Brent closes at $116.72 Anthropic IPO draft, Cho Hee-dae impeachment

On October 19 the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee held its first audit of the Public Prosecution Office, launched after the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office. Eleven agencies, including the Seoul Metropolitan Public Prosecution Office, were covered, and ruling party lawmakers raised questions about prosecutors' accountability. Lee Sung-yoon asked Park Cheol-woo, head of the Seoul Central Public Prosecution Office, whether the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency would investigate Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, and Park Kyun-taek asked about the unfulfilled request for cooperation in the case involving the daughter of former Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon. Assessments said that although the year's parliamentary audit had passed its halfway point, the Legislation and Judiciary and Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications committees were marked by shouting and disruptions.

On the 19th the heads of KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH banks appeared at the Financial Supervisory Service audit by the Finance Committee, apologized for the hacking incident, and pledged to expand security budgets and staff. KB took 67 hours and 41 minutes from intrusion to detection. Hana Bank CEO Lee Ho-seong and others apologized to customers. FSS Governor Lee Chan-jin, asked to resign over single-stock leveraged ETFs, said that was for the appointing authority to decide, and acknowledged that the FSS had not directly raised the risks and expressed regret. On the final day he explained that the statutory minimum review period of 15 days had been strictly followed.

At the 4th anniversary civic memorial for the Itaewon disaster held at Seoul Plaza on the 24th, organizers estimated about 1,500 people attended. The names of 160 victims were read aloud, and the prime minister and the Seoul mayor were also present. The same day, People Power Party spokesperson Park Sung-hoon criticized the Democratic Party leadership for publicly clashing over the release of Shincheonji membership survey results, and spokesperson Cho Yong-sul proposed forming a special counsel. Acting Prosecutor General Lee Jeong-hyeon said the Homeplus case would be wrapped up by December 30. MBK Partners chairman Kim Byung-joo's absence from the parliamentary audit was also criticized by both ruling and opposition parties.

On the 19th the Daejeon District Court's Criminal Division 11 sentenced JMS leader Jung Myung-seok to 33 years for quasi-rape and other charges. Prosecutors had sought 27 years, and there were 16 victims, all followers. On the 21st the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1 sentenced former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae to 9 years for charges including participation in insurrection, cutting 16 years from the 25-year first-instance sentence, and some acts were overturned as not guilty, along with the abuse of power and obstruction of rights charge. On the 23rd the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7 overturned the first-instance 10 million won fine against Mayor Oh Se-hoon in a Political Funds Act case and acquitted him, and the special counsel team said it would appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Democratic Party officially began discussing impeachment of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, and PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik said his party would use every means to block the impeachment motion and the impeachment. The Rebuilding Korea Party published the impeachment motion and requested co-sponsorship with a letter signed by all 12 of its lawmakers, and the Democratic Party said it would discuss the matter after the National Audit. On the 24th Kim Min-seok said it would proceed step by step alongside a parliamentary inquiry and other measures. The PPP demanded an immediate halt, saying that calling for impeachment whenever a ruling one dislikes amounts to a challenge to judicial independence, after Mayor Oh Se-hoon was acquitted on appeal.

On October 19 the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held its first audit of the Public Prosecution Office, launched after the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office. Eleven agencies were covered, and ruling party lawmakers raised questions about prosecutors' accountability. The same day, at the Finance Committee audit of the Financial Supervisory Service, the five bank CEOs promised to expand security investment and prevent recurrence, and Hana Bank CEO Lee Ho-seong and others apologized to customers. Seoul Shinmun reported that 124 former Fair Trade Commission officials work at the top 10 law firms, 32 of them at Kim & Chang, and that 5 of the 7 officials who left in the first half of this year joined law firms.

The Constitutional Court ruled 8-1 that the Criminal Act provision punishing the killing of a direct ascendant with death, life imprisonment, or at least seven years in prison is constitutional. In July 2013 the vote was 7-2, and Justice Ma Eun-hyuk dissented. The Seoul High Court's Civil Division 16-1 dismissed a claim by nine Lone Star-related entities seeking the return of 168.2 billion won in unjust enrichment from the government and Seoul city. The Seoul Central District Court's Civil Division 30 ruled against Young Poong in its derivative suit against the Korea Zinc board, finding no breach of duty by the directors. Young Poong and MBK Partners said they would appeal immediately.

