KOSPI Rebounds 2.05% 8 Injured in Bucheon Factory Fire

As of 12:56 p.m. on the 16th, Samsung Electronics was up 4.05% at 218,500 won and SK Hynix was up 3.09% at 1,301,000 won. KOSPI had fallen for seven straight sessions before the rebound.

AI infrastructure company CoreWeave dropped nearly 10% intraday on debt concerns. After Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said its competitiveness and finances are improving, the stock recovered to close 5.9% higher.

According to Hana Securities, ASML expects shortages of advanced logic and memory chips to persist until at least 2028. TSMC's third-quarter revenue of 46.72 billion dollars beat the market estimate of 45.67 billion dollars.

In early U.S. trading on the 16th, SK Hynix ADR fell 4.17% to 140.01 dollars and Micron fell 3.37% to 899.90 dollars. Nvidia slipped 0.48% to 216.19 dollars, and the Nasdaq lost 0.54%.

KOSPI rose 113.83 points (2.05%) to close at 5,668.05, ending a seven-session losing streak. KOSDAQ rose 4.46% to 794.78, and foreigners were net buyers of 341 billion won on KOSPI.

As of 3:30 p.m. on the 16th, the won-dollar exchange rate was 1,331.40, down 13.2 won from the previous session. The 3-year Treasury yield was 3.854%, the 5-year was 3.988%, and the 91-day CD rate was 3.250%.

Officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Bank of Korea, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service held a market review meeting in Seoul and pledged a strict response to unfair trading in the capital markets. They agreed to strengthen real-time joint monitoring.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly economic trends report that the economy is on a solid recovery. September exports rose 83.5% year on year to a record 120.9 billion dollars, and semiconductor exports exceeded 60 billion dollars for the first time.

In preliminary Bank of Korea data, the import price index rose 1.7% from the previous month in September, ending a three-month decline that began in June. Dubai crude jumped 28.1% to 113.71 dollars per barrel.

On the 16th, KOSPI rose 113.83 points (2.05%) to close at 5668.05, touching the 5800 level intraday. KOSDAQ rose 33.96 points (4.46%) to close at 794.78, and a buy-side sidecar was triggered in the afternoon.

As of 3:30 p.m. on the 16th, the won-dollar rate in the Seoul FX market stood at 1331.4, down 13.2 won from the previous session.

As of about 6 p.m. on the 16th, Bitcoin was up 1.04% at 82,106.56 dollars according to CoinMarketCap. On the 15th it fell as low as 79,950 dollars, dropping below 80,000 dollars for the first time since mid-September.

The board of Hanwha Systems resolved on October 16 to transfer 22,169,660 common shares of Hanwha Ocean (7.24%) via a PRS. The transfer date is October 19, and the funds will be invested in future growth areas such as satellites and defense AI.

The Seoul High Court's Incheon branch granted Samsung Biologics' injunction request, raising the number of protected processes from three in April to nine. Violations carry a fine of 20 million won per case, and the union is reviewing a plan for a second general strike that was due to begin on the 26th.

Daewoo E&C disclosed on October 16 that it signed a housing redevelopment contract worth about 1.4367 trillion won with Daishin Asset Trust for the Sangdo 15 district. The project covers 30 buildings with 3,207 households, and the construction period is 54 months from the start of work.

The two companies signed an MOU on October 15 to cooperate on data center power infrastructure and smart factory construction, and announced it on the 16th. They will supply power and distribution equipment as a package and also plan to boost automation at Hyundai Electric's Cheongju distribution campus.

European Council President Costa said EU support for Ukraine is as strong as ever. He also said the EU opened two more accession negotiating clusters this week.

At a press conference in Brussels after the summit, Costa said EU leaders had asked the Commission for a proposal to address Ukraine's additional financing needs in 2027. He said the funds needed for 2026 have already been allocated.

Denmark, Poland and Italy submitted amendments to the summit conclusions, and after the earlier draft was rejected, a shorter text was adopted. Zelenskyy asked the EU for at least 70 billion euros in additional support for 2027.

In its enlargement conclusions, the European Council said candidate countries must continue reforms, including on the rule of law. It noted that the Montenegro accession treaty is being drafted and welcomed that work.

Ukraine's Air Force said it shot down or disabled 114 of 149 Russian drones. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it intercepted and destroyed 644 Ukrainian drones.

