SK Hynix Raises ₩37T on Nasdaq · Samsung Posts Record ₩89T Lee Jae-myung Signs Mongolia CEPA · 20,000 Civil Servants Rally

SK Hynix's ADR 'SKHYV' drew bookbuilding demand seven times the offered shares on Nasdaq. Raising ₩37 trillion — the second-largest U.S. listing ever by a foreign company — it became a talking point for domestic and international investors alike.

EDAM Entertainment and A-Fax Factory officially confirmed the breakup on July 10. Both sides stated the two 'decided to remain as good colleagues,' instantly dominating real-time social media trends.

A coalition of five civil servant and teacher unions held a rally in the Gwanghwamun area calling for wage hikes and a pension income gap fix. Around 20,000 participants turned out, affecting traffic in the area on Saturday.

Amid surging demand for premium olive oil driven by the 'ole-shot diet' trend, testing of 14 products found that 12 had actual acidity levels 128–311% higher than stated on the label.

Cosmetics exports surged 27.3% year-over-year to an all-time H1 record. The U.S. ($1.41B) surpassed China ($980M) for the first time, while EU exports also exploded 76.3%.

Kia set an all-time first-half sales record with 72,078 EVs sold in H1 2026. Successful market adoption of mid-to-low-priced new models including the EV3, EV4, and EV5 was cited as the key factor.

Total technology export contract value by domestic pharmaceutical and biotech companies reached ₩13.2253 trillion in H1 2026, up 15% from the prior year. Hanmi Pharmaceutical, AriBio, and OscoTech were among the leading contributors.

Petroleum products (+24.7%) and daily living costs (+3.4%) rose in tandem, intensifying the burden on households. The government signaled an expansion of tariff quotas on food items in the second half, but consumer discontent continues to grow.

As of May, the average private apartment sale price in the greater Seoul area hit ₩36.56 million per 3.3㎡, up 27.2% from a year earlier. The average sale price for a standard 84㎡ unit in Gyeonggi Province reached ₩938.03 million, approaching the ₩1 billion mark.

President Lee Jae-myung achieved diplomatic results during his July 9–11 state visit to Mongolia, including an in-principle conclusion of CEPA negotiations and attendance as guest of honor at Naadam. The two countries also adopted the 'Korea-Mongolia Golden Era' joint declaration.

Amendments to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization took effect July 7, imposing up to five times punitive damages on spreaders of false information and fines of up to ₩1 billion on major platforms. Press and civic groups raised concerns over threats to freedom of expression.

The People Power Party is maintaining a full boycott of July extraordinary session standing committees in protest of the Democratic Party's unilateral election of committee chairs. The Democratic Party is running 11 standing committees on its own.

A coalition of five unions including the Korean Government Employees' Union held a rally in the Gwanghwamun area on July 11 under four key demands: closing the pension income gap, raising wages, and securing basic political rights. Around 20,000 people participated.

The KCTU declared a general strike for July 15 on July 8. After demanding bargaining with over 400 principal employers following the revised Trade Union Act's implementation, only four responded, prompting calls for mandatory bargaining compliance and repeal of the Ministry of Labor's enforcement decree.

Of 10,498 new doctorate recipients in 2025, 33.3% were unemployed — the first time the rate has exceeded 30% since records began. Among PhDs under age 30, the unemployment rate was 51.1%, surpassing the halfway mark.

The Asian Development Bank revised up its 2026 South Korea GDP growth forecast from 1.9% to 2.6%, citing strong semiconductor exports driven by a surge in global AI demand.

Starting July 6, the KRW/USD foreign exchange market began operating 24 hours a day except weekends and January 1. A key institutional reform for Korea's MSCI developed market inclusion bid, Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol called it 'the starting point of the Korean won's global leap.'

MSCI again excluded South Korea from its developed market index watch list in its June annual review. The Korean won's status as an offshore non-deliverable currency and insufficient forex market liquidity were cited as the main reasons.

The KOSPI closed up 0.62% at 7,292 points on July 10. SK Hynix surged 5.83%, leading the index higher, while Samsung Electronics also edged up in a broad recovery.

As of July 3, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $221 million in net inflows, ending a 10-day run of outflows. BlackRock's IBIT led the charge, and Ethereum ETFs also saw concurrent inflows.

The Supreme Court pre-announced amendments to civil execution rules, spelling out for the first time the procedures for seizing, freezing, and liquidating virtual assets such as Bitcoin. Step-by-step standards from exchange account freezes to market-price liquidation were established, with implementation set for October.

Hwaseong's Dongtan District, designated a speculative overheating zone from July 1, saw apartment sale prices rise 1.29% in its first week — the highest gain nationwide. Analysts attributed the result to supply shortage concerns outweighing the impact of the new restrictions.

Construction cost index hit a 4-year 3-month high (136.88), pushing Seoul private apartment sale prices above ₩60 million per 3.3㎡ for the first time. The greater Seoul area average also surged 27.2% in a single year.

The July apartment sales outlook index among housing developers rose 18.2 points month-over-month to 87.6, reflecting a rapid recovery in market sentiment. Approximately 20,000 units are planned for supply in greater Seoul, centered on Gyeonggi and Incheon.

Video AI company Twelve Labs closed approximately $100 million in Series B funding, with Amazon and Quadril Capital participating. Cumulative investment now exceeds ₩300 billion. The company plans to expand from API services into consumer apps.

Physical AI startup Carbon Six raised ₩62.3 billion in a Series A round with participation from IMM Investment and KDB Industrial Bank. Its track record of real customer deployments and revenue was a key factor in securing investor confidence.

