The Minute to Read (Weekdays) series provides a quick overview of significant events in Korea everyday, conveniently condensed into a one-minute read. Here’s a recap of what happened yesterday: Aug. 6.
S. Korean stock markets rebound after ‘Black Monday’ crash
Stock markets in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan experienced their largest-ever declines on Aug. 5, marking the worst “Black Monday” for Asia due to fears of a U.S. recession. South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 8.77% and briefly halted trading, Japan’s Nikkei plunged 12.4%, and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1,807 points, leading to massive panic sell-offs and heightened investor anxiety globally.
South Korea’s markets rebounded on Aug. 6, with the KOSPI rising 5.36% to 2,572.71 and the KOSDAQ surging 6.66% to 737.46 by 10 a.m. The recovery triggered a five-minute buy-side sidecar for both indexes, marking the KOSPI’s first such event since June 2020 and the KOSDAQ’s first since last November.
S. Korean spending on AliExpress, Temu hits 2.3 tn won
From January to July this year, South Korean consumers spent nearly 2.3 trillion won (about $1.67 billion) on Chinese e-commerce platforms AliExpress and Temu, approaching last year’s total of 2.32 trillion won. Both platforms, launched in South Korea in November 2018 and July last year respectively, have been aggressively marketing despite issues like exaggerated ads and product safety concerns. As of last month, their combined monthly active users in South Korea reached 16.02 million, a 236% increase from last year and a 24% rise from January.
Olympic champion An Se-young raises concerns about player management
South Korean badminton player An Se-young criticized the Badminton Korea Association for mishandling her knee injury after winning the gold medal in women’s singles at the Paris Olympics. National team head coach Kim Hak-kyun responded, suggesting that An’s dissatisfaction might lead to legal issues. An later clarified on Instagram that her comments were intended to advocate for better player care, not to announce her retirement.
An’s victory on Aug. 5 marked South Korea’s first gold in the event in 28 years and its first badminton gold in 16 years, bringing the nation’s total to 11 gold medals at the Paris Games.
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