KOSPI Closes at 5469 Anthropic Files for IPO

At the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's comprehensive audit on the 26th, the Democratic Party criticized the appeal acquittal of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and raised impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. When People Power Party lawmaker Kim Min-jeon presented a document, committee chair Seo Young-kyo halted the audit.

At the Public Administration and Security Committee's comprehensive audit on the 26th, Kim Ji-yong, head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, acknowledged concerns about attending Cabinet meetings. People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-jin argued that attendance should stop to avoid any concern about political neutrality.

At the Public Administration Committee's police audit on the 26th, Hong Seok-ki, head of the National Investigation Headquarters, said the allegations involving Han Dong-hoon's daughter would be thoroughly investigated according to law and principle. The average annual caseload per investigator was presented as 133.8 cases.

President Lee Jae-myung had lunch for about 90 minutes at Cheong Wa Dae with former National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik on the 26th. Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said the President stressed the importance of unity and Woo expressed deep agreement.

Financial News tallied fine cancellations and reductions over the past year at 268.358 billion won. It reported that the Samsung Electronics and Google cases are pending at the Supreme Court.

At the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's comprehensive audit on October 26, No Kyeong-pil, head of the National Court Administration, said the Chief Justice cannot interfere in lower court trials. The Seoul High Court acquitted Mayor Oh Se-hoon on October 23.

The Supreme Court rejected both the defendant's and the prosecutor's appeals in case 2026do7102. It held that if risk assessment is properly conducted, the duty is considered fulfilled, but the case did not apply because no assessment had been done since 2023.

On the 26th, the won/dollar exchange rate closed at 1,323.10 won. KOSPI fell 1.46% to 5,469.47, its lowest since April 6, and foreigners net sold 753.1 billion won.

The Bank of Korea appointed Choi Chang-ho, Director of the Monetary Policy Bureau, as Deputy Governor for monetary policy and markets. His term runs for three years from October 27, and Deputy Governor Park Jong-woo has retired.

The BIS-based nominal effective exchange rate of the won was 94.83, the highest since October 9, 2024 (94.91). Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song said the won is undervalued because it is below 100.

On the 26th, KOSPI closed down 80.83 points (1.46%) from the previous trading day at 5469.47. Newspim reported it was the lowest close in about seven months, since April 6 (5450.33).

On the 26th, KOSDAQ closed down 24.48 points (3.26%) at 727.21. According to Newspim, this is the lowest level in about three months, since July 31 (719.76).

According to Newspim tallies including NXT, foreigners net sold 753.1 billion won on KOSPI, institutions net bought 617.3 billion won, and individuals net bought 93.1 billion won. The won/dollar exchange rate closed at 1,323.10 won.

Samsung SDI signed a 1 GWh ESS supply contract with US energy company AOP. Including the first contract at the end of 2025, the total is 1.5 GWh, and the SBB 1.7 will be produced at the SPE plant in Indiana, USA.

L&F showed NCM and LFP cathode materials at DIFA 2026. It said mass production of LFP cathode material began at the end of Q3, with annual capacity of 30,000 tons and compacted density of 2.5 g/cc or higher.

IPARK Hyundai Development was selected as the construction firm for the Gunpo Geumjeong Station Area 1 Zone redevelopment at a general meeting on October 24. The construction cost is 448.2 billion won, with 1,137 households across 4 basement levels and 35 floors above ground.

Starcloud raised $250 million led by Manhattan West Ventures at a company valuation of $2.3 billion. Nvidia, Cisco, Benchmark and EQT also participated, and Doonamu & Partners is the only Korean investor.

Seoul AI Hub is considering a baby unicorn center for AI companies that have raised more than 5 billion won in cumulative investment, with a target of 2027. It plans to support follow-on investment links and global VC IR.

Anthropic filed an IPO application with the SEC on the 26th (local time). Its Nasdaq ticker is 'ANT', and the underwriters are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The number of shares and the offering price range have not been disclosed.

Meta announced plans to issue up to $95 billion in stock to fund AI infrastructure investment. About $35 billion initially, with up to $60 billion afterward. Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom expressed interest, but participation is not yet confirmed.

Mirae Asset Life detected signs of a system anomaly on the 25th and confirmed a personal data leak early on the 26th, posting a notice on its website. The article reported it as the first hacking leak report in the insurance sector.

KB Kookmin Bank said the number of leak victims, initially 119, rose by 2,091 to 2,210. The additional victims are 1,631 customers and 460 employees, and the number of leaked data items increased from 17 to 39.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said the leader, identified as A (32), of a group that hacked about 90 domestic sites using generative AI-based intrusion tools and stole about 8.2 million records, including personal data, was sent to prosecutors in custody on the 26th. Six accomplices are under investigation without detention.

