Move to strengthen investor protection for more sound market

South Korea is moving to strengthen investor protections amid stock market volatility, even as chip-led export growth fueled by AI investments drives a record current account surplus of $14.1 billion in June. Samsung's second-quarter operating profit of 89.4 trillion won surpassed Nvidia's highest, highlighting the AI-driven economic momentum.

Amid the uncertainty and volatility seen on Korea's bourses, exports and trade balances managed to rise on chip-led growth, fueled by momentum in artificial intelligence AI investments. This points to a mixed bag of healthy indexes stacked against what has been described as a "roller coaster" of volatility for both KOSPI and Kosdaq. It is vital to steady the bourses, which serve as a healthy venue for firms to raise capital and provide investors with a chance to grow their assets. Korea's current account surplus in June ended in the black, posting a record $14.1 billion. It saw surpluses for 26 months straight, the third time such surpluses have extended since 2000, according to Bank of Korea figures announced Tuesday. Exports rose in June to $60.3 billion, a 2.3 percent increase over the same period in the previous year. Samsung puts its second quarter sales tentatively at 171 trillion won $113.6 billion , and announced an operating profit of 89.4 trillion won was announced on Tuesday, surpassing Nvidia's highest operating profit of around 82 trillion won. Further, the International