Bank of Korea will monitor volatility in financial and foreign exchange markets.

Multiple Middle East outlets reported Israeli drone strikes on Ansariyeh and operations in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon. Iran earlier warned that if Israel does not halt actions in southern Lebanon, it should prepare for a severe response from Iran’s powerful armed forces.

The Bank of Korea said on Wednesday an AI-driven boom in the semiconductor sector — marked by exceptionally large bonus payouts at some chipmakers and major tech firms — could complicate the inflation outlook by prompting broader wage demands. If bonus-driven wage gains spill beyond tech, they would lift consumer demand and corporate costs and, together with rising energy prices, add to inflationary pressure. While broad wage acceleration has not yet materialized, the central bank urged close monitoring of outsized bonus payments and rising wage demands as policymakers work to prevent transient supply shocks from becoming persistent inflation.