Lee Jae-myung Meets Big Tech CEOs at AI Summit 2nd Quarter GDP Growth 0.6%, KOSPI Surges 6%

President Lee Jae-myung toured San Francisco, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina from July 24 to August 3. He discussed AI cooperation with Jensen Huang (NVIDIA), Sam Altman (OpenAI), and Dario Amodei (Anthropic) in San Francisco and announced the 'San Francisco AI Declaration.'

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu held a trilateral meeting in Manila on July 22. They reaffirmed the denuclearization principle and agreed to expand cooperation in nuclear energy, critical minerals, and supply chains.

With the election of 6 standing committee chairs for the PPP, the 22nd Assembly's latter-half organization was completed. Disputes continue over key bills including amendments to criminal procedure rights, special prosecution laws, and tax reform bills.

Korea's real GDP for 2nd quarter 2026 grew 0.6% quarter-on-quarter, three times the BOK's forecast of 0.2%. Semiconductor exports and investment were key drivers, with real GDI surging 15.6% year-over-year to a record since 1988.

KOSPI closed at 7,284.41, up 427.58 points (+6.24%) on July 23. The won-dollar exchange rate remained highly volatile in the 1,478-1,530 won range.

Exports from July 1-20 reached $54.9 billion (+52.3% YoY), a record July high. Semiconductor exports hit $22.1 billion (+180.6%), accounting for 40.3% of total exports, with a $12.2 billion trade surplus.

Alphabet increased its 2026 capital investment plan from $190 billion to $205 billion (approx. 300 trillion KRW). Q2 capital investment reached $44.9 billion, double the prior year.

Chinese AI company DeepSeek's old model names 'deepseek-chat' and 'deepseek-reasoner' were officially deprecated as of July 24 at 15:59 UTC. Developers must switch API calls to the new model names.

President Lee Jae-myung met with NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Anthropic's Dario Amodei in San Francisco on July 24 and announced the 'San Francisco AI Declaration.' Samsung's Lee Jae-yong and SK's Choi Tai-won also accompanied him.

The appellate court acquitted the mother on July 23, ruling she did not know the baby would be born alive and therefore finding no murder conspiracy or indirect intent. The hospital director's sentence was reduced from 6 to 4 years.

According to Statistics Korea, the over-65 population exceeded 20%, officially entering an ultra-aging society. This came 7 years and 4 months after entering the aging society category in 2017, the fastest such transition among OECD countries.

A Korea Institute of Public Administration survey found conservative-progressive ideological conflict scored 3.2 out of 4 as the greatest social conflict. 92.4% of respondents said the conflict is 'serious.'

The US conducted 9 consecutive days of airstrikes on Iran. After peace talks collapsed, the Trump administration requested billions in additional defense spending from Congress. Yemen's Houthis attacked two Saudi oil tankers and declared a Saudi maritime blockade.

President Trump announced 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, citing discrimination in autos, alcohol, and dairy. Energy and critical minerals are exempted. The tariffs take effect after 30 days.

Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham took office as UK Prime Minister before King Charles III. Starmer resigned after 2 years, and Burnham was elected as the sole Labour leadership candidate.

Both chambers of the French Parliament overwhelmingly passed legislation banning social media for under-15s. France's digital regulator Arcom will sanction non-compliant platforms.

The US and EU agreed to a trade deal applying 15% tariffs on most European products.

KT CEO Park Yun-young is reviewing plans to re-merge KT Cloud, spun off in 2022. The strategy aims to consolidate cloud, data center, and network into an integrated AI infrastructure company.

The Bank of Korea announced it will pilot the 'BOK Won International Remittance Network' in September with four major domestic banks. The goal is to enable 24-hour offshore won settlement.

Alphabet raised its 2026 annual capital investment plan from $190 billion to $205 billion. Q2 capex reached $44.9 billion, double the prior year.

President Lee Jae-myung directly chaired a real estate policy national forum with 140 participants on July 23. The Prime Minister, Finance Minister, construction industry, academia, and civic groups participated. Average Seoul apartment prices stand at 1.58 billion won.

Apartments of 60㎡ or less rose 17.13% over the past year, the highest increase by size. With bank mortgage limits reduced, real demand concentrated on 600 million won-range properties eligible for policy loans.

According to SBS and other outlets, 'owner financing' — where sellers directly lend money to buyers unable to secure mortgages — is spreading across Gangnam and redevelopment districts.

SC First Bank halted new mortgage applications. Seoul's housing affordability index (HAI) reached 187.1, a 17-year high.

The Carbon Neutrality Basic Law Review Subcommittee passed the amendment on July 22 with bipartisan agreement. Range-based targets set: 53-61% by 2035, 69-80% by 2040, 84-90% by 2045.

The IEA's 2026 electricity mid-year report released July 23 projects renewables' share rising from 33% in 2025 to 37% in 2027, surpassing coal for the first time. Global electricity demand is expected to grow 3.6% in 2026.

OECD Health Statistics 2026 shows South Korea's life expectancy reached 83.7 years, above the OECD average of 81.2 years. Doctors per 1,000 people: 2.6, lowest in OECD. Suicide rate: 23 per 100,000, highest in OECD.

Korea's government semiconductor fund selected LigaChem Biosciences, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) specialist, as its first biotech investment, committing $323 million (approx. 323 billion won).