SpectraIntel, a deep tech startup founded by KAIST students, secured seed investment from Kakao Ventures. The company is developing 4D surveillance technology using ultra-compact imaging hyperspectral cameras for missile and launch vehicle identification.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport released guidelines on July 7 covering provisional operation permit standards for Level 4 autonomous vehicles. Requirements include at least 15,000km of proven test-driving prior to road operation and real-time monitoring by a remote control center.

Autonomous driving startup MasAuto has obtained a freight-for-hire permit from the Ministry of Land and will launch commercial service in Q3. Using Hyundai Motor's Xcient trucks, it will operate routes between Cheonan/greater Seoul and the Port of Busan.

Kia set an all-time first-half domestic EV sales record with 72,078 units in H1 2026. Successful market adoption of mid-to-low-priced new models including the EV3, EV4, and EV5 was cited as the key factor.

OpenAI made the GPT-5.6 family (Sol, Terra, Luna) publicly available. Sol targets peak performance, Terra is positioned at GPT-5.5 quality at half the cost, and Luna is the lowest-cost option. The family becomes ChatGPT's default model.

Meta released Muse Spark 1.1, a multimodal reasoning model with a 1-million-token context window. It is priced at $1.25 per million input tokens — up to one-quarter the cost of Anthropic and OpenAI.

Reports indicate Huawei plans to launch the Ascend 950 series and Atlas 950 SuperPod in South Korea in Q4. The company claims roughly 2.87x inference performance compared to Nvidia's H20 at one-quarter the price, and has already secured two domestic distributors.

The South Korean government announced the K-Tech Pioneers (KTP) program on July 10 to support the return of 20 teams of overseas Korean experts in AI, robotics, and advanced bio. AI accounted for the largest share, and 10 of the selected teams are based in the western United States.

President Lee Jae-myung attended the opening ceremony of Mongolia's Naadam Festival as guest of honor on July 11 — the first such invitation for a South Korean president. The visit reaffirmed a strategic partnership in critical minerals, energy, and supply chains.

North Korean Cabinet Premier Pak Thae-song made an official visit to China from July 10–12 to attend events marking the 65th anniversary of the Sino-North Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance. It is the first premier-level delegation sent since 2019.

The U.S. Trade Representative proposed on July 10 to impose 12.5% additional tariffs on South Korea and dozens of other countries for failing to enforce import bans on forced-labor goods. The South Korean government called the proposal 'inappropriate and unnecessary.'

President Lee Jae-myung proposed a 'Korea-NATO 2.0' framework for joint development, production, and operation of defense equipment at the NATO Summit (July 7–8), and secured agreement to open negotiations on a NATO procurement framework agreement.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved Zoenxa (leniolisib phosphate), an imported rare disease drug for patients with PI3K-delta syndrome, on July 10. Designated as the 27th product under the Global Innovative Products Fast Track, it is the first treatment option for patients who previously had none.

HLB resubmitted its NDA for the hepatocellular carcinoma drug rivoceranib in combination with camrelizumab, with a PDUFA date of July 23. The two prior complete response letters stemmed from manufacturing facility issues at partner Hengrui Pharmaceuticals; resolution of those issues is the critical variable.

LegaChem Biosciences held an R&D Day at the Conrad Hotel in Seoul on July 8, presenting its 2035 ADC roadmap, AI-driven research strategy, and updates on clinical progress with global partners.

The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment signed agreements with nine operators including LG Energy Solution and SK Eternix on July 10 to build distribution grid ESS. The goal is to deploy 700MW of ESS by 2030 to enable an additional 1GW of renewable energy grid connection.

LG Energy Solution was awarded 140MWh across seven distribution lines in the Honam region. The project is expected to enable 40MW of new solar connections and accommodate an additional 52.4GWh of renewable energy annually.

The government is introducing distribution grid ESS to resolve the backlog of solar plants waiting for grid connection due to substation and distribution line saturation. The project is expected to supply enough additional electricity for approximately 50,000 households per year.

EDAM Entertainment and A-Fax Factory officially confirmed the breakup on July 10. Both sides stated the two 'decided to remain as good colleagues.'

BTS V surpassed 75 million Instagram followers as of July 9, setting a first-ever record for a male Korean entertainer. It marks another milestone just six months after reaching 70 million in January.

aespa's 'Whiplash' music video surpassed 300 million views on YouTube on the morning of July 10. It is the group's fastest MV to reach 300 million views and their third MV to cross that milestone.

The 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO All-Star Game was held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, with the Home Run Derby and Friday events on July 10 and the main game on July 11. It marks the last All-Star Game at Jamsil Stadium, with Yang Eui-ji selected as starting catcher with the all-time highest vote total.

The KBO League entered its All-Star break (July 10–15). The LG Twins lead the standings at 52 wins and 33 losses, locked in a tight race at the top with the Samsung Lions.

Spain defeated Belgium in the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals to advance to the semi-finals. Spain had previously eliminated Portugal with a late goal in the round of 16, while Belgium had beaten co-host nation the United States 4-1 to advance.

Cosmetics exports surged 27.3% year-over-year to an all-time H1 record. The U.S. ($1.41B) surpassed China ($980M) for the first time, while EU exports also exploded 76.3%.

An Opensurvey study found Naver Plus Store's satisfaction rate at 84%, outpacing Coupang at 72%. Primary usage rate for Coupang fell 7.0 percentage points while Naver's rose 7.5 percentage points, signaling a reshaping of the online shopping duopoly.

Amid surging demand for premium olive oil driven by the 'ole-shot diet' trend, a consumer agency test of 14 products found that 12 had actual acidity levels more than three times higher than stated on labels.