Mobility & AI Safety: Seoul hosts the 2026 Global Mobility Conference on self-driving and AI, with Kakao Mobility, Waymo and NVIDIA leaders pushing policy and safety steps to make advanced transport work in everyday life. EV R&D: Hyundai Mobis opened a 32,000+ sqm electric powertrain research center in Cheonan, aiming to speed next-gen motor, inverter and integrated drive development. AI Chips & Markets: Traders are shifting AI exposure toward Chinese equity derivatives as Korean and Japanese plays get crowded, with offshore perpetuals seeing heavy activity tied to Chinese chip and robotics names. Capital Markets Blockchain: South Korea’s financial regulator commits to moving tokenized securities onto blockchain infrastructure by Feb. 2027, with stablecoin settlement positioned as the end goal pending legislation. Space Launch: Europe’s commercial push gets a boost as Germany’s Isar Aerospace successfully reaches orbit with its Spectrum rocket from Norway. Geopolitics & Nuclear: A new Japan–Korea–U.S. nuclear alliance narrative highlights how energy security is reshaping Northeast Asia’s nuclear cooperation. Disaster Tech & Forensics: Nepal flood response ramps up DNA collection to identify flood victims, with thousands still missing. Industry & Materials: Korea’s smelting know-how is pitched as a two-track path for rare earth supply resilience via urban mining and secondary-material recovery. Defense Tech: Hanwha Aerospace unveiled a K9 howitzer concept that uses an integrated VTOL drone for faster target-to-fire coordination and battle damage assessment.