The Bank of Korea Monetary Policy Board held the base rate at 3.00% on the 22nd. News1 published the full text of the decision. It followed two consecutive hikes in July and August. On the day before the meeting, on the 21st, the 3-year treasury yield was 3.822% and the 10-year was 4.160%; on the 22nd the 3-year was 3.840%, the 91-day CD rate was 3.260%, and the 5-year was 3.983%. On the 23rd the 3-year fell to 3.803% and the 10-year to 4.097%. Governor Shin Hyun-song agreed in the parliamentary audit that a return to an ultra-low interest rate era would be difficult.

US September CPI came in at 3.7% year on year, above the 3.6% forecast, and on October 7 the US 10-year yield intraday reached 5.36%, the highest since 2002. On the 22nd the 10-year fell 19.3bp to 4.952%, its largest one-day drop since March 10, 2023. The Nasdaq fell 2.60% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 6.72%. The 30-year was at 5.286% and the 2-year at 4.635%. A report dated the 25th cited Treasury daily yield data of 4.69% for the 2-year, 5.00% for the 10-year, and 5.33% for the 30-year.

The Iranian IRGC navy claimed that two very large crude carriers struck mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent rose 3.72% to $109.86 and WTI closed at $101.41, with no independent confirmation. About 172 ships were reported waiting in the strait on AIS data. On the 23rd, Brent December futures rose 3.1% to $116.72, the highest close since April 29 and up about 6% for the week. The same day WTI rose 3.8% to $103.27, as Houthi attacks on Saudi energy facilities continued.

On the 19th KOSPI opened at 5,488.41 and closed up 1.76% at 5,768.01, while KOSDAQ rose 1.78% to 808.89. On the 21st KOSPI rose 3.29% to 5,735.66, with an intraday high of 5,816.43, and foreigners made net purchases of about 660 billion won. On the 22nd it fell 3.52% to 5,533.77, KOSDAQ fell 3.62% to 764.10, Samsung Electronics fell 4.03%, and SK hynix fell 5.72%. On the 23rd it dropped more than 4% intraday before closing up 0.30% at 5,550.30.

Last Friday the Nasdaq fell 2.14%, a weekly decline of about 4.5%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell for eight straight trading days. On the 22nd the Nasdaq fell 2.60% to 26,008.86, the S&P 500 fell 1.21% to 7,663.45, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 6.72%. The Dow rose 0.02% to 52,867.98, and Meta fell about 7% to 648.85. On the same day the US 10-year yield fell 19.3bp to 4.952%. On the 23rd the S&P 500 recorded a second straight weekly decline.

Brent closed at $109.86 last Friday, the highest close since May 19. On the 23rd the December contract rose 3.14% to close at $116.72, the highest close since April 29. The same day the US energy sector rose 2.5% to a record high, while the Dow fell 1.23%. The S&P 500 fell 0.52% and the Nasdaq fell 0.21%. The US 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.999%, gold futures fell about 1.3% to roughly $4,008 an ounce, and Bitcoin was flat at about $81,230.

On the 19th the won/dollar rate fell 1.1 won to close at 1,330.3, the lowest close since October 2, 2024. The weekly close on the 21st was 1,325.2, down 2.9 won (0.21%), which the article described as the lowest level since October 2024. It closed at 1,324.2 on the 22nd. On the 23rd it rose 0.4 won to 1,324.6. The intraday low on the 19th was 1,327.6, more than 200 won below the 1,550-plus range in early July.

The HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union's central strike committee decided on partial strikes of seven hours per day from the 21st to the 23rd. A provisional agreement reached on September 30 was rejected in a member vote, and the stock closed at 351,500 won on the 16th. Hyundai Motor Group is developing a manufacturing AI platform called Polaris with Nvidia, and Hyundai Motor's shares fell from a June closing high of 755,000 won to 312,000 won at Friday's close. Chinese memory maker Changxin Technology fell 6.31% as of 10:40 a.m. on the 19th, wiping about 192.7 billion yuan off its market value and dropping from first to third in A-share market cap rankings.

