Asian stocks rally as renewed AI optimism lifts KOSPI above 5,800 SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Asian stocks opened higher on Wednesday, with South Korea's benchmark KOSPI rising nearly 3 percent to surpass the 5,800 mark, as renewed optimism over AI-related investment and record earnings from chipmaker SK hynix boosted investor sentiment. In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI jumped 2.93 percent to 5,803.37 in morning trading, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ rose 3.15 percent to 767.28 as of around 9:10 a.m. The rally followed another strong session on Wa October 28, 2026

Korea's hacking spreads to brokerages and crypto SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Data-leak reports have become more or less a daily affair in South Korea this month with a brokerage, an asset manager and a cryptocurrency exchange becoming the latest to join a growing list of financial businesses hit by cyberattacks. Daishin Securities said Wednesday that personal and credit information belonging to 38,490 customers had been leaked. Mirae Asset Asset Management was also reported to have suffered a hacking incident, with authorities asses October 28, 2026

Solidigm 'in talks' to build new US chip plant SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Solidigm, the California-based subsidiary of South Korean chipmaker SK hynix is "in talks" with the U.S. Department of Commerce over a plan to invest US$45 billion in a new chip plant, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The proposed plant could significantly expand Solidigm's manufacturing operations in the U.S. as demand for data storage continues to grow amid the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven boom. The project's total inves October 28, 2026

North Korean troops gaining modern combat experience: US commander SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - North Korean troops deployed to support Russia's war in Ukraine are gaining valuable battlefield experience that could strengthen Pyongyang's military capabilities and pose a future security challenge to South Korea and the U.S., Axios reported on Tuesday, citing a senior U.S. military chief. "As we all are observing and watching how war is changing in Ukraine and in the Middle East, the North Koreans are, absolutely, doing that too," Lt. October 28, 2026

Nvidia's Madison Huang to make fourth Korea trip this year SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Madison Huang, a senior director at Nvidia and the daughter of its chief executive Jensen Huang, will visit South Korea next month for the fourth time this year, according to industry sources Wednesday. Huang runs product marketing for Nvidia's Omniverse and robotics businesses. She is due to attend Nvidia AI Day Seoul 2026 at COEX on Nov. 9-10. She will not give a presentation but is expected at key meetings, and any talks with Korean executives hav October 28, 2026

UPDATE: SK hynix Q3 OP tops $63B,more shareholder rewards *Updated with additional information from company release and stock market quotes. SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - SK hynix cemented its dominance in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market crucial to powering artificial intelligence chips, reporting a fresh record quarterly operating profit of 83.33 trillion won ($62.9 billion) on Wednesday and signaling a strong earnings run for at least next two years, given its fat order backlog. The South Korean memory chipmaker posted revenue of October 28, 2026

Kazakhstan, China discuss boosting oil supplies SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) - Kazakhstan and China held talks in Astana on Tuesday on increasing oil supplies and expanding pipeline capacity, as the Kazakh government pressed to speed up joint energy projects with China National Petroleum Corporation, China's largest oil and gas producer. First Deputy Prime Minister Nurlybek Nalibayev chaired the meeting, the fifth held by the two countries' working group on oil and gas cooperation, the Kazakh government's press service s October 28, 2026

Fire at Seoul's last shantytown extinguished after 13 hours, no casualties SEOUL, October 28 (AJP) -It took nearly 13 hours to fully extinguish a fire that swept through Guryong Village, a sprawling shantytown tucked away in the affluent Gangnam district of southern Seoul, leaving more than 100 residents displaced and one person injured. Fire authorities declared the blaze fully extinguished at 4:39 a.m. Wednesday, 12 hours and 49 minutes after it broke out in a makeshift structure in District 2 of the village at around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters October 28, 2026

Seoul says North Korean artillery near Gimpo is not new weaponry SEOUL, October 27 (AJP) - South Korea said Tuesday that North Korean artillery spotted near Gimpo was older weaponry, not the new military systems Pyongyang had threatened to deploy. The clarification came after North Korean artillery, believed to be 122-mm self-propelled howitzers, was photographed near the coast of Kaepung County in North Korea, directly across from Gimpo in Gyeonggi Province. Photos taken Sunday from Aegibong Observatory, about 1.5 kilometers from North Korean October 27, 2026

Fire spreads through Seoul's Guryong Village, no casualties yet SEOUL, October 27 (AJP) - A fire that broke out in Guryong Village, dubbed as the last shantytown in the affluent part of southern Seoul, spread to a nearby hillside as of Tuesday evening, prompting a Level 2 emergency response and traffic restrictions ahead of the evening rush hour. The fire started in District 2 at around 3:50 p.m. and rapidly spread to District 1 until changing winds pushed the flames southward toward Districts 3, 5 and 7, fire authorities s October 27, 2026