked the third straight day that a national record had fallen. Yangsan has now topped 40 degrees for five consecutive days. Oth August 2, 2026
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  Korea seeks emergency power to slash leverage on single-stock funds SEOUL, August 02 (AJP) - South Korea's financial regulators are moving to arm themselves with emergency authority to unilaterally cut the leverage ratio on single-stock funds, escalating a campaign to tame the wild swings that have gripped the country's stock market. Industry sources say Sunday that the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service they would push an amendment to the capital markets act that would allow authorities to act swiftly to sta August 2, 2026
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  Seoul named global youth's favorite city for fifth straight year SEOUL, August 02 (AJP) - Seoul has been named the world's favorite city among younger travelers for a fifth consecutive year, the city government said, extending a run that has burnished the South Korean capital's standing as a global tourism draw. The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization said Sunday that the city topped the "Favorite Worldwide City" category in the 2026 The Trazees awards, run by U.S.-based travel media outlet Trazee Tr August 2, 2026
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  Samsung slips into the red as LG's appliances hold the 1 trillion won line SEOUL, August 02 (AJP) -South Korea's two largest electronics makers saw their consumer appliance businesses move sharply apart in the first half of 2026, as LG Electronics posted a second straight quarter of profit above 1 trillion won ($693 million) while Samsung Electronics slipped into the red. The operating profit gap between the two firms' comparable home appliance, television and air-conditioning operations came to about 990 billion won in the first quarter and 1.15 t August 2, 2026
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  AI coding tools thin out junior developer ranks, Gartner warns SEOUL, August 02 (AJP) - Hiring of entry-level software developers has fallen sharply as companies lean on artificial-intelligence coding tools to handle routine work, a shift that research firm Gartner warned that could drain the industry's future talent pool. Employment of software developers aged 22 to 25 has dropped by about 20 percent from its late-2022 peak, according to a Stanford University Digital Economy Lab study of payroll records, coinciding with the arrival of Chat August 2, 2026
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  Korean comic wins Eisner Award for first time SEOUL, August 01 (AJP) - A Korean comic has won a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for the first time, marking a milestone for Korean graphic novels in the U.S. comics market. Sanho’s “Purgatory Funeral Cakes,” originally published in Korea as “Funeral Cake Shop Yeonokdang,” won the award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia at the 38th Eisner Awards, according to Comic-Con International. The English edition was translated by Danny August 1, 2026
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  North Korea denounces NATO fuel network overhaul as war preparation SEOUL, August 01 (AJP) - North Korea on Saturday denounced NATO’s plan to modernize its military fuel supply network as an “unprecedented” act of war preparation, accusing the transatlantic alliance of expanding its military reach beyond Europe. The criticism came after NATO approved a 27 billion euro ($31 billion) program to modernize its fuel storage and distribution infrastructure, including pipelines and new facilities in the alliance’s eastern and southe August 1, 2026
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  Korea to import Argentine crude next year as Lee, Milei deepen energy ties SEOUL, August 01 (AJP) - South Korea will begin importing crude oil from Argentina next year as the two countries move to diversify energy supply chains and expand cooperation in critical minerals, the presidential office said Friday. President Lee Jae Myung, who is on an official visit to Argentina, held a summit with Argentine President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires to discuss energy, critical minerals, trade and investment cooperation. The two leaders held a 25-minute preliminary August 1, 2026
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  Korea's July exports hit record near $99 billion as chips soar SEOUL, August 01 (AJP) - South Korea’s exports reached a record high in July, driven by a sharp increase in semiconductor shipments and broad gains across most major export items, the industry ministry said Saturday. Outbound shipments jumped 62.8 percent from a year earlier to $98.89 billion in July, while imports rose 26.5 percent to $68.56 billion, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The country posted a trade surplus of $30.32 billion, remaining above August 1, 2026