On the 22nd AT&T reported Q3 revenue of $32.3 billion, up 5.3% year on year, adjusted EPS of $0.65 (vs. $0.54 a year earlier), and diluted EPS from continuing operations of $0.13. On the 24th American Express reported Q3 net income of $3.712 billion, up 28%, total revenue of $20.062 billion, up 9%, and full-year EPS guidance of $18.30 to $18.60. In a report dated the 25th, Amex raised its profit outlook and announced a 5% staff reduction, but its shares fell 3.7%, while SLB rose 7% after beating Wall Street estimates for Q3 profit.

On the 18th Anthropic said it would allocate 5% of its equity to a public benefit fund, subject to shareholder approval, and could add 2% each time the reference value rises 50%. The fund is fully funded through an LLC and will not be used for lobbying or political donations. On the 24th Bolt Biotherapeutics completed its acquisition of Prana through a share-exchange reverse merger, with total upfront private placement proceeds of $120 million and an investment closing scheduled for October 26. On the 25th Unusual Machines completed its acquisition of drone battery maker Upgrade Energy on October 19, for a total of up to $52 million including $1 million in cash, stock, and additional earn-outs.

Disclosed deals included Hitts raising 18.3 billion won in a Series B led by Premier Partners (286 billion won cumulative), Switch One raising about 30 billion won in a Series A from Busan Union Technology Holdings and POSCO Technology Investment, among others, and OQT raising 14 billion won in a pre-Series A led by DSC Investment. Hitts also saw new participation from Yuanta Investment and Samsung Securities. In the weekly tally published on the 25th, 26 startups raised funding between October 19 and 23, and the 11 companies that disclosed amounts totaled 251.12 billion won. Ten companies were selected for TIPS-type programs.

In the tally published on the 25th, robot foundation model company DreamLabs raised a 120 billion won seed round led by B Capital, with participation from Kindred Ventures and A.Capital, and Base Ventures was the only domestic investor. The Hyugsik raised 65 billion won from TS Investment and VIP Asset Management, of which 15 billion won was secondary shares, and is pursuing an IPO in 2028. Trio-R completed a 33 billion won Series C including 12 billion won from the Korea Development Bank, closing in two rounds, 24 billion won from new investors and 9 billion won from existing investors, bringing its cumulative total to 77 billion won.

AI compute hardware startup Tenstorrent raised a $1.5 billion Series E led by Trace Capital and Innovation X, at a valuation of $6.2 billion. TechCrunch, citing Bloomberg, reported that DeepSeek raised about $15 billion (about 100 billion yuan). DeepSeek had reportedly raised more than $7 billion at a $50 billion valuation in June, with CATL and Tencent mentioned as investors. SiliconANGLE reported the Tenstorrent news on the 19th.

On the 22nd AI video production company Nation A completed an 8.5 billion won Series A, bringing its cumulative funding to 11.7 billion won, with follow-on investment from Hana Securities. On-device AI startup Traceweave raised a seed round of about 3 billion won led by Mirae Asset Capital, with new investment from Naver D2SF, at a valuation of about 30 billion won. On the 24th Nums AI raised a 4 billion won seed round from StoneBridge Ventures, SBVA, KT Investment, and Base Ventures, and they made their first investments. KDB Industrial Bank also newly participated in Nation A's round.

Anthropic said on the 18th that it would allocate 5% of its equity to a public benefit fund, subject to shareholder approval. An internal employment report on the 20th said the share of junior roles among new technical hires fell from 27% in early 2025 to 9% in 2026. An IPO draft obtained by WSJ on the 22nd listed H1 revenue of $16.3 billion and a net loss of $80.7 billion, of which $72.0 billion was non-cash accounting adjustments. A waitlist for Claude Duet, for US Pro and Max subscribers, was opened.

In reports dated the 22nd, Wiz used its own tools along with Gemini 4 Argon and GPT-5.6 Sol to find a critical PHP vulnerability, after which European agencies including the Dutch NCSC and the French Interior Ministry reportedly took their sites offline. PHP developers released an emergency update on the 21st (local time) fixing two critical flaws, and AhnLab estimated that about 110,000 domestic servers may run vulnerable versions. The Ministry of Science and ICT and KISA raised the private cyber crisis alert to 'caution' at noon on the 22nd.

