Impact-Ups

Korean chipmakers South Korea asks US for tailored approach to chip tariffs

South Korea has officially requested that the US take a distinct approach in its ongoing probe into foreign semiconductor technology and related dow...

Shareholder activism US PE firm Miri Capital ups stake in Korea’s STIC Investments

US private equity firm Miri Capital Management LLC said on Tuesday it has raised its stake in STIC Investments Inc. to step up its shareholder activ...

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...

Corporate strategy Hanwha Aerospace ups stake in Hanwha Ocean in $900 mn block deal

Hanwha Aerospace Co. will acquire an additional 1.3 trillion won ($900 million) worth of shares in Hanwha Ocean Co. from its sister companies throug...

Energy HD Hyundai Electric to invest $274 mn in transformer output ramp-ups

HD Hyundai Electric Co., a South Korean electric power equipment maker, plans to invest about half of its 2024 operating profit, estimated at 720 bi...

Electronics LG mulls US plant expansion to deal with Trump 2.0 tariffs

CLARKSVILLE, TN -- South Korea’s appliance and electronics giants are actively looking into options to ramp up the production capacity of thei...

Economy Political crisis ups downside risk to S.Korea’s economy: S&P, Moody’s

Global credit rating agencies are warning of looming downward pressure on South Korea’s sovereign credit rating about a month after Asia&rsquo...

Central bank S.Korea’s c.bank chief sees limited impact of political turmoil on economy

South Korea’s central bank chief said on Wednesday the impact of political turmoil caused by martial law on Asia’s fourth-largest econom...

Economy South Korea’s economic system remains resilient: finance minister

The South Korean economy is solid, and the government will take “bold and swift’’ actions if needed to stabilize Asia’s four...

Economy Korean economic policy chiefs play down martial law impact

South Korea’s Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said on Friday that President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law attempt will have a very l...

Economy S&P downplays martial law impact on S.Korean economy

Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) said on Thursday "the introduction and swift revocation of martial law in South Korea ...

Mergers & Acquisitions Korea Zinc ups share buyback price, volume to counter MBK

Korea Zinc Inc. said on Friday it will buy back more shares at a higher price than originally planned to counter North Asia-focused private equity f...

Mergers & Acquisitions MBK ups stakes for Korea Zinc to match buyback offer

A consortium of MBK Partners-Young Poong Corp. on Friday raised its tender offer price for Korea Zinc Inc. again and removed the lower limit of its ...

Mergers & Acquisitions MBK ups Korea Zinc bid price as management feud intensifies

North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners Ltd. has raised its bid price to take control of Korea Zinc Inc. by 13.6%, increasing the cost f...

Automobiles LG Innotek ups automotive electronics patents for future mobility

South Korea’s electronics parts maker LG Innotek Co. actively increased patents related to its new growth driver automotive electronics while ...

Tech, Media & Telecom Samsung tops S.Korean smartphone market with 76% share

In the second quarter of this year,  the market share of Samsung Electronics Co. in the South Korean smartphone market slightly increased, whil...

Insurance Kyobo Life nurtures 136 startups over 7 years

South Korea's Kyobo Life Insurance Group announced on Thursday that it nurtured 136 impact businesses (Impact-Ups) in seven years to create social v...

Private equity Korean PE funds shrink in 2023 for first time in 7 years

South Korean private equity investments declined last year for the first time since 2016 due to interest rate hikes, high inflation and the Korean w...

Automobiles South Korea steps on accelerator for record 2024 car exports

ASAN, South Chungcheong Province – At Hyundai Motor Co.'s manufacturing plant in Asan, over 60 km south of Seoul, thousands of robots were bus...

Central bank BOK sees more uncertainty in rate cut timing, ups growth forecast

The Bank of Korea said on Thursday it has grown more uncertain about when to cut interest rates despite expectations of easing the monetary policy g...

Shareholder value Korea Inc. ups dividend payouts despite falling net income

South Korean companies listed on the main bourse Kospi raised their dividend payouts between 2021 and 2023 despite falling net income in the same pe...

Korean chipmakers Samsung's Jay Y. Lee visits Zeiss to reinforce EUV ties

Samsung Electronics Co. is deepening ties with Zeiss Group, the sole provider of optical systems to the world’s only extreme ultraviolet (EUV)...

Retail Starfield launches 4th annual balloon festival with iconic character displays

Starfield, a chain of large shopping malls owned by Shinsegae, a South Korean retail company, announced on Friday that its 4th annual balloon festiv...

Korean startups Bet on innovations with societal impact: Kakao Ventures CEO

In the past 10 years, Kim Ki-jun has been on the hunt for deep technology startups that will have a significant societal impact, and he will continu...

Tech, Media & Telecom Microsoft CEO to meet with Samsung, SK Hynix, LG, SK Telecom chiefs

Microsoft Corp.’s top executives will meet with leaders of South Korea’s four top technology companies next month to discuss ways to str...

Sports Shinsegae's baseball team on the rise: SSG Landers

Many professional sports teams are not profitable as they incur significant operating costs to secure star players and run related facilities while ...

Electronics Samsung ups smaller OLED workforce to fend off Chinese rivals

Samsung Display Co., South Korea’s top screen maker, increased its workforce for smaller organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels used for p...

Retail Hyundai Dept. Store virtual idol pop-ups attract 100,000

South Korea's Hyundai Department Store Co. said on Monday that its pop-up stores of the three virtual idol groups at The Hyundai Seoul attracted ove...

Venture capital LG ups ante in AI race with bullish bets on startups

LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate controlling electronics, chemicals, media and service companies, is aggressively raising t...

Korean stock market NPS to invest up to $8.2 bn in undervalued Korean stocks

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the world’s third-largest pension fund, is expected to invest up to 11 trillion won ($8.2 ...