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  Korean Inc. business sentiment for Jan deteriorates SEOUL, December 29 (AJP) -South Korean companies expect business conditions to remain weak in January, with sentiment slipping across both manufacturing and services amid prolonged weakness in construction and steel and early signs of softer demand in semiconductors, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said Monday. The group said its Business Survey Index (BSI) for January is projected at 95.4, down from 98.7 in December. A reading below 100 means more firms expect cond December 29, 2025
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  Earthquake in Taiwan, home to TSMC and Micron fabs, to add boon to Korean chipmakers SEOUL, December 29 (AJP) -A powerful level-4 earthquake in Taiwan, home to a large share of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity, has renewed concerns over supply-chain vulnerability and could ultimately strengthen the competitive position of South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, analysts said. Some semiconductor fabrication plants in Taiwan temporarily halted operations after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck the island on Saturday. Tai December 29, 2025
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  Weak won squeezes Korean airliners, KAL's profit to fall by double digits Weak won squeezes South Korea’s airlines, with Korean Air the lone profit holdout SEOUL, December 29 (AJP) -The Korean won, averaging its weakest level on record this year, has eaten into profitability across South Korea’s airline industry by driving up U.S. dollar-denominated costs for aircraft leases and fuel. According to financial data provider FnGuide, Korean Air’s consolidated operating profit for the year is estimated at 1.40 trillion won ($1.05 billion December 29, 2025
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  OPINION: Korea's markets in 2025: prices surged, structures quietly weakened By the end of 2025, South Korea’s financial markets offered a paradox. Prices moved sharply, yet the system did not break. Equity indices surged, bond yields rose and the won weakened — but none of this tipped into crisis. Beneath the surface, however, the numbers tell a more uneasy story: stability was preserved, but vulnerabilities quietly accumulated. The Bank of Korea’s semiannual Financial Stability Reports capture this duality well. The Financial Stress I December 28, 2025
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  Seoul's bold choice: an opposition woman to police the purse strings SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) -President Lee Jae Myung’s decision announced on Sunday to appoint Lee Hye-hoon — a former opposition lawmaker — as the first minister of the newly created Ministry of Planning and Budget marks a double departure from precedent in South Korean governance. It places both a woman and a political outsider in charge of the state’s most powerful fiscal authority, a domain long dominated by male technocrats drawn from within the governin December 28, 2025
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  President Lee taps conservative veteran Lee Hye-hoon as first budget minister SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has nominated Lee Hye-hoon, a prominent three-term lawmaker from the rival conservative bloc, to lead the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget, the presidential office announced Sunday. The surprise appointment is a rare instance of cross-party recruitment in South Korean politics, signaling a shift toward bipartisan economic governance as the administration prepares to launch a major government reorganizati December 28, 2025
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  Coupang founder apologizes for data breach as government weighs suspension SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - Kim Bom-suk, the founder of South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, released a public apology Sunday regarding a massive data breach, acknowledging the company's failure to communicate promptly with affected users. The statement comes a month after the leak was discovered and amid intensifying scrutiny from regulators, who have signaled that the company could face severe penalties, including a potential suspension of operations. In a statement release December 28, 2025
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  KAIST technology cuts AI service costs by 67 percent using personal GPUs SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - SEOUL, South Korea — Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a technology that significantly reduces the operating costs of large language models (LLMs) by utilizing consumer-grade graphics processing units (GPUs) found in personal computers and mobile devices. The university announced on December 28 that a team led by Professor Han Dong-su from the School of Electrical Engineering has created &q December 28, 2025
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  South Korea's biotech technology exports top 20 trillion won led by platform deals SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - South Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies saw technology exports surge 162 percent to a record $14.5 billion this year, driven by robust demand for platform technologies and new drug candidates. The Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association said Sunday that total non-confidential contract values jumped from $5.5 billion last year, demonstrating the sector's growing global competitiveness. Bio-platform deals led the char December 28, 2025
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  South Korea weighs expanding tax-free 'repatriation' accounts to include bonds and cash SEOUL, December 28 (AJP) - The South Korean government is actively reviewing a plan to expand the scope of its proposed tax-exempt "Return-to-Domestic-Market Accounts" (RIA) to include bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and cash holdings, officials said Sunday, a move designed to accelerate capital repatriation and stabilize the currency. This follows the government's announcement on December 24 that it would waive capital gains taxes on overseas stocks for investors December 28, 2025