KOSPI slides nearly 4% on AI jitters and France unrest
Seoul stocks fell sharply as AI-sector jitters and unrest in France weighed on sentiment, with the KOSPI dropping nearly 4% on the day after opening more than 2% lower. Samsung Electronics pushed out global marketing and retail news for its AI appliances and Art Store, while HYBE and its labels drew attention for streaming milestones and overseas expansion.
Markets & chips
Korean markets & the won
The session's decline followed a weak open, with the index already down more than 2% shortly after trading began.
The Korea Herald reports Seoul stocks fell nearly 4%, citing AI jitters and unrest in France.
Bank of Korea
The Bank of Korea and the Bank of England are expanding cooperation on tokenization projects, The Korea Times reports.
Samsung Electronics
Samsung's news cycle spanned home appliances, display art content and memory demand, with a securities firm's estimate pointing to tight memory supply for 2027.
Samsung Electronics held its "The Brief" home appliance tech seminars across five regions — the US, Europe, Latin America, Southwest Asia and Southeast Asia — showcasing AI-powered appliance experiences tailored to each market.
Samsung expanded its Art Basel collection on Samsung Art Store with 19 new artworks from galleries participating in Art Basel Paris 2026, available on Samsung Art TVs in every market where the service operates.
KB Securities says 80% of Samsung's 2027 memory output is already booked, The Korea Herald reports.
Samsung is extending its "Choose the sure thing" SSD campaign to out-of-home advertising at major landmarks including Times Square in New York, Piccadilly Circus in London and sites in Hong Kong.
Business of culture
K-pop agencies
The Korea Times reports Illit's "Magnetic" became the fastest debut song by a K-pop group to reach 900 million streams.
The Korea Herald reports A2O Lite's strong start is being watched as a test of whether Lee Soo-man's K-pop formula still works.
HYBE
HYBE's international push and its artists' streaming performance were both in the news, alongside a separate test of a rival K-pop production model.
The Korea Herald reports HYBE is leaning on King, TXT and a festival format to grow its audience in India.
K-drama, film, webtoons & streaming
The Korea Times reports a Taiwan content agency signed a partnership with the producer of "The Roundup" at the Busan film festival.