Citing industry sources, reports said Samsung Electronics will make the base die for Nvidia's custom HBM, NVHBM, in cooperation with TSMC. Nvidia reportedly wants TSMC's 3-nanometer process for the base die. On the 23rd Nvidia signed capacity expansion contracts with six supply chain partners, and Amkor reportedly plans to increase advanced packaging capacity by more than 300% by the end of 2028. On the 24th SK Hyper said it plans to build 15 GW of capacity by 2035, and that the first 5 GW phase requires about $350 billion.

Microsoft 365 API credentials for ConnectWise Cloud Backup were stolen, and unauthorized logins were confirmed in 173 tenants as of October 17. The service was still suspended on the 18th. On the 24th Microsoft attributed the ConnectWise backup app attack to Storm-0940, which it linked to the Chinese government, and said the attackers used the ARTEX tool. Some targets reportedly gained cloud administrator-level privileges within three hours.

Amadeus notified Korean Air of a breach at 10:44 p.m. on October 20, which is suspected to be unauthorized access using account login credentials. Korean Air said only booking number leaks had been confirmed. The report headline said Korean Air and Asiana had suffered Amadeus-related hacking damage. Korean Air said on the night of the 20th that it had received notice of unauthorized access, that its own internal network was not compromised, and that the only leaked item confirmed so far is booking numbers.

PHP developers released an emergency update on October 21 (local time) fixing two critical security flaws. They were reported to score 9.2 on CVSS 4.0 and to allow malicious code execution or system takeover without authentication. AhnLab estimated that about 110,000 domestic servers may run vulnerable PHP versions. The Ministry of Science and ICT and KISA raised the private cyber crisis alert from 'attention' to 'caution' from noon on the 22nd.

The heads of KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH banks appeared as witnesses at the Financial Supervisory Service audit by the Finance Committee, apologized for the hacking incident, and pledged to expand security budgets and staff. KB took 67 hours and 41 minutes from intrusion to detection. According to FSS data, from July 2024 to October 16, 2026, five system failures and two external hacks occurred at five won-based crypto exchanges, and in its inspections Bithumb and Streamie were found to have insufficient application of the latest security patches.

Netflix announced on the 15th that Peter Rice would succeed Bela Bajaria as chief content officer. There were recent large-scale layoffs, and its share price is down more than 45% from a year earlier. In Korea, on the 19th Tving said it would need to merge with Wavve in order to expand its domestic scale first. According to MobileIndex, monthly users in September were 9.99 million for Tving and 3.97 million for Wavve.

The Australian eSafety Commissioner and the Communications Minister announced on October 20 that they are preparing civil penalty proceedings in federal court against four platforms, Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube, over failure to enforce the ban on social media for users under 16. However, the lawsuits have not yet been formally filed.

At the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit, the Korea Media and Communications Commission requested raising the broadcast development fund share from the current 45% to 46-47%, and according to lawmaker Han Jun-ho, only one working-level meeting had been held. Reports under the Unfair Trade Practices Act totaled 1,955 in about one year and two months since the act was repealed. Broadcasts related to albumin totaled 1,144 over three years, and the Korea Communications Standards Commission resolved to issue cautions as a statutory sanction to four general programming channels. On the 24th, three IPTV operators posted notices in accordance with corrective orders.

Arirang TV's first live chart show, K-Pop Show, premiered at 6 p.m. on the 19th. It will be broadcast live every Monday, also streamed live on TikTok, and hosted by Zerobaseone's Seok Matthew. On the 24th, on Show! Music Core, Plave's Star Trace took first place with 8,299 points. Second place went to NEON by A2O LITE and third to I SPY by NCT WISH, and Plave's new album sold more than 1.32 million copies in its first week.

