South Koreans turn to bank savings amid stock market swings SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - South Koreans are moving more of their money into bank deposits as stocks tumble and higher interest rates make saving more attractive, prompting major banks to compete for customers with promotional offers. Major banks are competing for customers with promotional offers, with Shinhan, NH NongHyup, Hana and Woori offering higher interest rates on savings accounts. Woori Bank recently drew customers with a limited-time deposit offer capped at 1 trillion wo August 18, 2026

SK hynix weighs options for California-based subsidiary amid rumors of US listing SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - SK hynix appears to be considering various options to strengthen its U.S. subsidiary Solidigm amid growing rumors of a potential U.S. listing. According to a corporate disclosure to the Korea Exchange last week, SK hynix said it had been exploring ways to strengthen its California-based semiconductor subsidiary's competitiveness including a possible U.S. listing. However, an SK hynix spokesperson declined to provide additional details, telling AJP that & August 18, 2026

Chip rally pushes KOSPI past 7,200 SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - South Korea's benchmark KOSPI opened 3.3 percent higher on Tuesday, led by SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, which extended a two-week rally driven by foreign investors, even as most stocks on the main board declined. The index opened at 7,211 on Tuesday, up 233.06 points, in its first session since Friday after Monday's substitute holiday for Liberation Day. Decliners outnumbered advancers 630 to 234, even as the large-cap KOSPI 200 rose 4 percen August 18, 2026

Korean retail investors reload on risk at home, abroad SEOUL, August 15 (AJP) - South Korean retail investors are edging back into risk after July's market washout, with brokerage cash returning above 100 trillion won, margin borrowing rising for a seventh straight session and traders piling back into a triple-leveraged U.S. semiconductor fund. Investor deposits — cash sitting in brokerage accounts and available for securities purchases — rose to 100.07 trillion won ($70.6 billion) on Aug. 13, up 91.9 billion won from August 15, 2026

Samsung, hynix literally 'people's stocks' with entries near 1 in 4 Koreans SEOUL, August 15 (AJP) - Minority-shareholder entries at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix nearly doubled from a year earlier to 11.43 million at the end of June, a tally equivalent to about 22 percent of South Korea's population, underscoring how the first-half chip frenzy dramatically broadened ownership of the country's two memory giants. Minority shareholders held nearly seven out of every 10 shares in both chipmakers — 66.24 percent of Samsung Electronics and 67 August 15, 2026

Chey divorce returns to court, buying time on record payout SEOUL, August 15 (AJP) —South Korea's biggest divorce settlement is heading back to the Supreme Court, giving SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won more time to raise the 944 billion won ($669 million) in cash he has been ordered to pay his former wife while deferring immediate pressure on his corporate holdings. Chey filed another appeal Friday against the Seoul High Court's property-division ruling in his divorce from Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, extending August 15, 2026

Is the Seoul stock party over or just cooling down? SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) — South Korea's KOSPI has rebounded after a heavy crash in July. But the crazy roller-coaster ride has shifted to a duller plateau, with the main drivers quietly taking a back seat. The benchmark index flirted with 7,000 Friday, rebounding more than 30 percent from its late-July intraday low of 5,262.77. Yet trading activity and cash on standby remain well below the levels seen during the market frenzy in June. The ebb is evident. Investor de August 14, 2026

Foreigners lift KOSPI while other Asian market quiet SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) -Foreign money kept buying Seoul for a fifth straight session Friday, but this time the leadership came from telecom and automakers rather than the two chipmakers that drove both the market's first-half rally and its July collapse. The KOSPI closed at 6,977.94, up 164.60 points, or 2.42 percent, ending the week 11.5 percent higher and edging back toward the 7,000 level it surrendered a month ago on July 13. Foreign investors bought a net 3.04 trillion won August 14, 2026

More Koreans see themselves as better off than Japanese SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - South Koreans increasingly see themselves having a higher standard of living than people in Japan, a survey released ahead of Liberation Day showed. According to a survey released Thursday by online polling platform Now & Survey, 37.2 percent held that view, compared with 23.3 percent who said people in Japan had a higher standard of living. The poll, conducted by South Korean IT company Elimnet Inc.’s survey platform, questioned 1,007 adults August 14, 2026

Fund inflows defy KOSPI rout, firms turn to banks SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - South Korean equity funds attracted 11.4 trillion won ($8.0 billion) in fresh money in July despite the steepest stock-market rout since 2008, while corporate bank loans increased by 7.7 trillion won as the bond market remained in net repayment. The benchmark KOSPI plunged 22.2 percent to 6,595 at the end of July from 8,476 a month earlier, marking its worst monthly performance since October 2008, the Bank of Korea said Friday in its monthly financial-mark August 14, 2026