PRE-MARKET JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: US President Trump announced to increase South Korean tariffs on autos, lumber, pharma, and all other reciprocal tariffs to 25% from 15%

JAPAN

Askul Corp (2678 JT) - Co. is to postpone financial results disclosure scheduled on January 28th by a month and a half due to a cyberattack. (Nikkei)

Canon Electronics (7739 JT) - Co. is to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon Inc (7751 JT) for approximately JPY 67bln. (Nikkei)

Kusuri No Aoki (3549 JT) - Co. is to pass extraordinary shareholders meeting on February 17th to introduce takeover defence measures. (Nikkei)

Makita Corporation (6586 JT) - Co. is said to invest around JPY 17bln in a new UK base. (Nikkei)

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306 JT) - Co. will deploy 'AI employees' to write speeches and train new hires. (Nikkei)

Nitto Denko (6988 JT) - Co. sees FY26 net to decline 1% Y/Y to JPY 136bln vs prev. forecast of JPY 126bln, sees sales rising 1% Y/Y to JPY 1.27tln. (Nikkei)

Geopolitical - Japanese PM Takaichi said failing to respond if American forces came under attack in a Taiwan crisis would threaten Japan's critical security alliance with the US. (Nikkei)

SOUTH KOREA

LG Innotek (011070 KS) - Co. Q4 (KRW) net rose 27.1% Y/Y to 135.9bln, sales rose 14.8% Y/Y to 7.6tln. (Yonhap)

Other News

US President Trump posted "Because the Korean Legislature hasn't enacted our Historic Trade Agreement, which is their prerogative, I am hereby increasing South Korean TARIFFS on Autos, Lumber, Pharma, and all other Reciprocal TARIFFS, from 15% to 25%". (Truth Social)

South Korea's state pension fund said it will increase its allocation in domestic equities this year to 14.9% from 14.4%. (Yonhap)