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Finance

KOSPI hits 8,000 as debate returns over reviving financial investment income tax

With the KOSPI heating up and breaking above 8,000 intraday, debate has resurfaced over reviving South Korea’s financial investment income tax. Labour and civic groups call for normalising taxation of financial income, arguing capital income is insufficiently taxed compared with wages. President Lee Jae-myung has also raised the need to reform securities transaction and capital gains taxes. Opponents warn the tax could hurt sentiment and spur outflows, while the government has not formalised reintroduction.

Finance

Stock rally swells overdraft credit lines as banks balance profit and regulation

A stock market rally is fuelling renewed debt-backed investing by retail investors, pushing up overdraft credit line balances at South Korea’s major banks. Balances at the five biggest lenders rose from 39 trillion won at end-April to above 41 trillion won in May, the highest in about 3 years and 4 months. Banks see profit opportunities among high-credit borrowers but face potential pressure from regulators if household lending keeps rising.

AI & Enterprise

AI agents drive expansion of software ecosystems built for AI, not humans

As AI agents spread, software designed for use by AI rather than people is expanding. Companies are moving toward headless software that lets agents access core functions through APIs and MCP without a user interface. Approaches differ, with Salesforce and ServiceNow opening platforms to third-party agents while SAP focuses on its own. The shift is emerging as a variable in enterprise software competition, alongside growing demand for forward-deployed engineers supporting AI adoption.