Trump Tariffs on 60 Countries - KOSPI Plunges 5.72% Houthi Attacks Push Oil to $100 - Lee Jae-myung AI Declaration

President Lee Jae-myung departed on July 24 for a 7-night, 11-day tour starting in San Francisco and continuing to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Germany. AI cooperation and securing critical minerals and supply chains were set as the twin pillars of economic diplomacy.

President Lee Jae-myung met with Jensen Huang (NVIDIA), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Dario Amodei (Anthropic), and Hock Tan (Broadcom) in succession and announced the San Francisco AI Declaration. Mega-projects by Samsung and SK Hynix were also unveiled.

Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho submitted his resignation to President Lee Jae-myung on July 24. The Democratic Party's push to completely abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigative authority is cited as the background. President Lee urged him to remain in his post.

The KOSPI fell 406.27 points (5.72%) on July 24 to close at 6,690.62. Trump's new tariffs and the Houthi Red Sea attacks caused foreign investors to net-sell more than 3.7 trillion won, triggering sell-side circuit breakers simultaneously on both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets.

According to preliminary customs data, exports for July 1-20 totaled $54.9 billion, up 52.3% year-on-year. Semiconductor exports surged 180.6% to $22.1 billion, setting an all-time record for the July 1-20 period, with a trade surplus of $12.2 billion.

The USD/KRW rate fell 0.97% to 1,461.3 won on July 24 (Korean won strengthened). The session opened at 1,475.5 won before stabilizing.

SK Hynix officially disclosed its confirmed investment of 7.0931 trillion won for the construction of its advanced packaging plant P&T7 in Cheongju. Dedicated to HBM and other AI memory, the fab is scheduled for phased completion of WLP lines and more by February 2028.

AMD announced a strategic partnership to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic and supply 2 gigawatts of MI450 GPUs. 1GW is scheduled for deployment in the first half of 2027, and AMD will also integrate Claude models into its software.

Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to as much as $205 billion. Google Cloud revenue hit a record $24.8 billion, and revenue from external sales of AI TPU chips was recognized for the first time.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER member Yeonjun's mini album 2 'NO LABELS: PART 02' debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 dated July 25, setting the highest chart position for any Korean solo album released in 2026.

The '2026 Wartime Capital Busan National Heritage Night Festival' was held on July 24-25 in the Yeongdo Bridge area to coincide with the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee session in Busan, presenting 20 historical and cultural programs.

Arirang TV aired two special episodes of 'K-CULTURE MINUTES' to mark the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee session in Busan, spotlighting on-site developments and the Busan Declaration.

Kia posted an operating profit of 2.6285 trillion won for Q2 2026, down 4.9% year-on-year. Hyundai Mobis posted 975.1 billion won for the same period, up 12.09%, while Hyundai Rotem posted 232.3 billion won, down 9.7%.

Samsung Heavy Industries disclosed an operating profit of 325 billion won for Q2 2026, up 58.7% year-on-year. The disclosure was made public after the market close on July 24.

As TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix ramp up capital investment in AI semiconductors, orders have concentrated on key equipment makers, pushing them to capacity limits. With equipment supply unable to keep up with demand, these makers have gained the upper hand in price and delivery negotiations.

Seoul apartment transaction prices rose 0.16% in the fourth week of July according to Real Estate R114, extending the streak of gains to seven consecutive weeks since the first week of June. Gyeonggi and Incheon also rose 0.18%, lifting the overall Greater Seoul area by 0.17%.

The Financial Services Commission is expected to soon announce a comprehensive housing finance package including measures to block public guarantees for jeonse loans to non-resident single-home owners. Outstanding household loan balances at the five major banks stand at 649.6612 trillion won, already exceeding targets.

President Lee Jae-myung stated at the real estate grand debate on July 23 that holding taxes would need to triple to reach developed-country levels. The tax reform package expected by month-end is set to include strengthened holding taxes and a reduction of tax benefits for owning a single high-value property.

Presidential Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom announced a comprehensive overhaul of renewable energy and grid infrastructure, with a formal national energy vision including hydrogen to be released in August. Expansion of low-carbon infrastructure including offshore wind, solar, SMRs, and CCUS was outlined.

Korea Electric Power Corporation deliberated and approved a greenhouse gas reduction plan aligned with the government's 2035 national greenhouse gas reduction target at its 2nd ESG Committee meeting on July 24. The plan calls for pursuing carbon neutrality in the power sector through eco-friendly power facilities and fuel conversion.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy froze maximum oil prices from midnight on July 25 through August 21. Despite Brent crude exceeding $100 per barrel, gasoline prices were held at 1,784 won and diesel at 1,773 won per liter to ease the burden on consumers.

Samsung Biologics disclosed Q2 2026 revenue of 1.3209 trillion won and operating profit of 586.4 billion won. Revenue and operating profit rose 30.2% and 23% year-on-year, respectively, maintaining an operating margin of 44%.

Kolon TissueGene's osteoarthritis cell and gene therapy TG-C failed to achieve statistical significance versus placebo in its first U.S. Phase 3 clinical trial.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical announced on July 24 that it has identified a muscle-building obesity drug candidate compound using its in-house AI platform HARP-pSAR. Research results were presented at ISMB 2026 in the U.S., where a U.S. Phase 1 clinical trial is underway.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety published a pre-announcement on July 24 for the enforcement decree and enforcement rules of the special act supporting bio-pharmaceutical CDMO regulatory support. The regulations cover facility standards for export-purpose operations and GMP certification procedures, with a scheduled effective date of December 31.

