Korean ETF investors turn westbound again SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) — South Korea's home-market ETF frenzy is turning west again as the KOSPI's months-long stall cools enthusiasm for domestic products and sends asset managers back toward U.S. artificial intelligence, semiconductor and broader equity themes. Overseas-focused products accounted for 40.5 percent of ETFs launched since July, up from about 27.3 percent in the first half of the year, according to Korea Exchange data. Of 37 ETFs listed since July, 15 September 21, 2026

Devil's in the details at Trump-Xi summit SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have a crowded table for their summit this week, ranging from trade, artificial intelligence and critical minerals to Taiwan and the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. Both leaders also arrive with domestic and geopolitical pressures of their own, raising the stakes for a meeting where the easier task may be producing headline agreements and the harder one making them stick. The immediate September 21, 2026

Care leavers remain on South Korea's social periphery SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - Home is easily taken for granted. Some people grow up never quite knowing what it means to have one. A Korean activist in her 20s, who asked not to be named because she does not want her childhood history to follow her into adulthood, is one of them. When she was six or seven, she and her younger sibling were placed in a residential child care facility after their father found himself unable to raise them alone. She remained in institutional care in September 21, 2026

Westinghouse stake hits snag between Seoul, Washington SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - South Korea's stake in Westinghouse Electric may be capped at about 7 percent, well below the 15 to 20 percent Seoul had sought, government sources said on Monday. A stake that small would likely leave the country without a seat on the U.S. reactor maker's board. Seoul had pushed for a board seat and voting rights, hoping to improve on the terms it accepted in its Czech reactor deal and gain an edge in future overseas bids. The stake is part September 21, 2026

Trump-Xi summit puts Korea's won, bonds on yuan-Treasury watch SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - The Trump-Xi summit this week will put South Korea's won and bond markets on watch for two signals with an outsized influence on Seoul, the direction of China's yuan and the appetite for U.S. government debt. The won closed Monday at 1,381.0 per dollar, 2.3 won stronger than Friday, while China's yuan strengthened as far as 6.6957 per dollar, its strongest level in more than three and a half years. U.S. Treasury yields remain near levels th September 21, 2026

Viet Nam joins FTSE Russell's emerging-market index SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - Viet Nam joined FTSE Russell's secondary emerging market benchmark on Monday, a move expected to attract up to US$6 billion into the country's stock market. The global index provider upgraded Viet Nam from frontier-market status after years of reforms aimed at improving foreign investor access, placing the Southeast Asian market alongside China and India in the category. The inclusion will take place in four stages through 2027 to limit market September 21, 2026

Will Xi's Washington visit bring North Korea back to dialogue table? SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - A busy week of global diplomacy lies ahead as the world's major powers face a familiar but increasingly difficult challenge of managing a growing number of conflicts while their own rivalries deepen. In New York, the U.N. General Assembly will bring world leaders together as conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine continue to grind on, adding to a growing sense of fragility in the international order. In Washington, President Donald Trump will meet C September 21, 2026

China's memory ascent turns heads as CXMT races up DRAM ladder SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - The AI chip boom has made unexpected winners, and China is one of them — despite all the U.S. efforts and sanctions to cap China's rise in the chip sector. ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, on Sunday announced mass production of its fifth-generation DRAM manufacturing platform, known as G5, along with two new 24-gigabit LPDDR5X products based on the process. The advance pushes China's top memory chipmaker further into the heavily g September 21, 2026

Esports has the money. Can it run a tournament? SEOUL, September 21 (AJP) - Krafton launched PUBG Asia Stars on Sept. 17 ambitiously dubbed as a new pan-Asian showcase with 48 participants from six regions, a $70,000 purse and a format inspired by the Asian Games. Within two days, it had lost control of the competition. All eight Korean participants boycotted the second day over the handling of suspected cheating. Krafton removed two Vietnamese participants, revoked their PUBG Partner status and, on Sunday, canceled the fi September 21, 2026

KOSPI rises above 7,000 on record chip exports despite foreign selling SEOUL, Sept. 21 (AJP) - Record semiconductor exports lifted South Korea's KOSPI back above 7,000 on Monday. The rally rested largely on domestic institutions and Samsung Electronics, while foreign investors were net sellers again by the close. The benchmark index rose 1.65 percent or 113.49 points to 7,007.72, its first close above the mark since Sept. 9. Samsung jumped 4.98 percent. SK hynix gained only 0.59 percent. Institutions bought a net 1.49 trillion won (US$1.08 bil September 21, 2026