news highlight

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  AJP Factbox: Netflix Korea posts record revenue in 2025 For Netflix in South Korea, 2025 showed how rapidly the business has grown while most of its revenue continued to flow to its U.S. parent. Netflix Services Korea generated a record 1.054 trillion won ($787 million) in revenue, but 853.9 billion won, or 81 percent, was paid to the parent company. That left the Korean unit with 20.3 billion won in operating profit, equivalent to an operating margin of just 1.9 percent. October 14, 2026
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  AJP Factbox: Samsung Elec defends smartphone No. 1 Q3 2026 For Samsung Electronics, the third quarter of 2026 showed that it can grow its lead while selling fewer phones. Its shipments fell 3% in a market that shrank 20%, and its share rose to 23%, the biggest gain among major brands. Strong early demand for the Galaxy Z Fold8 and steady component supply for its mid-range A series helped it gain ground as some Chinese rivals retreated from emerging markets. October 14, 2026
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  AJP Factobox: Korean Inc. treasury retirement nearly triples on yr as of Sept. 2026 South Korean listed companies cancelled 61.8 trillion won ($43 billion) worth of treasury shares in the first nine months of 2026, 2.6 times the 24.1 trillion won retired in all of 2025, with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix accounting for more than half, according to corporate data tracker CEO Score. Including cancellations already approved by company boards but not yet executed, the full-year total could reach 120.8 trillion won, about five times last year’s. October 14, 2026
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  AJP Factbox: What are soft robots? Soft robots are built from materials about as soft as human tissue, letting them bend, stretch and squeeze where rigid machines cannot, and researchers are testing them in fields from surgery and rehabilitation to underwater work and exploration. In the latest example, researchers at KAIST, the South Korean science and technology university, and the California Institute of Technology described a beetle-inspired soft robot in Science Advances that walks, picks up small objects an October 13, 2026
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  AJP Factobox: KBO 2026 postseason kicks off South Korea’s professional baseball postseason opens Oct. 14 with the LG Twins facing the Doosan Bears at Seoul’s Jamsil Baseball Stadium. Fourth-place LG needs one win or a tie to advance, while fifth-place Doosan must win both games. The winner faces the KIA Tigers in the semi-playoff from Oct. 17, followed by the Samsung Lions in the playoff from Oct. 25. Regular-season champion kt wiz awaits the playoff winner in the Korean Series, which begins Nov. 2 in Suwon. October 13, 2026
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  AJP Factbox: Celltrion sets quarterly milestone in Q3 2026 Celltrion on Oct. 12 earnings guidance filed its largest-yet quarterly operating profit of 510 billion won ($381 million) for the quarter ended September, up 69.2 percent from a year earlier, driven by higher-margin newer biosimilars. Revenue rose 45.8 percent on year to 1.5 trillion won. The result marked the first time Celltrion’s quarterly operating profit topped 500 billion won and the third straight quarter it beat its own profit targets set early this year. Opera October 12, 2026
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  AJP Factbox: Samsung Elec ranks No.1 tech earner as of Q3 2026 Samsung Electronics on Oct. 9 posted in its earnings guidance its largest-yet three-month operating profit of 107.4 trillion won ($80.2 billion) for quarter ended September, up 782.5 percent from a year earlier, driven by soaring memory chip prices and AI-related demand. Revenue rose 126.6 percent to 195 trillion won. The result marked Samsung's fourth consecutive quarter of record earnings, surpassing the quarterly operating profits of major global tech companies, October 8, 2026
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  AJP Factbox: Korea's 2026 C/A surplus stretches on South Korea’s current account surplus reached $46.11 billion in August, its second-largest on record, as semiconductor exports surged, according to data released October 8 by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The January–August surplus totaled $279.20 billion, about four times the year-earlier figure. Net portfolio debt flows swung from $950 million inward in July to $10.82 billion outward in August as residents increased foreign debt investment by a record $6.44 billion and October 8, 2026
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  AJP Factbox: LG Energy Solution shares fly on record Q3 Investors cheered the stronger-than-expected and record third-quarter earnings of LG Energy Solution, with shares on Oct. 8 rising 5.12 percent to 411,000 won as of 9:31 a.m. The stock is up about 41 percent from its low of 290,500 won in late July. Third-quarter operating profit of 756 billion won was more than double the 326.4 billion won average forecast compiled by FnGuide. U.S. advanced manufacturing tax credits made up 416.9 billion won of that profit. Without them, operati October 8, 2026