KOSPI plunges over 5% as foreign selloff batters chip giants SEOUL, October 13 (AJP) - South Korean stocks suffered their steepest drop in nearly two months on Tuesday as relentless foreign selling battered semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, leaving the KOSPI barely above the 6,000 mark at the close. The benchmark KOSPI tumbled 5.46 percent to close at 6,035.35, marking its steepest decline since Aug. 19, when it fell 5.80 percent. The index opened 3.10 percent lower at 6,186.08 and plunged as much as 7.41 percent to an in October 13, 2026

Chip windfall shields Korea's won for now. Is KOSPI a harbinger? SEOUL, October 13 (AJP) — Judging by a gloomy Tuesday in Seoul — with chip stocks and the KOSPI tumbling — the chip binge may be nearing its end despite sterling earnings and bullish analyst forecasts. The KOSPI is barely holding above 6,000 after flirting with 10,000 in June. Foreign investors sold more than 4 trillion won in KOSPI shares Tuesday, following roughly 2.5 trillion won of net selling Monday. Their net sales over the past two months have reached about October 13, 2026

Chinese chip challenge pushes Seoul index to 6,000 edge SEOUL, October 13 (AJP) - A Chinese chipmaker’s push into server memory sent South Korean chip stocks 6 to 7 percent at Tuesday’s open, bringing down the main index more than 5 percent. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s largest DRAM maker, said it expects to release a server memory module by year-end, built on a new chip design that packs memory cells more densely than the conventional layout. Traders read it as a direct challenge to the memory mar October 13, 2026

KOSPI falls 3.7% to under 6,400 SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - Foreign investors sold South Korean stocks for a 10th straight session on Monday, pushing the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) below 6,400. The selling continued two trading days after Samsung Electronics posted the largest quarterly operating profit ever reported by a Korean company. The KOSPI shed 241.7 points, or 3.6 percent, to 6,384.2. Foreigners net sold 2.02 trillion won ($1.51 billion) of shares on the main board, bringing October 12, 2026

Foreign exodus deepens despite Korea's red-hot chip power SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) — South Korea’s KOSPI, the unrivalled best-performing major stock index in the first half, is among the worst performers in the second half after surrendering nearly half its earlier gains. The retreat has been led by record foreign net selling exceeding 227.6 trillion won as of Monday — roughly 25 times the 9 trillion won sold throughout 2025 — despite stronger-than-ever fundamentals, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. October 12, 2026

Foreign selling drags KOSPI below 6,500 SEOUL, October 12 (AJP) - Foreign pullout from the Seoul bourse went on Monday upon returning from a three-day break with chip bellwethers becoming the primary target. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.09 percent, to 6,487.53, set to extend the losing streak for the fourth straight session. Foreign investors sold a net 356.5 billion won ($266.5 million). SK hynix fell 2.6 percent, more than twice Samsung Electronics’ 1.2 percent loss. SK hynix droppe October 12, 2026

Korea's retail crypto buying remains unfazed in 2026 SEOUL, October 12 (AJP)—South Korean retail investors remained quietly invested in crypto even as it surrendered much of its limelight to equities in 2026. Cumulative investments through automatic crypto purchase programs at three domestic exchanges reached 972.92 billion won ($725.6 million) at the end of August, up 78.9 percent from 543.85 billion won at the end of last year, according to data submitted to Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sang-hyuk. The figures cover Upbit, October 12, 2026

Korean banks had AI hacking warning weeks before data breaches SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - Weeks before hackers used artificial intelligence tools to steal customer data from seven South Korean financial firms, the sector's security agency had walked those firms' security staff through a similar AI attack on a domestic lender, according to documents the agency submitted to a lawmaker. The breaches began in late September. They exposed data on about 40,000 Yegaram Savings Bank customers and about 25,000 Shinhan Bank customers. KB Kookmin October 11, 2026

Weak won lifts BOK's reserve earnings to record SEOUL, October 11 (AJP) - South Korea's central bank earned a record 16.9 trillion won ($12.6 billion) from managing its foreign assets in 2025, helped by a weaker won that raised the value of its overseas earnings, data showed Sunday. The total was up 32 percent from 12.8 trillion won in 2024, according to data the Bank of Korea (BOK) submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-wook, who sits on the National Assembly's finance committee. The BOK holds its foreign October 11, 2026

U.S. bond yields above 5% tempt Korean investors, but buying slows SEOUL, October 8 (AJP) — U.S. bond yields near multidecade highs are drawing South Korean investors seeking a safer alternative to volatile stocks, but the prospect of further price declines is tempering their appetite. With 10-year U.S. Treasury yields around 5.3 percent, investors can secure income rarely available over the past two decades. The dilemma is whether to buy now or wait for yields to climb further, pushing bond prices lower. Recent investment flows reflect October 8, 2026