TechubNews

Sedgwick, a subsidiary that provides risk management services to U.S. federal government agencies, has recently officially acknowledged a cyberattack. The attack occurred on December 30 of last year, after the TridentLocker ransomware group claimed to have stolen confidential data.
Sedgwick explained that the affected business unit is "Sedgwick Government Solutions," which is working with major federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The company added that immediate standard response procedures were implemented following the incident, including system shutdowns, engaging external cybersecurity experts, and notifying relevant authorities.
The company emphasized that, so far, investigations indicate that the intrusion was limited to the subsidiary’s data.

At CES 2026, NVIDIA( NVDA) unveiled its new AI system "Alpamayo(Alpamayo)", which has gone beyond mere technological advancement and is regarded as a signal of a paradigm shift in autonomous driving technology. By directly addressing and overcoming the bottlenecks faced by existing autonomous driving technologies in real-world road safety and reliability, this approach is receiving significant attention from the tech industry.
Alpamayo consists of a new AI model, simulation tools, and large-scale datasets, capable of tackling the limitations of traditional autonomous driving algorithms—namely, "unpredictable scenarios." Its core concept is that it is not designed as an onboard vehicle drive system but as a "teacher system" used to train and validate autonomous driving systems. This means that before real-world deployment, the system can run millions of virtual scenarios to ensure safety.
NVIDIA officially launched the "Object

Kosdaq-listed company Xcure plans to raise an additional 60 billion KRW through a third-party allotment to improve short-term liquidity and support business expansion. The issuance of 5,021,000 new shares is mainly targeted at specific investors and may dilute existing shareholders' equity. The market is watching whether Xcure will use these funds to strengthen R&D and develop new products.

Last month, domestic investors' enthusiasm for major U.S. tech companies (the so-called "Magnificent Seven") significantly cooled down within a month. The proportion of M7 in total U.S. stock investments also declined accordingly, confirming that investors' interests are gradually shifting from these large IT companies to other sectors.
According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, domestic investors invested a total of $3.66179 billion (approximately 5.3008 trillion KRW) in the seven major representative tech companies in the United States during December 2025. This is about a 29% decrease from the previous month (November), when the buy settlement amount was $5.15544 billion (approximately 7.4589 trillion KRW). The Magnificent Seven refers to the seven giant U.S. tech stocks composed of Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google's parent company), Microsoft, Meta (formerly Facebook), Tesla, and NVIDIA.
The decline in their investment proportion from the total U.S. stock market

Major listed companies in South Korea initiated structural adjustments at the beginning of the new year, including paid-in capital increases, stock buybacks and cancellations, and expanding equity holdings, aiming to raise funds, improve operational efficiency, and enhance shareholder value. Small and medium-sized enterprises are actively engaging in capital increase activities, with electronic component and semiconductor equipment companies actively raising funds. Meanwhile, companies are expanding their businesses through strategic investments and increased control, and the market expects these measures to boost market vitality.

In December last year, our country's foreign exchange reserves turned downward again after 7 months due to reasons such as exchange rate stabilization measures. According to the Bank of Korea, influenced by factors such as foreign exchange market interventions, foreign exchange reserves decreased by 2.6 billion USD compared to the previous month.
As of the end of December 2025, foreign exchange reserves were reported at 428.05 billion USD (approximately 618 trillion KRW). This figure slightly decreased compared to November, one month earlier. Our foreign exchange reserves fell to 404.6 billion USD at the end of May last year, reaching the lowest level in about five years. After that, they continued to grow for six consecutive months until November, but this growth trend was broken at the end of the year.
The main reason for the decrease in foreign exchange reserves is government market interventions to ease exchange rate fluctuations. The Bank of Korea pointed out that, despite factors such as increased foreign currency deposits by financial institutions at the end of the quarter and the appreciation of other currency assets into USD, the primary cause of the decline in foreign exchange reserves remains the exchange rate.

After the United States expelled Venezuelan President Maduro, uncertainty increased in the international crude oil market, and oil prices rose nearly 2%. Although Maduro has stepped down, sanctions remain, and market sentiment is tense. Experts warn that restoring production will require significant investment and good security, and the outlook is uncertain as sanctions have not been lifted.

The Korean won against the US dollar slightly appreciated on the 6th, ending at 1 USD to 1445.60 KRW. US manufacturing data below expectations led to a weaker dollar, supporting the Korean won's rebound. The market is sensitive to Federal Reserve policy and changes in US economic indicators, and the exchange rate may continue to fluctuate in the future.

The future industry will implement a paid-in capital increase of approximately 65 billion KRW, issuing 524,024 new shares, mainly targeted at the largest shareholder NEXTON & ROLL KOREA. This capital increase aims to strengthen the financial structure and support business expansion, but may trigger equity dilution and stock price fluctuations, so follow-up developments should be monitored.

