Prior-session market movements reveal a stark divergence between a surging Korean equity market and a retreating Wall Street, where rising Treasury yields and policy interventions keep investors on edge. While robust semiconductor exports have strengthened the Korean Won, global markets remain highly sensitive to geopolitical tensions in East Asia and Eastern Europe, alongside shifting corporate supply chains. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s defense of bond market interventions highlights the growing friction between fiscal policy and rising borrowing costs in the United States.
Korea. In the prior session on August 20, South Korean equities surged, with the KOSPI climbing 5.89% and the KOSDAQ up 1.99%, supported by strong trade dynamics. The Korean Won strengthened significantly against the US Dollar to 1,393.69 in the latest data, driven by robust semiconductor exports and corporate dollar-selling, which has reportedly squeezed domestic dollar investors.
US. Conversely, major US indices retreated in the August 20 session, with the Nasdaq falling 1.00% and the S&P 500 down 0.87% as market volatility rose, with the VIX climbing 7.52%. The US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.70% in the prior session, reflecting persistent pressure on borrowing costs and prompting discussions of larger Treasury buybacks.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled down on his department’s intervention in the bond market, saying the Treasury could make additional moves and that its buybacks may be bigger than what was initially announced.
MarketWatch
A weak yuan guarantees Beijing massive trade surplus even as the White House tries tamp down on Chinese importsSinceChinaoffered a truce in the trade war last October following its threat to deprive the United States of rare-earth magnets, theTrump administrationhas been happy to stop escalating. After all, imports from China have been falling, down by 40% in the year to June, compared with the same period in 2024. Best to declare victory and call it a day.But the US hasn’t won this battle – and there’s strong evidence to show it’s too chicken to really try.Continue reading...
The Guardian
Taiwan has unveiled a record NT$1.12 trillion (US$35 billion) defence budget for 2027, with sharp increases in spending on weapons, ammunition and military operations amid growing pressure from Beijing. The proposed spending – the first to cross the NT$1 trillion threshold – is NT$173 billion, or 18.2 per cent, higher than this year’s allocation, according to the government budget approved by the cabinet on Thursday. It accounts for about 28.6 per cent of the government’s proposed NT$3.93...
SCMP
A Russian missile barrage overnight on Thursday killed at least 16 people and wounded 40 in Kyiv as explosions echoed across the capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had been preparing the attack "for a long time".
France 24
Oliver Farry is pleased to welcome Dr. Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, journalist, author and President of PEN Ukraine. According to Dr Yermolenko, Ukraine is confronting serious threats to its democracy. Suspending elections during wartime carries real dangers as political power is increasingly centralized around President Zelensky. Yet holding elections while cities remain under attack could unleash precisely the political turmoil Ukraine can least afford. The challenge is not simply whether Ukraine should choose democracy or wartime unity, but how it can preserve democratic accountability without allowing internal political conflict to weaken its resistance to Russia.
France 24
A strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck the southern Peruvian Andes region on the 20th (local time). According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the 6.7 magnitude earthquake occurred around 1 p.m. near Upahuacho in Parinacochas Province, Ayacucho region, southern Peru. The epicenter was located about 31 km northwest of Upahuacho, with a focal depth of 99 km. Tremors from the earthquake were felt in several parts of central and southern Peru, as well as the capital, Lima. The Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP) reported the magnitude of the earthquake as 7.2. No casualties or property damage have been reported so far. Peru is located in the 'Ring of Fire,' a seismically active Pacific region where earthquakes and volcanic activity are frequent. In 2007, a powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Ica Province, killing about 600 people. [Seoul = Newsis]
동아일보
Gangnam-gu also announced on this day that it had collected 1,208 opinions from residents regarding the tax reform plan and submitted six major policy recommendations to the Ministry of Finance and Economy. The resident opinions collected from the 12th to the 18th included 918 cases (76%) related to the comprehensive real estate tax, and opinions related to capital gains tax...
네이버뉴스
As exports increase, centered on semiconductor companies, the inflow of dollars into the country has grown, leading to a continuous movement of companies converting dollars into won. Moon Da-woon, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, 'In July, SK Hynix's American Depositary Receipts (ADR)...'
매일경제
In particular, in the metropolitan area, where the impact of real estate policy is significant, the response 'highly inappropriate' regarding the real estate measures was high. In Seoul, the 'highly inappropriate' response was 42.9%, and in Gyeonggi/Incheon, it was recorded at 43.7%. Meanwhile, this survey was conducted using wireless RDD automated response...
한국경제
[Exclusive] SK Hynix to Build Semiconductor Factory in Japan Main Text Economy Industry/Business [Exclusive] SK Hynix to Build Semiconductor Factory in Japan Reporters Bae Ji-hyun, Park Jong-oh Modified 2026-08-21 06:21 Expand 0:00 Your browser does not support the audio element. Google Preferred Media Registration Tens of trillions of won scale... First large-scale investment in Japan SK Hynix, Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.
한겨레