Hugel officially launched botulinum toxin 'Letybo' in the Indian market at the Global Aesthetics Summit in Goa, India. It conducted hands-on workshops with Indian partner Aakar Medical through July 24.

Shin Ji-eun (34) shot 6-under 66 with seven birdies and one bogey in Round 1 of the ISPS Handa Scottish Women's Open at Dundonald Links, Scotland on July 23 (local time), tying for the lead with Lauren Coughlin (USA). Kim A-rim is 1 shot back in third at 5-under.

Lee Min-seo (20) won KLPGA 3rd-tier Solagoe Jump Tour Event 10 (prize pool: 30 million won) at 9-under 135 over two days. It was her first victory since joining as an associate member in April 2025.

Lee Ye-won (23) shot 6-under 66 in Round 1 of the JLPGA Daitogens Iheyanet Ladies at Queen's Hill Golf Club in Fukuoka, Japan on July 23, tying for third, two shots off the lead.

Blackpink's Jennie released 'Less Than a Lover' on July 24, a track she wrote and directed the music video for. The song features a dreamy lo-fi acoustic guitar and vintage keyboard sound.

AESPA released a Japanese album for the first time in about 2 years. The six-track EP includes title track 'KISS N TELL' and 'ATTITUDE,' the opening theme for TV anime 'Kill Blue.'

MAMAMOO continues its '4Ward' world tour with a Singapore show on July 31 following three sold-out Seoul performances. A seven-city US tour follows through the end of August.

Teacher protection centers in 17 provincial education offices logged 57,966 cases last year, more than four times the 2021 count. Field teachers are calling for stronger systems to handle malicious complaints from parents.

Multicampus launched 'Beyond AI,' an e-learning series covering human skills like critical thinking, judgment, and collaboration that AI cannot easily replicate. It comprises two courses: 'Nine Human Competencies That Drive Technology' and 'Business Essentials 20.'

A Seoul Education Research Institute survey (26,541 students; 3,334 teachers) found 94.7% of students have used generative AI, while 93.4% of teachers worry about overreliance and 92.4% about plagiarism.

Supreme Court Division 2 decided on July 23 to refer defendant Kim Keon-hee's appeal on Capital Markets Act charges to the full bench and canceled the scheduled sentencing. A new date will be announced later.

The Supreme Court's full bench ruled on July 22 that the military offense of insulting superiors requires a public act equivalent to documents or speeches, changing precedent for the first time in 27 years.

The Constitutional Court issued rulings on July 23 in 4 cases: constitutional review of Article 3 of the Teachers' Union Act, the Military Personnel Compensation Act, and an inter-branch power dispute between a lawmaker and the Assembly Speaker.

Seoul Central District Court held the first trial on July 24 at 10:40 AM for YouTuber Kim Se-ui, indicted on charges of defamation, violation of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, and the Stalking Punishment Act related to actor Kim Soo-hyun.

SpaceX attempted to launch Starship Flight 13 on July 23 (local time) but the launch was automatically aborted when a Raptor 3 engine preburner failed to ignite. Elon Musk said two booster engines need replacement.

Durham University researchers presented simulations at NAM 2026 showing the Milky Way disk flipped over 90 degrees after a head-on collision with the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus dwarf galaxy ~10 billion years ago. The overturn process took hundreds of millions of years.

Helium escaping from rocky super-Earth LHS 1140 b, 48 light-years away, was detected via Magellan Telescope observations. This is the first confirmed atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone.

From July 1-22, daily average trading volume at Korea's top 5 won-denominated crypto exchanges was 597.8 billion won, just 1.59% of KOSPI's daily average of 37.6 trillion won. KOSPI's 114% surge is cited as the main driver of investor outflows.

The South Korean government is pushing the Digital Asset Basic Law targeting H2 2026 passage. It mandates FSC licensing for stablecoin issuers with 100% reserve requirements, and includes provision for Bitcoin spot ETFs.

As of July 21, global cryptocurrency market cap reached $2.32 trillion. Bitcoin was at $65,374, up 0.91% from the prior day.

June consumer prices rose 3.2% year-over-year, the highest since December 2023. Fuel costs surged 24.7%, adding 0.93 percentage points to overall inflation.

MOTIE is reviewing measures to ease large mart operating-hour restrictions in the 6th Basic Retail Industry Plan. Analysts estimate mandatory closures reduce operating profit by over 50 billion won per company per year.

May retail sales rose 9% year-over-year. Offline sales at department stores and convenience stores grew 9.3%, with rising foreign tourist purchases cited as a key factor.

The Minimum Wage Commission voted on July 14 to set the 2027 minimum wage at 10,700 won, up 380 won (3.7%) from 10,320 won. The business proposal was adopted 17-11; the Ministry of Employment and Labor must finalize by August 5.

The Small Business Federation expressed 'deep regret' over the 10,700 won decision, saying the reality of 7.9 million small business owners was ignored. The failure to adopt industry-specific differentials was also criticized.

From July 2026, employees can take childcare leave in weekly or bi-weekly units for children under 8. The post-return allowance payment model was also abolished; full monthly pay is now received while on leave.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on July 14 plans for the 'K Labor Mutual Aid Association' to support 2.1 million platform and freelance workers. Targeting a 2028 launch, it aims to raise 1 trillion won in mutual aid funds.