The Kremlin said Putin agreed after meeting US envoy Witkoff to resume US-mediated negotiations as early as next month, and Zelensky said he supports three-way talks in early November. The White House said on the 23rd that fighting would stop in Oleshky, Kherson Oblast; Melania Trump mediated, and humanitarian aid and civilian evacuation are being prepared. Putin accepted a proposal to resume talks when he met Witkoff on the 21st. Zelensky said working-level talks would be held in Abu Dhabi in early next month. A Kremlin spokesperson later said the next round would likely take place in Abu Dhabi around mid-November.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi on the 18th urged the US to accept Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days. AFP reported that the US ordered embassy staff and families in Saudi Arabia to leave, and Channel 12 reported that dozens of Israeli fighter jets flew toward Iran's border and then turned back. Iran demanded the lifting of the naval blockade, and Al Arabiya reported that Iran told Pakistan it was willing to resume negotiations and reopen Hormuz if the blockade were lifted. Trump said additional military operations were possible if there was no agreement.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a one-day visit to Dandong, China, on October 24, and Wang Huning conveyed Xi Jinping's regards. He visited a Korean War memorial facility and inspected a local automobile factory. The visit was reported to have taken place after the opening of the New Yalu River Bridge.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards claimed, without independent confirmation, that two tankers struck mines in the Strait of Hormuz as of a report dated the 19th, and that three tankers had been stopped by mines. There were 172 ships waiting in the strait area on AIS data. Iranian state TV reported seven tankers damaged, though AP said this could not be confirmed. Iran's armed forces chief of staff said US Navy ships cannot re-enter Iranian waters, and Trump said at a Florida rally that he could carry out another 'Epic Fury'. Brent rose to around $117.

After Ukraine carried out a large drone attack despite Trump's call to halt strikes on energy facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down 1,015 drones. One person was killed and five injured in St. Petersburg. Between the 21st and 22nd, Russia fired three cluster-warhead ballistic missiles at Kyiv, and Zelensky said at least two people were killed and 34 injured, including five children. Kremlin aide Ushakov said Putin had agreed in principle to resume three-way talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine after November 10, following his meeting with Witkoff.

Kim Yo-jong, head of the Workers' Party Central Committee department, said in a KCNA statement that the military leadership is considering deploying tactical strike means near the southern border and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts toward the South. On the 23rd, JCS spokesperson Jang Do-young said no signs had been observed of North Korea deploying a new type of weapon. Kim Yo-jong said loudspeakers would be readied at the border within days, and North Korea said it would keep its response means on alert. Kim Jong-un led the third Korean People's Army company commanders' meeting in Pyongyang on October 22-23, KCNA reported on Saturday.

The six GCC states, meeting at foreign minister level in Manama, Bahrain, condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and referred to joint defense commitments. A report dated the 24th said a Houthi attack on Dammam airport killed two people and injured eight. The Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia amid intensifying fighting in Yemen. The US issued terrorism-related travel advisories for 13 Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Cooperation Council said an attack on one member state affects all six.

In a model study by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the end-of-century sea level contribution from West Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier was in some simulations up to twice current projections. The study was published in Nature Communications on October 12. NASA then used 35 years of satellite altimetry records to compare the current El Nino with those of 1997-98 and 2015-16. Sea level in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific in October 2026 was higher than normal.

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 22 featured an illustration by Mark Garlick of WD J1330+6435 made with the University of Warwick, with the page titled 'The First Green Star'. Some white dwarfs may appear yellow, green, cyan, pink, or purple. Warwick researchers modeled 151 white dwarfs within 20 parsecs and found two yellow and three pink, and that carbon in the atmosphere can make them look pink or purple. Separately, the UK astronomy project Black Hole Hunters is looking for volunteers to analyze NASA TESS data, and about 70 black holes have been found in the Milky Way.

An ETH Zurich team measured iron, titanium, and chromium isotopes in 0.5 g of Bennu material and, since the fingerprint is close to Ryugu and CI meteorites, proposed formation near the water-ice line (Science Advances). An Imperial College team said the Mars quake S0976a, recorded by InSight on August 25, 2021, originated on a fault 20 to 40 km below the Valles Marineris (Nature Communications). A team led by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan observed thread-like magnetic structures in the chromosphere of a quiet solar region with the Sunrise III telescope, and simulations reproduced the pattern.

A Semafor report dated the 23rd (published the 24th in the daily edition) said deaths from the Bundibugyo-strain Ebola outbreak exceed 4,600, making it the second-deadliest outbreak after the 2014-16 epidemic. Nigeria has confirmed its first patient and Kenya has nine cases. On the 25th a 65-year-old woman died of Ebola in Kenya, bringing the death toll there to two, with nine confirmed cases. According to local reports, 135 contacts have been traced and 118 quarantined. This is Kenya's second reported death.

