Ten years on, Türkiye's fallen answer roll call ANKARA, July 15 (AJP) - The name of a dead man rang out over a sunbaked park in Ankara on Wednesday, and thousands of voices answered for him. "Burada!" the crowd shouted. Here. Present. Another name followed, and another answer. It went on 253 times, once for each person killed on the night of July 15, 2016, when a faction of the Turkish military tried to seize the state and the public walked into gunfire to stop it. To a foreign ear, the word sounded uncannily like July 16, 2026

Inside South Korea's making of a chip republic This is the first installment of AJP's Chip Republic series, examining how South Korea is reshaping its industrial landscape around semiconductors and artificial intelligence. SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - South Korea has rarely drawn as much scrutiny as it does now, as it emerges as the epicenter of the memory chips fueling the AI industrial revolution. Two companies — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — account for roughly 40 percent of the country's record expo July 16, 2026

Failed UAM demo exposes long road ahead for Korea's flying taxi SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - South Korea's vision of launching urban air mobility services within two years suffered an awkward reality check Wednesday after the country's first public demonstration of a domestically developed air taxi failed to get off the ground. The unmanned aircraft remained firmly on the ground despite three attempts to take off during the K-UAM Flight Showcase at Incheon National University's INU Innovation Center. Organizers eventually called off th July 15, 2026

Homeplus tenants protest in Seoul as ailing supermarket chain on verge of going bust SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - More than 50 small business owners operating inside ailing supermarket chain Homeplus staged a protest in central Seoul on Wednesday. In a rally that gathered Homeplus-linked merchants and tenants from across the country, they demanded the government guarantee their right to continue operating and ensure payment of their unpaid dues. The massive rally came after Homeplus, whose court rehabilitation was terminated last week, abruptly s July 15, 2026

Korean sovereign bonds emerges as Asia's standout bond trade: MarketAxess SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) — While foreign investors have grown increasingly selective across Asia's bond markets, South Korea has emerged as the region's lone standout, attracting uninterrupted monthly inflows into government debt as global funds bet on the country's semiconductor-driven economy and forthcoming inclusion in one of the world's most influential sovereign bond indexes. "Korea has certainly been an interesting market when we look at Korean Treasu July 15, 2026

KOSPI climbs back above 7,000 as foreign investors snap up semiconductor shares SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - South Korean stocks led gains across Asia on Wednesday as softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data and ASML's stronger earnings, higher guidance and chipmaking capacity expansion plans fueled broad-based buying, with foreign investors piling into semiconductor shares. The benchmark KOSPI surged 6.24 percent or 427.58 points to close at 7,284.41, rebounding above 7,000 just two days after falling below the level earlier this week. Foreign investors bough July 15, 2026

Hyosung bucks trend with recruitment drive exclusively for humanities majors SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - Hyosung Group on Wednesday launched a hiring drive open exclusively to graduates who majored in the arts and humanities. Job seekers with bachelor's or master's degrees in fields like history, philosophy, aesthetics, and language and literature can apply until July 22. The move is the first of its kind since the multi-industry conglomerate's founding in 1966, as many of South Korea's major companies are scaling back entry-level recruitment, July 15, 2026

Lee orders swift measures for single-stock leveraged ETFs amid market volatility SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday ordered financial authorities and the Korea Exchange to swiftly draw up measures for leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix amid concerns over heightened stock-market volatility. The matter is expected to be discussed Thursday at a meeting of South Korea's four main economic and financial authorities, commonly known as the F4, as regulators consider stronger protection for inve July 15, 2026

Grounded by silence: Waiting for Korea's flying future INCHEON, July 15 (AJP) - The future of Korean aviation spent Wednesday sitting quietly on a launch pad. It was supposed to rise above Songdo's skyline at 10 a.m. Instead, it never left the ground. Long before the scheduled demonstration, spectators, engineers, investors and journalists gathered outside the INU Innovation Center at the University of Incheon. A steady drizzle swept across the flight zone as umbrellas dotted the viewing area, prompting quiet speculation over whe July 15, 2026

Exports of eco-friendly vehicles top 100,000 units for first time in June SEOUL, July 15 (AJP) - Exports of eco-friendly vehicles surpassed 100,000 units for the first time last month, according to a report released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on Wednesday. South Korea's auto exports hit a record US$6.71 billion in June, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier and the highest level ever for the month. Eco-friendly vehicles led the growth, with exports surging 35.4 percent to 102,554 units, surpassing 100,000 units in monthly shipmen July 15, 2026