KOSPI -7.57% Crash · Hormuz Sinkings US CPI 3.7% · Kyiv Strikes

On the 16th in US markets, CoreWeave fell 11.91%, Nebius 12.18% and IREN 11.19%. Concerns about data center expansion funded by debt were cited. CoreWeave's total debt exceeds $51 billion, and its weekly decline was 26%.

Microsoft announced on the 15th that it had completed pretraining of its in-house model MAI-Base-2, which has 2.8 trillion parameters. Meta optimized its AI model Muse Spark, unveiled on the 15th, to run on two Mac Studio units equipped with M5 Ultra.

Google launched Universal Cart in the US on October 15 for users of Search and the Gemini app. It lets users put products from multiple retailers in one cart and receive price-drop alerts. Amazon's Bee unveiled Frontier ($74.99) and Eclipse ($99.99).

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said September exports rose 83.5% year-on-year to a record $120.9 billion, and semiconductor exports exceeded $60 billion for the first time. Customs Service data show exports for October 1–10 were $26.1 billion, up 102.0% from a year earlier.

According to Bank of Korea preliminary statistics, 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 per barrel.

On the 15th KOSDAQ fell 63.06 points (7.65%) to close at 760.82, and sell sidecars were triggered on both KOSPI and KOSDAQ right after the open. On the 16th KOSDAQ rose 4.46% to close at 794.78, and a buy sidecar was triggered in the afternoon. Foreign investors net sold 17.8345 trillion KRW of KOSPI stocks in October.

On the 16th the Nasdaq fell 2.15% to 26,140.03 and the S&P 500 fell 1.09% to 7,659.44. The Nasdaq dropped more than 4% for the week, its worst week since June. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 3.83%, its eighth straight daily decline, while Micron fell 5.6% and AMD 5.9%.

At around 6 p.m. on the 16th, Bitcoin was at $82,106.56, up 1.04% per CoinMarketCap. On the 15th it briefly fell to $79,950, its first dip below $80,000 since mid-September.

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

The Incheon branch of the Seoul High Court accepted Samsung Biologics' injunction application and expanded the processes under strike restriction from 3 in April to 9. Violations carry a fine of 20 million KRW per case, and the union is reviewing a second general strike it had planned to start on the 26th.

Daewoo E&C disclosed on October 16 that it signed a contract worth about 1.4367 trillion KRW with Daishin Asset Trust for the Sangdo 15 housing redevelopment project. HD Hyundai Electric and LG CNS signed an MOU on October 15 to cooperate on data center power infrastructure and smart factory construction, announced on the 16th.

On October 13 at an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg, the EU formally opened accession negotiation clusters 2 and 3 with Ukraine, and the same process began for Moldova. Chair Costa said that after the summit on the 16th, leaders asked the Commission for proposals covering Ukraine's additional financing needs for 2027.

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said the potential for escalation across all fronts has grown ahead of the October 27 general election. Visiting the Central Command in the West Bank, he said settler violence must also be eradicated.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the OIC meeting in Baghdad to discuss the Strait of Hormuz and regional tensions. Araghchi backed a political settlement of the Saudi-Houthi conflict and repeated his mediation offer, and AFP reported that Riyadh has not yet responded.

According to a Reuters report, a container ship and a bulk carrier sank within 24 hours after being hit by projectiles in separate incidents, and one crew member died. US Central Command said the IRGC struck the container ship M/V GFS Pride, which sank while under tow.

Al Jazeera reported that a large-scale Russian air strike on the 14th killed at least nine people, including three in Kyiv, and left more than 500,000 without power. On the 16th, at least eight people were killed and 60 injured in nine regions of Ukraine, and more than 1 million lost electricity. The UN human rights monitoring mission said at least 328 civilians have been killed since the start of October.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Ukraine had attempted a large-scale attack on the Ryazan refinery. Zelensky told the FT that he would no longer abide by the energy truce unilaterally announced by Trump and would resume strikes on oil refineries.

The JCS detected several ballistic missiles fired from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea at about 9:20 a.m. on the 12th, some of which flew more than 900 km. KCNA reported that North Korea test-fired two submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles from the east coast on the 14th.

In its post-flight analysis, NASA said the heat shield performed as expected. Areas with cracks or char loss fell from 103 on Artemis I to 9, and Orion splashed down within 0.59 miles of its target point.

NASA said it is using satellites to observe the El Niño that began with a Kelvin wave detected near Micronesia in January. NOAA put the probability that it will be the strongest El Niño since 1950 at 83%.

NASA selected the PSI-led GIMLI project. Using ground-penetrating radar and other instruments mounted on a lander and rover, it will check whether lava tubes extend beneath the pit.

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok said that discussions on impeaching Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae have begun. Some lawmakers responded that after the audit, the party had crossed a river of no return.

The government said 44 central administrative agencies in the capital region will be relocated to Sejong in phases from next year through 2031. 9,929 public officials are affected, and the cost is estimated at about 3.1 trillion KRW, SBS reported, citing the government's explanation.

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

The Prosecution Human Rights Commission received on the 15th the first findings on three cases: suspicions over the Wolle new town development, suspected statistics manipulation, and the shooting of a government official in the West Sea. The investigation team judged that there were procedural errors, but that the decision to indict was not itself illegal. The commission will reconvene on the 29th.

