Life's Good

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...

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...

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...

Economy China bans export of Korean goods containing its rare earth metals to US

The Chinese government has warned South Korean companies of retributions for exporting any product containing its critical metals to US military con...

Mergers & Acquisitions Aekyung Industrial up for sale as group struggles to ease liquidity crunch

South Korea’s Aekyung Group has put its flagship subsidiary, Aekyung Industrial Co., up for sale as part of broader restructuring efforts to s...

Retail Koreans’ craving for luxury goods fades

Until recently, it was not unusual to see people waiting in a long line in front of foreign haute couture brands’ stores early in the morning ...

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...

Mergers & Acquisitions Meritz drops bid for troubled MG Non-Life Insurance; Liquidation looms

Meritz Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s second-most valuable financial holding firm, has dropped its bid to acquire financial distressed MG...

Private equity Affinity, GIC sell out of Kyobo Life; Chairman Shin seeks holding firm, M&A

Affinity Equity Partners and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have sold their entire stake in Kyobo Life Insurance Co., exiting from thei...

Economy S.Korea logs current account surplus in Jan; Growth slows

South Korea reported a current account surplus for 21 straight months in January but with a moderated gain largely due to a contraction in the goods...

Private equity Kyobo Life’s Shin in talks with Affinity, GIC over exits below purchase price

Kyobo Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s third-largest life insurer, is in talks with some of its financial investors (FIs) to help them exit f...

Corporate restructuring Samsung Life, Samsung Fire sell $193 mn in Samsung Electronics shares

Samsung Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s largest life insurer, and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., the country’s No. 1 non-lif...

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...

Beauty & Cosmetics Korean cosmetics beat Chanel, Lancôme to rank top in US, Japan

South Korea’s cosmetics products, also known as K-beauty, have gained global renown, overtaking French brands such as Chanel and Lancôme...

Retail China's Miniso re-enters S.Korea

Miniso, a household goods store known as "the Chinese version of Daiso", has re-entered South Korea after three years.According to the retail indust...

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...

Korean startups Everyone deserves a good night’s sleep: Munice CEO

Insomnia is a common clinical phenomenon in modern societies profoundly affecting many people’s health and well-being, and South Korean startu...

Mergers & Acquisitions Hanwha Life acquires US securities firm Velocity

South Korea's Hanwha Life Insurance said on Wednesday it signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire a 75% stake in Velocity Clearing LLC, ...

Artificial intelligence SK Telecom unveils AI personal agent Aster for global users

SK Telecom Co. on Tuesday unveiled an AI-driven personal assistant Aster (A*) that understands users' intentions and goes beyond answering simple qu...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai to build int'l standards for carbon emissions

South Korea's HD Hyundai Marine Solution Co. said on Wednesday that it signed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Agreement with HD Hyundai Samho and the ...

Insurance DB Insurance outshines domestic rivals in global business

DB Insurance Co. raked in the biggest profits from overseas operations among South Korean insurance companies in the first half of this year, leadin...

Electronics LG NOVA hosts Innovation Festival in US

LG Electronics Inc. 's North American Innovation Center (LG NOVA) said on Monday that it held an Innovation Festival last Wednesday and Thursday at ...

Mergers & Acquisitions Woori signs $1.16 bn deal to acquire Tongyang, ABL Life from China’s Dajia

Woori Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s fourth-largest financial services provider, said on Wednesday it has signed a deal to acquire Tongya...

Companies Samsung, Ottogi unveil exclusive lifestyle TV goods

Samsung Electronics Co. announced on Friday that it collaborated with the domestic food company Ottogi to release limited edition goods called Samsu...

Electronics LG Elec opens LG Labs experience pop-up zone

LG Electronics Inc. announced on Wednesday that it will operate the "Wow Life's Good Lab" pop-up zone at Ground 220 in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, until...

Artificial intelligence Spear Korea to acquire AI medical firm Life Semantics

South Korea's aerospace materials company Spear Korea will acquire artificial intelligence (AI) medical firm Life Semantics Co. Life Semantics ...

Mergers & Acquisitions MG Non-Life Insurance deal falls through with no bidders

The sale of South Korean mid-sized insurer MG Non-Life Insurance Co. has been canceled as the financially distressed insurer failed to attract any b...

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...

Banking & Finance Mirae Asset's India Billion Consumer ETF surpasses $150 mn in net assets

South Korea's Mirae Asset Global Investments said on Thursday that the net assets of its TIGER India Billion Consumer ETF surpassed 200 billion wo...

Batteries Korea to keep track of EV battery life cycles for recycling

The South Korean government will monitor electric vehicle (EV) battery life cycles to share information on the lifespan, performance and accident hi...