LED on Silicon

Bio & Pharma Korea’s pharmaceutical exports set to top $10 bn, led by ‘K-M7’ champions

South Korea’s pharmaceutical exports are on course to surpass $10 billion this year, underscoring the country’s growing clout in the glo...

Beauty & Cosmetics Packaging rides K-beauty wave: Shares of cosmetics container makers soar

As South Korea’s independent beauty brands continue to take the global stage by storm, investors are now looking beyond the creams and serums ...

Carbon neutrality SK Innovation E&S, JB Financial team up for renewable energy loans

JB Financial Group Co., the parent company of Jeonbuk Bank and Gwangju Bank, will join hands with SK Innovation E&S Co. and InnerGen Co. to roll...

League table UBS tops Korea’s buyout deal advisory in Q1 thanks to Lotte

UBS Group AG, the frontrunner in South Korea's M&A market last year, retained the top position in the country's buyout advisory market in the fi...

Travel & Leisure SoftBank-backed Yanolja raises stake in Modetour as No. 2 shareholder

South Korea’s top travel and accommodation booking platform operator Yanolja Co. has increased its stake in travel agency Modetour Network Inc...

Corporate strategy Hyundai chief Chung Euisun targets software-led car dominance by 2028

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun has set an ambitious target to outpace Tesla Inc. in software-defined vehicle (SDV) technology by 2028, un...

Venture capital South Korean VCs back US humanoid robot developer Apptronik

South Korean venture capital firms invested undisclosed tens of billions of won, equivalent to tens of millions of dollars, in US humanoid-developin...

Executive reshuffles Naver to name new CFO as incumbent financial manager's term nears end

South Korea’s tech giant Naver Corp. is expected to soon announce a new chief financial officer as its current CFO Kim Nam-sun, credited for t...

Private equity MBK commits to restoring Homeplus operations: MBK Vice Chairman Kim

MBK Partners, facing increasing scrutiny over its highly leveraged acquisition of Homeplus Co., has pledged to go all-out to restore the struggling ...

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...

Mergers & Acquisitions MBK-led consortium to take over Japan’s FICT for $656 mn

MBK Partners, the largest private equity firm in North Asia, will acquire a controlling stake in FICT Ltd., a semiconductor printed circuit board (P...

League table Korean law firms' 2024 revenue soars on M&As, management disputes

South Korea’s major law firms saw rapid growth in revenue last year as the economic slowdown sparked business overhauls at top conglomerates, ...

Earnings Kia hits record 2024 sales; profit margins highest among global automakers

South Korea’s second-largest automaker Kia Corp. on Friday posted its highest-ever annual sales, operating profit and profit margins in 2024, ...

Robotics LG CNS, Bear Robotics to co-develop autonomous robots

LG CNS Co., a South Korean information technology service company, said on Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bear Robotics...

Automobiles Hyundai, Kia’s green car exports hit record in 2024

Hyundai Motor Co. and its sibling Kia Corp. together shipped a record-high number of eco-friendly cars to overseas markets last year thanks to stron...

Batteries Samsung Electro-Mechanics to produce all-solid-state batteries in 2026

LAS VEGAS – Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. will unveil a sample of an ultra-compact all-solid-state battery within the year for mass production...

Mergers & Acquisitions Korea Zinc chair reported to prosecutors over rights issue

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has reported Korea Zinc Inc.'s Chairman Choi Yun-birm and its board of directors to prosecut...

Korean Investors Former LG man leaves KKR to start PEF

Lim Hyoung-seok, former Vice President of KKR Korea, left the private equity giant’s Seoul office and established his private equity fund (PEF...

Energy Hanwha to exit from polysilicon business in US

Hanwha Solutions Corp., the energy unit of South Korea’s chemicals-to-financial conglomerate Hanwha Group, will likely withdraw from the polys...

Korean startups Korean startup M&As halve in 2024 with smaller deals

Mergers and acquisitions of South Korean startups halved in value in 2024 as conglomerates and Big Tech firms such as Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. sn...

Electronics Seoul Semiconductor wins patent lawsuit vs Signify

Seoul Semiconductor Co., the world’s No. 3 light emitting diode (LED) display maker, said on Thursday it has won a patent litigation case agai...

Corporate governance Hanmi Pharm’s chair poised to win management feud with her son

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group Chairman Song Young-sook is poised to claim victory in a year-long dispute with her eldest son Lim Jong-yoon to take cont...

Korean startups Asan Nanum to offer Silicon Valley residence to Korean startups

The Asan Nanum Foundation, a South Korean startup accelerator program operator, said on Thursday it will open a residency space for Korean venture f...

Korean games S.Korea's Smilegate invests in GTA producer's studio

Smilegate, the South Korean developer of the world’s top first-person shooter game Crossfire, said on Tuesday it invested in the US-based medi...

Automobiles Hyundai, Kia on course for record 2024 US sales, led by SUVs, hybrids

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister firm Kia Corp. saw their US vehicle sales surge in November, driven by large SUVs, hybrids and ...

Business & Politics First Korean American US Senator vows to cement Seoul-Washington ties

NEW YORK – Democratic US Representative Andy Kim, the first Korean American elected to the US Senate, has pledged to strengthen the relationsh...

Business & Politics Allies fret over Trump presidency as authoritarian axis challenges US-led order

Donald Trump is returning to the White House as the world is embroiled in two widening regional wars, America’s rivals are coalescing into a new...

Korean startups Naver D2SF accelerates investments in Silicon Valley startups

South Korea's online giant Naver Corp.'s startup nurturing organization D2SF (D2 Startup Factory) said on Friday it started to discover and invest i...

Mergers & Acquisitions Korea Zinc shares skyrocket after buybacks in tender offer

Shares in Korea Zinc Inc. soared on Thursday, a day after completing its buybacks, driven by institutional investors covering shorts on the stock an...

Culture & Trends Seoul to light up Myeong-dong with LEDs like Times Square

Seoul will light up Myeong-dong, a bustling area with office workers and shoppers in the heart of the city, with 16 large outdoor digital billboards...