Chairman Ju Byung-ki told the audit on the 12th that cartel fines were not excessive. Rep. Seo Il-jun said fines imposed through the end of July exceeded 1.3 trillion KRW, and Rep. Jeon Hyun-hee said six of the ten former employees rehired by major law firms came from the division that handled the cases.

The 12th Civil Division of the Daejeon District Court ruled that Jung Myung-seok and the JMS church must pay three victims 250 million KRW, 80 million KRW and 40 million KRW respectively, with interest. The court cited the church's mobilization of its organization as the basis for liability.

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

Dare County ordered visitors on Hatteras Island to evacuate ahead of a nor'easter. The coastal flood warning remains in effect until the 20th, with 2 to 4 feet of flooding and 8 to 14 foot waves forecast.

According to TIME, a UNDP report identified high borrowing costs, surging energy prices and El Niño-driven extreme weather as a triple shock. It estimated that explicit fuel subsidies this year could exceed 1 trillion dollars.

At the National Assembly audit on the 15th, Rep. Lee Yong-woo said applications for the greenhouse gas reduction equipment policy fund reached the 130 billion KRW limit within 32 minutes of opening. 128 applications came from a single IP address, and he called for improvements to the operating rules.

India's drug price control authority published a gazette notification on October 17 limiting distribution margins on 137 non-scheduled anticancer drugs to 30% of MRP. The revised prices will apply from November 9.

In written answers to the audit, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's drug insurance division said the reimbursement listing process for Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is under way after a drugmaker recently applied. Novo Nordisk Korea was reported to have applied to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service for reimbursement of Wegovy.

The Korean Medical Association and the Korean Society of Pediatric Emergency Medicine denounced a police search and seizure at the pediatric emergency center of Ajou University Hospital, held at a National Assembly press room on the 15th. They demanded the enactment of investigation guidelines and an apology. Police said there was no obstruction of medical care.

On the 17th alone it drew 174,759 viewers to keep first place with a 47% share. Cumulative admissions reached 1,682,636, placing it 12th among films released this year.

The third episode, aired on the 16th, recorded a national household rating of 15.1%, its series high. Doctor X ranked first in Netflix's Global Top 10 non-English TV category for October 5–11, with 9.9 million hours viewed and entry into 36 countries.

In the Wild Card decider at Jamsil on the 14th, LG beat Doosan 4–1 to advance to the semi-playoffs. On the 17th in Gwangju, KIA beat LG 5–1 in Semi-Playoff Game 1. Kim Do-young hit two home runs, and starter Nail earned the win with seven innings and one run allowed.

Manchester City beat Ipswich 3–2 at home, with Haaland scoring twice, to stay top with 21 points. Liverpool came from behind to win 2–1 away at Brentford, with Isak's 70th-minute winner. Chelsea beat Everton 2–0 away with two goals from Neto, moving up to fourth.

Microsoft fixed 1,413 CVEs in its October security update, 1,102 of them in Windows, including one actively exploited zero-day. CISA added the Windows shell flaw that bypasses Mark of the Web (MotW) protection, with CVSS 8.8, to its KEV catalog on the 13th. The deadline for federal agencies to act is the 16th.

ConnectWise confirmed unauthorized access to the identity of its Cloud Backup app and suspended access to the service. Security firm Huntress confirmed at least 162 Microsoft 365 tenant breaches carried out through it.

A flaw in the AMP feature of Cisco Secure Email Gateway, CVE-2026-76519 (CVSS 9.8), is being actively exploited. An unauthenticated remote attacker can run commands with root privileges. CISA directed federal agencies to patch by October 17.

Wearable robotics company Hurotics raised a 25 billion KRW Series A led by Artinum Investment, with Daewoong, Naver and Lotte joining as strategic investors. Neutral-atom quantum computing startup Ocuti raised a 14 billion KRW pre-Series A led by DSC Investment.

Switchone raised about 30 billion KRW in a Series A, to be used for gold trading infrastructure and expansion into Japan. Rx raised a 10 billion KRW pre-A bridge round with new participation from KDB, Smilegate Investment and Kiwoom Investment, bringing its cumulative total to 23.9 billion KRW.

Fintech outlet Fintech Global reported that Ramp has secured $1.85 billion. The pre-money valuation is $60 billion, up from $44 billion when it raised $750 million in Series F in June.

Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked Saudi Aramco's headquarters, and Saudi Ministry of Energy said a small fire had broken out. UKMTO said on the 17th that a tanker was hit by an RPG fired from a small boat 78 nautical miles northeast of Al-Zour, Saudi Arabia. Part of its stern was damaged, but all crew members were reported safe.

In its October report, the IEA expects the diesel supply shortage to last until 2027. It said world oil demand would fall by 2.6 million barrels per day in 2026 and supply by 5.8 million barrels per day. Separately, IEA member countries agreed to complete the release of the remaining 100 million barrels from their March intervention.

Samsung SDI plans to begin mass production of solid-state batteries in Ulsan in the second half of 2027 and is supplying samples to BMW. Toyota is reportedly targeting mass production in 2027–2028, and CATL in 2030.

In Nielsen The Gauge Korea's August tally, YouTube accounted for 10.5% of TV viewing time, up from 9.1% in June. The combined total of other streaming services, including Netflix, Tving and Wavve, was 7.4%.

TikTok suspended the entire account of the documentary 'Musk', directed by Alex Gibney, citing violations of its political content policy. Distributor Bleecker Street was notified of the permanent suspension on Friday afternoon.