1. Yesterday, August 2, marked the hottest day in South Korea's history since modern weather observations began, with temperatures exceeding 42°C for the first time. Many of you likely saw the news. Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, recorded a record high temperature of 42.5°C yesterday. Since South Korea introduced its modern meteorological observation system in 1904, this is the highest temperature recorded in 122 years. Starting today, a shift in wind direction is forecast to intensify the heat across the western regions of the Korean Peninsula, including Seoul. Seoul's daytime high is predicted to climb to 37°C (99°F) today, making it the hottest day of this summer. Amid the relentless heat waves, the number of heat-related illnesses is surging significantly. As of August 1, a total of 1,809 heat-related illness cases and 14 deaths have been reported.
2. The KOSPI, which skyrocketed to an all-time high on the last day of July last Friday, is showing a decline of over 5% today, lingering in the 6,200 range. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are dragging down the index with drops of over 7% each. This is analyzed to be the result of a massive wave of profit-taking following the recent sharp surge. On the other hand, the KOSDAQ rose by more than 3%, triggering a buy-side sidecar.
3. President Lee Jae-myung returned to Korea this morning after completing an 11-day, 7-country tour. This afternoon, he will preside over a real estate policy and stock market inspection meeting at the Blue House, signaling his intent to take charge of economic issues. Discussions are expected to cover overall real estate measures, including a government tax reform plan aimed at raising holding taxes, as well as countermeasures for the stock market, which has been showing volatile fluctuations. In particular, attention is focused on whether additional measures regarding leveraged ETFs will be announced.
4. The Democratic Party's national convention to select its next ruling party leader is showing an ultra-tight race in the early stages. On the first day of the regional primary circuit in the Chungcheong region, candidate Kim Min-seok took the combined first place, but yesterday on the second day of the tour in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam-do, candidate Chung Chung-rae outperformed Kim Min-seok. The cumulative vote shares stand at 45.51% for Chung Chung-rae and 44.52% for Kim Min-seok, unfolding an ultra-close race within a 1 percentage point margin. As the leadership race remains neck-and-neck, sharp verbal clashes continue between the candidates, including mentions of filing complaints with the ethics committee.
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.