Guard ceremony returns to Gyeongbokgung A royal guard-changing ceremony takes place at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Jongno District, Seoul, on Aug. 10, as the prolonged heat wave eases following Ipchu, the traditional start of autumn. The ceremony, which had been suspended due to extreme heat, resumed on Aug. 8 after Seoul lifted its highest-level heat wave alert. August 10, 2026

Inside Koreas' chip republic: Samsung's AI future starts at 3:45 a.m. This is the second installment of AJP's Chip Republic series, offering a rare first-hand look inside Samsung Electronics' next-generation fab construction site as the chip giant races to defend its technological supremacy. PYEONGTAEK, August 10 (AJP) - At 3:45 a.m., with the worst of the day's heat still hours away, Samsung Electronics' race to build its next great semiconductor factory is already underway. Temporary food stalls appear in the darkness outside P5 August 10, 2026

KOSDAQ surges as leveraged ETF frenzy cools SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) -South Korea's junior market staged a strong comeback Monday, leaping nearly 7 percent to push its gain so far this month toward 20 percent. The KOSDAQ closed at 854.47, up 55.66 points, or 7.0 percent. Its bigger sibling KOSPI added 40.89 points to close at 6,299.66, up 0.7 percent, with the advance built on utilities, defense, shipbuilding and battery names rather than semiconductors. The broader spread of gains came as a speculative frenzy in single- August 10, 2026

Korean gaming industry's love-hate affair with AI SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - South Korean gamers are famously hard to please, putting almost anything new through a punishing stress test. Few newcomers have received a colder welcome than artificial intelligence — loathed when players can see it, yet increasingly indispensable to the people making the games. Korean game developer Shift Up posted a music video for one of its own titles on July 31. Within days, fans had a word for it: slop. The clip for "Wanna Be in Love August 10, 2026

BTS 'ARIRANG' tour turns city stops into civic events SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) -K-pop megastars BTS are turning their "ARIRANG" world tour into more than a stadium run, with cities from Toronto to Mexico City and Paris rolling out civic honors and tourism campaigns to capitalize on the group's global drawing power. City councils, governors and even national leaders are treating BTS concert stops as public events, tourism opportunities and highly visible gestures of welcome. Toronto's city council recently reviewed August 10, 2026

EcoPro BM higher as $900 million fundraising backs nickel project SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) —Shares of KOSDAQ-listed battery materials maker EcoPro BM rose Monday after the company spelled out how it would use proceeds from its 1.2 trillion won ($850 million) rights offering, with nearly two-thirds earmarked for a nickel smelter project in Indonesia. As of 2:55 p.m., the stock was trading at 114,300 won ($81), up 6.82 percent, after rising as high as 115,400 won earlier in the day. According to a revised securities registration statement fi August 10, 2026

Krafton turns PUBG danger zone into summer escape SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - Krafton will open a summer-themed pop-up event called "Blue Zone" at its PUBG-branded space PUBG Seongsu in Seoul starting Tuesday. The event reimagines the in-game "blue zone" — a shrinking boundary that threatens players in the battle royale title Battlegrounds — as a refuge from the summer heat. The venue will host a collaborative exhibition featuring international artists from The Jaunt project and Busan-based Union Gal August 10, 2026

Economic outlook remains uncertain despite strong chip exports: KDI SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - Exports of semiconductors, driven by the artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled memory chip boom, are boosting South Korea's economic recovery, but uncertainty at home and abroad remains as high prices and slowing employment continue to cloud the outlook, a state-run think tank said. In its economic outlook released on Monday, the Korea Development Institute said, "Exports and facility investment posted strong gains, supported in part by robust deman August 10, 2026

Culture ministry, YouTube pledge closer ties on Korean creator content SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - Korea's culture ministry and YouTube agreed Monday to strengthen cooperation around Korean creators, signaling that short-form and creator-led video are being treated less as a side channel and more as a growing part of the country's content industry. Kim Young-soo, first vice minister of culture, sports and tourism, met with YouTube Vice President of Product Woojin Kim at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul to discuss ways August 10, 2026

Korean investors return to U.S. stocks without deserting KOSPI SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) -South Korea’s campaign to draw investor money back home has failed to break the country’s appetite for U.S. stocks, with overseas buying resuming in June and accelerating through early August, even without easing up on buying at home. Nonfinancial corporations and other investors — a Bank of Korea category that includes households and companies outside the financial sector — sold a net $525.7 million of overseas equities in the sec August 10, 2026