According to a Bloomberg report relayed by Newspim, Netflix's monthly app usage days fell compared with two years ago. Viewing time per user also declined, and the stock is down about 29% this year.

The official Everland YouTube channel passed 2 million subscribers on October 19. It took about three years and three months since reaching 1 million in July 2023, and it has about 3,600 videos and about 830 million cumulative views.

Al Jazeera reported on the 26th that senior Iranian military officials met in Tehran with the Saudi defense minister, the Pakistani army chief of staff and the Turkish intelligence chief. Fars News Agency reported that the attendees agreed to continue discussions.

According to Euronews, a communications adviser to President Zelensky said on the 26th that the Brussels visit could not be confirmed because the US side changed its plans. Zelensky said new Ukraine, US and Russia talks are planned for the first half of November.

According to Newspim, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will attend the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta, USA, from the 29th to November 2. Foreign Ministry officials said talks with Secretary of State Rubio are expected.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said on the 26th that 4 ballistic missile launchers and 5 tunnels had been destroyed. The Houthis claimed they fired ballistic missiles at Riyadh airport.

According to ABC News, Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group fired a missile at King Khalid Airport a few hours after flights resumed. The Saudi military announced that it intercepted the missile.

According to Kyiv Independent, Voronezh Governor Gusev said 113 drones were shot down and 2 people were killed and 17 injured. Neither Ukrainian nor Russian authorities confirmed a strike on a chemical plant.

According to Newspim, a senior US official said on the 26th that there is no schedule to announce regarding a Trump-Kim Jong Un meeting. The official added that the two leaders will meet at an appropriate time.

The energy source of GRB 220706A, observed on July 6, 2022, was reported to have been active for about 27 days. That is about 20 days longer than the previous record. The study is a peer-review-pending preprint posted on arXiv.

Nicky Fox of NASA's Science Mission Directorate announced CM 2.0 on October 21. The selection period for medium-class missions such as Discovery and New Frontiers will shrink from about 35 months to about 19.5 months.

In TALAPRO-3, which involved 599 patients, median radiographic progression-free survival was not reached in the combination arm versus 45.8 months in the placebo arm (HR 0.48). It was reviewed under priority review.

It is indicated for adults with thyroid eye disease (TED), and during maintenance, the patient or caregiver administers it every four weeks. Phase 3 SatraGO-1 did not meet its primary endpoint at 24 weeks, while SatraGO-2 showed significant improvement.

The Supreme Court's First Division overturned the appellate ruling that acquitted the case, which treated claims for surgeries involving unlicensed participants as fraud, and sent it back to the Seoul Central District Court. The claims totaled 23 cases, about 95.39 million won.

The European Commission launched a call for evidence on its hydrogen strategy on October 26, 2026. The period is four weeks, and the submission deadline is November 23.

The Houthis claimed on October 26 that they attacked a pump station on the Saudi East-West pipeline. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed it. After a September attack halted the pipeline for two weeks, flows resumed, and recently 5.8 million barrels per day were moving through it.

Saudi crude production in September rose 12.2% from the previous month to 8 million barrels per day. Recovery began as shipments between vessels outside the Strait of Hormuz increased, and most exports went through Yanbu on the Red Sea.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at the Singapore Energy Week that there is no credible path for crude oil, fuel and natural gas prices to return to pre-war levels in 2027. He also said oil prices are around 120 dollars per barrel.

On the October 23-25 weekend, the Chiikawa movie ranked first with 320,294 admissions, for a cumulative total of 2,248,138. Second was Assassins with 68,241, and third was new release Lost Paradise with 66,699.

IVE released the mini album Luxe Can Kill on online music platforms at 6 p.m. on the 26th. It contains 6 tracks, and the title track of the same name was pre-released on the 19th.

According to Nielsen Korea's national pay-TV household ratings, episode 6 of 100 Days of Lies recorded a personal best of 9.5%. It aired on the 25th, and episode 1 started at 5.3%.

LAFC drew 2-2 with the Galaxy in the LA Derby. Son played the full match, and a first-half goal was disallowed for offside. With 47 points, LAFC are sixth in the West and have secured a playoff spot.

Munich beat Freiburg 3-1 in Bundesliga Matchday 7 to stay top with 17 points. Kim Min-jae missed the match due to injury, and Jo Kyu-sung of Midtjylland scored his fifth goal of the season in the Danish league.