H.PIO stock bolstered by stock retire scheme SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) -South Korean health supplement maker H.PIO's shares rose Monday after the company announced plans to cancel all of its treasury shares. Its shares closed 2.64 percent higher at 2,135 won ($1.54) on the KOSDAQ. The KOSDAQ-listed company said its board approved the cancellation of 191,003 common shares, according to a regulatory filing Monday. The cancellation is scheduled for Sept. 11. The cancellation represents about 0.46 percent of its 41.29 millio August 24, 2026

Lee accepts justice minister's resignation SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung on Monday accepted the resignation of Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho, who offered to step down about a week ago, citing worsening health. During a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Lee accepted Jung's resignation and that the government would promptly name a successor to "avoid disruptions" in state affairs. Jung, a close aide to Lee, submitted his resignation last Tuesday August 24, 2026

KAIST develops technique to detect fast charging damage SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - Fast charging can damage an electric vehicle battery in ways that standard capacity measurements do not reveal, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday, after building a three-dimensional virtual replica of the interior of a commercial lithium-ion cell. In a graphite electrode 50 micrometers thick, slightly less than the width of a human hair, shifting the adhesive that binds the electrode together from an even spr August 24, 2026

U.S. artillery setbacks open door for Korea's K9  SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - U.S. artillery helped South Korea withstand North Korea's invasion in the Korean War. More than seven decades later, the U.S. Army is testing a South Korean gun to help modernize its own firepower. The U.S. Army's decision to select Hanwha Aerospace's K9-based artillery system for prototype testing is more than a breakthrough for the South Korean defense company. It also reflects years of difficulty modernizing U.S. artillery after repeated deve August 24, 2026

Samsung buyback disappointment pushes KOSPI down 3.1% SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI plunged 3.1 percent Monday as Samsung Electronics' record shareholder-return plan disappointed investors, triggering heavy selling in large-cap technology stocks even as the broader KOSDAQ market rose. The KOSPI shed 215.99 points to 6,696.96. Foreign investors sold a net 3.68 trillion won ($2.66 billion) and institutions sold 1.29 trillion won ($936 million), while individuals bought 3.32 trillion won ($2.40 billion) August 24, 2026

Won hits 11-month high, Korean bonds rally as stocks tumble SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - The South Korean won strengthened to an 11-month high against the dollar on Monday. Government bonds also rallied as stocks tumbled and foreign investors bought bond futures. The won strengthened 4.1 won from the previous session to close daytime trading at 1,382.4 per dollar, compared with Friday's 1,386.5. The currency briefly strengthened to 1,376.5 during the session and extended its advance for a seventh straight trading day, the longest such str August 24, 2026

Korea's 5-year bond auction split raises demand concerns SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - South Korea's new five-year government bond auction produced a wide range of accepted yields on Monday, signaling uneven investor pricing and trimming an earlier rally in the local bond market despite a strong headline bid ratio. The Ministry of Economy and Finance said it completed competitive auctions for both a new five-year Korea Treasury Bond and an existing five-year issue on Monday. The 1.5 trillion won ($1.09 billion) pre-issuance tranche of t August 24, 2026

FSS to hold briefings on revised pharma, biotech disclosure rules SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will hold four briefings in September to help pharmaceutical and biotech companies adapt to new disclosure rules, the financial watchdog said Monday. The sessions are intended to help market participants understand the revised requirements before they take effect, reducing the risk of filing errors that could lead to correction requests and delays in fundraising or listing schedules. The regulator will hold separate August 24, 2026

Kookmin students win forest management AI contest SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - A team of students from Kookmin University has won the top prize at South Korea's inaugural forest artificial intelligence contest by developing a tool that helps private landowners predict 30 years of revenue and carbon absorption. The web service, named MOFOM, addresses a longstanding challenge in South Korean forestry by democratizing access to fragmented government data. By simply entering a land parcel number, forest owners can instantly view econ August 24, 2026

Sovereign AI race pulls world deeper into Nvidia's orbit SEOUL, August 24 (AJP) - When South Korea named the three teams last week that will carry its bid for a homegrown artificial intelligence model, the reward that mattered most was not cash or recognition. It was more Nvidia. The government said on Aug. 18 that SK Telecom, LG AI Research and startup Upstage had cleared the second round of its sovereign AI foundation model contest. For the next stage, each team will receive access to roughly 1,000 Nvidia B200 graphics processing units August 24, 2026