Seoul (AFP) – South Korea will double spending on AI and semiconductors in 2027 to a record high, the president said Monday, pledging to use the technology to turn the military into a "smart, elite force".

President Lee Jae Myung in his annual budget speech to parliament said 21.3 trillion won ($16 billion) would be allocated to chipmaking and artificial intelligence, spanning data centres to robotics.

"We will make bold investments in AI and future growth engines to boost our economy's growth potential," he said, adding that the figure was "nearly double this year's amount".

On the defence budget, the government wants to see an increase of around eight percent from this year to 73.3 trillion won, aiming to secure nuclear-powered submarines and KF-21 fighter jets.

Lee said Seoul aims to "rapidly transform our military into a smart, elite force by establishing integrated manned and unmanned systems based on AI, robots and drones".

North Korea has recently tested a slew of weapons, including a new precision-guided torpedo system and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, both of which it said used AI technology.

And last year, Seoul announced an agreement with Washington to build nuclear-powered submarines, with Pyongyang slamming the submarine programme as a "dangerous attempt at confrontation".

Overall, the 2027 budget plan totals 821 trillion won, a 12.8 percent increase on-year, making it the largest budget proposal on record.

Lee now needs parliament to pass the budget proposal, which is likely given his party's majority.

...

President Lee Jae Myung has made Arctic shipping ​a priority, and officials hope to launch regular services by ​2030.

The route runs along Russia's Arctic ​coast, and Seoul consulted with Moscow about the journey, ​including whether the ship needed help to tackle any problems, such as ‌getting ⁠stuck in ice.

Spoilers:

South Korea's presidential office ‌demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of disclosing the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea and then falsely denying that the two sides had agreed to keep the move confidential.

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In Korea, the share of elementary school students reporting school violence reached a record 5.7 percent. The overall rate of reported school violence across elementary, middle and high schools hit 2.9 percent, the highest level since the survey began.

Google is stepping up preparations to expand Google Maps in South Korea by recruiting a senior partnerships manager, as the company says it is “officially launching full-functioning Google Maps capabilities” in the country.

The King Sejong Institute Foundation will administer its 13th Sejong Korean Language Assessment on Sept. 19 at 14 testing centers across seven citi...

Today we are moving in to our first own house here in Korea and my wife told me that the first thing moving into a new house should be the rice cooker. This is why we are bringing it with our car instead of letting the moving company take it wit them. This way we can make sure it's the first of our things moving in.

[2026-07-29] CNBC

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Tuesday he would try to derive a mutually beneficial trade agreement with the United States.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

South Korea's finance minister apologized on Wednesday after retail investors racked up heavy losses from leveraged bets on stocks, following rule changes earlier this year.

The May 27 introduction of single-stock leveraged Exchange Traded Funds has seen Korean retail investors pile in with net purchases of 14 trillion won ($9.7 billion), compared with roughly 2 trillion won by foreign investors, according to KB Financial Group.

But the speculative trading boom that helped fuel one of the world's hottest equity markets has resulted in those investors nursing heavy losses as Korea's Kospi index has experienced a sharp correction, led by a downturn in chip stocks.

The pain has been especially acute for holders of single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which had surged alongside the AI-driven semiconductor rally.

The KODEX SK Hynix Single Stock Leverage ETF — a product designed to deliver twice the daily move in SK Hynix shares — has fallen more than 80% since its June 23 peak, according to LSEG data.

The equivalent product tracking Samsung has fallen almost 75% from its peak on June 3.

It comes after a blistering rally in the Kospi has come to an abrupt halt, with jitters over chip stocks seeing the value of the index plunging almost 35% over the last month.

See Chart...

The Kospi's fortunes have reversed in recent weeks as investor jitters have rattled the index's largest constituents

South Korea's finance minister Koo Yun-cheol accepted lawmakers' demand for an apology in a parliamentary session on Wednesday after single-stock leveraged ETFs were introduced without careful consideration, according to Reuters.

The country's Financial Services Commission Lee Eog-weon also said on Wednesday that the regulator is considering cutting off access to the products to all but professional investors.

Lee told the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee in Seoul that "if necessary, there is a way to raise [the investment requirements] up to professional investors," according to the Seoul Economic Daily.

He added that regulators could lower the leverage multiple of single-stock leverage products if the necessary legislation is prepared by lawmakers.

Lee said: "Since [the tracking multiple of] two times is too large, lowering it would likely have an effect in terms of easing volatility." He added, "We will look into how to take investors into account, such as through beneficiary general meetings, together during the process of considering the bill."

— CNBC's Lee Ying Shan and Blair Baek helped contribute to this report.

tværpostet fra: https://feddit.dk/post/23221162

Journalists love to get Korea wrong. Some are paid to share explosive takes that feed into the subsconscoius orientalist views of the wider world; others just do it for the social media clout.

There is a weird sensation that comes from watching someone deliver a sociological autopsy of a nation in a 14-minute YouTube video essay.

Korea is currently occupying this weird hyper-visible cultural sweet spot where it is simultaneously a global entertainment superpower and, at the same time, a distant canvas for Western anxieties.

Historically, this Western "dystopian" template was first aimed at Japan. Back in the late 80s and 90s, when the American imagination was absolutely terrified of Tokyo buying up Manhattan, Japan was the original blade-runner-esque, soul-crushing corporate hive-mind.

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We are on our annual leave, this year for the first time glamping which is glamorous camping.

As a foreigner I've been suffering every single summer in Korea, not so much because of the heat but because of the humidity.

But this year it is so different. It 's not raining, so the humidity is at a perfect 55%, air pollution at a green 30 and temperature at a perfect 29 degree.

Is this what climate change is?

I feel like it's a summer like in one of the Nordic countries.

I didn't know you could buy Cannabis at a convenience store in Korea.