Chip rally pushes KOSPI past 7,200 SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI opened 3.3 percent higher on Tuesday, led by SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, which extended a two-week rally driven by foreign investors, even as most stocks on the main board declined. The index opened at 7,211 on Tuesday, up 233.06 points, in its first session since Friday after Monday's substitute holiday for Liberation Day. Decliners outnumbered advancers 630 to 234, even as the large-cap KOSPI 200 rose 4 percen August 18, 2026

Brain tumor chip predicts which drug works for each patient SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - Patients with the deadliest form of brain cancer usually learn whether a drug works by taking it and waiting for the next scan. A South Korean research team has built a chip that can run that test first, outside the body, using cells taken from the patient's own tumor. The waiting is not free. Glioblastoma kills most patients within 15 months of diagnosis even after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and fewer than five percent live five years. Four August 18, 2026

Trump hints at prospects for talks with North Korea as US scales back joint exercise SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has responded to his overture for talks, describing the current state of U.S.-North Korea relations as "very positive." When asked why Kim had not responded to his calls for talks, Trump pushed back, saying, "How do you know he hasn't responded?" When pressed on whether Kim had in fact responded, Trump replied, "Yeah, he has." But Trump did not p August 18, 2026

Kim Min-seok takes S. Korea's ruling party helm SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - South Korea's governing party handed its leadership on Monday to the man who served as President Lee Jae Myung's first prime minister, giving the president's closest political partner control of the party machine three days after his approval rating fell to the lowest level of his term. Kim Min-seok took 54.08 percent of the vote at the Democratic Party of Korea's national convention in Daejeon, defeating the incumbent leader, Jung Chung-ra August 17, 2026

President Lee sends condolences to Indonesia after quake kills 53 SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung expressed condolences on Monday to victims of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck eastern Indonesia over the weekend, killing at least 53 people. "I cannot contain my sorrow at the news that a powerful earthquake in eastern Indonesia has caused great damage," Lee wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "On behalf of the government of the Republic of Korea, I extend my deep condolences to the victims and bereaved familie August 17, 2026

Third-heaviest rainfall in Korean records kills 1 in southern city SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - Record rainfall along South Korea's southern coast killed one person and injured four on Monday, and the island city of Geoje logged the heaviest single day of rain since observations began there in 1972. Geoje recorded 577.4 millimeters between midnight and 1 p.m., the Korea Meteorological Administration said. Among the 97 surface stations whose records the agency ranks, only two days have produced more, both on Aug. 31, 2002, when Typhoon Rusa droppe August 17, 2026

CJ targets 12 tln won North America sales by 2028 SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - The South Korean conglomerate behind bibigo dumplings, Olive Young beauty stores and the KCON music festival is rebuilding its American operations, betting that people who watch Korean shows will keep buying Korean food and cosmetics. CJ Group has put a number on it, aiming for 12 trillion won ($8.49 billion )in North American revenue in 2028, about a 50 percent increase from more than 8 trillion won it took in there last year. Last year's figure wa August 17, 2026

Korean trade minister flies to US as $200 bln deal snags SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - South Korea's industry minister arrived in Washington on Sunday and said that detailed disputes had surfaced in the final stretch of talks over a $200 billion investment package, casting doubt on a late-August announcement of the first project Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan told reporters at Dulles International Airport on August 16 (local time) that video conferences and working contacts had not resolved the issues and that th August 17, 2026

Trump orders cut to US-S. Korea joint military drill SEOUL, August 17 (AJP) - Hours before South Korea and the United States opened their largest annual exercise, United States President Donald Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military drills on the peninsula, pointing to his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was not happy the U.S. had agreed long ago to take part in the exercises, which he called costly and largely paid for by Washington. He August 17, 2026

Rain eases South Gyeongsang drought but triggers landslide alerts SEOUL, August 16 (AJP) - South Gyeongsang province saw as much as 114.5 millimeters of rain on Sunday, easing a punishing stretch of heat and drought, even as torrential downpours in mountainous areas prompted heightened landslide warnings and scattered flooding. The Korea Meteorological Administration said the heaviest accumulation as of 3 p.m. was recorded at Geumnam in Hadong at 114.5 mm, followed by 99.5 mm on Mount Jiri in Sancheong and 92.5 mm in Hadong, with most key sites lo August 16, 2026