KOSPI wipes out prior gains as BOK pauses rate hikes SEOUL, Oct. 22 (AJP) - South Korean stocks fell 3.5 percent on Thursday, wiping out the previous session's gains, as the Bank of Korea paused its rate tightening while leaving the door open to further hikes. The move added pressure to a chip rally that was already losing momentum. The benchmark KOSPI shed 201.89 points or 3.52 percent to close at 5,533.77. Samsung Electronics lost 4.0 percent and SK hynix 5.5 percent as foreigners turned net sellers again after a single day October 22, 2026

South Korea to send letter to UN over DMZ landmine blast SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - South Korea is set to send a letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), urging North Korea to take responsibility for last month's landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that injured three South Korean soldiers and to take appropriate action, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said on Thursday. The letter, to be sent by South Korea's ambassador to the United Nations in New York, will call on Pyongyang to apologize and take respo October 22, 2026

Number of new startups continues to decline SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - The number of new startups has declined for the fifth straight year, raising concerns about the country's entrepreneurial momentum and business growth. According to figures released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Thursday, the number of new startups fell 1.5 percent to 908,000 last year, although the number of active businesses with recorded sales or regular employees rose by 106,000 or 1.4 percent from a year earlier to 7.75 million. The October 22, 2026

Call of Duty's fictional Korean war hits close to home SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - North Korea’s preparations to resume propaganda broadcasts and its recent missile tests have renewed tensions on the Korean Peninsula, alongside accusations that it planted a border mine that wounded three South Korean soldiers. For South Koreans watching the destruction in Ukraine and the Middle East, the prospect of similar devastation reaching their own streets carries a particular dread. For those who survived the 1950–53 Korean War, it also October 22, 2026

Gyeongbokgung filled with hanbok during Hanbok culture week On the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 21, during Hanbok Culture Week, Gyeongbokgung Palace was filled with colorful hanbok. In front of Geunjeongmun Gate, visitors dressed in traditional jeogori jackets and skirts came and went without pause, and under the corridor lined with red pillars, people could be seen taking photos of one another. Foreign tourists in hanbok were also conspicuously numerous. Inside the corridor, three women stood side by side to pose for a photo, while elsewh October 22, 2026

Busan shark returns to canal hours after being guided out SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - A 3-meter shark that spent more than a month trapped in an artificial canal at Busan's North Port returned behind a containment barrier Thursday, hours after authorities had guided it toward open water. The female dusky shark, nicknamed Bukang, was spotted Thursday morning swimming between two barriers near the canal entrance. Authorities had moved her out of the waterway at around 6 p.m. Wednesday during their third rescue attempt. Bukang apparent October 22, 2026

Foreign arrivals near 2025 full-year total by September SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) -Foreign arrivals in South Korea reached 17.11 million through September, closing in on last year’s full-year total, while tourist spending grew at more than double the pace of arrivals. Tourism-related card spending jumped 47.7 percent from a year earlier to 15.94 trillion won in the first nine months, while foreign arrivals rose 21.5 percent, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Thursday. The visitor count was 1.83 million short of the October 22, 2026

Nvidia leans on Korea to ease AI capacity crunch SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - Nvidia is pouring money into suppliers from South Korea to Taiwan to ease a severe shortage of AI hardware capacity, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics the latest company to sign. The U.S. chip designer struck capacity deals with six suppliers in substrates, packaging, testing and optics, aiming to raise substrate supply 2.5 times over three years. Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced Wednesday that it will build jointly funded lines in Sejong and Busan and s October 22, 2026

Hyundai's fully-revamped Tucson tops 15,000 orders on first day of sales SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor's completely revamped Tucson got off to a good start with over 15,000 contracts on the first day of release, the automaker said on Thursday. The sport utility vehicle (SUV), which has undergone a full revamp for the first time in about six years, received 15,045 orders on its first day on sale, surpassing the previous version's first-day record of 10,842 orders when it went on sale in September 2020. Hyundai attributed the strong in October 22, 2026

Yonsei University data breach affects over 10,000 people SEOUL, October 22 (AJP) - More than 10,000 people, including students and alumni of Yonsei University in Seoul, have had their personal information exposed in a cyberattack on the institution's online portal, the university announced Thursday, marking the latest in a series of data breaches across South Korea. In a notice issued on Thursday, the university's Office of Information and Communications confirmed that unauthorized external access to its Yonsei Portal Service ha October 22, 2026