Regarding the U.S.' request to send troops to the Strait of Hormuz and Korea's response plan on the 8th (local time), the Blue House said, "The general direction of what to do in terms of international cooperation has been outlined, but the details are being reviewed and nothing has been decided." A Blue House official accompanying President Lee Jae-myung on his state visit to France met with reporters at the press center in downtown Paris and made this comment. He also drew the line that the Ministry of National Defense's dispatch of a local investigation team should be viewed as 'part of the review process' and that it is not a decision to dispatch troops or a dispatch of an investigation team based on the premise of dispatching troops.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260909003400001
■ U.S. military strikes oil tanker near Harg Island, Iran's 'crude oil export hub'
It was discovered that the US Central Command conducted an airstrike near Harg Island in the Gulf Sea, Iran's 'crude oil export hub', and an Iranian oil tanker was hit. An official from the Donald Trump administration told Fox News on the 8th (local time) that the Central Command's airstrikes were carried out near Iran's Harg Island and Jask, and that the targets of the attacks included oil tankers. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported that an Iranian small oil tanker was attacked by a U.S. missile this night in the sea about 4 nautical miles (about 7.4 km) away from Harg Island.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260909006252079
■ Saudi-Houthi engage in a slugfest at the level of an all-out war over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Saudi Arabia and Yemen's pro-Iranian rebels, the Houthis, engaged in a fierce battle that virtually reached the level of an all-out war over control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the entrance to the Red Sea. With the Strait of Hormuz virtually blocked in the aftermath of the US-Iran war, both sides are engaged in a fight they cannot back down over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key lifeline that Saudi Arabia must secure for crude oil exports. According to foreign media such as Reuters and AFP on the 8th (local time), Houthi rebels mobilized drones and missiles to attack four cities in southern Saudi Arabia, including Khamis Mushait, Abha, Najran, and Jizan.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260909002051079
■ Coupang grew bigger after the leak... Payment amount: 5 trillion won, highest number of users
Coupang's monthly card payments, which raised concerns about consumer defection following the personal information leak, were found to have exceeded 5 trillion won. The number of users also appeared to have increased to the highest level. It is interpreted that the repeated purchase structure of daily necessities and food based on a rapid delivery system and the lock-in effect of membership led to an increase in payment amount.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260908131500017
■ Industrial Bank of Korea is ‘failed’… I don’t know about the financial accident even in the warrant, I took out another loan after the accident.
It was revealed that IBK Industrial Bank failed to recognize the financial incident in time even after receiving a search and seizure warrant containing specific fraud methods and loan amounts from the police in connection with the alleged real estate loan fraud worth 18.2 billion won. It was only after receiving a request from the Financial Supervisory Service to confirm related facts a week later that it became aware of the accident, and even after reporting it to the authorities, an additional loan worth 1.9 billion won was made. It was confirmed that even after self-inspecting most of the loans in question, it was concluded that 'nothing unusual' was found, and it is pointed out that loopholes were exposed in the overall internal control of Industrial Bank of Korea, including credit screening, accident response, and post-mortem inspection.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260908137700002
■ National Assembly questions to the government begin... The opposition and opposition parties are expected to clash over cabinet reshuffle and supplementary investigative rights.
The National Assembly will begin questioning the government on the 9th. The National Assembly asks questions to the government, starting with politics on this day, followed by diplomacy, unification, and security on the 10th, economy on the 11th, and education, society, and culture on the 14th. On this day, the ruling and opposition parties are expected to clash on all fronts over issues such as President Lee Jae-myung's recent cabinet reshuffle in which he nominated candidates for ministers of six ministries, implementation of a new criminal justice system including the abolition of the prosecution's supplementary investigative power, constitutional amendments promoted by the ruling party, conflicts between the Blue House and the judiciary in recommending Supreme Court justices, and plans to reform the National Election Commission.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260908157900001
■ Dow down 1.2% due to intensifying situation in the Middle East... International oil prices are also close to $100.
On the 8th (local time), the three major indices of the New York Stock Exchange fell simultaneously amid rising international oil prices and concerns about inflation due to heightened tensions in the Middle East. On this day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended trading at 52,786.07, down 628.18 points (1.18%) from the previous day. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index closed at 7,673.52, down 45.08 points (0.58%) from the previous day, and the Nasdaq Composite Index, centered on technology stocks, closed at 26,421.41, down 85.58 points (0.32%) from the previous day.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260909007251072
■ AI passes the 48-step ‘human proof’ test… Disabling the robot identification tool
Open AI's new artificial intelligence (AI) model 'GPT-6 Astra' was found to have passed all of the 'Captcha' games used to prove human identity on the Internet. Sharif Shamim, the developer of OpenAI, announced on the 8th (local time) through social networking service (SNS) 'I'm Not a Robot' consists of games such as matching distorted alphabets, distinguishing between cookies and dogs in similar-looking photos, and identifying the location of specific structures, such as traffic lights, in photos.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260909005400091
■ Korea ranks second in the world in science and technology research and development expenditure compared to GDP... 8th place in top 10 paper citations
A Japanese government report has released a report stating that the cost of investment in science and technology research and development by the Korean government and companies is the second highest in the world, considering the size of the economy. According to the 'Science and Technology Indicators' report recently released by the Science, Technology and Academic Policy Research Institute of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on the 9th, the amount invested in science and technology research and development by the Korean government, companies, universities, and non-profit organizations as of 2024 was calculated to be 131.462 trillion won (approximately 15.2965 trillion yen). This research institute annually surveys and announces science and technology indicators of major countries, and in this year's survey, China became the country investing the most in research and development for the first time.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260908152300009
■ Mostly clear and cool throughout the country… Raindrops on the east coast and mountainous areas of Gangwon-do
On Wednesday the 9th, the entire country will be mostly clear, but rain will occasionally fall mainly on the east coast and mountainous areas of Gangwon-do. There may be rain in the east coast and mountainous areas of Gangwon until the morning. Raindrops of less than 0.1 mm may fall in the inland area of Gangwon, the east coast of Gyeongbuk, and the northeastern mountains until the morning, and in Busan, Ulsan, and Jeju Island until the day. The expected precipitation is 5 to 10 mm in the mountains of Gangwon and less than 5 mm on the east coast of Gangwon.
View full text: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260909007100034
