▲ AI PRISM* Personalized Economic Briefing
* Editor’s note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six tailored news items for each reader type.
■ 3 Trillion Won Share Sale: Samsung Biologics (207940) is pursuing a 3.0000009 trillion won rights offering with unsubscribed shares to be sold to the public, aiming to enter the peptide market. The purpose is to fund the acquisition of Switzerland’s PolyPeptide Group, but the market response was cold, and the stock closed at 1.486 million won, down 6.78% from the previous session. Shareholder pushback over the decision not to use corporate bonds despite a solid credit rating and stable finances, along with clearing the Financial Supervisory Service’s intensive review, have emerged as key issues.
■ Three Firms Win AI for All: A consortium of SK Telecom (017670), Kakao (035720) and KT (030200) was selected to carry out the “AI for All” project, a free artificial intelligence service for the entire population. In an open call in which six bidders submitted proposals, technical convenience and differentiated service plans served as the main evaluation criteria. The government plans to sign an agreement next month and launch the service officially within this year after a beta period.
■ Hawkish Push at Jackson Hole: Ahead of the first Jackson Hole keynote address by Kevin Warsh, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, attendees delivered a stream of hawkish remarks calling for rate increases. Warsh also signaled his commitment to the 2% inflation target but said little about specific measures to bring prices under control. As a result, dissatisfaction with his communication style is growing in the market.
[News of Interest to Corporate CEOs]
– Key summary: Samsung Biologics filed a securities registration statement on the 28th for a rights offering that will newly issue a total of 2.27 million shares. Based on the planned issue price of 1.322 million won, the total offering amount is 3.0000009 trillion won, which would be the largest ever if raised as planned since financial authorities introduced an intensive review system for rights offerings last year. The proceeds will be used to acquire PolyPeptide Group, a Swiss global peptide contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), with the remaining 294.8 billion won going toward facility funds to expand the second bio campus in Songdo, Incheon. With a current ratio — a soundness indicator dividing current assets by current liabilities — of 179.7% and a debt-to-equity ratio of 51.3% as of the end of the first half of this year, shareholder objections are continuing over why the company chose a share sale instead of corporate bonds.
2. Smarter Calls, Messengers and IPTV: “AI for All” to Arrive Within the Year
– Key summary: The Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 28th that it had selected the consortium of SK Telecom, Kakao and KT to carry out the “AI for All” project, following written and presentation evaluations of the six bidders that took part in the open call. The SK Telecom consortium will develop an execution-oriented AI service that handles everything from planning to execution and result verification with a single request. It will be usable not only through applications and the web but also by phone and text message. The KT consortium will provide integrated support within a single conversational flow, from information searches to the execution of public and specialized services. The Kakao consortium plans to offer services that combine expertise in health care, finance, taxation, education, employment and care, using KakaoTalk and phone-based AI as points of access. The government will provide a total of 512 B200 GPUs this year and, starting next year, will cover the cost of the nationwide service with government budget funds.
3. Hawks Speak Up From the Start: Warsh Faces Growing Pressure Over Jackson Hole Message
– Key summary: At the Jackson Hole meeting on the 27th, Jeffrey Schmid, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said inflation remained stubborn and questioned whether the current base rate of 3.5% to 3.75% was restrictive enough for the economy. Beth Hammack, president of the Cleveland Fed, said now was the time to act, and Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Fed, also cited uncontrolled price increases as his biggest concern. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for July, released on the 26th, rose 3.7% from a year earlier, above the market forecast of 3.6%, while the core rate stood at 3.3%. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expanded long-term Treasury buybacks to at least $4 billion per operation from $2 billion, a move some read as clashing with the policy stance of Warsh, who has viewed the tightening effect of high market rates favorably.
4. [Exclusive] Tighter Rules, Weaker Value: Automakers Drop Diesel to Focus on Eco-Friendly Cars
– Key summary: Hyundai Motor (005380) and Kia (000270) will exclude diesel variants from the Carnival and Staria beginning with their 2026 model-year updates and will halt diesel production of the Sorento from the 2027 model year, effectively ending diesel passenger models at the two automakers. According to the Korea Automobile Mobility Association, diesel’s share of newly registered vehicles in Korea fell to 5.0% last year from 30.8% in 2020, and dropped to 2.4% through July this year. The share of eco-friendly vehicles rose to 48.4% last year from 11.8% in 2020. Tighter emissions rules such as the European Union’s Euro 7 standards, along with the spread of hybrids and electric vehicles, have diluted diesel’s advantages in fuel economy and output. Hyundai Motor has set a target of filling 3.33 million of its 5.55 million global sales goal for 2030 with eco-friendly vehicles, while Kia has set a goal of selling 2.15 million eco-friendly vehicles.
