The Korea Times

Can AI save aging East Asian economies?

HONG KONG — Declining fertility rates have long been viewed as a drag on economic growth, but the outlook may not be entirely bleak for Asian economies such as China, Korea and Japan, analysts said. Demographic pressure is accelerating investment in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) in these rapidly aging yet technologically advanced countries, helping offset labor shortages and sustain productivity even as populations shrink, they argued. Analysts at Bank of America (BofA) Global Research said China, Korea and Japan could witness tech-driven growth despite their aging populations. The commitment of these countries to AI and automation is likely to intensify as they face shrinking labor pools and rising wage pressures, according to a Feb. 24 report on low fertility rates in Asia. “The region’s deep semiconductor, tech hardware and machinery ecosystems make deployment faster and cheaper than other regions,” the report’s authors said, noting that China and Korea were already at the forefront of developing and adopting cutting-edge technologies. Korea boasts the world’s

Mar 15, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

Cryptocurrency

Sygnum points to banks’ role in evolving digital asset landscape

HONG KONG — There was a time when people relied heavily on cryptocurrency exchanges to handle nearly all their crypto activities. The industry was new, and few platforms — especially in traditional finance — offered similar services. Many questioned why banks were needed at all, when dealing directly with exchanges was often cheaper and less cumbersome. But the collapse of FTX in 2022 changed that perception, said Gerald Goh, co-founder and Asia-Pacific CEO of Sygnum, the world’s first regulated digital asset bank. “FTX made it very clear to everyone that there are significant counterparty risks when you deal with unregulated service providers,” Goh told The Korea Times in a recent interview. “Right now, you don’t hear anyone advertising that they are unregulated. Everyone is saying they have a license somewhere. That’s a big change,” he added. Founded in 2017 with dual headquarters in Switzerland and Singapore, Sygnum provides crypto services including trading, custody, lending, tokenization and asset management. The company serves more than 2,200 clients, primarily

Mar 11, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

Sygnum points to banks’ role in evolving digital asset landscape

Cryptocurrency

Pushing for more women in male-dominated crypto industry

HONG KONG — Vivien Khoo left Goldman Sachs in 2019 after a 19-year career at the global investment bank. She felt she was too young to retire, yet too old to spend another two decades doing the same job. So she stepped down from her managing director role and made an unexpected move. She became interim CEO and global chief operating officer of BitMEX, a cryptocurrency exchange that was grappling with a series of regulatory challenges at the time. Recalling the decision in a recent interview with The Korea Times, Khoo said she wishes she could claim she had long been passionate about blockchain technology and instinctively believed in crypto’s future. But that was not the case. Instead, Khoo believed her long career in compliance and regulation made her a strong fit for the role. If she could successfully navigate the transition, she thought she might build a long-term career in the industry. What struck her most, however, was the isolation. Unlike her years at Goldman Sachs, she found herself with few peers to turn to for advice. She was one of the few women in leadership in the crypt

Mar 8, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

Pushing for more women in male-dominated crypto industry

Sports

Korea's top esports league crowns champion far from home

HONG KONG — When Gen.G clinched its 2026 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Cup title on Sunday with a dominant 3-0 victory over BNK FearX, the reaction inside Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Arena was immediate and thunderous. Fans shouted, some leaping from their seats while others wiped away tears. Although the two teams who faced off for the title were Korean, much of the crowd was not. “I really had faith in Gen.G,” said Holly, a Hong Kong resident who began following the LCK and Gen.G star player Jung “Chovy” Ji-hoon six months ago. What began as an effort to help her learn Korean has since turned into a passion. She now watches nearly every match online, drawn by the players’ dedication and competitiveness. She rarely watches the Chinese professional league. The sizable crowd that filled much of the 10,000-seat arena on Sunday reflected the global reach of Korea’s premier esports league. The LCK is widely regarded as the strongest and most prestigious regional competition in the entire League of Legends esports scene, boasting a record number of international titles and su

Mar 2, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

Korea's top esports league crowns champion far from home

Economy

Korean investors pour millions into Chinese AI, tech stocks

HONG KONG — Korean retail investors, known for their aggressive trading style, are ramping up exposure to Chinese artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, even as their home market ranks among the world’s top performers. Data from SEIBro, a portal operated by the Korea Securities Depository, showed that Korean retail investors bought $507 million worth of Hong Kong-listed shares and $154 million of mainland-listed shares between Jan. 2 and Feb. 23. The data showed that total purchases had already matched the combined levels seen in the first two months of 2025, when the launch of Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek’s R1 model sparked a global rally in China’s technology sector. This year’s buying has been heavily concentrated in AI and semiconductor names. In Hong Kong, the most actively bought stock on a net basis was startup MiniMax AI, which has attracted $21 million from Korean retail investors since its January debut. Montage Technology, a Shanghai-based semiconductor company that debuted in February, followed with $19 million in net purchases. On mainland exchanges, semicondu

