Seoul-based venture capital firm

Cryptocurrencies RedotPay lands in Seoul with crypto cards

RedotPay, a Hong Kong-based blockchain fintech company, has arrived in South Korea with its cryptocurrency-based payment cards and is poised to disr...

Corporate strategy Hankook & Company to set up CVC with $11 mn in funding

Hankook & Company Co., the holding company of Hankook Tire & Technology Co., announced Thursday a plan to launch a wholly owned corporate ve...

Debt financing Korea Securities Finance eyes its 1st foreign bond sale in 2026

Korea Securities Finance Corp. (KSF) is preparing to issue its first foreign currency-denominated bonds in 2026 to provide low-cost funding to domes...

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...

Mergers & Acquisitions Soon for sale: Altos Ventures-backed Cafe Knotted operator

Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures-backed Good Food For Good (GFFG), operator of South Korea’s popular dessert cafe, Cafe Knotted, will likel...

Beauty & Cosmetics Seoul-backed K-beauty brands set to make global mark

As Korean beauty products continue to captivate global consumers, five Seoul-based cosmetics and wellness companies are gearing up to penetrate deep...

Tech, Media & Telecom Samsung steps up AR race with advanced microdisplay for smart glasses

Samsung Electronics Co. has launched a major push into next-generation microdisplays for augmented reality (AR) glasses as it aims to position itsel...

Arts Maybe Happy Ending: A robot love story that rewrote Broadway playbook

On an unremarkable evening in November 2024, inside the opulent Belasco Theatre in Manhattan, something quietly historic was taking place.A delicate...

Pension funds NPS yet to schedule external manager selection; PE firms’ fundraising woes deepen

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the world’s third-largest pension fund, has yet to decide on a plan to select local extern...

Arts Seoul appeal: Korean art captivates Indonesia’s affluent connoisseurs

JAKARTA – Last Thursday, Baik Art gallery in Jakarta, Indonesia, was crowded with well-heeled art patrons eager to meet a revered artist from ...

Business & Politics Seoul mulls joint review of Alaska LNG project with Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam

South Korea has proposed forming a consortium with Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam to jointly assess the feasibility of investing in the $45 billion Alask...

Earnings S.Korea’s top 4 financial holding firms cheer upbeat Q1 results

South Korea’s top four financial holding companies – Shinhan, KB, Hana and Woori – reported stellar earnings for the first quarter...

Business & Politics Seoul, Washington agree on July tariff deal framework in '2+2' trade talks

WASHINGTON, D.C. – South Korea and the US have agreed to work together to craft a comprehensive tariff-liberalization package by July 8, marki...

Business & Politics Trump Jr. to visit Seoul next week to meet Korean business leaders

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the US President Donald Trump, is set to visit Seoul next week and meet with Korean business leaders grappling w...

Economy Trump’s tariffs are hitting exports, early Korean data show

The effects of President Trump’s new tariffs are starting to be felt across the world, preliminary South Korean trade data suggest, as Seoul p...

Mergers & Acquisitions DB Insurance becomes Daol Investment’s No.2 shareholder

DB Insurance Co., a leading South Korean non-life insurance company, has become Daol Investment & Securities Co.'s second-largest shareholder af...

Real estate Ritz-Carlton to return to Seoul, tapped by IGIS Asset for landmark project

IGIS Asset Management Co., South Korea’s leading real estate investment firm, has named The Ritz-Carlton the preferred hotel brand for its amb...

Batteries Samsung SDI, Hanwha Ocean to usher in battery-driven submarine era

Hanwha Ocean Co. and Samsung SDI Co. will start evaluating their jointly developed lithium-ion battery system for a submarine with South Korea&rsquo...

Shareholder activism Korea not to appeal ruling in favor of Mason Capital in Samsung case

South Korea said on Friday it has decided not to appeal a Singaporean court’s rejection of its lawsuit to annul an investor-state dispute sett...

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...

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...

Real estate Mirae, Koramco, Hana shortlisted for Korea Post’s core real estate fund

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Koramco REITs Management and Trust Co. and Hana Alternative Asset Management Co. were shortlisted for the mandat...

Private equity EQT set to invest in KKR-backed fashion unicorn Musinsa

EQT, Europe's largest private equity firm, is set to invest 20 billion to 30 billion won ($14 million-$21 million) in Musinsa, South Korea’s f...

Real estate Colliers to lead $689 million sale of IGIS Asset-owned Signature Tower

Colliers Korea, a unit of global real estate asset management group Colliers, has been chosen as the adviser for the sale of Signature Tower in cent...

Robotics Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics’ Spot embarks on public safety missions

Spot, a quadruped robot developed by Boston Dynamics Inc., will aid defense and safety agencies in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia to assist in...

Sovereign wealth funds Korea’s WGBI inclusion moved to next April; Seoul works on policy steps

South Korea’s much-anticipated inclusion of its bonds in the FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI) has been postponed to April 2026 from Nov...

Aerospace & Defense Hanwha Aerospace slashes planned rights offering size to $1.6 billion

Hanwha Aerospace Co., a leading South Korean defense company, said on Tuesday it plans to slash the size of its proposed rights offering to 2.3 tril...

Entertainment Kakao Entertainment sheds loss-making units, revives IPO prospects

Kakao Entertainment Corp. has been divesting unprofitable music labels and digital content platforms, which it has gobbled up over the past few year...

Bio & Pharma ABL Bio lands $2.8 billion license-out deal with GSK

ABL Bio Inc., a South Korean biotech company, will license out its proprietary blood-brain barrier shuttle platform, called the Grabody-B, to UK-bas...

Beauty & Cosmetics K-beauty exports to China rebound after 4-month slump

South Korea’s beauty industry is showing signs of recovery in China, with exports rebounding after four months of decline.The turnaround follo...