Chinese banks' time deposits

Electric vehicles BYD’s Atto 3 overtakes Tesla’s Model Y as best-selling EV in South Korea

China’s BYD Co. has dethroned Tesla Inc. in South Korea with its compact sport utility vehicle, the BYD Atto 3, becoming the best-selling impo...

Earnings KakaoBank posts record Q1 profit, eyes Thai expansion after Indonesia

KakaoBank Corp., a leading South Korean internet-only bank, posted its highest quarterly profit in the first quarter, defying a drop in interest inc...

E-commerce Coupang’s Q1 revenue up; quarterly dip signals rising competition

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, extended its year-on-year sales growth with an 11.1% increase to post $7.9 billion in...

Woori Financial wins approval for Tongyang, ABL Life acquisition

Woori Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s fourth-largest financial services provider, has received conditional approval from the country&rsquo...

Automobiles BMW surpasses Mercedes in Korean sales for 1st time in 10 years

The top five imported car brands in South Korea underwent a major shake-up last year. BMW overtook Mercedes-Benz in sales for the first time in a de...

Debt financing Kookmin Bank raises $700 mn in forex bonds amid strong demand

Kookmin Bank, a unit of KB Financial Group, raised $700 million in foreign exchange bonds on Tuesday, signaling a recovery in investor sentiment tow...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Hanwha Ocean shares sink after KDB's sale of 4.2% stake

Investors rushed to dump Hanwha Ocean Co. shares early Tuesday after its second-largest shareholder, Korea Development Bank, cashed in on a 4.2% sta...

Steel POSCO raises ship steel prices as Korea's tariffs curb supply

POSCO Holdings Inc. has raised second-quarter prices of thick plates used in vessels amid concerns over tighter supply after South Korea levied anti...

Mergers & Acquisitions Kyobo Life poised to buy Japan’s SBI Group-owned savings bank

Kyobo Life Insurance Co. is in the final stages of negotiation with Japanese financial group SBI Holdings Inc. to buy about a 50% stake in SBI Savin...

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 ...

Mergers & Acquisitions LG Chem’s medical skincare business sale draws tepid bid

South Korean chemical giant LG Chem Ltd.'s offer for sale of its cosmetics filler business, tagged with an asking price of more than 500 billion won...

Electronics Samsung expands automotive MLCC supply to BYD, other Chinese firms

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. is supplying several million dollars' worth of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) to BYD Co. and Chinese automotive...

Batteries LG Energy Solution clinches multibillion-dollar ESS deals in Japan, Europe

LG Energy Solution Ltd. has secured a string of billion-dollar energy storage system (ESS) deals in Japan and Europe, outmaneuvering Chinese rivals ...

Travel & Leisure S.Korea’s foreigners-only casinos bask in return of Chinese high rollers

South Korea’s foreigners-only casinos are witnessing a significant rise in their sales revenue with the return of high rollers from China and ...

Entertainment Kakao Entertainment scraps IPO, seeks new buyer

Kakao Corp., South Korea’s largest mobile platform, is looking to sell a majority stake in Kakao Entertainment Corp., dropping a plan to take ...

Earnings Samsung’s Q1 profit beats expectations; Q2 outlook murky on tariff war

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter operating profit on Tuesday, booste...

Mergers & Acquisitions IMM consortium owns 100% of Hyundai LNG Shipping; Stake sale eyed

A consortium of IMM Private Equity Inc. and IMM Investment Corp. has secured full ownership of Hyundai LNG Shipping, South Korea’s top liquefi...

K-pop K-pop exports boom as end of Chinese K-wave ban looms large

Exports of Korean popular music, or K-pop, have seen a significant surge in recent months, driven by increasing demand from China and Japan, accordi...

Korean chipmakers SK Hynix aims to lock in all 2026 HBM orders by mid-2025

SK Hynix Inc., the world’s largest supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), aims to lock in orders for its entire 2026 HBM output by the end o...

Business & Politics Korea eyes laws akin to US AMPC to offer subsidies for its battery makers

South Korea, home to global top battery makers such as LG Energy Solution Ltd., SK On Co. and Samsung SDI Co., is seeking to enact laws that would l...

Private equity Red flags raised even before Homeplus crisis: Sales fall, credit ratings cut

Even before South Korea’s second-largest hypermarket chain Homeplus Co. was put under court receivership due to its worsening financial woes, ...

Banking & Finance Shinhan Bank partners with Hyundai Mobis for loan services to suppliers

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea’s top auto parts maker, has partnered with the country’s biggest lender Shinhan Bank to help its partners...

Automobiles Kia to release PV9 in 2029, retains CEO for 3 more years

Kia Corp. will release a new purpose-built vehicle (PBV) model every two years, with plans to launch the PV9 in 2029 and its first model, the PV5, t...

Automobiles Kia’s Chinese operations turn to profit after 8 years; Export strategy pays off

South Korea’s No. 2 automaker Kia Corp. saw its Chinese operations turn profitable in 2024 for the first time in eight years as brisk exports ...

Foreign exchange Seoul to lift curbs on banks' investment in kimchi bonds

South Korea will lift restrictions on banks' purchase of domestically issued foreign currency bonds, dubbed “kimchi bonds," as part of policy ...

Games Chinese games expand foothold in South Korea

Chinese games are making deep inroads into South Korea, increasing their presence in the mobile gaming market amid a lack of restrictions on foreign...

Foreign exchange South Korea’s forex reserves dip to nearly 5-year low in February

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves diminished to the lowest level in nearly five years last month, largely due to the expanded forex swap...

Business & Politics Trump says Korea interested in Alaska gas project; Korean firms skeptical

South Korea, Japan and other countries want to partner with the US in a $44 billion natural gas pipeline project in Alaska, President Donald Trump s...

Korean food China under spell of Korean spicy instant noodles; Samyang leads  

South Korea’s spicy instant noodles are poised to captivate China, the world’s largest ramen market, with their shipments to the neighbo...

Steel Dongkuk to file anti-dumping petition vs Chinese color steel imports

Dongkuk Coated Metal Co. and SeAh Steel Corp. are set to file an anti-dumping complaint against Chinese rivals in March as the country plans to impo...