Retail investors pour over 200 trillion won into stocks despite sharp market decline SEOUL, August 9 (AJP) - Individual investors poured money into the highly volatile stock market in recent months, with their net purchases exceeding 200 trillion South Korean won (about US$142 billion) this year, data from the Korea Exchange showed on Sunday. Their cumulative net purchases of domestic stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) totaled 201.85 trillion won during the first seven months of this year, more than 15 times the 13.16 trillion won recorded during the same perio August 9, 2026

Coway's overseas business powers double-digit revenue growth SEOUL, August 08 (AJP) - South Korean home appliance rental company Coway reported double-digit revenue growth in the second quarter, driven by robust overseas demand and steady sales of premium products in its home market. Revenue rose 14.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.44 trillion won ($1.04 billion) in the April-June quarter, while operating profit increased 4.3 percent to 253.2 billion won, according to the company. First-half revenue climbed 13.9 percent to 2.77 trillion w August 8, 2026

Naver begins monetizing AI as Kakao prioritizes ecosystem over near-term revenue SEOUL, August 08 (AJP) - South Korea's two largest internet platforms are taking increasingly different approaches to monetizing artificial intelligence, with Naver beginning to generate new advertising revenue from AI-powered search while Kakao focuses on building an AI agent ecosystem before pursuing meaningful revenue growth. Naver said its AI services are already contributing to advertising revenue after integrating sponsored content into AI-powered search features such as August 8, 2026

OpenAI delays Astra rollout as safety review flags potential cyber risks SEOUL, August 08 (AJP) - OpenAI has delayed the development and rollout of its next-generation artificial intelligence model, Astra, after internal safety testing indicated it could pose heightened cybersecurity risks due to its advanced coding capabilities. The company said on Saturday that Astra could qualify for its highest internal risk classification, "Critical," following preliminary safety evaluations that found the model performed significantly better than existi August 8, 2026

How AI sees SK hynix's downfall — and where it goes next SEOUL, August 08 (AJP) - Ask two leading artificial-intelligence chatbots why SK hynix has lost more than half its value from its June peak, and they arrive at a remarkably similar conclusion: the company's business has not collapsed, but the price investors were willing to pay for its extraordinary AI-driven earnings has. AJP separately asked Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's ChatGPT to examine SK hynix's rout in Seoul and New York, including trading flows followin August 8, 2026

South Korea scales back driving tests as heat wave intensifies SEOUL, August 08 (AJP) - South Korea has begun scaling back and suspending portions of its driver's license examinations as an intense heat wave continues to grip the country, prompting authorities to introduce emergency measures to protect test-takers and staff. The Korea Road Traffic Authority said on Saturday that driving skills tests would be concentrated in the cooler morning hours as heat wave warnings remain in effect across much of the country. In the afternoon, the August 8, 2026

South Korea's Lee orders review of ISA, stock-price tax proposals after criticism SEOUL, August 08 (AJP) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered a review of proposed changes to the country's Individual Savings Account (ISA) system and a tax measure aimed at preventing controlling shareholders from suppressing stock prices, following criticism from investors and lawmakers. Lee instructed officials on Friday to reconsider the two proposals included in the government's recently announced tax revision package, according to political sources. T August 8, 2026

Army to replace gun cabinet keys with NFC-based digital locks SEOUL, August 07 (AJP) - The South Korean Army plans to replace traditional keys and handwritten logs used to manage gun cabinets with a digital authentication system, as part of efforts to improve security and reduce administrative work. The Army announced the plan Friday during a logistics policy briefing at its Consolidated Logistics Depot in Sejong, led by Maj. Gen. Ha Heon-cheol, chief of logistics. Under current rules, military gun cabinets are secured with two separate loc August 7, 2026

A tale of two Koreas: one learns war, the other stumbles at the border SEOUL, August 07 (AJP) - North Korea is gaining first-hand experience in drones, artillery and ballistic missiles on the battlefields of Ukraine while South Korea's front-line forces are confronting failures in something more basic: loaded weapons, reporting and command. The contrast is sharpening as Pyongyang expands military cooperation with Russia and continues developing its nuclear and missile arsenal, while Seoul investigates why some troops guarding the world's most August 7, 2026

HMM continues talks on long-term bulk shipping contract SEOUL, August 07 (AJP) - HMM said Friday it is continuing negotiations over a long-term bulk shipping contract and is currently discussing remaining details with the counterparty. In a regulatory filing responding to recent media reports, the South Korean shipping company said it has been in talks to finalize the contract but that no specific terms have yet been confirmed. HMM said it will make another disclosure once concrete details are finalized or within three months. The nex August 7, 2026