Big Bet

Tech, Media & Telecom Samsung steps up AR race with advanced microdisplay for smart glasses

Samsung Electronics Co. has launched a major push into next-generation microdisplays for augmented reality (AR) glasses as it aims to position itsel...

Asset management Mirae Asset bets on China as Korean investors’ US focus draws concern

South Korea’s leading asset manager Mirae Asset Financial Group is increasingly unveiling China-focused investment products as Chairman P...

Korean chipmakers SK Hynix bets on 3D HBM as next game-changer in AI chip race

SK Hynix Inc., the world’s top DRAM memory chipmaker, aims to redefine the competitive landscape in artificial intelligence memory chips with ...

Private equity MBK sees better exit landscape in 2025, bets on governance reform

MBK Partners sees a recovery in the exit environment in 2025 and seeks to capitalize on the opportunities emerging from corporate governance reform ...

Automobiles Hyundai’s new American dream comes with new plant, more spending

ELLABELL, Georgia – When Hyundai Motor Group Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo opened the South Korean automaker’s first US plant in Alab...

Artificial intelligence LG takes on Big Tech AI in reasoning with Exaone Deep

LG AI Research, the artificial intelligence (AI) research and development unit of South Korea's LG Group, has unveiled Exaone Deep, an open-source A...

Tech, Media & Telecom Microsoft's quantum computing bet sparks controversy, again

In 2021, Microsoft Corp. faced significant scientific embarrassment when a landmark research paper it had sponsored was retracted.Published in the U...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai Marine sets sights on LNG vessel retrofitting in Trump era

While the global shipbuilding industry was reeling from the economic slowdown in recent years, South Korea’s HD Hyundai Marine Solution Co., a...

Private equity How STIC Investments’ bet on animal fat processor DK O&T paid off

In South Korea, businesses handling livestock by-products have lacked investor appeal. They were usually mom-and-pop businesses and appeared to hold...

IPOs LG CNS set to price February IPO at top of price band

LG CNS Co., an information technology service company, is set to price its initial public offering at the top of its proposed price range to raise 1...

Korean Innovators at CES 2025 LG Electronics bets big on humanoid robots: CEO Cho

LAS VEGAS – South Korea’s top home appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. has thrown down the gauntlet to frontrunners in the AI robot race...

Alternative investments Korean pension funds raise bets on infrastructure, global stocks

South Korean pension funds are raising their bets on infrastructure and global stocks, while reducing exposure to the domestic stock market on a dow...

E-commerce S.Korea's dawn delivery pioneer Kurly sells luxury goods to uplift profit

Kurly Inc., South Korea's dawn delivery service market pioneer, has invited a third-party online retailer to sell luxury goods on its platform to bo...

Infrastructure IFM Investors bets big on infrastructure investing: Gee-Grant

IFM Investors, a global investment manager owned by Australian pension funds, is looking to infrastructure as the fastest-growing asset segment for ...

Retail Quick delivery war deepens Korean big-box retailer-Baemin ties

As competition for same-day delivery heats up in South Korea, traditional big-box retailers are rushing to join hands with the country’s No. 1...

Foreign exchange NPS incurs $500 million in missed gains due to improper forex hedging

The National Pension Service (NPS), South Korea’s state-run pension fund and the country’s largest institutional investor, has likely in...

Entertainment Disney Plus bets big on Korean content to boost global presence

SINGAPORE -- Disney Plus, a global over-the-top (OTT) platform, is expanding its lineup of original Korean titles, buoyed by the popularity of K-dra...

Energy S.Korean firms bet big on US LNG market under new Trump gov't

South Korean energy and shipbuilding companies are gearing up for a swift advance into the US liquefied natural gas (LNG) market, which is expected ...

Korean startups Big Mobility, Hummingbirds win Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition

The Asan Nanum Foundation selected Big Mobility and Hummingbirds as the top winners of the 13th Chung Ju-yung Startup Competition demo day on Novemb...

Webtoons Instagram poised to crack Korean webcomics market

Big tech has begun its encroachment on the South Korean webcomics market, largely dominated by local players over the past two decades, fanning fear...

ASK 2024 KIC bets on AI-driven value creation: CEO

Sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) will aggressively explore early investment opportunities in sectors undergoing AI-driven in...

Regulations Big Tech get slap on wrist for tax avoidance in Korea

Global Big Tech companies such as Google, Meta and Netflix have paid a pittance in South Korea taxes and were fined as little as one-ten-thousandth ...

Korean food Lotte chief bets on K-food boom for global expansion

Lotte Group, a multinational retail-to-chemical business empire, is seeking to ride the growing popularity of Korean food to achieve its global expa...

Central bank S.Korea’s inflation dips below 2% for 1st time in 42 months

South Korea’s headline inflation slowed below 2% for the first time in three and a half years in September on lower international oil prices, ...

Corporate bonds Fed’s big rate cut spurs Korean firms to issue foreign bonds

South Korean companies rushed to issue foreign currency bonds after the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the first time in more than fo...

Korean stock market South Korean investors bet big on ETFs tracking Indian equities

India has emerged as a new darling for South Korean investors actively searching for an alternative to China reeling from multiple economic setbacks...

Artificial intelligence Naver joins hands with Saudi Arabia to develop Arabic LLM

Naver Corp., South Korea’s largest online platform, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) to...

Retail S.Korean travel retailers face downturn without Chinese big spenders

Before COVID-19 swept the world, South Korea’s top two travel retailers Lotte Duty Free and Shilla Duty Free Shop ascended to the world’...

Korean chipmakers Samsung, SK Hynix ramp up DRAM business on rapid AI growth

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc.,the world’s two largest memory chipmakers, are expanding their dynamic random access memory business...

Private equity Affinity Equity bets big on Korea's car rental market

The car rental business resembles financial services. Buying cars with borrowed money, renting them out and eventually selling them to used car de...