New York stock market's three major indexes close at record highs…Autumn rain from the afternoon [Morning Briefing]

◆ New York stock market, three major indexes close at record highs one day after interest rate cut

One day after the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) resumed cutting interest rates, on the 18th (local time) the three major New York stock market indexes all closed at record highs. On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 46,142.42, up 124.10 points (0.27%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index closed at 6,631.96, up 31.61 points (0.48%), and the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite closed at 22,470.73, up 209.40 points (0.94%). The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all set closing record highs that day. The small-cap-focused Russell 2000 index also rose 2.51% that day, marking its highest level in about four years since November 2021. The Fed lowered the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.00–4.25% the day before, boosting investor sentiment. In particular, expectations that the rate cut will ease financing burdens for small and medium-sized enterprises with high debt ratios are credited with driving the Russell 2000 to its record high.

◆ After the People Power Party DB search…a list of about 110,000 presumed Unification Church members confirmed

The special prosecution team led by Min Jung-gi, investigating allegations related to Ms. Kim Keon-hee, executed a search of the company that manages the People Power Party's membership database (DB) and confirmed a list of over 100,000 entries presumed to be Unification Church members. The special prosecution team executed a search warrant yesterday, the 18th, at 5:35 p.m. at the DB management company located near the People Power Party's central office in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The search lasted about four hours and 30 minutes, ending at around 10:05 p.m. The prosecution compared and cross-checked a Unification Church membership list of 1.2 million and a People Power Party membership list of about 5 million obtained during the Unification Church search, and reportedly extracted a common list of about 110,000 names. However, it has not been confirmed how many of these are responsible party members with voting rights at the party convention. The number of responsible party members of the People Power Party is known to be about 740,000. It will also be crucial to determine how many new members joined before the March 2023 party convention—when the prosecution suspects mass registrations by Unification Church members—although the People Power Party stated that "the prosecution seized the list of Unification Church adherents related to the crimes specified in the search warrant (excluding resident registration numbers and account information)," adding that "it is difficult to disclose the exact numbers."

◆ Director General for Trade Negotiations: "We explained as much as possible that Korea is different from Japan"

Ye Han-gu, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who returned after his trip to the U.S. for follow-up consultations on Korea-U.S. trade negotiations, told reporters at Incheon Airport early this morning that "(to the U.S. side) we explained as much as possible that Japan and Korea are different." Ye departed for the U.S. on the 15th to continue stalled follow-up negotiations after the trade agreement was reached in July. Earlier, from the 11th to the 14th, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan went to the U.S. and met with Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary and a 'key man' in tariff and trade negotiations. Korea and the U.S. agreed to mutually lower tariffs and automobile tariffs from the existing 25% to 15% respectively, and for Korea to invest 350 billion dollars (about 486 trillion won) in the U.S., but they differ on concrete implementation measures such as profit sharing. Meanwhile, on the 12th local time, Secretary Lutnick mentioned Korea and said, "You must accept the agreement or pay the tariffs," indicating recent U.S. pressure on Korea. Regarding automobile tariffs, Ye emphasized, "We fully recognize the seriousness of the matter and are doing our best to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," adding, "We are doing our utmost in the national interest."

◆ Kim Jong-un directs performance tests of tactical unmanned attack drones

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised performance tests of unmanned aircraft and ordered the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies and enhancement of operational capabilities. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported today that Kim supervised performance tests of unmanned armed equipment being developed and produced at institutes and enterprises under the Unmanned Aerial Technology Union the previous day. KCNA said Kim concretely assessed the performance and combat applicability of various unmanned armed equipment, including strategic and tactical unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and multipurpose unmanned aircraft. The agency reported, "In the tests conducted that day, the military strategic value and innovative performance of the unmanned strategic reconnaissance aircraft and the excellent combat effectiveness of the 'Geumseong' series tactical unmanned attack drones were clearly demonstrated," and said Kim was highly satisfied with the test results; this is the first time the 'Geumseong' designation for a series of tactical unmanned attack drones has appeared in North Korean media. Kim reportedly instructed to pour "primary effort" into rapidly developing newly introduced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and presented "measures-related issues" for expanding and strengthening mass production capabilities of unmanned aircraft. KCNA also reported that he "approved and ratified an important planning document reflecting organizational and institutional measures to further expand and strengthen the technological potential of the Unmanned Aerial Technology Union."

◆ Autumn rain nationwide from the afternoon…Seoul 'high 23°C'

With four days until the autumnal equinox, rain will begin nationwide from this afternoon, and between night and dawn very heavy rain is expected mainly in the Chungnam area and western North Jeolla. The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast that rain will start on the central west coast from the morning, spread to other central regions and the Jeolla region from the afternoon, and occasionally fall in Gangwon's Yeongdong and the Gyeongsang region from night. The rain will mostly stop by tomorrow morning, but some areas in Gangwon's Yeongdong and the east coast of North Gyeongsang may see rain continue until night. Expected precipitation amounts are △Incheon·southern Gyeonggi, West Sea 20–60 mm △Seoul·northern Gyeonggi 10–40 mm △southern Gangwon (Yeongseo)·Gangwon Yeongdong 20–60 mm △central-northern Gangwon (Yeongseo) 10–40 mm △Daejeon·Sejong·Chungnam, Chungbuk 20–60 mm (locally 80 mm or more in southern Chungnam west coast) △Gwangju·Jeonnam, Jeonbuk 20–60 mm (locally 80 mm or more in western Jeonbuk) △Daegu·Gyeongbuk·Ulleungdo·Dokdo 20–60 mm △Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam 10–40 mm △Jeju Island 10–60 mm. Morning temperatures will be similar to or slightly higher than average (low 13–20°C), and daytime temperatures will be similar to or slightly lower than average (high 24–28°C). However, Jeju Island's maximum apparent temperature will rise to around 31°C, and tropical nights may occur mainly along Jeju's coast. Fine dust levels are expected to be 'good' across all regions due to favorable atmospheric dispersion and precipitation.

So-yeon Kim, Hankyung.com reporter sue123@hankyung.com