Korea bond curve flattens as front-end yields hit multi-year highs SEOUL, Sept. 14 (AJP) — South Korea's government bond curve flattened further Monday as front-end yields climbed to multi-year highs while longer maturities retreated, sharpening expectations for a higher-for-longer tightening path ahead of this week's Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan meetings. The two-year Korean government bond yield ended at 3.932 percent and the three-year at 4.025 percent, their highest levels since Nov. 1, 2023. Longer maturities pulled back September 14, 2026

LG bets on home-grown AI with factory-floor data edge SEOUL, September 14 (AJP) - South Korea's LG Group is preparing to put its homegrown artificial intelligence to work across production lines stretching from hair-loss materials research to home appliances, betting that industrial know-how can matter as much as sheer computing power. Its AI control tower, LG AI Research, has built the EXAONE ecosystem around models that can be tailored to specific industries, run at lower computing costs and, when necessary, operate inside corp September 14, 2026

Korea Exchange opens after-market for KOSPI, KOSDAQ stocks from 4 to 8 PM The Korea Exchange (KRX) After-Market is open at the KRX headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Sept. 14, 2026. Starting Monday, the KRX operates the After-Market for KOSPI- and KOSDAQ-listed stocks from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. AJP Yoo Na-hyun September 14, 2026

KOSPI suffers Asia's worst hit on AI slowdown fears, surging oil prices SEOUL, Sept. 14 (AJP) - A push to slow down artificial intelligence (AI) development and oil prices climbing above US$108 a barrel both landed on South Korea's market at once, leaving it with little room to guard against either. South Korea's benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI closed down 3.3 percent or 225.54 points to close at 6,684. 37, the biggest drop in the region. Tokyo fell 0.8 percent and Shanghai finished close to flat, a gap that comes down to September 14, 2026

Stray Kids headline Brazil's music festival as 1st K-pop act SEOUL, September 14 (AJP) - K-pop boy group Stray Kids drew about 100,000 people at "Rock in Rio," a biennial music festival in Brazil, becoming the first K-pop act to headline the festival, JYP Entertainment said on Monday. They closed out the festival in Rio de Janeiro last Friday. This year's lineup also included Calvin Harris, the Black Eyed Peas, Maroon 5 and Elton John. JYP Entertainment said the festival allowed fan light sticks for the first time since it September 14, 2026

LG Chem pushes into China's chip cleaning materials market SEOUL, September 14 (AJP) - LG Chem has agreed to supply a Chinese specialty chemicals maker with the raw material for an ultra-high-purity solvent used to clean semiconductor wafers. The South Korean company said Monday that it will ship propylene-based isopropyl alcohol from its Yeosu plant, which produces about 165,000 tons a year. Partner Jiangyin Jianghua Microelectronics Materials is to refine it into semiconductor-grade isopropyl alcohol (IPA) for Chinese fabs. Chip fa September 14, 2026

SM join hands with Musinsa for K-pop and K-fashion collabo SEOUL, September 14 (AJP) - K-pop meets K-fashion as SM Entertainment and fashion platform Musinsa team up to expand artist-related marketing and overseas business. SM co-CEO Tak Young-jun and Musinsa Chief Commerce Officer Choi Jae-young signed a memorandum of understanding Monday at SM's headquarters in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. Under the agreement, SM — home to artists including aespa, NCT, RIIZE and Hearts2Hearts — will provide artist intellectual property and wo September 14, 2026

KRX's longer hours may mean a longer grind for retail investors SEOUL, September 14 (AJP) — Seoul's stock market now stretches from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. as the Korea Exchange (KRX) moves to compete with privately run Nextrade, or NXT, giving retail investors more time to trade — and potentially more hours to watch, worry and wager on stocks. The new KRX session runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and replaces the previous after-hours system that matched orders every 10 minutes between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. About 2,400 securities are avail September 14, 2026

AI time-out calls grow just as Korea readies AI jolt SEOUL, September 14 (AJP) - After years of acceleration and frenzied infatuation with generative artificial intelligence, U.S. creators and users are suddenly shouting time-out, with debate spreading among incumbent and former presidents, Silicon Valley and beyond over warnings of a Frankenstein moment and even doomsday for humanity. The sober reckoning, raised most dramatically by former OpenAI and Anthropic researchers, has arrived just as the latest generation of models pushes September 14, 2026

Eastar Jet to launch new daily flight from Busan to Hong Kong next month SEOUL, September 14 (AJP) - Eastar Jet will begin operating flights from South Korea's southern port city of Busan to Hong Kong next month, the budget carrier said on Monday. The daily flight set to be available from Oct. 25 will depart Busan at 9:30 p.m. and arrive in Hong Kong at 12:10 a.m. the following day. Return flights will leave Hong Kong at 2 a.m. and arrive in Busan at 7:05 a.m. The service will be Eastar Jet's second route to Hong Kong, following its curren September 14, 2026