August

Mergers & Acquisitions Korea’s Cactus PE to buy stake in Kosdaq-listed EV parts firm

South Korea’s Cactus Private Equity is set to acquire a stake in YM Tech Co., a Kosdaq-listed electric vehicle (EV) parts maker, for nearly 20...

League table UBS retains top position on Korea’s M&A advisor list after Ecorbit deal

UBS Group AG remained on the top of the South Korean merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory market as of the end of the third quarter after addin...

Banking & Finance Shinhan SOL Travel Cards' cumulative issuance reaches 1.2 mn

South Korea's Shinhan Card said on Wednesday that the cumulative issuance of its travel-specialized card, the Shinhan SOL Travel Card (available in ...

Artificial intelligence Korea’s AI, robot startups shine despite funding drought

South Korea’s artificial intelligence and robotics startups raised more money through seed rounds than other sectors in August although invest...

Automobiles Hyundai, Kia post record August US sales, driven by hybrids, EVs

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister firm Kia Corp. saw their US vehicle sales in August rise to all-time highs, driven by eco-frien...

Electric vehicles Mercedes-Benz EV sales tumble in South Korea after fire

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz AG suffered a nosedive in EV sales in South Korea in August after a fire broke out in one of its electric vehic...

Central bank August inflation puts BOK under fire for delayed pivot

South Korea’s inflation moderated to the government’s target of 2.0% in August, its slowest increase in three years and five months, put...

Fashion Kolon FnC to launch Italian high-end brand N21 in S.Korea

South Korea's Kolon FnC said on Thursday that it will launch the Italian high-end fashion brand N21 in South Korea.In August, Kolon FnC has secured ...

Tech, Media & Telecom SK Telecom releases Liberation Day remastering video

South Korea's SK Telecom Co. restored footage and audio from around the time of the country's liberation in 1945, allowing modern audiences to share...

Korean stock market MSCI Korea Index adds LS Electric

South Korea's LS Electric Co. will be added to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Korea Index, MSCI announced on Tuesday.MSCI Inc. reba...

Investment banking Goldman Sachs taps ex-Morgan Stanley MD as Korea co-head

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said on Monday that it has appointed Ahn Jae-hoon, former managing director at Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as country co-h...

Robotics Yogiyo to begin autonomous robot delivery tests in August

Yogiyo, South Korea’s second-largest food delivery app, announced on Friday that it will begin outdoor autonomous robot delivery tests in Song...

Asset management Samsung Asset eyes expansion into US ETF market

NEW YORK – South Korea’s largest asset manager Samsung Asset Management Co. is leveraging its strategic partnership with a US investment...

Batteries LG Energy to produce 4680 batteries in August for Tesla, others: CEO

LG Energy Solution Ltd., the world’s third-largest battery maker, plans to begin mass production of larger format cylindrical cells used by Te...

Food & Beverage Kyochon opens third store in Taiwan

South Korea's fried chicken chain Kyochon F&B announced on Thursday that it opened its third Kyochon Chicken store in Taiwan at the end of last ...

Automobiles Hyundai Motor to offer China-made Sonata taxis in S.Korea

Hyundai Motor Co. will import Sonata taxis manufactured in China to South Korea in response to strong demand from local taxi drivers less than five ...

Sovereign wealth funds KIC recoups 40% of 2022’s loss on stock, bond gains

Korea Investment Corp. (KIC) posted a 7.12% return on total asset investments in the first eight months of this year, recouping about 40% of last ye...

Korean startups Disgruntled investors accuse Fadu of blowing smoke

Fadu Inc., the first unicorn in the South Korean semiconductor sector, which had a triumphant market debut three months ago, is facing the backlash ...

Leadership & Management Ex-Kumho Petrochemical chair returns as Kumho Mitsui co-CEO

Park Chan-koo, former chairman of South Korea’s Kumho Petrochemical Group, has returned to the top position of Kumho Mitsui Chemicals Inc. as ...

Economy Korea exports snap year-long slide as chips regain momentum

South Korean exports rose in October for the first time in 13 months as semiconductors, the country’s top export item, are on course to regain...

Korean food Allgot’s frozen kimbap to hit Costco shelves in US in H1, 2024

South Korean food company Allgot Co.’s frozen kimbap, which sold out immediately after landing in the US about two months ago, is on another r...

Regulations Apple, Google may face $50.4 mn fine over in-app billing in Korea

Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google may be fined up to 68 billion won ($50.4 million) in South Korea for breaking the country’s in-app...

Automobiles SUVs, small pickups grab largest share of S.Korea's car market

Sport utility vehicles (SUV) and small pickup trucks in South Korea are occupying a larger share of the domestic automotive market.Industry sources ...

Economy S.Korea industry production posts largest increase in 30 months

South Korea's Index of All Industry Production soared at its steepest pace in 30 months in August, driven by a resurgent semiconductor manufacturing...

Travel & Leisure Foreign visitors to S.Korea more than triple on-year in August

The number of foreign tourists visiting South Korea has exceeded 1 million for two consecutive months since the outbreak of COVID-19.According to th...

Economy Korea’s inflation rebounds in August on extreme weather

South Korea’s headline inflation re-accelerated at the fastest rate in four months above 3% in August after the extreme summer weather hiked a...

Korean startups AI webtoon generator Realdraw earns most votes at D.Day

Realdraw, a South Korean developer of artificial intelligence image generation technology, won the country’s oldest startup pitch race D.Day l...

Economy Korea’s exports down for 11th month in August but at slower pace

South Korea’s exports shrank last month for 11 consecutive months but signs of a recovery in demand for the country’s mainstay export it...

Energy Hanwha Q Cells brings forward US solar module production

Hanwha Q Cells Co., a solar power unit of South Korea’s chemicals-to-defense conglomerate Hanwha Group, brought forward operations of a US pla...

Batteries Falling mineral prices to hit Korean battery materials makers

South Korean battery materials makers are likely to report worsened profitability in the third quarter of this year as prices of lithium hydroxide a...