The Kyiv Independent reported that Ukraine appears to have attacked the Moscow, Rostov and Vladimir regions with drones. Mayor Sobyanin said air defenses destroyed more than 59 drones.

Kim Jong Sik, first vice director of the Munitions Industry Department of the North Korean Workers' Party, said in a KCNA statement that South Korea's explanation of its HGV test on the 8th, which it called a success, was an unconvincing excuse. He condemned South Korea's plans for further development as confrontational ambition.

CBS News, citing sources, reported that the White House and the Pentagon have prepared plans to use the MOAB against Iranian military facilities if President Trump orders it. A White House spokesperson said it does not comment on sensitive military planning.

NASA released a Hubble image of NGC 1827, about 37 million light-years from Earth. Hubble has so far observed 111 of the 260 satellite galaxies around 22 galaxies similar to the Milky Way.

A research team led by Hugo Moreira at the University of Portsmouth reported that the mantle beneath subduction zones has been more oxidized than its surroundings since 3.4 billion years ago. They analyzed 337 measurements from 39 apatite inclusions in 14 rock samples.

Former NASA chief scientist Jim Green and Ed Belbruno argue that, based on the galaxy's gravitational field, the solar system's boundary is about 3.8 light-years, or 241,000 AU. The paper was published in the August 2026 issue of ROOM.

In N-body simulations of El Gordo, a supercluster about 7 billion light-years away, the two-state self-interacting dark matter model matched observations better than the non-interacting model. The model does not fit if the mass and collision velocity estimates are low.

Andrea Botteon's team confirmed for the first time that Treble Clef is a radio phoenix belonging to a merging galaxy cluster. The team used data from Chandra, eROSITA, LOFAR and the UK Infrared Telescope.

At about 8:38 a.m. on the 16th, a fire broke out in the third-floor washing room of a metal parts paint factory in Naedong, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. Six firefighters and two employees were injured. Two firefighters are seriously hurt, one of them was in cardiac arrest when taken to hospital, and the building had no sprinklers.

Seoul High Court Chief Judge Kim Dae-woong told the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit that it is undesirable for the Supreme Court to remain understaffed. He said he does not believe any one of the nomination, consent and appointment powers ranks above the others.

Rep. Kim Tae-gyu of the People Power Party said the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7 had effectively halted the trial, calling it dereliction of duty and an abuse of case management authority. Chief Judge Kim Dae-woong replied that whether the trial resumes is for the individual panel to decide.

Rep. Kim Ki-ung of the People Power Party raised a July case in which an employee provided insurance subscribers' personal data in exchange for money and was dismissed, citing the 72-hour notification requirement under the Personal Information Protection Act. Standing Director Jung Jae-wook said the agency has not yet received the results and has not yet identified the victims.

NHIS Chair Kang Cheong-hee told the Welfare Committee audit that stable government subsidies are essential to sustain health insurance finances. The article states that legally mandated state subsidies left unpaid for 2016 to 2025 total 19.4531 trillion won, and the 2027 subsidy rate is 14.4%.

The Fair Trade Commission said on the 16th that it had sent pre-notices of fines to 17 wedding halls and wedding planning companies that violated its important information disclosure rules for wedding services. Some companies were found to have omitted prices of optional items, and they may submit opinions within at least 10 days.

According to data released by lawmaker Im Mi-ae's office, only one of the three first legal opinions the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs received in April 2025 supported the possibility of cancellation. The KFTC imposed a 594 million won surcharge in May for collusion, and the ministry canceled the corporate license in July, but a court granted a stay of execution.

Advocate General Biondi recommended on the 15th that the Court of Justice of the EU dismiss ByteDance's request to annul TikTok's gatekeeper designation. He said the fact that users also use other social media cannot by itself mean TikTok is not an important gateway.

On the 16th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the lower court's dismissal of telehealth method patent claims in Linden v. ResMed. It held that the claims recite an abstract idea and only generic hardware, with no inventive concept.

The North American edition of Herald Business, citing an Ember report, said Korea's per-capita power sector emissions in 2024 were 5.0 t, the highest among the top 10 electricity consumers. The same report put the United States at 4.9 t, China and Japan at 4.0 t each, and the world average at 1.8 t.

Global Economic, citing LSEG data, reported that high-grade Australian thermal coal futures rose to 152 dollars per ton on October 6. They are up about 40% since the start of the year and at their highest level since December 2023.

