Won recovers after verbal intervention while bond sell-off deepens SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - The South Korean won slightly recovered on Monday after a series of verbal warnings from financial authorities, which prompted traders to pull back from their dollar bets. There was also speculation that authorities may have directly intervened in the market. In Seoul, the won closed at 1,548.2 per dollar after opening at 1,555.2 and briefly rising to 1,560 before reversing sharply in morning trade. The turnaround was largely attributed to policy interventio June 8, 2026

KOSPI plunges over 8% as chip stocks slide SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI closed down 8.3 percent on Monday, shedding 676.18 points to 7,484.41 in one of its steepest single-day falls on record, after a U.S. semiconductor rout tripped circuit breakers on both of Seoul's main markets and gutted the chip giants that anchor the index. Samsung Electronics collapsed 10.2 percent to 295,500 won (US$192.4) and SK Hynix fell 7.7 percent to 1,911,000 won, the two memory-chip makers alone accountin June 8, 2026

Shinsegae chief to take helm of retail and real estate arms SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - Shinsegae Group chairman Chung Yong-jin will take the chief executive roles at two core affiliates, retailer E-mart and developer Shinsegae Property, a move the group framed as answering market demands that he be directly accountable for the businesses he leads. The decision places the chairman atop both the group's retail backbone and the unit driving its push into artificial intelligence infrastructure, following a controversy at its Starbucks Korea opera June 8, 2026

Fear of rate hikes drives corporate lending surge in Q1 SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - Corporate loans in South Korea grew the most since the third quarter of 2022, as companies increased borrowing in the first three months of this year, according to data released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Monday. Outstanding industrial loans by deposit-taking institutions stood at 2,061.8 trillion won (US$1.33 trillion) at the end of March, up 35.6 trillion won from the previous quarter. The increase widened sharply from an 8.5 trillion won gain in the fourt June 8, 2026

Kakao recovers after hitting one-year low, but investors remain skeptical of AI push SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - Kakao fell to 37,600 won on Monday morning, hitting a fresh 52-week low before recovering much of the decline. The sharp swings suggested that investors remain unconvinced that the messaging giant's push into artificial intelligence is driving the user engagement needed to support a recovery. Roughly 96,700 retail investors holding the stock remain deep in the red, sitting on an average loss of more than 50 percent against an average purchase price of 83, June 8, 2026

Won hits 17-yr low at open, bonds extend losses SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - The South Korean won fell to its weakest level at the start of trading on Monday, hitting a 17-year low as the currency was battered by expectations of a hawkish Fed and speculative offshore bets amid the prolonged conflict in the Middle East. The domestic debt market also suffered a severe rout, spreading intense volatility across broader financial markets. The won opened at 1,555.2 won per dollar, tumbling 16.1 won from the previous session. This marks the June 8, 2026

KOSPI crashes over 8% at open as US chip rout hits Seoul SEOUL, June 8 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI plunged 8.4 percent at the open Monday, shedding 683.1 points to 7,477.5 within the first minutes of trade, as a Friday rout in US semiconductor shares spilled into Seoul and dragged the index to its steepest opening drop in years. The decline was led by Samsung Electronics, which opened down 9.3 percent at 298,500 won (US$192.2), and SK Hynix, down 8.0 percent at 1,904,000 won. The two memory-chip giants account for a substant June 8, 2026

South Korea posts 2nd-fastest OECD growth on chip boom, but long-term risks mount SEOUL, June 7 (AJP) - South Korea posted the second-fastest economic growth among major economies in the first quarter, driven by a semiconductor boom. According to data released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Sunday, South Korea's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.7 percent in the first three months of this year, ranking second among 35 member countries. Only Denmark grew faster at 1.9 percent, while the OECD average stood at 0 June 7, 2026

Semiconductor selloff raises questions over AI rally SEOUL, June 5 (AJP) - A sharp selloff in semiconductor stocks is raising questions about the future of the artificial intelligence-driven rally, following HSBC's prediction on Thursday that the current chip boom is entering a broader phase, with gains spreading beyond chipmakers. While chipmakers such as Nvidia have dominated the AI rally so far, HSBC, one of the world's largest banking groups, said that the current AI cycle has produced an uneven pattern of growth, with AI- June 5, 2026

Won plummets past 1,540 as bonds extend losses SEOUL, June 5 (AJP) - South Korea's financial markets remained unsettled on Friday as the won-dollar exchange rate closed at about 1,540 won, for the first time in nearly 17 years and bond yields extended their rise. Heavy foreign selling in local equities continued to weigh on the won and debt markets, while traders saw no clear signs of actual intervention by foreign exchange authorities. In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the exchange rate closed at 1,539.1, down 9.4 fr June 5, 2026