KOSPI leads Asian rally on institutional buying SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark stock index surged Wednesday on institutional chase after a potential generous payouts by chip bellwethers. The KOSPI gained 233.51 points or 3.68 percent to 6,579.04 as Samsung Electronics climbed 16,000 won, or 6.7 cent, to 255,500 won and SK hynix 5.5 percent,to 1.504 million won. The advance far outpaced gains across the region, where Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.8 percent to 67,524.06 and Shanghai's composite inde August 12, 2026

Samsung Securities liable for phantom-share losses, top court rules SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) - South Korea's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Samsung Securities was vicariously liable for employee negligence behind its 2018 "phantom-share" debacle, broadening the legal basis for compensation while leaving a 1.87 billion won ($1.3 million) award to the National Pension Service unchanged. A four-justice panel of the Supreme Court, with Justice Oh Kyeong-mi as the justice in charge, rejected appeals from both sides and upheld a lower cour August 12, 2026

Samsung Elec payout hopes lift KOSPI more than 2% SEOUL, August 12 (AJP) -Seoul's main index jumped more than 2 percent in early trade Wednesday as foreign and institutional money returned to large-cap stocks on speculation that chip bellwethers could sharply increase shareholder payouts. The KOSPI traded at 6,484.59, up 2.2 percent from Tuesday's close of 6,345.53, while the junior KOSDAQ reversed course and fell 1.5 percent to 845.18. The rally was narrow. Decliners outnumbered advancers 473 to 357 on the main board, w August 12, 2026

KOSDAQ roars back as leveraged bets unwind SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) — South Korea's long-neglected KOSDAQ is suddenly outrunning its bigger sibling and major stock markets around the world, gaining 19 percent in the first seven trading sessions of August as investors look beyond the leveraged chip trade that dominated the first half. The junior market closed Tuesday at 857.84, up 19.2 percent from 719.76 at the end of July. The benchmark KOSPI, by contrast, has lost 3.8 percent over the same period to 6,345.53. August 11, 2026

KOSPI closes higher as record August exports lift chip stocks SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - South Korean stocks closed higher on Tuesday, buoyed by record exports in early August that lifted semiconductor shares, although lingering uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz limited gains. The benchmark KOSPI rose 0.73 percent to 6,345.53, extending gains for a second straight session. The index opened 0.95 percent lower at 6,240.06 before reversing course, though gains remained limited through much of the session. The turnaround came after stronger e August 11, 2026

Korea's won, bonds buck global trend after stocks dominate H1 SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - The KOSPI and chip stocks sucked up capital and attention in the first half, but as the second half gets under way, it is the Korean won and bonds that are bucking the global trend and gaining ground. Whether that strength can last is less certain. Their divergence from U.S. markets rests partly on short-covering in bonds and expectations of corporate dollar conversions supporting the won — forces that could prove temporary. The U.S. 10-year Treasur August 11, 2026

Crowded leverage turns Kospi boom into bust SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) — South Korea’s spectacular stock bull run has ridden increasingly on borrowed money, with retail leverage growing at nearly twice the U.S. pace, heavily concentrated in a handful of large-cap stocks and turning the rally into an increasingly high-stakes bet. Outstanding margin loans reached 36.7 trillion won ($25.7 billion) at the end of June, 5.5 times the 6.7 trillion won recorded at the end of 2016, according to a report by Lee Hyo-sub, a sen August 11, 2026

KOSPI reverses early losses as KOSDAQ extends recent rally SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - South Korean stocks reversed early losses Tuesday morning, with the benchmark KOSPI edging higher and the junior KOSDAQ gaining more than 1 percent as buying in construction and semiconductor equipment shares offset pressure from higher oil prices and renewed tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The main index traded 0.3 percent higher at 6,321 as of around 10:30 a.m., after falling more than 1 percent earlier in the session. It moved between a low of 6,213.7 August 11, 2026

Google overtakes Naver in South Korea on AI feature SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - Google has overtaken Naver, South Korea's dominant internet portal, in monthly mobile users for the first time, as artificial intelligence (AI) begins to change how Koreans search for information online. The Google app had 47.02 million monthly active users (MAUs) in July, slightly ahead of Naver's 46.85 million, according to Mobile Index data released Tuesday by South Korean data analytics firm IGAWorks. The gap was about 178,000 users, marking t August 11, 2026

SK hynix emerges as a whale in Korea's thin debt waters SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - SK hynix, a dominant force in South Korea’s stock market, is now looming large over its debt market as its AI-fueled cash bonanza gives the chipmaker the deep pockets to gobble up entire bond offerings. Market participants estimate its purchases of bonds and commercial paper this year at as much as 40 trillion won ($28.2 billion), with individual orders reportedly ranging from 100 billion won to 300 billion won. In some cases, SK hynix has taken e August 10, 2026