Mobile game developer Com2uS announces the cancellation of approximately 646,000 treasury shares, accounting for about 5% of the company's total issued shares, to enhance shareholder value. This move is expected to reduce the number of outstanding shares and potentially have a positive impact on future stock prices. The company stated that it will continue to explore diversified shareholder return policies, demonstrating a willingness for long-term cooperation with shareholders.

On January 5th, the first national bond auction of 2026 was held. On that day, the South Korean bond market's government bond yields rose across the board in the morning, but in the afternoon, due to foreign investors' buy-in and capital inflows, some of the gains were recovered, and the market closed higher. As the first bond issuance of the year, this day attracted the attention of bond market participants.
A 28 trillion won (KRW) 2-year government bond auction was conducted on that day. During the bidding process, demand for short-term bonds was relatively weak, with the 2-year yield rising 3.9 basis points (1 basis point = 0.01 percentage points) from the previous trading day, closing at 2.831%. This was the largest increase among major maturity bonds. Conversely, the 3-year yield fell 0.2 basis points, closing at 2.933%, showing mixed movements within short-term bonds.
The 10-year government bond yield rose 1.0 basis point to 3.396%; the 5-year yield was 3.249% (up 1.0 basis point); the 20-year yield was 3.373%.

The Japan Nikkei 225 Index rose nearly 3% on the first day of the new year, approaching 52,000 points, boosted by strong performance in the US stock market and positive expectations for the semiconductor industry. Related companies such as Kioxia and SoftBank saw significant stock price increases, supporting the index's rise. Meanwhile, long-term interest rates rose to a 27-year high, and the market generally expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates, leading to a depreciation of the yen. The future performance of the Japanese stock market will be influenced by central bank policies and the US interest rate outlook.

By 2026, generative AI will face challenges in understanding and utilizing "correct" data, marking the beginning of a new era of semantic data design. Data quality and governance become critical, and the performance issues of intelligent AI agents are highlighted. The popularization of zero ETL architecture and vector data processing technologies will drive a reevaluation of the value of semantic layers and the establishment of interoperability standards. However, AI semantic understanding faces a shortage of ontology modeling talent, and future competition will revolve around precise data understanding.

Samsung Electronics stock price rose over 7% in a day, approaching 140,000 KRW, driven by the recovery of the semiconductor industry and AI investments. The KOSPI index hit a record high, with net foreign capital inflows indicating a rebound in market confidence. Overall, this reflects expectations of long-term growth in the semiconductor industry.

In 2025, due to the rapid development of AI technology, the venture capital market was active, with a total investment of $205 billion, the third-highest in history. In 2026, venture capital is expected to continue growing, with a focus on AI infrastructure and medical AI sectors. Entry barriers will increase, and small to medium-sized funds will need to shift towards early-stage investments. The unicorn and IPO markets will also face transformation.

Newly appointed Gwangju Bank President Jeong Il-sun's first official engagement after taking office was to visit local industrial sites and communities where financially vulnerable groups reside, demonstrating a willingness to listen to on-the-ground voices and reflect them in future business strategies.
On January 2nd, after concluding his inauguration ceremony, President Jeong immediately visited "Hoo Won," an auto parts manufacturing company located in Gwangju Henan Industrial Park. There, he exchanged views with employees regarding the operational conditions of the manufacturing site and the difficulties faced by the company, and discussed plans to strengthen the regional industrial competitiveness. This move can be interpreted as Gwangju Bank, as a regional bank, actively exploring pathways for co-development with the local economy.
In the afternoon, he went to the Foreigners' Financial Center in Gwangju Gwangsan District and held a joint discussion with representatives from Gwangju City, the Gwangju Foreign Residents Support Center, and the Foreigners' Honor Passbook of Gwangsan District. The discussion focused mainly on the challenges faced by foreign workers and immigrants in adapting to the Korean financial system.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated the stance to maintain the benchmark interest rate hike in 2026, emphasizing steady progress in normalizing monetary policy. Despite external challenges, the Japanese economy continues to recover, with wage and price increases becoming core policy objectives. It is expected that this trend will continue to be monitored for flexible interest rate adjustments.

Written by: Xiao Sa Legal Team
Recently, the new virtual asset regulations jointly issued by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) have attracted widespread attention in the industry. The most core change is: the previous approach of mainly regulating trading platforms is expanding to cover the entire business chain — from over-the-counter trading, investment advice, to asset management, all integrated into a unified licensing system.
Many people's first reaction is "another approval process," but a close reading of the document reveals that the regulatory authorities' intention is not to create hurdles, but to establish a clear, stable, and predictable rule system. This framework not only improves upon the previous VATP system but also provides a certainty signal for institutional funds and long-term capital.
In other words, Hong Kong is not contracting but paving the way for larger-scale compliant capital entry. For institutions genuinely aiming for long-term development here, the current