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  SK hynix best-yet Q4 and 2025 income, beating consensus and Samsung Elec SEOUL, January 28 (AJP) -SK hynix, leveraging its dominant lead in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) powering hyperscalers and AI accelerators, delivered its strongest-yet quarterly and annual results and expects further gains this year as global memory revenue approaches $1 trillion. According to a regulatory filing Tuesday, operating income for the quarter ended December surged to 19.17 trillion won ($13.5 billion), up 68 percent from the previous quarter and 137 percent from a year January 28, 2026
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  Hanwha Life Sells $25 Million in Performance-Based Retirement Annuities in 6 Months Hanwha Life said Tuesday that sales of three performance-based retirement pension insurance products reached about 25 billion won in the six months since their launch. As of the end of December 2025, that marks a 397% increase from the 6.3 billion won in assets under management across five existing performance-based insurance funds, the company said. Hanwha Life attributed the growth to product designs that reflect major pension funds’ asset-allocation strategies and to investor confidence January 28, 2026
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  Rubio Warns U.S. Could Use Force in Venezuela if Other Options Fail U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to warn that the Trump administration could take additional military action if Venezuela’s transitional government fails to meet U.S. expectations. According to The Associated Press, Rubio said in prepared remarks released by the State Department ahead of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Venezuela scheduled for Tuesday that the United States is “prepared to use force to secure maximum cooperation if other methods fail.” “I hope it January 28, 2026
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  SK hynix posts record annual operating profit of 47.2 trillion won SK hynix reported an annual operating profit of 47.2 trillion won, its highest on record.* This article has been translated by AI. January 28, 2026
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  South Korean lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong sentenced to 2 years for illegal political funds People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong, who was arrested and indicted on charges of receiving illegal political funds from the Unification Church, was sentenced in a first trial to two years in prison. The Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 27, led by Presiding Judge Woo In-sung, held a sentencing hearing at 4 p.m. on Tuesday for Kwon on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. The court also ordered forfeiture of 100 million won. Kwon was accused of taking 100 mi January 28, 2026
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  SK hynix to Return 2.1 Trillion Won to Shareholders Through Dividends SK hynix said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it will carry out a large-scale shareholder return program totaling 2.1 trillion won, citing financial capacity secured through record results. The company decided on an additional dividend of 1 trillion won, or 1,500 won per share. Including its existing quarterly dividend, it set the year-end dividend at 1,875 won per share. Total dividends for 2025 will be 3,000 won per share, bringing the overall payout to about 2.1 trillion won. January 28, 2026
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  Lotte Wellfood Launches Premium Ghana Winter Berry Chocolates With Kim Yuna Campaign Lotte Wellfood has unveiled an ad campaign featuring Kim Yuna for its “Premium Ghana” line as it targets the winter dessert market. Lotte Wellfood said Tuesday it released the campaign alongside the launch of three limited-edition winter products. The campaign follows a teaser video released in December after Kim was named the brand ambassador. The main campaign consists of three videos highlighting the limited-edition “Triple Berry,” “Cookie Berry” and “Langue de Chat Cheese Berry.” The January 28, 2026
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  Kim Keon Hee Gets 1 Year, 8 Months in Trial; Key Issues for Appeal A special prosecutor who sought a 15-year prison term for Kim Keon Hee ended up with a first-trial sentence of 1 year, 8 months. The Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 27 found Kim not guilty of violating the Capital Markets Act (alleged conspiracy in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case) and the Political Funds Act, and convicted her only in part on charges of receiving money or valuables in return for influence under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Cr January 28, 2026
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  SK hynix posts record quarterly operating profit of 19.2 trillion won in Q4 SK hynix posts 19.2 trillion won in Q4 operating profit, a quarterly record* This article has been translated by AI. January 28, 2026
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  Vietnam Streamlines Rail Approval Process to Speed Infrastructure Projects Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction has abolished and adjusted some administrative procedures in the rail sector to speed up rail infrastructure development. Vietnam’s government website reported on Jan. 22 that the ministry eliminated several rail-related procedures effective Jan. 1. The changes follow Decision No. 2,267 (2,267/QD-BXD), announced by the ministry on Dec. 10. Under the decision, the ministry’s approval process for commercialization policy for rail line-connection project January 28, 2026