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  Seoul sells $3 bn in USD bonds, largest sovereign offering since global financial crisis SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - South Korea on Thursday sold $3 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds in its largest single sovereign offering since the aftermath of global financial crisis, building up the ammunition to defend the local currency while the debt environment remains favorable. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Friday, the government issued $3 billion in foreign exchange stabilization bonds in two tranches: $1 billion in three-year notes and $2 billi February 6, 2026
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  Blockchain expert says adoption in banking is shifting toward financial infrastructure SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - Global financial institutions are increasingly viewing stablecoins and tokenized deposits as essential infrastructure rather than speculative assets, according to Xin Yan, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sign, a blockchain technology company. This shift is driven by the demand for programmable money that can function natively on-chain. Unlike traditional fiat currency, which relies on fragmented legacy systems, on-chain assets allow for direct February 6, 2026
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  Koreans' overseas stock buying nearly matches current account surplus SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - South Korean purchases of overseas stocks tripled from a year earlier to a record high last year, nearly matching the country’s record current account surplus, according to central bank data released on Friday. Preliminary balance-of-payments figures from the Bank of Korea (BOK) showed South Korean residents bought $114.3 billion worth of foreign equities in 2025, up $72.2 billion from the previous year. That amounted to 92.9 percent of t February 6, 2026
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  Regional winner becomes this week's biggest loser due to foreign selloff SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - Markets across Asia flashed red Friday following a broad Wall Street pullback, with hitherto regional winner Korean stocks hardest hit by a global institutional selling spree. Losses in AI and big-tech shares on Nasdaq loomed over the KOSPI amid a decisive position shift by domestic and foreign institutions this week, setting off the second sell-side sidecar this week. Traders said the correction was inevitable after an almost nonstop rally this year February 6, 2026
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  KOSPI takes 4% hit for third session in a row, second sidecar activated in a week SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) – The downward spiral continued on the Seoul bourse Friday, with the main and secondary indices sliding more than 4 percent in early trading, triggering a sell-side sidecar for the second time this week. The Korea Exchange said a sell-side sidecar was activated on the main KOSPI board at 9:06 a.m. local time. The measure temporarily suspends program selling for five minutes to help contain excessive price swings. A sell-side sidecar is triggered when K February 6, 2026
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  More breach revelation, regulation, rivals exacerbate Coupang woes SEOUL, February 05 (AJP) -South Korea’s leading e-commerce platform Coupang said Thursday that the personal data of an additional 165,000 users had been leaked, deepening fallout from a massive breach disclosed last November and intensifying regulatory and political scrutiny. The company said the newly identified cases were part of the original breach, which exposed the personal information of more than 33 million users, and did not involve payment details, login credentials February 5, 2026
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  Freefall may be looming in Seoul as short selling mounts SEOUL, Feb. 05 (AJP) - “What goes up must come down,” the saying goes — and after a prolonged roller-coaster ride, Korean stocks plunged Thursday as heavy institutional selling triggered a sharp reversal. The immediate cue came from a retreat in U.S. technology shares. But the pullback was hardly unexpected, given the rapid buildup in short-selling positions and growing signs of speculative excess. Both the KOSPI and the secondary KOSDAQ tumbled nearly 4 perce February 5, 2026
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  Asian stocks mostly down on US losses, Korean markets take a header SEOUL, February 05 (AJP) -Korean stocks rode a volatile roller coaster downward Thursday on heavy foreign selling on global tech shares. The benchmark KOSPI tumbled 3.9 percent to close at 5,163.6, marking a steep pullback from recent record highs. The KOSPI 200 slid 4.2 percent to 757, reflecting broad-based losses among large-cap stocks, particularly in semiconductors and export-oriented names. Selling pressure was led by overseas and institutional investors. On the main boa February 5, 2026
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  Software tantrums shake Asian markets; Korean shares lose nearly 3% SEOUL, February 05 (AJP) - Asian stocks tracked Wall Street lower early Thursday, as fears over disruption in the software industry from rapid advances in artificial intelligence triggered broad selling. The Nasdaq suffered its worst two-day rout since last April’s “tariff tantrums,” as investors retreated from software stocks following the release of a suite of industry-specific AI tools, including systems capable of reviewing legal contracts developed by Anthro February 5, 2026
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  KOSPI and Samsung Elec tower over Asian bourses SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - Korean stocks continued to dominate regional markets on Wednesday, extending their record-setting streak and reinforcing South Korea’s growing influence in Asian equities. Samsung Electronics powered the rally, becoming the first Korean company to surpass 1,000 trillion won ($688 billion) in market capitalization based solely on common shares. The milestone cemented the chipmaking giant’s role as the anchor behind the KOSPI’s push into February 4, 2026