Feb 27, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

Korean investors pour millions into Chinese AI, tech stocks

Cryptocurrency

AI agents will bring crypto to masses, says Animoca's Yat Siu

HONG KONG — Technology optimists predict that, sooner or later, people will rely on multiple artificial intelligence (AI) agents to manage their schedules, book restaurants, purchase essential items or even invest on their behalf. When that day comes, these agents will conduct users’ financial transactions on the blockchain, and most people may not even realize they are using crypto technology, according to Yat Siu, executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands. “I don’t think the path to crypto is going to be trading. It’s going to be much more about using it in everyday life,” Siu told The Korea Times in a recent interview on the sidelines of Consensus Hong Kong, a crypto networking event. “The fact that crypto is in the background is a bonus — it makes things bigger, faster, better, cheaper and more efficient. But ultimately, people won’t care.” Siu began his career in the technology industry in 1990 and is now a veteran entrepreneur and investor based in Hong Kong. An early advocate of blockchain, he co-founded Animoca Brands in 2014. The company now operat

Feb 26, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

AI agents will bring crypto to masses, says Animoca's Yat Siu

Economy

Seoul gains from Tokyo’s pain over Lunar New Year

HONG KONG/SEOUL — For his family’s first overseas trip together, Tang Junjie carefully planned a holiday in Japan during China’s longest Lunar New Year break on record. Flights were booked months in advance by the 22-year-old from Sichuan province, who had already made three solo visits to the nearby country that has long been a draw for Chinese tourists. But a sudden deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations changed everything. “The original plan was to transit through Seoul on our way to Japan,” Tang said. “But the airline couldn’t refund the tickets at the time, so we decided to stay in Seoul and not continue on to Japan.” Tang and his family were among the influx of Chinese tourists who visited Korea during the holiday period, which began on Feb. 15 and ended on Monday. Beijing and Tokyo have been embroiled in a diplomatic dispute since November, when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that Tokyo could respond militarily to a potential attack on Taiwan. In response, Beijing has advised citizens to avoid traveling to Japan. Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports a

Feb 24, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

Seoul gains from Tokyo’s pain over Lunar New Year

Policy

Can Korea and China tackle aging together?

HONG KONG — Korea and China have had a turbulent relationship in recent years as they compete across a range of high-tech industries. But the two countries now appear to be bonding over a shared challenge: their rapidly aging societies. The issue has featured on the agenda at meetings between Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping dating back to last year, with the leaders pledging to work together to deal with the economic changes being brought by their nations’ low birthrates. In November, following a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the two nations signed a cooperation agreement on the “silver economy,” with Xi highlighting the need for mutually beneficial outcomes. During his state visit to China in January, Lee also named the silver economy — existing and emerging sectors catering to the elderly population — as an area with “limitless collaboration opportunities,” despite the two countries’ competitive status in other areas of the global market. Analysts broadly agreed with that assessm

Feb 20, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

Can Korea and China tackle aging together?

Travel & Food

How did China’s Guangzhou tee up surge in Korean tourists?

HONG KONG — A surge in Korean visitors wanting to play golf in Guangzhou, fueled by China’s visa-free travel policy and the city’s warm climate, is keeping Quan Yulan busier than ever at the travel agency where she has worked for 12 years. Compared with 2023, when international travel began recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean bookings surged by more than 300 percent last year, said Quan, who is of Korean descent, adding that the Guangzhou-based agency expected even stronger growth this year. “Even though Guangzhou is one of China’s three major cities, Korean golfers used to be relatively rare here,” she said. “But now I’m happily busy every day.” While roughly 90 percent of golfers in Guangzhou are Chinese, Korean visitors make up the overwhelming majority of foreign players, according to travel industry officials. Most of the golf-focused travel agencies in the city, including the one where Quan works, are run by or employ Chinese people of Korean descent to cater primarily to the Korean market. For years, Korean golf tourists favored countries such as Japan

Feb 19, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

How did China’s Guangzhou tee up surge in Korean tourists?

Economy

Kosdaq 3,000 harder than KOSPI 5,000: Morgan Stanley

HONG KONG — With the Korean government reaching its ambitious KOSPI 5,000 goal faster than expected, attention is shifting to the secondary Kosdaq market — a bourse aimed at nurturing innovative, tech-heavy companies, similar to the Nasdaq. Since the announcement of the Kosdaq 3,000 initiative on Jan. 22, the index has continued to climb, reflecting strong investor enthusiasm. However, Morgan Stanley’s Korea equity strategist and head of financials research, Joon Seok, warned the target may be more difficult to achieve. "The structure and dynamics of the Kosdaq market are quite different from those of the KOSPI," Seok said. "This is a more challenging target (than KOSPI) but taking the first step is key." Seok noted that the Kosdaq’s growth-oriented nature leads to greater volatility, driven largely by the short-term trading behavior of retail investors, who account for 80 percent to 90 percent of total trading volume. In addition, Kosdaq-listed firms tend to have weaker fundamentals and lower transparency than their KOSPI counterparts. The return on equity (ROE) — a key measur

Feb 14, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo

Lee Yeon-woo

Read more

Can AI save aging East Asian economies?

Sygnum points to banks’ role in evolving digital asset landscape

Pushing for more women in male-dominated crypto industry

Korea's top esports league crowns champion far from home

Korean investors pour millions into Chinese AI, tech stocks

AI agents will bring crypto to masses, says Animoca's Yat Siu

Seoul gains from Tokyo’s pain over Lunar New Year

Can Korea and China tackle aging together?

How did China’s Guangzhou tee up surge in Korean tourists?

Kosdaq 3,000 harder than KOSPI 5,000: Morgan Stanley

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