Clouds hang low around Saebyeol Oreum in Jeju on Oct. 19.YONHAP
And just like that, it's the start of a new week! Here are the stories you need to know in Korea.
In today's news, a rise in prices for express bus tickets follows declining ridership as competition with high-speed rail providers heats up. In other news, suspicions of copyright infringement have been raised after evidence has surfaced pointing to Anthropic sourcing Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese books to train systems.
Meanwhile, despite hitting historic highs earlier this year, the Kospi has been recorded as the worst-performing major stock index in the world so far this month. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Today's top story
KOREA
Express buses face uncertain future as rising fares, KTX competition shrink ridership
Express bus fares in Korea rose by 9 percent at the beginning of this month. This has led many passengers to ask whether they are still worth the price, since trains can get them to their destination faster for nearly the same fare.
Bus fares are almost on par with KTX high-speed rail tickets following the increase on Oct. 1. The price rise came despite the continuous decline in express bus ridership.
Express buses, which once generated significant revenue in Korea in the 1980s, face the challenge of attracting passengers amid a recent price hike and ongoing competition from the KTX.
Kospi goes from global outperformer to world's worst performer
After a record-setting start to the year, Korea's leading stock index has been the world's worst since the start of October due to a sharp sell-off in heavyweight chip stocks.
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Korean manufacturers redraw China playbook as U.S. pressure escalates
Samsung, SK hynix and Hyundai are shifting investment toward the United States, India, Vietnam and Japan as the Trump administration and intensifying U.S.-China competition reshape supply chains.
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Seoul's street food favorites come together for two-day market festival
After a seven-year hiatus, the Seoul Market Fair will bring traditional market vendors, outdoor dining and performances to Cheonggye Plaza this weekend.
