Smart Factory 3.0

Electric vehicles BYD’s Atto 3 overtakes Tesla’s Model Y as best-selling EV in South Korea

China’s BYD Co. has dethroned Tesla Inc. in South Korea with its compact sport utility vehicle, the BYD Atto 3, becoming the best-selling impo...

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...

Mergers & Acquisitions CJ CheilJedang scraps $3.5 bn green bio sale, shifts gears to expansion

CJ CheilJedang Corp., South Korea’s largest food and beverage company, said on Wednesday it has scrapped a planned sale of its green bio busin...

Economy Korea’s Q1 economic contraction adds to stimulus expectations

South Korea's economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter as exports and consumption fell amid a political crisis and fears over the impact...

Airlines Korea’s Incheon Airport to upgrade, operate Uzbek airfield in $140m deal

INCHEON – South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) is set to upgrade and operate an airfield in Uzbekistan to expand the...

Central bank BOK stands pat; rate cut likely within 3 months as economic growth slows

The Bank of Korea (BOK) left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.75% on Thursday, with Governor Rhee Chang-yong warning that a surge in globa...

Tech, Media & Telecom LG CNS breaks into US smart city market

LG CNS Co., the information technology service unit of South Korea’s LG Group, has won its first public-sector smart city contracts in the US,...

Korean stock market NPS pours $3.9 bn to buttress Korean stock market

South Korea’s National Pension Service, the country’s largest institutional investor, has come to the rescue of the domestic stock marke...

Tech, Media & Telecom Samsung, Google to unveil smart glasses next year in deeper AI alliance

Samsung Electronics Co. and Google LLC are strengthening their long-standing alliance as the artificial intelligence (AI) era redefines the balance ...

Business & Politics S.Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ousted; new presidential election coming

South Korea’s Constitutional Court permanently removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, making him the country’s second pr...

Real estate Asia Property to buy WeWork building in Seoul

Seoul-based real estate investment firm Asia Property has been picked as the sole preferred bidder for an office building currently occupied by cowo...

Business & Politics S.Korean court to rule on impeached President Yoon’s fate April 4

South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Friday will give its ruling on President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December for declaring mart...

Automobiles Hyundai, GM near to unveiling EV, pickup truck sharing plan

Hyundai Motor Co. and General Motors Co. are expected to soon announce a vehicle-sharing deal about six months after they signed an agreement for th...

Mergers & Acquisitions Daol PE buys Youngil Glass to ride Korean cosmetics boom

Daol Private Equity has acquired Youngil Glass Industry Co., a South Korean manufacturer of glass containers, in a 65 billion won ($44.5 million) de...

Batteries SK On to supply 100 GWh of EV batteries to Nissan

SK On Co. has landed a deal to supply nearly 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electric vehicle batteries to Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co., which cou...

Automobiles Kia to release PV9 in 2029, retains CEO for 3 more years

Kia Corp. will release a new purpose-built vehicle (PBV) model every two years, with plans to launch the PV9 in 2029 and its first model, the PV5, t...

Shareholder value Celltrion to cancel $140 mn in treasury shares, stock up

South Korea’s leading biosimilar drug developer Celltrion Inc. announced on Friday a plan to cancel $140 million worth of treasury shares to i...

Mergers & Acquisitions MBK Partners poised to acquire CJ Cheiljedang’s $3.5 billion bio business

North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners is on the verge of clinching a major acquisition deal by offering a higher bid than other conten...

Economy S.Korea’s factory output dips in January; Retail sales, investment slow

South Korea’s factory production decreased in the first month of this year due to a manufacturing slowdown, while private consumption and busi...

Economy Korea’s weak exports add to Trump tariff risk woes

South Korea’s exports in the first two months skidded as sales to the world’s two largest economies China and the US fell, adding to con...

Automobiles Hyundai CEO Muñoz named MotorTrend Person of the Year

South Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer José Muñoz was picked as the most powerful figure in the in...

Cryptocurrencies Dunamu slapped with 3-month business suspension order

Dunamu Inc., the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has been hit with a three-month partial business suspension ...

Artificial intelligence AI data center with up to 3 gigawatts of power envisioned for South Korea

An investor group is planning one of the world’s largest data centers for artificial intelligence in South Korea, a sign of red-hot AI de...

Earnings Meritz cheers record profit in 2024, boasts top 3 market cap

Meritz Financial Group Inc. has reported its best-ever net profit for last year thanks to handsome gains from investments by its insurance and secur...

Korean stock market MSCI Korea Index removes four petrochem firms, seven other stocks

MSCI, a global index compiler, said on Wednesday it has removed 11 stocks, including Lotte Chemical Corp., from its Korea index without any addition...

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...

Real estate NPS closes $1.6 bn Korean office deal; scientists pension eyes NCSOFT building

The National Pension Service (NPS) has completed the purchase of One Grove for 2.3 trillion won ($1.6 billion), its largest single real estate inves...

Economy Korea to launch $23 bn high tech fund, bracing for Trump 2.0

South Korea will launch a high tech fund worth more than 34 trillion won ($23 billion) to provide cheap financing, including equity investments, for...

Economy S.Korea’s economy grows 2.0% in 2024; Q4 GDP below forecast

South Korea’s economy expanded 2.0% last year, falling short of the central bank’s forecast on weaker-than-expected growth in the fourth...

Korean chipmakers SK Hynix sharply narrows gap with Samsung’s market cap

SK Hynix Inc. has significantly raised its value by bolstering its presence in the artificial intelligence memory market, threatening Samsung Electr...