KOSPI takes 4% hit for third session in a row, second sidecar activated in a week SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) – The downward spiral continued on the Seoul bourse Friday, with the main and secondary indices sliding more than 4 percent in early trading, triggering a sell-side sidecar for the second time this week. The Korea Exchange said a sell-side sidecar was activated on the main KOSPI board at 9:06 a.m. local time. The measure temporarily suspends program selling for five minutes to help contain excessive price swings. A sell-side sidecar is triggered when K February 6, 2026

Coupang to face another questioning amid US House's probe into 'unfair' practices SEOUL, February 6 (AJP) - Harold Rogers, e-commerce giant Coupang's interim chief in South Korea, is set to appear for another round of questioning in Seoul on Friday over allegations related to a massive data breach detected late last year. Rogers is accused of obstructing official duties by allegedly destroying evidence during an internal investigation into a data leak that affected more than 3,000 users and exposed their sensitive personal information last November. He is February 6, 2026

Naver posts double-digit revenue, profit growth, boosted by AI-driven advertising SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - South Korea’s Naver Corp. reported double-digit growth in revenue and operating profit last year, supported by gains in advertising, e-commerce and fintech businesses, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday. Consolidated revenue for 2025 rose 12.1 percent from a year earlier to 12 trillion won, while operating profit increased 11.6 percent to 2.21 trillion won. Fourth-quarter revenue climbed 10.7 percent on year to 3.2 trillion won, February 6, 2026

South Korea posts record $123 billion current account surplus in 2025 SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - South Korea’s current account surplus reached a record high last year, supported by robust semiconductor exports and rising dividend income from overseas investments, according to central bank data released on Friday. Preliminary balance-of-payments figures from the Bank of Korea showed the country recorded a $18.7 billion current account surplus in December, the largest monthly surplus on record. The surplus marked the 32nd consecutive February 6, 2026

White House has no specific timeline on hiking tariffs on Korean exports SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) -The White House said Thursday that there is no clear timeline for U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff hike on South Korean goods, underscoring continued uncertainty over the future of the bilateral talks despite a flurry of visits by senior Seoul officials. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a press briefing on Thursday said that she could not specify when Washington would raise “reciprocal” and sector-specific t February 6, 2026

Canada's head of defense procurement to visit presidential office on submarine talks SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) -Canada's minister for state for defense procurement Stephen Fuhr will visit the presidential office to hear last-minute pitch from Seoul on the government-sponsored Korea's bid for Canada's multibillion-dollar submarine contract ahead of the final tender submission next month. Fuhr will meet with presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik whom he last met on Jan. 28, when Kang visited Canada as a special envoy of President Lee Jae Myung for February 6, 2026

PHOTOS: Little Europe in northeastern Seoul, Nowon Train Village SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - “Wow, the train is moving!” Children visiting the exhibition during winter break gasp as they watch a miniature train pass through an exotic landscape. Visitors of all ages, from families to adult attendees, pause in front of the meticulously crafted cityscape and lifelike moving models, momentarily immersed in a pocket-sized version of Europe. Opened in 2022, the Nowon Train Village is a railway-themed exhibition space that recr February 5, 2026

More breach revelation, regulation, rivals exacerbate Coupang woes SEOUL, February 05 (AJP) -South Korea’s leading e-commerce platform Coupang said Thursday that the personal data of an additional 165,000 users had been leaked, deepening fallout from a massive breach disclosed last November and intensifying regulatory and political scrutiny. The company said the newly identified cases were part of the original breach, which exposed the personal information of more than 33 million users, and did not involve payment details, login credentials February 5, 2026

Defense officials from Seoul and Beijing meet for first working-level talks in four years SEOUL, February 5 (AJP) - Defense officials from South Korea and China held working-level talks in Beijing on Thursday, their first such meeting in about four years. According to the Ministry of Defense, the South Korean delegation led by Lee Gwang-seok, in charge of the ministry's international policy met with his Chinese counterpart Guo Hongtao. First launched in 1995, the meeting was held for the first time since the last one, which was via Zoom in June 2022. The two si February 5, 2026

Freefall may be looming in Seoul as short selling mounts SEOUL, Feb. 05 (AJP) - “What goes up must come down,” the saying goes — and after a prolonged roller-coaster ride, Korean stocks plunged Thursday as heavy institutional selling triggered a sharp reversal. The immediate cue came from a retreat in U.S. technology shares. But the pullback was hardly unexpected, given the rapid buildup in short-selling positions and growing signs of speculative excess. Both the KOSPI and the secondary KOSDAQ tumbled nearly 4 perce February 5, 2026