The Korea Environmental Conservation Agency held the youth division awards ceremony on the 16th at the CJ Foodville headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul. The grand prize (100 million won and the Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment award) went to the Plate-O team from Catholic University of Korea, and six university teams were selected in total.

On the 16th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved Quinlock 50 mg tablets containing ripretinib as an imported rare medicine. The target is adult patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors who have received three or more kinase inhibitors, including imatinib.

In written answers for the National Assembly audit, the Ministry's Pharmaceutical Insurance Division said the drugmaker recently applied and the insurance listing process for Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is under way. The Ministry said it will closely monitor the process to ensure it proceeds smoothly.

In written answers for the National Assembly audit, the Ministry said it agrees there is a need for health insurance coverage of abortion medications, but acknowledged limits to listing them on its own authority. It said it will actively review any application from a drugmaker and will disclose non-covered prices before insurance coverage.

In the audit of the NHIS and HIRA, it was noted that the state subsidy budget for health insurance next year totals 13.8 trillion won, and that the ratio including the Health Promotion Fund is 14.4%, below the statutory 20%. The subscriber data leak reported in July was also discussed.

AriBio presented its operational experience from the Phase 3 trial (POLARIS-AD) of AR1001, its oral Alzheimer's candidate, at KIC 2026 on the 15th. The trial enrolled 1,535 participants at 240 sites in 13 countries, and 1,348 participants, or 87.8%, completed dosing.

SBS's Dr. X ranked first in the non-English TV category of Netflix's global TOP 10 for October 5 to 11, with 9.9 million viewing hours. It entered the top ranks in 36 countries, and its second-episode nationwide rating was 14.9%.

SBS released the teaser poster for Good Partner Season 2 on October 16. The drama will air as a Friday-Saturday drama at 9:50 p.m. on November 20, with Jang Na-ra returning as Cha Eun-kyung.

Milwaukee beat the Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the NLCS, sweeping the series 4-0. It is the team's first trip to the World Series since 1982, and its opponent will be the winner of the ALCS.

Choi Hye-jin shot a 74 in the second round with two birdies and four bogeys, and holds the solo lead at 6 under par for 138 total. Her margin over second place shrank from three strokes to two.

Sono hit 16 three-pointers in its home game on the 16th and beat Hyundai Mobis 95-82. O'Bryant scored 27 points with 16 rebounds, while Hyundai Mobis extended its road losing streak to 15 games.

Yu Hyun-jo shot a 5-under 67 in the first round with one eagle, four birdies and one bogey to take the solo lead. Five players including Lee Seung-yeon are tied for second at 4 under, 68.

OK Savings Bank said its mobile deposit service homepage was hacked and the names, account numbers, product names and balances of 268 customers were leaked. The bank had earlier reported that a hack of its loan application page on October 12 leaked information on 250 people.

The Financial Services Commission said 16 financial companies have been hit by hacking, including four savings banks: Yegaram, Welcome, OK and DB. About 50,000 records leaked from Yegaram Savings Bank, and more than 2,300 from Welcome Savings Bank.

Ahold Delhaize confirmed a network security issue on October 12 and took some systems offline. As of October 14, it had found no evidence that customer data was leaked, and it has not confirmed whether ransomware was involved.

Nanocatalyst deep-tech company Quantcat raised a bridge investment of 5 billion won after its Series B. ES Investor, Daejeon Investment & Finance and Hanwha Asset Management participated, bringing its cumulative investment to about 20 billion won.

Fintech outlet FintechGlobal reported that Ramp has secured 1.85 billion dollars. The company's valuation on a pre-money basis is 60 billion dollars, up from 44 billion dollars at its 750 million dollar Series F in June.

According to Invezz, Brent traded around 105.8 dollars and WTI around 97.71 dollars. Over the week, WTI rose about 6% and Brent about 1%.

According to a Bloomberg article, IEA members agreed to complete the release of the remaining 100 million barrels from their March intervention. On the 15th, December Brent settled down 0.1% at 105.92 dollars and WTI settled up 3% at 97.97 dollars.

Nexon started Season 1 of N Connect with Naver's Chzzk and SOOP, linking viewers, creators and games. About 450,000 people linked their Nexon accounts during the pre-season, and 1,414 streamers took part.

The Viewer Media Foundation mistakenly sent audit materials intended for 10 employees to 5,857 outside recipients. The files reportedly contained about 3,000 pieces of personal information, and an estimated 189 people downloaded the file.