KT, a South Korean telecommunications company, plans to invest 18 trillion won to advance its Token Factory and stablecoin businesses.
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The South Korean government is considering extending the sovereign AI core GPU guarantee project, with a budget of up to 4 trillion won next year.
According to Odaily Odaily, the South Korean government is considering extending its support project for GPUs, a core resource for AI. On July 7th, industry sources indicated that the Ministry of Science and ICT is investigating the capacity of major South Korean cloud service providers to build additional GPUs, aiming to extend the "AI Computing Resource Utilization Infrastructure Enhancement Project." The core of this project involves government-funded purchases of GPUs, deployment in cloud service provider data centers, and support for industry-academia-research collaboration. Last year, the South Korean government allocated a budget of 1 trillion won, and this year it allocated 2 trillion won, securing over 20,000 GPUs. The project was originally scheduled to end this year, but with the surge in demand for advanced resources such as NVIDIA's next-generation GPU Vera Rubin, the South Korean government is developing comprehensive countermeasures, including data center efficiency optimization and new space security plans. It is reportedly already applying to the Planning and Budget Office for a "limited additional budget" for GPU security. Industry estimates suggest that, considering this year's GPU security budget and the government's intentions, next year's budget could reach a maximum of approximately 4 trillion won. Industry experts say that compared to the GPU supply itself, "equipment installation space" will be the key to the success or failure of the project, because running thousands of high-performance GPUs simultaneously requires a large power supply and advanced cooling systems, and the equipment installation space held by South Korean companies is nearing saturation. (ETNews Electronics)
South Korean fintech company Toss is partnering with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs to explore stablecoins in the Korean won.
PANews reported on July 8th that, according to The Block, South Korean fintech company Toss is collaborating with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs to explore a won-denominated stablecoin. The three parties will conduct proof-of-concept trials in the coming months to test the application of OP Stack in compliant blockchain digital financial infrastructure.
Circuit breakers have become commonplace in the South Korean stock market, with high volatility attracting retail investors, turning trading in South Korean stocks into a "squid game."
According to Mars Finance, on July 7th, the Wall Street Journal published an article analyzing the recent high volatility of the South Korean stock market. The article cited data showing that in the past year, the South Korean KOSPI index fluctuated by more than 2% on 77 separate days. During the same period, the S&P 500 index in the US experienced only five such instances. The KOSPI fluctuated by more than 3% on 44 days, while the S&P 500 never exceeded 3%, and the KOSPI fluctuated by more than 5% on 23 days. The report stated that this volatility has become one of the factors attracting many South Korean retail investors who trade purely for the sake of trading. Maxence Visseau, founder of macro and quantitative hedge fund Arkevium Capital, commented, "Volatility is the key attraction for retail investors seeking excitement." The report also noted that foreign capital outflows exceeded $100 billion (approximately 154 trillion won) in the first half of this year, with $30 billion flowing out in June alone. This trend "could ultimately harm local investors."
Rebellions, a South Korean AI chip startup backed by Samsung Electronics, plans to IPO in South Korea next year.
According to reports, Sunghyun Park, CEO of Rebellions, a South Korean AI chip startup backed by Samsung Electronics, stated that the company plans to IPO in South Korea in the first or second quarter of next year. Park said that Rebellions has already begun generating actual revenue, "and for this reason, we are working with the underwriting teams at JPMorgan Chase and Samsung Securities to prepare for the IPO." (Jiemian)
South Korean beauty and retail stocks led the market gains, and Gate.com continues to expand its investment portfolio in South Korean stocks.
According to ChainCatcher, Gate's market data shows that the South Korean stock market was active today. Manyo Factory, a cosmetics stock, reached $11.60, up 18.43%; Heung Koo Petroleum reached $6.88, up 14.72%; and IT'S HANBUL reached $7.25, up 13.51%, with several popular South Korean stocks leading the market gains. Gate has established a 24/7 trading service system covering the three core markets of US, Hong Kong, and South Korea, supporting over 10,000 US stocks and ETFs, over 1,500 Hong Kong stocks, and over 1,000 South Korean stocks, totaling over 12,500 stocks and ETFs globally. Users can participate in global stock investment through their Gate unified account using USDT, supporting fractional share transactions starting from as low as 0.01 shares, and enjoying stock dividend rights. The platform also supports cross-brokerage transfers for US and Hong Kong stocks, as well as corporate actions such as stock splits and consolidations, further optimizing the stock investment service experience.
Samsung expects its Q2 operating profit to reach 89.4 trillion won, a staggering 1810% year-on-year increase.
According to an official announcement from Samsung Electronics, the company has released its performance guidance for the second quarter of 2026. Based on Korean International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS), Samsung Electronics expects consolidated sales of approximately 171 trillion won (estimated range: 170 trillion to 172 trillion won) and consolidated operating profit of approximately 89.4 trillion won (estimated range: 89.3 trillion to 89.5 trillion won). Data shows a significant leap in Samsung Electronics' performance compared to the same period last year. In comparison, its consolidated sales in the second quarter of 2025 were 74.57 trillion won, and its operating profit was 4.68 trillion won; in the previous quarter (first quarter of 2026), its sales were 133.87 trillion won, and its operating profit was 57.23 trillion won. This strong performance is mainly attributed to the continued surge in demand and price increases for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other advanced memory chips driven by the ongoing artificial intelligence boom. Samsung Electronics is reportedly set to release a detailed full financial report later this month.