TechTaka, operator of AI integrated logistics platform Argo, raised 18 billion won from Altos Ventures, Naver, and ZVC, pushing cumulative funding past 45 billion won. Plans to expand its logistics network into Southeast Asia and Europe were announced.

Genspark unveiled AI Workspace 6.0 at a Seoul press conference on July 24, officially announcing its entry into the Korean market. Plans for $100 million in investment and organizational expansion over three years were also disclosed.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups launched a 100 billion won K-Founder Fund dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship among overseas Koreans and international students at a Silicon Valley event on July 24. The fund is part of the 'Startup for All' global project.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea with missiles and drones. Brent crude surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time since May, and President Trump warned of military retaliation against both the Houthis and Iran.

President Trump imposed new tariffs of 10-12.5% on imports from 60 countries including China, the EU, and the UK, citing failure to comply with forced-labor prohibitions. The measure uses Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 as its legal basis, replacing existing emergency tariffs.

President Zelensky dismissed Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and appointed 43-year-old Major General Mykhailo Drapaty as the new commander-in-chief. The decision followed protests against the dismissal of the defense minister.

President Trump demanded that Saudi Arabia recognize Israel diplomatically as a condition for U.S. support for a Saudi civilian nuclear program. The White House confirmed it had already notified the Saudi side that cooperation agreements would be canceled if refused.

Wildfires near Bordeaux burned 3,400 hectares of pine forest and forced the emergency evacuation of more than 20,000 residents and tourists. Some 800 firefighters, soldiers, and EU aircraft were deployed, and no casualties were reported.

Sell-side circuit breakers were triggered on the KOSPI at 11:23 a.m. and on the KOSDAQ at 11:47 a.m. on July 24. Geopolitical risks, surging international oil prices, and weakness in U.S. Big Tech combined as compounding negative factors.

Samsung Electronics closed down 7.59% at 249,500 won, while SK Hynix fell 8.34% to 1,759,000 won. Foreign investors recorded net sales of more than 3.7 trillion won on the KOSPI alone.

Brent crude futures on the ICE surged 7.04% to $100.69 per barrel on July 24. A U.S.-Iran military confrontation and Houthi attacks on the Red Sea were the direct causes.

In the wake of the Coupang Incheon logistics center fire, major logistics and distribution companies including CJ Logistics, Hanjin, E-Mart, Lotte Mart, and SSG.com conducted emergency inspections of fire and electrical facilities at facilities nationwide and strengthened safety management guidelines.

Coupang has begun working on a compensation plan for sellers who lost Rocket Growth inventory in the Incheon logistics center fire. Posts on seller community forums about inventory stockouts and order cancellation damages have been multiplying.

After the Seoul Bankruptcy Court ruled on July 3 to dismiss Homeplus's corporate rehabilitation proceedings, stores nationwide began suspending operations sequentially from July 13. Approximately 12,000 employees face the risk of job loss.

While Hyundai Motor's union carried out an additional four-hour partial strike on July 24, unions at Kia and Renault Korea also launched strikes, putting all three major automakers in simultaneous strike mode. Concerns over vehicle delivery delays have intensified.

The National Labor Relations Commission issued a suspension of mediation in response to the Hyundai Motor union's dispute application, giving the union legal strike authorization. The union is demanding a base pay increase of 149,600 won and a performance bonus of 30% of net profit.

The Kia Motors branch passed its strike action vote with 82% of eligible members and 92.5% of voters in favor, expanding the Hyundai Motor Group-wide strike front.

The National Research Foundation of Korea and the University Council signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of the higher education ecosystem and agreed to jointly pursue measures to strengthen research support and university competitiveness.

The Ministry of Education announced that the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) will be converted to a computer-based remote testing format by 2029, allowing test-takers anywhere in the world to sit the exam.

KT Wiz defeated the Lotte Giants 5-4 at Sajik Stadium on July 24, achieving an eight-game winning streak - the first such streak in approximately five years since 2021. Logan Allen pitched a strong start to set the record.

The LG Twins suffered a 4-8 comeback loss to the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on July 24, falling into an eight-game losing streak. Hanwha scored seven runs in the fifth inning alone, and LG dropped from first to third place.

The Samsung Lions routed the Doosan Bears 15-4 on July 24 to maintain their lead at the top of the league standings.

iKON main vocalist Kim Jin-hwan released the pre-release track 'We Can't Explain' from his solo full-length album '207' on July 24.

JCS spokesperson Jang Do-yeong stated at a regular briefing on July 23 that there are indications some North Korean military landmines in the DMZ have been displaced due to recent heavy rainfall in North Korea. He warned that the mines could drift into the South via shared rivers such as the Imjin and Hantan.

NK News reported that the Lee Jae-myung government's North Korea policy reset initiative has stalled due to Pyongyang's non-response, with the North seeing no need for dialogue. North Korea has reportedly not responded to any inter-Korean contact since the Lee government took office.

The top military commanders of the United States, South Korea, and Japan reaffirmed their shared goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea and pledged to deepen trilateral defense cooperation at their annual meeting at the Pentagon.

The Seoul High Court Family Division 1 ruled on July 24 that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won must pay Director Roh So-young 944 billion won in property division. The split ratio was set at 33.3% for Roh and 66.6% for Chey, with SK shares also included in the division.

The Supreme Court decided on July 24 to refer the appeal in the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation case involving Kim Kun-hee to the Grand Bench, postponing the scheduled verdict. Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae will preside, with 12 Supreme Court Justices participating in deliberations.

The Seoul Central District Court held the first hearing on July 24 in the case against Shincheonji Jesus Church General Chairman Lee Man-hee on charges including violation of the Political Parties Act.