[Yonhap News headlines at this time] - 18:00

NVIDIA did not provide a specific answer to questions about CEO Jensen Hwang's leadership and its impact on Korean business at the 'NVIDIA AI Day' event held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 9th. As Nvidia's board of directors began an independent investigation into suspicions surrounding CEO Hwang, the visit of Nvidia's eldest daughter Madison Hwang, senior director at Nvidia, to Korea was also canceled, but the company did not explain the reason for the cancellation and the relationship between the suspicions. On this day, NVIDIA held a business agreement (MOU) signing ceremony with the Ministry of Science and ICT, SK Telecom [017670], and Rebellion for cooperation in linking domestic neural network processing units (NPUs) based on 'NV Link Fusion', and Vice President Ashish Karandikar and Jesse Clayton, senior product marketing manager of the AI ​​infrastructure division, were in attendance.

KOSPI, which plummeted every day last week, attempted to rebound during the day on the 9th, but ultimately continued its downward trend. On this day, KOSPI ended trading at 5,018.85, down 40.84 points (0.81%) from the previous day. Based on the closing price, it is the lowest level since 4,949.67 points on February 2nd.

President Lee Jae-myung held a lunch meeting with firefighters at a restaurant in Sejong City on the 9th to celebrate Firefighting Day, Blue House Chief Spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong said in a written briefing. President Lee spoke with firefighters who had worked for 36 years and were about to retire, and firefighters who returned from rescue operations at overseas disaster sites, such as floods in Nepal, and comforted and encouraged them for their hard work. In particular, he expressed his gratitude, saying, “Thanks to the dedication of firefighters, the number of casualties, including victims and deaths, has decreased significantly.”

Woowa Brothers Co., Ltd. and Coupang Co., Ltd., which run Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats, the two largest delivery apps (apps), were slapped with the largest fine ever for a delivery app combined for forcing them to demand preferential treatment from stores. However, regarding the suspicion of Coupang's tie-in sales, a re-examination is expected to take place due to differences in interpretation between the company and the Fair Trade Commission examiners. The Fair Trade Commission reported on the 9th that Baemin and Coupang had abused their market-dominant positions to demand preferential treatment, and announced on the 9th that it had decided to impose a total of 631.9 billion won in fines, including a 331.1 billion won (provisional) fine on Baemin and 30.8 billion won (provisional) on Coupang, along with a corrective order.

The Moon Jae-in administration's foreign affairs and security officials, who were indicted on charges of leaking information about ROK-US military operations to the outside world in order to delay the formal deployment of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), were sentenced to prison. The Public Prosecution Office requested the court to sentence former National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong to 10 months in prison at the trial of former National Security Office Director Eui-yong Chung, held on the 9th at the Criminal Agreement Division 27 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Woo In-seong). Former Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo, who was also brought to trial, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and former National Security Office First Deputy Director Suh Joo-seok was sentenced to two years in prison.

For the 2027 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which will be held on the 19th, all electronic devices, including mobile phones, smart glasses, and smart watches, are prohibited from being brought into the test site. In particular, simply wearing smart glasses equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) functions during the test is considered cheating, so this year's test will be invalidated and the person will be disqualified from taking the CSAT next year. On the 9th, the Ministry of Education issued a 'Guidance Material on Precautions for Test Takers' and announced that all electronic devices, including tablet PCs (PCs), earphones with communication (Bluetooth) function, and electronic cigarettes, cannot be brought into the CSAT test center.

On the 9th, Minister of National Defense Kang Shin-cheol responded to the criticism from some that the expansion of the Cheonghae Unit's mission area was a 'diversionary trick' to dispatch troops to the Strait of Hormuz, saying, "I have clearly stated the principle of non-involvement and non-interference in the war." Minister Kang responded as follows when Rep. Kim Byeong-joo of the Democratic Party of Korea asked at the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly what the Ministry of National Defense's position is on criticism from the Fatherland Innovation Party and the Progressive Party. Minister Kang emphasized, “This is where we have a clear command system,” and added, “Pirate activities (in the vicinity) have also increased more than three-fold. I want to clearly say that this is to protect our soldiers, our people, and our ships.”

On the 9th, Seoul's Seocho-gu notified Banpo Hyundai (currently Banpo Centerville Asterium), the first complex to recover excess profits from reconstruction in the Gangnam area, of the expected repurchase burden of 17.9 billion won, and the related burden is expected to emerge in earnest in the real estate market. To date, there have been no cases in which a relocation fee has actually been imposed, and the National Assembly is discussing improvement measures, including the existence of the system, but there are concerns in the market about a decline in housing supply. According to the maintenance industry, the total amount of expected repayment charges notified by Seocho-gu to the Banpo Hyundai Reconstruction Association on this day is 17.9 billion won.

It is estimated that about 15,000 patients have been treated over the past five years through the 'Lee Kun-hee Childhood Cancer and Rare Disease Overcoming Project', which started in 2021 with a 300 billion won donation from the family of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. The Seoul National University Hospital Pediatric Cancer and Rare Disease Support Project Group (hereinafter referred to as the Project Group) held an international symposium under the theme of 'Opening the future of pediatric precision medicine: cutting-edge research in the field of pediatric cancer and rare diseases' at the CJ Hall of Seoul National University Children's Hospital on the afternoon of the 9th and announced that it had diagnosed 22,646 patients and treated 14,757 patients since its launch in 2021 until September of this year. The Pediatric Cancer and Rare Disease Overcoming Project is a mid- to long-term project that supports diagnosis, treatment, and research for pediatric cancer and rare disease patients.

A procedure for compulsory execution of virtual assets such as Bitcoin has been established. As the holding and trading of virtual assets expanded and the number of forced execution cases continued to increase, legal procedures were clarified. The Supreme Court's Court Administration announced on the 9th that the revised Civil Execution Rules, which regulate enforcement procedures from seizure to cash, reflecting the legal nature and transaction structure of virtual assets, went into effect on the 1st of this month.