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

FSS warns overseas property funds can lead to total losses SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) — Investors in publicly offered overseas real estate funds can lose their entire principal, South Korea's financial watchdog warned, cautioning that the products are riskier than their property backing suggests. According to a report released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Monday, along with a list of major dispute cases involving overseas real estate funds, to raise awareness of the risks such funds bear. Overseas funds typically bu August 10, 2026

KOSDAQ surges as leveraged ETF frenzy cools SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) -South Korea's junior market staged a strong comeback Monday, leaping nearly 7 percent to push its gain so far this month toward 20 percent. The KOSDAQ closed at 854.47, up 55.66 points, or 7.0 percent. Its bigger sibling KOSPI added 40.89 points to close at 6,299.66, up 0.7 percent, with the advance built on utilities, defense, shipbuilding and battery names rather than semiconductors. The broader spread of gains came as a speculative frenzy in single- August 10, 2026

EcoPro BM higher as $900 million fundraising backs nickel project SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) —Shares of KOSDAQ-listed battery materials maker EcoPro BM rose Monday after the company spelled out how it would use proceeds from its 1.2 trillion won ($850 million) rights offering, with nearly two-thirds earmarked for a nickel smelter project in Indonesia. As of 2:55 p.m., the stock was trading at 114,300 won ($81), up 6.82 percent, after rising as high as 115,400 won earlier in the day. According to a revised securities registration statement fi August 10, 2026

Economic outlook remains uncertain despite strong chip exports: KDI SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - Exports of semiconductors, driven by the artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled memory chip boom, are boosting South Korea's economic recovery, but uncertainty at home and abroad remains as high prices and slowing employment continue to cloud the outlook, a state-run think tank said. In its economic outlook released on Monday, the Korea Development Institute said, "Exports and facility investment posted strong gains, supported in part by robust deman August 10, 2026

Korean investors return to U.S. stocks without deserting KOSPI SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) -South Korea’s campaign to draw investor money back home has failed to break the country’s appetite for U.S. stocks, with overseas buying resuming in June and accelerating through early August, even without easing up on buying at home. Nonfinancial corporations and other investors — a Bank of Korea category that includes households and companies outside the financial sector — sold a net $525.7 million of overseas equities in the sec August 10, 2026

BOK revamps monetary bonds as market liquidity thins SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - The Bank of Korea is out to sharpen the appeal of its policy bonds by concentrating issuance into fewer, larger benchmark securities, as outstanding central-bank debt falls below 100 trillion won ($70.6 billion) while government bonds increasingly dominate Korea’s public fixed-income market. The overhaul will also divide early redemptions into a predictable schedule and a more discretionary operation, giving the central bank greater flexibility to ma August 10, 2026