The FDA granted accelerated approval to dostarlimab (Jemperli) for locally advanced rectal cancer with dMMR or MSI-H status; the Phase 2 AZUR-1 trial included 154 patients. On the 23rd, reports followed of an accelerated approval for adults with stage II and III locally advanced MSI-H or dMMR rectal cancer, in which 47% of the 116 patients evaluable in AZUR-1 maintained a clinical complete response for 12 months. On the same day Ultomiris (ravulizumab) was also granted accelerated approval for reducing proteinuria in adults with primary IgA nephropathy, and in the 34-week interim results of the Phase 3 I CAN trial, the proteinuria ratio fell by 46.6% (5.6% in the placebo group).

At hospital A in Changwon, 13 dialysis patients and one staff member were confirmed to have Hepatitis C. Of the 75 people subject to full testing, 14 were infected, and most of the infected are asymptomatic. Gyeongnam Province and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency are conducting an epidemiological investigation. In the KDCA's week 40 tally, influenza-like illness physician visits fell to 23.6 per 1,000 outpatients, but the detection rate rose to 28.0%, and hospitalized COVID-19 patients at hospital level rose to 283.

According to data from the Korean Association of Provincial Medical Centers released by the office of lawmaker Park Ji-won, in the first half of this year 26 of the 35 provincial medical centers suspended or scaled back some departments, and 22 of those 26 are outside the capital region. An amendment to the Emergency Medical Services Act proposed by lawmaker So Byung-hoon would require specialists in four departments at regional emergency medical centers, and was debated as an issue; the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Hospital Association oppose it, while the Ministry of Health and Welfare maintains the current rules. The bill would require at least one specialist each in internal medicine, surgery, neurology, and neurosurgery on weekday daytime shifts.

The 2026 Korea ESG Eco-Friendly Expo opened at COEX in Seoul on the 21st, with Vice Minister Lee Ho-hyun of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment giving welcome remarks. On the 22nd the National Climate Crisis Response Committee held an investment briefing at Seoul Post Tower, where eight companies presented plans for 10 international reduction projects in renewable energy, transport, forestry, and waste. On the 23rd, the first Renewable Energy Day ceremony was held at COEX, after related regulation amendments took effect on the 20th. About 300 people attended, including Vice Minister Lee Ho-hyun, and government awards increased from 8 last year to 12.

On October 18, sudden heavy rain and strong winds hit the country, flooding roads and knocking down trees. Gangbuk-gu in Seoul recorded up to 53.5 mm per hour, and fire authorities received 129 damage reports. Chungnam Province held discussions with about 70 officials on responses to heavy rain, heat waves, heavy snow, and cold waves in Boryeong on the 22nd and 23rd, and the Daejeon Regional Meteorological Office explained new weather services including heavy snow disaster text alerts and expanded black ice warnings on roads. The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast 20 to 60 mm of rain over three days for Gwangju and Jeonnam and for Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, and 50 to 100 mm for Jeju on the 24th, with up to 150 mm or more in mountainous and mid-mountain areas.

The 65th Session of the IPCC was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from October 12 to 16 with representatives of 195 member states, but ended without agreement on the schedule and budget for the Seventh Assessment Report (AR7). On the 21st, China's State Council Information Office held a press conference on climate response with Vice Minister Li Gao of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. IPS reported that the WMO found 2015-2025 to be the hottest 11-year period on record, and that UNICEF said more than 171 million students lost school time due to climate disasters in 2025.

On the 16th Brent December futures closed at $109.86 and WTI at $101.41. On the 21st, WTI closed at $97.15 and Brent at $108.82, mixed. On the 22nd ICE Brent rose 4.0% to $113.17, its highest since May 4, while WTI was at $99.47. A report on the 20th said Brent had briefly hit $109.99 overnight. On the 23rd Brent rose 3.1% to $116.72 and WTI rose 3.8% to $103.27. The Brent close was the highest since April 29 and it rose about 6% for the week.

The Iranian IRGC navy said a second VLCC struck a mine in Hormuz and its engine room exploded, but there was no Western confirmation and the vessel was not named. 172 ships were reported waiting in the strait and Gulf monitoring zone on AIS data. Crude flows through Hormuz returned to pre-war levels at the end of September, but the combined total of crude and refined products was about 80% of the baseline. Gulf exports excluding Iran were 24.6 million barrels a day in the week to the 18th, above the pre-war average, and the IRGC claimed that seven ships had been hit.

