News Briefing: Major Headlines of the Day... Fallout Over Consecutive-Term Constitutional Amendment Remarks; Cheong Wa Dae and Democratic Party Move to Quench Controversy

1. Many of you must have been greatly shocked. It is reported that 13 people have died so far, including 2 fatalities found at a collapsed shopping mall following yesterday afternoon's (the 28th) powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Kumamoto, south of Japan. Rescue operations have entered their second day at the collapsed shopping mall. Local media reports that two deaths have been confirmed there, with one person in a state of cardiac arrest. Residents living in the earthquake-affected areas had no choice but to spend a sleepless night gripped by extreme anxiety.

2. Driven by demand for artificial intelligence semiconductors, SK Hynix has once again broken its all-time record by posting an operating profit exceeding 60 trillion won in the second quarter of this year. SK Hynix announced in a regulatory filing today that it recorded consolidated second-quarter revenue of 79.3 trillion won and an operating profit of 60.5 trillion won. While both revenue and operating profit are all-time quarterly highs, criticism has arisen during today's conference call that expected additional shareholder return measures were not presented and future earnings outlooks remain uncertain. Amid this, SK Hynix's shares plummeted more than 8% during intraday trading, dropping to the 1.4 million won range. The KOSPI also plunged for a second consecutive day, falling to the 5,600 line.

3. A large group of current and former financial newspaper reporters and others who reaped massive illegal profits by exploiting economic articles of interest to stock investors have been sent to trial en masse. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office indicted eight individuals—including current and former financial newspaper reporters and the head of a quasi-investment advisory firm who is a former accountant—on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act, and detained four of them. Investigators found that they selected stocks with low trading volume or high stock price volatility, designated them as featured stocks, purchased the shares, and then published related articles. They are accused of raking in approximately 9.3 billion won in illegal profits over four years and eight months by selling off all the shares to pocket the price difference once the stock prices rose.

4. As we reported in detail during yesterday's broadcast of Joo Young-jin's News Briefing, National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik remarked that a consecutive-term constitutional amendment for the presidency is a matter of public choice. The resulting fallout has been fierce. In response, Chief of Staff to the President Kang Hoon-sik directly stepped in to defame the controversy. Meeting with reporters covering Cheong Wa Dae this morning, Chief of Staff Kang conveyed that President Lee Jae-myung mentioned that a consecutive-term presidency is neither permitted by our constitutional system nor tolerated by the public, making it realistically impossible. Kang emphasized that President Lee has spoken this way since his days as a presidential candidate before the election, and this simply reiterates what he continues to say. The People Power Party is demanding that President Lee step forward himself to declare that there will be no consecutive terms. We will analyze the political fallout surrounding Speaker Cho's remarks in greater depth shortly during the Yeodam Yadam segment.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.