Smart Life Solutions

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...

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...

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,...

Batteries LG Energy Solution clinches multibillion-dollar ESS deals in Japan, Europe

LG Energy Solution Ltd. has secured a string of billion-dollar energy storage system (ESS) deals in Japan and Europe, outmaneuvering Chinese rivals ...

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 ...

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...

Korean Investors Samsung to invest $10 million in US-based C2N Diagnostics

Samsung Group companies will jointly invest $10 million in C2N Diagnostics LLC, a U.S.-based company specializing in blood-based Alzheimer’s d...

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...

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...

IPOs Korean firms cut IPO prices, volumes amid bearish sentiment

South Korean companies are relaunching attempts to go public with lower valuations and fewer shares amid continued sour investor sentiment.CK Soluti...

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...

Debt financing Korean bonds heavily oversubscribed in January boom

South Korea’s debt market got off to a strong start this year, as several blue chip companies made a bold return to the bond market for new is...

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...

ESG Korea Investment Holdings’ MSCI ESG rating upgraded to A

Korea Investment Holdings Co. said on Thursday it was upgraded by three notches from B to A in the MSCI ESG rating this year.The MSCI ESG rating is ...

Bio & Pharma JLK gets OK from FDA for ICH diagnosis solution

South Korea’s JLK Inc., an AI-based diagnosis solution and platform maker, said on Monday it got 501K approval from the US Food and Drug Admin...

Corporate investment Mirae Asset invests $200 mn in LS Group affiliate in US

South Korea's Mirae Asset Global Investments said on Sunday it invested $200 million in Essex Solutions, a US magnet wire manufacturing affiliate un...

Korean startups Imagoworks raises $15.6 mn in Series C funding

Imagoworks, South Korea's AI-based digital dental service startup, said on Tuesday it raised 23 billion won ($15.6 million) in Series C funding.Foun...

Economy S.Korea-Philippines FTA to boost car and food exports

South Korea and the Philippines free trade agreement (FTA) is expected to increase exports to the Philippines, especially cars and parts, which will...

Korean startups TALOS dives deeper into brain aneurysm icebergs

 A single neurosurgeon dedicates his or her entire professional career to performing surgeries on an average of fewer than 10,000 patients with...

Batteries LG Energy, Qualcomm to commercialize BMS solution

South Korea's LG Energy Solution Ltd. said on Monday it partnered with Qualcomm Technologies to commercialize its new system-on-chip (SoC)-based bat...

Upcoming IPOs Online lender K Bank eyes Feb 2025 IPO at lower valuation

K Bank, a South Korean online lender, is making a fresh attempt to list on the Korean stock market in February 2025 as bitcoin’s record-breaki...

Tech, Media & Telecom RaonSecure to supply biometrics to SBI Sumishin Net Bank

South Korean cybersecurity firm RaonSecure Co. said on Monday it signed a $2.5 million contract with SBI Sumishin Net Bank, the largest internet ban...

Electronics Harman to spearhead Samsung’s automotive solutions business

Samsung Electronics Co. will bolster cooperation in in-vehicle technology with its fully owned US subsidiary Harman International Industries Inc. to...

IPOs Sono International seeks IPO in 2025 with $2.1 billion in corporate value

South Korea’s top resort operator Sono International Co. is seeking an initial public offering of its shares on the Korean market next year, r...

Artificial intelligence LG CNS to enter US smart building biz

South Korea's LG CNS said on Tuesday it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US-based real estate management SomeraRoad and Mastern A...

Corporate governance LG Group affiliates unveil value-up plans

LG Group affiliates— LG Display Co., LG Innotek, LG Chem Ltd., and LG Energy Solution Ltd. —unveiled their ambitious growth strategies o...