Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies

Business & Politics US tariffs add risk premium to dollar assets: Maurice Obstfeld

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The US tariff increases are adding risk premiums to dollar-denominated assets, undermining the dollar’s role as a glo...

Corporate strategy KT&G eyes overseas M&A after rejecting activist fund's offer

KT&G Corp., South Korea’s dominant tobacco and ginseng producer, is seeking to acquire a Japanese ginseng company after dismissing a 1.9-t...

E-commerce JD.com opens Korean logistics centers, preluding C-commerce invasion

JD.com, often dubbed China’s answer to Amazon.com, has opened its own logistics centers in South Korea, becoming the first Chinese e-commerce ...

Real estate Mirae, Koramco, Hana shortlisted for Korea Post’s core real estate fund

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Koramco REITs Management and Trust Co. and Hana Alternative Asset Management Co. were shortlisted for the mandat...

Batteries LG Energy bags 1-GWh ESS battery deal from Poland’s PGE

LG Energy Solution Ltd. will supply 1 gigawatt-hour of energy storage system (ESS) batteries to a state-owned utility company in Poland in a deal ex...

Real estate Warburg Pincus-Wide Creek Asset JV picks up 2nd Korean logistics asset

US private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC and South Korean real estate manager Wide Creek Asset Management Co. are building a logistics center for l...

Batteries SK On to supply 100 GWh of EV batteries to Nissan

SK On Co. has landed a deal to supply nearly 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electric vehicle batteries to Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co., which cou...

Logistics LX Pantos acquires logistics center near Atlanta for $120 mn

LX Pantos Co., a logistics arm of LX International Corp., announced on Tuesday it has acquired a logistics center near Atlanta in Dalton, Georgia fo...

Batteries LG Chem unveils precursor-free cathode material for batteries

LG Chem Ltd. is set to become the first South Korean company to mass-produce precursor-free cathode materials, designed for high- and mid-nickel bat...

Upcoming IPOs Lotte aims to take Lotte Global Logistics public by end-June

Lotte Group, grappling with a prolonged downturn in the petrochemical industry, plans to take Lotte Global Logistics Co. public by the end of June a...

Shareholder value Hana Financial to boost corporate value by raising shareholder returns

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group aims to increase corporate value by ramping up shareholder returns based on a sustainable profit structure ...

Stocks Meritz leaps to No. 2 financial holding firm in South Korea

Meritz Financial Group Inc., once a medium-sized financial service firm in South Korea, has become the second-most valuable publicly traded financia...

Bio & Pharma Korean court rules in favor of Samsung Bioepis over Regeneron’s Eylea

A South Korean court on Friday ruled in favor of Samsung Bioepis Co. in a patent dispute against Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., a US pharmaceutical...

Shareholder value S.Korea’s top financial regulator pushes tax support for value-up program

South Korea is ramping up efforts to encourage companies to enhance shareholder value by providing tax support for its corporate value-up program, a...

Artificial intelligence AI data center with up to 3 gigawatts of power envisioned for South Korea

An investor group is planning one of the world’s largest data centers for artificial intelligence in South Korea, a sign of red-hot AI de...

E-commerce Korean e-commerce platforms’ growth cools; Naver Shopping sales down

South Korea’s major e-commerce platforms, including Naver Shopping, are showing signs of slowing growth amid the rise of Chinese platform gian...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai in talks to buy back Korean ship parts maker

HD Hyundai Co., the world’s second-largest shipbuilder, is in talks with a private equity firm to buy back a South Korean ship parts manufactu...

Mergers & Acquisitions S.Korea’s bagel sensation London Bagel Museum attracts multiple foreign investors

London Bagel Museum, which has ignited a bagel fad in South Korea, has drawn strong interest from multiple investors from abroad for its stake sale ...

Corporate restructuring Samsung Life mulls putting Samsung Fire under its wing as subsidiary

Samsung Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s largest life insurer, is considering bringing Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., the country&r...

Robotics Koh Young gets OK from FDA for brain surgery robot

Koh Young Technology Inc., a South Korean developer of 3D optical inspection devices used in electronics manufacturing, said on Monday it got 501K...

Korean startups Allsale, K-beauty's leading ambassador to the US

Allsale Corporation, a South Korean startup operating an influencer marketing platform, is in talks with investors to further support Korean cosmeti...

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...

Korean startups DOR sets sights on TikTok-like virtual world for gamers  

South Korean startup DOR Corporation has thrown down the gauntlet to Discord, a popular global social platform for gamers, with its TikTok-like soci...

Real estate NCSOFT’s NC Tower up for sale with its value estimated at $272 million

The sales of several office buildings along Teheran-ro in Seoul's upscale Gangnam Business District (GBD) are gaining momentum.The bidding for the...

Memo from Howard Marks Prices are not high enough? Trees don't grow to the sky

The S&P 500 index just experienced its best two-year streak since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, with the hype surrounding artificial intel...

Mergers & Acquisitions MBK Partners’ vice chair vows to hike Korea Zinc’s value to $20.6 billion

The battle over Korea Zinc Inc.'s management control between Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yun-birm and the Young Poong Corp.-MBK Partners alliance has b...

Korean Innovators at CES 2025 LG Electronics, Microsoft sign strategic partnership on AI agents

LAS VEGAS – South Korea’s top home appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. has signed a strategic partnership with US tech giant Micros...

Logistics Hanjin expands GDC at Incheon Airport

South Korea's Hanjin Transportation said on Monday it expanded its global distribution center (GDC) at Incheon International Airport to meet the dem...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Hanwha Ocean, another Korean shipbuilder win $951 million WTIV deals

Hanwha Ocean Co. and another major South Korean shipbuilder have won deals worth a combined 1.4 trillion won ($951 million) to each build a wind tur...

Economy South Korea jumps to world’s No. 6 exporter; 2025 outlook dims

South Korea has sharply narrowed the gap in export value with Japan to a record low of $20.2 billion so far this year. But the country’s expor...