Now Brief

Electronics Now, slim is in – and Samsung aims to be No. 1 with Galaxy S25 Edge

With the advent of mobile AI, the performance arms race among smartphone makers is reaching diminishing returns, as some market analysts put it.The ...

Entertainment SM Entertainment acquires additional 11.4% stake in DearU for $9.2 mn

SM Entertainment Co., South Korea’s music powerhouse behind internationally popular boy and girl bands like EXO and aespa, has acquired an add...

Electronics LG Electronics restarts home appliance plant in Russia

LG Electronics Inc. has resumed operations at its home appliance plant in Russia amid prospects of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, signaling...

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...

Stocks KKR recoups $206 mn in block sale of HD Hyundai Marine shares

Global private equity firm KKR & Co. Inc. has succeeded in cashing out of its stake in HD Hyundai Marine Solution Co. for 295 billion won ($206 ...

Electronics Samsung's Harman goes from ugly duckling to golden swan

When Samsung Electronics Co. acquired Harman International Industries Inc., a global leader in the audio and automotive electronics business, in 201...

Korean chipmakers SK Hynix’s HBM exports plummet, now susceptible to seasonal demand

Exports of SK Hynix Inc.'s multi-chip packages (MCP), including high-bandwidth memory (HBM) AI chips, are rapidly dropping as the South Korean chipm...

Regulations South Korea allows foreigners to trade treasuries via omnibus accounts

South Korea will allow foreign investors to trade South Korean treasury bonds via omnibus accounts under the names of global custodians or asset man...

Earnings Samsung Biologics posts record 2024 sales, operating profit as it goes global

South Korea's Samsung Biologics Co., the world’s largest contract drugmaker, on Wednesday posted its largest-ever annual sales and operating p...

Retail Coupang Eats starts food delivery service in Japan

Coupang Eats, a food delivery app operated by South Korea's No. 1 e-commerce platform Coupang Inc., launched its first overseas service in Japan.Acc...

Mergers & Acquisitions KL & Partners buys cosmetics brand Manyo Factory for $130 mn

KL & Partners, a South Korean private equity firm, has agreed to buy Kosdaq-listed cosmetics company Manyo Factory Co., which has been building ...

Economy South Korea becomes super-aged society faster than expected

One in five South Koreans is now 65 years old or older as the Asian country grapples with the demographic challenge of a rapidly aging population an...

Banking & Finance Hanmi Bank rises from Koreatown lender to regional bank

It began in 1982 as a small community bank for Korean immigrants in Los Angeles, California. Today, Hanmi Bank, under Nasdaq-listed Hanmi Financial ...

Fashion Management dispute brewing at leggings brand Xexymix operator Brand X?

A leadership change in Brand X Corp., the operator of South Korea’s top leggings brand Xexymix, is spawning speculation that a management cont...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai to produce key ship electrification part LV VFD in-house

South Korea’s HD Hyundai Co., the parent of the world’s top shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., said on Tuesday it has develope...

Central bank Bank of Korea holds rate steady, signals pivot to easing soon

South Korea’s central bank held interest rates steady but cut its inflation and growth forecasts for the year and signaled that it will pivot ...

Mergers & Acquisitions Acquisition loan rates dip to pre-pandemic levels in S.Korea

Interest rates on acquisition financing in South Korea are set to stabilize at the 5% level, rates last seen before COVID-19 swept the world, height...

Corporate governance Korea’s Hanmi family feud to end as key shareholder mediates

South Korean Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group’s founding family is set to conclude an ongoing feud as the group’s top individual shareholder h...

Leadership & Management Korea Zinc speeds up separation from Young Poong in management feud

South Korea’s largest zinc smelter Korea Zinc Co. is accelerating its efforts to terminate its decades-long business relations with parent You...

E-commerce Coupang, HUFS to partner for industry-academic cooperation

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s No. 1 e-commerce platform, announced on Monday that it signed an industry-academia cooperation agreement (MOU) las...

Business & Politics Naver to submit remedies to Japan without A Holdings stake sale

LY Corp., the operator of Japan’s popular messenger app Line, is expected not to propose Naver Corp.’s stake sale in its largest stakeho...

Economy In Korean food prices, everything’s up: Now it’s dried seaweed's turn

First, it was groceries. Then came fried chicken and hamburgers. Now, it’s seasoned seaweed products, chocolate and ice creams.As in other cou...

Retail Lotte Duty Free rebrands LDF House to Now in Myeong-dong

South Korea’s Lotte Duty Free announced on Tuesday that it changed its duty-free showroom LDF House, which was opened last October in Myeong...

Chief Executives Chung Yong-jin, now chairman, to bring Shinsegae back from doldrums

Chung Yong-jin, vice chairman of South Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae Group, has been promoted to chairman to strengthen his clout over the co...

Airlines Japan approves Korean Air-Asiana merger

Japan has finally given the nod to the merger between South Korea’s No. 1 full-service carrier Korean Air Lines Co. and No. 2 Asiana Airlines ...

Private equity MBK names two partners as vice chairman, vice president

MBK Partners said on Wednesday it has named Moon Joo Ho, partner and head of South Korea for special situations, as the North Asia-focused private e...

Future mobility Kakao Mobility posts sevenfold rise in overseas ride-hailing services

Kakao Mobility Corp., which runs South Korea’s most popular ride-hailing app, saw its services in overseas markets grow sevenfold in the first...

Korean games NCSOFT, Obigo to jointly develop car AI services

South Korea's major game developer and publisher NCSOFT Corp. announced on Monday that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the domest...

Korean chipmakers Samsung bags $1 bn via ASML share sale for chip production

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, has divested a 0.3% stake in Dutch chip equipment manufacturer ASML Holdings N....

Foreign exchange Dollar/won in wildest swing in 13 yrs despite intervention

The South Korean won suffered its wildest fluctuation against the dollar this year since 2010, shrugging off heavy dollar-selling intervention by lo...