South Korea

South Korean Prez orders probe into data leaks across financial industry

South Korea has ordered a thorough investigation into recent data breaches at banks and public agencies, while regulators warned that AI may have been used in the attacks

North Korea says it conducted intermediate-range strategic missile drill

The launch was the latest in a series of North Korean weapons tests this year and came as tensions on the Korean peninsula escalated over a landmine blast in the ​Demilitarized Zone last month

Trump announces $200 billion South Korean investment in US projects

The package includes eight nuclear power plants, an Alaska gas pipeline and a 6-GW Texas power facility, though Seoul said the $54 billion Alaska project was not yet final

South Korean pension fund seeks India government bond investment licence

India has been trying to draw ​more foreign capital into government bonds through easier registration, lower taxes and by targeting entry into global bond ‌indices

North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile off east coast, says Japan

South Korea's defence ministry said the ​rival North had fired an unidentified projectile

South Korean man's plot to escape prison by strapping self to drone foiled

South Korean man convicted of killing three people allegedly planned to flee a Philippine prison by being carried over its walls by a heavy-duty drone

South Korea tests global investor appetite with longer trading hours

Korea Exchange will extend trading in nearly all local stocks until 8 pm, seeking to boost foreign participation

Samsung buyback highlights South Korea's 45% preferred stock discount

More than 100 South Korean companies, including Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Chem Ltd., have issued preferred shares, raising capital without diluting founding families' voting power

Why day traders are abandoning Korean chip leveraged ETFs in droves

Key to sapping demand has been a series of regulatory tightening moves, most recently a rule to complete five-day simulated trading

China's data centres to consume more power than South Korea by 2030

Rapid growth in artificial intelligence workloads will see data centres use 774 terawatt-hours of electricity by 2030, around 6 per cent of China's total projected consumption, according to a report

South Korean traders chase 40% coupons as risk appetite survives rout

Equity-linked securities dangling annualized coupons of 40% to 50% have attracted renewed interest from mom-and-pop traders

South Korea ship to test Arctic commercial route amid Western concerns

President Lee Jae Myung has made Arctic shipping a priority for South Korea, a shipping powerhouse

South Korea plans chip windfall fund to back youth, AI investment

The proposed "Future Response Fund" would finance programmes aimed at helping young people find jobs, buy homes and start families, while also ‌supporting investments in AI, more

Why South Korea is looking beneath the sea for AI data centres

South Korea is turning to the seabed to tackle a growing AI infrastructure problem: where to find enough land, power and cooling for data centres.

South Korean, US militaries shorten drills after Trump ordered reduction

The South Korean and US militaries have agreed to shorten their drills at the US's request, South Korean officials said Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump ordered cuts to the exercises. The allies' summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises began Monday morning for an 11-day run, just after Trump ordered his Pentagon chief to "substantially reduce" them. Trump cited what he said was a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's refusal to join the US war against Iran. South Korea's military said in a statement the ongoing drills with the US would end Friday, not Aug. 27 as initially planned. It said the allies also agreed to downsize some joint field training exercises. Many experts say Trump's move threatens to hurt combined US-South Korean readiness and eventually weaken their decades-long alliance. Ulchi Freedom Shield is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise meant to hone the allies' ability to deal with potential regional ...

South Korea plans underwater data centre as AI boom strains land and power

Ulsan is developing a seabed data centre that could house 100,000 servers, using seawater for cooling as South Korea faces mounting constraints on land, power and grid capacity

Trump orders Pentagon to scale back US-South Korea joint military drills

President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea after he said it declined to help denuclearise Iran. The announcement comes days before one of two scheduled large-scale joint annual exercises between South Korean and US troops are set to begin this week . It also comes just days after North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing activities that are banned by the UN. The allies have said the 11-day exercises are meant to strengthen their readiness against threats from North Korea, and reiterated that they are defensive in nature.

Japan PM skips controversial shrine visit on anniversary of WW-II surrender

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi avoided Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, apparently to prioritise diplomatic relations with China and South Korea, as Japan on Saturday marked the 81st anniversary of its surrender in World War II. However, she did not mention her country's wartime past in Asia or show remorse over it in her address. The Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates over 2.4 million people who died in wars, became controversial after including 14 convicted Japanese war criminals from World War II. China and South Korea say visits by Japanese officials to the shrine show a lack of remorse over Japan's wartime atrocities. Takaichi mourned the victims of major devastation in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Okinawa, as well as those who perished in overseas battlefronts, and thanked them for their sacrifice as the "foundation of Japan's peace and prosperity today." "Japan, since the end of the war, has consistently contributed to global peace and prosperity. We will never let

North Korea slams US-South Korea drills, threatens self-defence action

North Korea on Friday threatened to exercise its right to self-defence in a statement that slammed the upcoming US-South Korean military drills as a war rehearsal that would be more provocative than last year. The US and South Korean militaries are to start their annual large-scale drills Monday and have described the scope of this year's training as similar to past years. The allies have said the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises are meant to strengthen their readiness against North Korean threats and reiterated that they are defensive in nature. The North Korean warning signals the country could conduct more weapons tests in coming days after its neighbors detected two ballistic missile launches off North Korea's east coast in the past week. North Korea hasn't commented on the launches, but outside experts assess they were likely meant to protest the US-South Korean drills or upgrade weapons systems. In a statement carried by state media Friday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry calle

How South Korea's Kospi entered bull market after last month's sell-off

The gains came as investor interest returned to technology hardware stocks on expectations of continued spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure by large technology companies