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UPDATE: BOK stays hawkish after summer back-to-back hike
*Updated with additional information, economic outlook and market response SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) -The Bank of Korea (BOK) on Thursday opted for a back-to-back increase to lift the key rate to 3.00 percent - the highest since January 2025 - in preemptive action to rein in inflationary pressure renewed from an economy expected to grow at its fastest pace in five years on the chip boom. The mo
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Nvidia admits memory squeeze, flags upside for Korean chipmakers
SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - Nvidia on Wednesday admitted that even the AI chip giant cannot escape the cost squeeze from the boom it helped ignite, as soaring memory prices lift production costs while benefiting Samsung Electronics and SK hynix from the supply crunch.
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U.S. reaffirms commitment to North Korea's complete denuclearization
SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - The Trump administration has reaffirmed that the United States remains committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea, clarifying its policy after President Donald Trump recently declined to say whether denuclearization remained his goal.
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Lee meets Samsung chief in private amid push for mega chip cluster
SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung held a private dinner meeting with Samsung Group chairman Lee Jae-yong earlier this week, according to sources in political and business circles on Thursday. Their talks at an unidentified location in Seoul the previous day are drawing attention for their possible focus on major domestic projects including plans to build a mega semiconductor cluster amid growing
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Seoul races to find 9 Koreans in Nepal flood
SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) -South Korea is sending an emergency response team to Nepal after nine Korean workers at a hydropower construction site went missing in a catastrophic Himalayan flash flood that killed at least 160 people across Nepal and Tibet.
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Hyundai ties up with Nvidia for self-driving push
SEOUL, August 26 (AJP) -Hyundai Motor will work with Nvidia to put Level 2+ autonomous-driving technology into its first mass-produced software-defined vehicle in 2028, anchoring an ambitious AI push that also includes a 50,000-GPU data center, humanoid robots and expanded robotaxi production.
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Military brass rebel against academy merger at hearing
SEOUL, August 26 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back remain committed to merging South Korea's Army, Navy and Air Force academies into a single institution, but a raucous public hearing Wednesday exposed the depth of resistance.
Westinghouse stake report exposes US-Korea nuclear divide
SEOUL, August 26 (AJP) - U.S. President Donald Trump has hardly been shy about expressing displeasure over the slow progress in Seoul's execution of its pledged $350 billion investment commitment, and the latest pressure involves the nuclear reactor business. Seoul has denied a report that Washington proposed jointly acquiring an equity stake in Westinghouse Electric, even as the Trump administration presses to draw Korean capital and construction muscle into a sweeping revival of American
by Kim Dong-young
Blame game grows as Korean 'ants' get burned in herd trading
SEOUL, August 25 (AJP) - The blame first fell on the president, who encouraged households to put their money into stocks rather than leveraged housing bets. Then came the financial regulator, criticized for allowing high-risk exchange-traded funds built around South Korea's chip supremacy. The latest to take a seat in Korea’s blame-game musical chairs are so-called finfluencers, the self-styled investment experts whose stock tips, price targets and market predictions fill YouTube and
Chip payouts may give Korean won more room to run
SEOUL, August 26 (AJP) - South Korea's won, already near its strongest level in almost a year, has more upside room as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to dole out massive shareholder returns. The dollar influx, however, won't likely match the recent boost from SK hynix's $26.5 billion American depositary receipt issuance, traders say. The won has strengthened sharply in recent weeks as exporters increased dollar selling and SK hynix converted part of its ADR proceeds.
Trump's nuclear realism tests Seoul's denuclearization line
SEOUL, August 25 (AJP) - North Korea, according to U.S. President Donald Trump, is not Iran. Washington may have "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program, as Trump puts it, but Pyongyang already possesses what he describes as 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons — an arsenal he appears more inclined to address through renewed diplomacy and his lingering personal rapport with Kim Jong Un. Trump's contrasting approaches to the two nuclear challenges pose a growing co
Korea's card debt surges on increased borrowing before higher rates
Seoul tourist spending surges 70% as arrivals hit record
Today's Photo
Philippine envoy celebrates scholarship awards
Today's Photo
98 international scholars honored in South Korea
