Korean marine authorities have shifted from daily monitoring to responding to public sightings of Bukangi, a dusky shark named after the North Port waterway in which it was found, after monitoring teams failed to spot it for four consecutive days, officials said Friday. The shark had spent more than a month in an artificial waterway at Busan’s North Port Waterfront Park. The National Institute of Fisheries Science said it had suspended routine field monitoring around the port and assembled a standby team to investigate sightings reported by the public. With the shark roaming farther and spending longer underwater, tracking its movements had become increasingly difficult for the small monitoring team, the institute said. The roughly 3-meter-long female was first discovered in the park’s waterway on Sept. 18. Authorities made three attempts to guide it toward open water, concerned that the narrow channel was unsuitable for a prolonged stay. Following the third attempt on Oct. 21, Bukangi slipped through a barrier back into the waterway and continued circling near its entrance. Officials

KOSPI fell more than 3 percent Friday as losses in U.S. technology stocks and concerns over returns on artificial intelligence (AI) investments triggered selling in heavyweight chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The benchmark index ended at 5,730.74, down 206.92 points, or 3.48 percent. It opened 2.99 percent lower at 5,760.35 and extended its losses during the session. The sharp sell-off in KOSPI 200 futures triggered a sell-side sidecar at around 10:05 a.m., temporarily halting program sell orders. It was the first such activation in 11 trading sessions, following KOSPI’s 7.57 percent plunge on Oct. 15. Samsung Electronics lost 3.02 percent, while SK hynix dropped 7.08 percent. The declines followed earnings releases from U.S. technology giants that raised fresh doubts about the returns on their massive AI investments. Google parent Alphabet reported weaker-than-expected results and a wider free cash flow deficit. Amazon’s earnings and guidance also fell short of forecasts, drawing attention to the costs of expanding AI infrastructure. Wall Street’s three major indexes cl

Ban Ki-moon, president and chair of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), urged countries on Thursday to accelerate the shift toward a greener economy to secure long-term growth and strengthen their global competitiveness. Speaking at the Global Green Growth Week (GGGW) Summit, the former U.N. secretary-general identified technological innovation, large scale capital mobilization and stronger international cooperation as three priorities for turning green transition commitments into tangible, measurable results. “The green transition is an economic imperative, a strategic investment and an opportunity to create green jobs, strengthen energy security, improve public health and build more resilient societies,” Ban said in his welcoming remarks at the summit’s opening ceremony. “The countries that move decisively today will be better positioned to compete tomorrow.” Ban called for a substantial increase in funding for the green transition, saying developing countries often struggle to turn viable projects into reality because they lack affordable financing and the expertise t

The government plans to review security at more than 170 critical information infrastructure facilities managed by 111 private-sector organizations, officials said Wednesday, as cyber breaches continued across the financial sector. The checks follow President Lee Jae Myung’s order to strengthen safeguards across core national systems as suspected artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted attacks have spread across most major financial segments since a breach at Shinhan Bank was reported to authorities on Sept. 30. The facilities are designated under the Act on the Protection of Information and Communications Infrastructure because disruptions could significantly harm national security, the economy or society. They include telecommunications and internet data center systems run by SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus. The Ministry of Science and ICT will focus on how operators identify and address vulnerabilities in internet-facing assets, including servers and web pages. The review comes amid concerns that inadequately managed external access points may have enabled recent financial sector breache

Brokerage firm Daishin Securities, cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb and asset manager Mirae Asset Global Investments have become the latest victims of cyberattacks sweeping the country's financial sector, putting firms and regulators on heightened alert. The suspected artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted attacks, first reported in the banking sector late last month, have spread across the financial sector, fueling customer concerns about financial firms’ ability to detect and respond to attacks. While financial authorities are investigating how the recent breaches occurred and who was responsible, large-scale scanning attempts targeting financial systems from North Korean internet protocol (IP) address ranges have been confirmed for the first time. Authorities, however, cautioned against linking the recent attacks to North Korea. "IP addresses alone cannot establish an attacker’s nationality or affiliation because address information can be manipulated and traffic routed through other locations," an official at the Financial Security Institute (FSI) said. Daishin said on Wednesday th

Cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, asset manager Mirae Asset Global Investments and Daishin Securities have become the latest victims of cyberattacks sweeping Korea’s financial sector, industry officials and financial authorities said Wednesday. Daishin Securities said in a press release earlier in the day that personal and credit information belonging to 38,490 customers had been leaked. The brokerage said it detected signs of unauthorized access by a hacker on Oct. 17 to a server linked to online securities account openings for discretionary investment services. Bithumb discovered Tuesday that personal information had been leaked following unauthorized access to its internal mobile groupware system. It is examining the scope of the breach, including whether customer information was compromised. A hacking incident was also reported at Mirae Asset Global Investments, prompting financial authorities to investigate the extent of the damage and the circumstances of the breach. The latest incidents came after Mirae Asset Life Insurance detected unusual activity in some of its systems Sunday

JYP Entertainment shares jumped Tuesday after two little-known investors announced a potential tender offer for up to half of the K-pop company, prompting questions about their identities and ability to finance the purchase. NEXROC Group, which describes itself as a Japanese investment group, and SVCV said the previous day that they were considering buying between 25 and 50 percent of JYP’s outstanding shares. The K-pop agency behind major global acts such as Stray Kids and TWICE said it had not received any acquisition proposal from them. JYP shares opened 6.53 percent higher on the Kosdaq market and rose more than 10 percent during the session. They later gave up some of those gains to close 6.81 percent higher. The stock had already climbed in Monday’s after-hours trading on Nextrade following news of the proposed offer, finishing 14.38 percent above its regular-session close. In a Korean-language press release, NEXROC and SVCV said they were considering offering about 30 percent above a reference share price and aiming to launch the tender offer on Nov. 20. The companies cautioned,

Shinhan Card, KB Kookmin Card and other Korean financial firms remain hesitant to adopt Apple Pay, delaying the service’s expansion and fueling frustration among iPhone users. Hyundai Card remains the only card issuer offering Apple Pay in Korea, and it is unclear when other providers will join, according to industry officials Tuesday. Card issuers are concerned that fees paid to Apple and the cost of building payment infrastructure could undermine profitability. Questions about the fairness of fees charged for Apple Pay while Samsung Wallet, formerly Samsung Pay, remains free have added to their concerns. Several financial firms have taken steps toward introducing Apple Pay since Hyundai Card launched it in 2023, but some have put their plans on hold despite completing a regulatory review of their terms and conditions. Shinhan Card received approval from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) in December 2024. However, it has since continued to review the timing and profitability of a launch. Expectations surrounding KB Kookmin Card grew in August 2024, when a recruitment website carr

Korea’s reliance on semiconductor-driven growth, the accelerating spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and inflexible labor market institutions are weakening the quality of jobs available to young people, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Monday. As economic growth fails to generate enough stable employment opportunities, more young job seekers are accepting temporary or daily work instead of holding out for regular positions. In its analysis of workers aged 15 to 29, the central bank classified regular employment as the primary labor market, and temporary and daily work as the secondary market. Since 2023, young people have shown a growing tendency to enter the latter, adjusting their expectations as hiring in the primary market remains sluggish. The report linked this deterioration to a combination of changes in the industrial landscape, advances in AI and rigid employment arrangements. One problem is the growing mismatch between the sectors powering the economy and those providing regular employment. Information technology (IT) manufacturing has become a stronger driver of growth but ge