Nvidia CEO reaffirms close alliance with SK hynix, unveils plans for next-Gen robotics chip SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang, who has been in Seoul since last Friday, began his day on Monday with a visit to SK Group, where he stressed Nvidia's "deepening, near-exclusive" reliance on the group for the era of artificial intelligence (AI). He praised SK hynix, an affiliate of SK Group, as a major player in global AI development and announced plans to use its memory in Nvidia's next-generation robotics processors. "I’d like to June 8, 2026

I-DLE to release ninth EP 'We made' in July SEOUL, June 08 (AJP) - K-pop girl group I-DLE will return with its ninth EP, "We made," on July 6, its agency Cube Entertainment said Monday. The agency unveiled a teaser for the album through the five-member group's official social media channels at midnight. "We made" marks I-DLE's first release in six months since the digital single "Mono (Feat. skaiwater)" in January, and its first EP in a little over a year since "We are" in June 8, 2026

Nvidia CEO meets SNU students before wrapping up whirlwind Seoul trip SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who has become the talk of the town due to his high-profile visit to Seoul, met with students at Seoul National University on Monday. Huang attended an on-campus event at the country's top university in southwestern Seoul, where participants were introduced to an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted platform called "OpenClaw." He also delivered a 15-minute lecture on AI technology and its impact on future industries. H June 8, 2026

Protesters block Seoul vote-counting venue for fourth day as rally mood shifts SEOUL, June 08 (AJP) - A protest blocking the entrance to a vote-counting venue for the local elections that took place last week in Seoul entered its fourth day on Monday, as demonstrators gathered outside the handball stadium at Olympic Park in the southern Seoul district of Songpa. Police estimated around 1,600 people remained at the scene, maintaining a blockade of the facility. The crowd had peaked the previous day, swelling from 3,000 at noon to 2 June 8, 2026

Researchers design DNA coatings to control catalyst environments for chemical production SEOUL, June 08 (AJP) - Researchers in South Korea have developed a method to coat chemical catalysts with single-stranded DNA, enabling precise control over the surrounding chemical environment to improve hydrogen and chemical production, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Sunday. The research team, led by Professor Park Ji-min from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)'s department of chemical and biomolecular engineering, app June 8, 2026

KOSPI plunges over 8% as chip stocks slide SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI closed down 8.3 percent on Monday, shedding 676.18 points to 7,484.41 in one of its steepest single-day falls on record, after a U.S. semiconductor rout tripped circuit breakers on both of Seoul's main markets and gutted the chip giants that anchor the index. Samsung Electronics collapsed 10.2 percent to 295,500 won (US$192.4) and SK Hynix fell 7.7 percent to 1,911,000 won, the two memory-chip makers alone accountin June 8, 2026

Shinsegae chief to take helm of retail and real estate arms SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - Shinsegae Group chairman Chung Yong-jin will take the chief executive roles at two core affiliates, retailer E-mart and developer Shinsegae Property, a move the group framed as answering market demands that he be directly accountable for the businesses he leads. The decision places the chairman atop both the group's retail backbone and the unit driving its push into artificial intelligence infrastructure, following a controversy at its Starbucks Korea opera June 8, 2026

Fear of rate hikes drives corporate lending surge in Q1 SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - Corporate loans in South Korea grew the most since the third quarter of 2022, as companies increased borrowing in the first three months of this year, according to data released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Monday. Outstanding industrial loans by deposit-taking institutions stood at 2,061.8 trillion won (US$1.33 trillion) at the end of March, up 35.6 trillion won from the previous quarter. The increase widened sharply from an 8.5 trillion won gain in the fourt June 8, 2026

For Nvidia CEO, South Korea is where story keeps turning SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - In the early 2000s, as the story goes, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang walked the cramped aisles of Seoul's Yongsan electronics market himself, a then-obscure chip merchant doling out his business cards, courting the distributors who might stock his graphics cards. Just last weekend, he returned to the gaming world that first bought what he was selling — this time as the most courted man in artificial intelligence. The Nvidia CEO made his way to a PC parlo June 8, 2026

Kakao recovers after hitting one-year low, but investors remain skeptical of AI push SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - Kakao fell to 37,600 won on Monday morning, hitting a fresh 52-week low before recovering much of the decline. The sharp swings suggested that investors remain unconvinced that the messaging giant's push into artificial intelligence is driving the user engagement needed to support a recovery. Roughly 96,700 retail investors holding the stock remain deep in the red, sitting on an average loss of more than 50 percent against an average purchase price of 83, June 8, 2026