Korea's rate hikes lift delinquency risks for indebted homebuyers: BOK SEOUL, September 07 (AJP) -South Korea’s base rate has yanked up to 3.00 percent from 2.50 percent through two consecutive hikes after staying unchanged for more than a year and may rise further given the central bank’s inflation-focused bias, raising delinquency risks for highly leveraged mortgage households, a Bank of Korea (BOK) study showed Monday. A 1 percentage point increase in rates would raise the probability of delinquency among heavily indebted homebuying September 7, 2026

Korean Inc. loans for working capital rise while for investment slows SEOUL, September 07 (AJP) - South Korean corporate loans rose by more than 30 trillion won in the second quarter as Korea Inc. leaned more heavily on bank credit to fund day-to-day operations while borrowing for investment lost momentum. Outstanding loans to industries at deposit-taking institutions reached 2,065.3 trillion won ($1.55 trillion) at the end of June, up 30.6 trillion won from three months earlier, the Bank of Korea said Monday. The increase was slightly smaller tha September 7, 2026

Lee's approval rating sinks further SEOUL, September 7 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell further, extending its downward spiral for an eighth straight week, a poll released on Monday shows. According to pollster Realmeter's survey of more than 2,500 adults nationwide conducted last week, 37.4 percent of respondents said Lee was doing a good job, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous week and marking an eighth consecutive week of decline. It was also the lowest level since he too September 7, 2026

Lee arrives in Nice ahead of summit with Macron in Paris SEOUL, September 7 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung arrived in Nice on Sunday as part of his four-day trip to France before traveling to Paris later this week for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. Lee is set to begin his itinerary by attending the Lumiere Summit in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, an international gathering of film and audiovisual industry leaders, where he and Macron will co-chair discussions on the future of cinema and the global media landscape. The gathering September 7, 2026

Korea on track to achieve $1 trillion export milestone: customs chief SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -South Korea is on track to achieve a $1 trillion annual export milestone, with the customs chief flagging that the country has already topped last year's full-year record with 117 days to spare. Cumulative exports reached $709.4 billion as of 1 p.m. Saturday, surpassing the previous annual record of $709.3 billion set in 2025, Korea Customs Service Commissioner Lee Jong-wook said in a post on his social media page. The country took just 248 days to e September 5, 2026

Trump post turns up pressure on Seoul to arm Ukraine SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -South Korea, already under U.S. pressure to contribute to security operations around the Strait of Hormuz, is facing a second test of its military restraint as President Donald Trump amplified a call for Seoul to provide Ukraine with Korean-made missile interceptors. Trump on Friday shared on Truth Social a Washington Post opinion column titled “How Trump can help Ukraine build its own Patriot missiles,” without adding any comment of his own September 5, 2026

Seoul court upholds record fine on UBS over naked short selling SEOUL, September 05 (AJP) -A South Korean court has upheld a 16.94 billion won ($12.2 million) penalty imposed on Credit Suisse for naked short selling, rejecting UBS's argument that shares used as collateral remained under the investment bank's ownership. The Seoul Administrative Court recently ruled against UBS in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the penalty imposed by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), according to legal sources Friday. UBS inherited the case afte September 5, 2026

Cabinet reshuffle turns into political headache for South Korea's Lee SEOUL, September 04 (AJP) - The roster for President Lee Jae Myung’s 2.0 reshuffle has generated a rumpus before the nominees even arrive at South Korea’s legislative confirmation hearings, denting the already fragile popularity of the presidency. According to the latest Gallup Korea poll, 40 percent of respondents positively assessed Lee’s job performance, while 51 percent gave a negative assessment. The positive rating was the lowest since he took office, while September 4, 2026

South Korea backs rules-based Arctic order at Japan research meeting SEOUL, September 04 (AJP) - Cooperation on the Arctic among South Korea, China and Japan matters more as the region warms and its politics harden, South Korea's ambassador for polar affairs told a research meeting in northern Japan this week. None of the three countries holds territory above the Arctic Circle. All three were admitted as observers to the Arctic Council, the main intergovernmental forum for the region, at a ministerial meeting in Kiruna, Sweden, in May 2013, alo September 4, 2026

Seoul pushes back tougher delisting rules to July '27 SEOUL, September 04 (AJP) -South Korea will push back tougher delisting rules for the KOSPI and KOSDAQ to July 2027 from the scheduled January, delaying a planned increase in minimum market-capitalization thresholds as authorities seek to give the market more time to recover. The decision was made at a joint market review meeting chaired by Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol on Friday, where officials also assessed rising bond yields, vulnerable borrowers and risks in the mutual finan September 4, 2026