On the 21st, the oil price close report cited Houthi rebel attacks on Saudi oil facilities as a factor in prices. The Houthis then claimed to have carried out four operations inside Saudi Arabia over 48 hours, and Reuters reported that Aramco had told staff at its Dhahran headquarters to evacuate. Brent closed at $113.17 on the 22nd. The US State Department was reported to have ordered departure of non-essential personnel in Saudi Arabia.

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) stands at about 283 million barrels, the lowest since 1982. The Department of Energy approved an exchange of up to 315,000 barrels of Northeast heating oil reserves, with bids closing on the 27th. US natural gas for November delivery closed down 5.58% at $2.640 on the 23rd, a 15.3% decline for the week, and US gas inventories rose by 77 billion cubic feet to 3,644 billion cubic feet.

The 31st Busan International Film Festival cancelled the official screenings of Assassin(s) amid controversy over historical interpretation and safety concerns. The film ranked second on the weekend and reached cumulative admissions of 3,249,178, passing Salmokji to rank fourth among Korean films released this year. As of 7 a.m. on the 21st, cumulative admissions were 3,281,594, and it held the top spot among Korean films for 22 straight days. Weekend audiences fell 65.7% from the previous week, and third place went to Tazza: Song of Beelzebub. Directed by Heo Jin-ho, the film is the opening film of the 37th Singapore International Film Festival, which opened on the 21st.

SBS drama Doctor X recorded 18.5% nationwide in Nielsen Korea ratings for episode 4, aired on October 17, up 3.4 points from 15.1% in episode 3 and a new series high. In the same weekend, KBS2's Love Is Coming hit a series high of 16.7% for episode 23, and Doctor X took first place among weekend dramas. According to Soompi, Between Steps' episode aired on the 20th reached a series high of 2.447% in Nielsen Korea nationwide ratings, and tvN's Love in Disguise episode 2 reached 4.7%, the top cable rating for its time slot that night.

According to Soompi, Twice's Jihyo announced on the 21st in a handwritten Instagram letter that she had ended her 21-year contract with JYP Entertainment and founded her own company, EMITHAUS. As of the 24th, BTS's SWIM had passed 1 billion Spotify streams, the first song released this year by any artist worldwide to do so and the fastest in the group's history. BABYMONSTER released a new digital single, Deserve, at 1 p.m. on the 23rd. IVE released the pre-release single Lux Can Kill on the 19th.

In the KBO semi-playoff Game 2 in Gwangju, KIA scored five runs in the first inning alone to beat LG 6-3, with Oller taking the win after six innings and allowing two runs. According to JoongAng Ilbo, in Game 3 at Jamsil on the 20th, KIA beat LG 13-1 with a grand slam by Kim Do-yeong that tied a 145-meter record. The win sent KIA into the postseason second round.

Tampa Bay Rays beat Cleveland Guardians 3-1 in ALCS Game 5, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Starter Drew Rasmussen pitched seven innings, allowing four hits and one run, and Brian Baker recorded the save. In World Series Game 1, reported on the 25th, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2, with Milwaukee starter Misiorowski earning the win after five innings with one run allowed.

Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 in the Premier League, with Madueke scoring in the 80th minute after coming on as a substitute, while Man United drew 1-1 at Leeds despite a 35th-minute opener by Mbeumo. In Champions League Matchday 3 on the 21st, Arsenal drew 2-2 with Bayern, with goals from Eze and Rice. Man United lost 4-1 to Como, with Nico Paz scoring twice and Dubcovic and Ramon also scoring, while Man United's Zirkzee scored one.

FC Seoul drew 1-1 with Gangwon FC, and at the same time Ulsan drew 2-2 with Pohang, confirming Seoul's K League 1 title. Seoul finished on 67 points, 16 ahead of second-place Ulsan on 51, and Moon Seon-min scored the opening goal. In professional basketball, Samsung beat Hyundai Mobis 91-71 to achieve the first seven-game winning streak to open a season in club history, with Kanter scoring 27 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The same day, Sono beat KCC 97-96.