Upgradable Appliances 2.0

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 ...

Corporate investment LG Electronics breaks ground on $600 mn home appliance plant in India

South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. has broken ground on its third home appliance manufacturing plant in India with a $600 million investment to...

Airlines Korea’s Sono to sell Air Premia stake to focus on another LCC

South Korea's top resort operator Sono Hospitality Group has decided to sell its entire stake in low-cost carrier (LCC) Air Premia Inc. at a profit ...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Hanwha Ocean shares sink after KDB's sale of 4.2% stake

Investors rushed to dump Hanwha Ocean Co. shares early Tuesday after its second-largest shareholder, Korea Development Bank, cashed in on a 4.2% sta...

Batteries SK On seals $2.8 bn battery deal with Bezos-backed US EV start-up Slate

SK On Co., the battery subsidiary of South Korea’s energy conglomerate SK Group, has signed a supply agreement worth an estimated 4 trillion w...

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...

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...

Foreign exchange S.Korea plans $1.2 bn forex bond issue after presidential election

South Korea plans to issue up to $1.2 billion in foreign exchange stabilization bonds as early as June, in what would mark the new administration&rs...

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...

Asset management Mirae Asset’s default option retirement funds top $700 mn in assets

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. now manages over one-third of South Korea’s default-option retirement funds, with the assets it operates un...

Electronics Samsung unveils upgraded AI-powered OLED TVs

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday showcased its new lineup of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs with advanced artificial intelligence features...

Korean stock market South Korean stocks, currency dive amid deeper US tariff turmoil

The South Korean stock market logged its biggest daily loss of more than 5% in eight months on Monday, joining its Asian peers bruised by panic sell...

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...

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...

Travel & Leisure SoftBank-backed Yanolja raises stake in Modetour as No. 2 shareholder

South Korea’s top travel and accommodation booking platform operator Yanolja Co. has increased its stake in travel agency Modetour Network Inc...

Pension funds Global assets drive Korean teachers' fund to 11.1% return in 2024

The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU) achieved an 11.1% return on investments in 2024, with overseas portfolios in stocks, infrastructure a...

Pension funds S.Korea’s NPS to double pension fund size by 2050, hike risky assets

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) is projected to nearly double its fund size to 3,500 trillion won ($2.38 trillion) by 2050, follo...

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...

Aerospace & Defense Hanwha Aerospace plans record $2.5 bn rights offering for plant expansion

Hanwha Aerospace Co., a leading South Korean defense company, said on Thursday it is raising 3.6 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in new capital through ...

Bio & Pharma SillaJen: First to use lab-grown human tissue to find best cancer drug dose

South Korean biotechnology firm SillaJen Inc. is pioneering a new approach to determine the best dose for a cancer drug combination in clinical tria...

Real estate IGIS puts office tower, 2 nearby hotels on market in bundled sale

Prime office complex AP Tower and two adjacent hospitality properties in Seoul’s Gangnam Business District have been put up for sale in a bu...

Games Krafton invests in 10 overseas game startups in 2024

Krafton Inc. invested in 10 overseas game developers in 2024 in search of the next big franchise intellectual property (IP) following its mega-hit 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...

Rights offerings Samsung SDI to raise $1.4 bn in rights offering for facility expansion

Samsung SDI Co. will issue new shares worth 2 trillion won ($1.4 billion), its first rights offering in two decades, to fund bold facility and R&...

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...

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...

Earnings Coupang posts profit for 2 straight years in 2024 on new growth drivers

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s answer to global e-commerce giant Amazon.com, ended last year with profit for the second straight year thanks to t...

Stocks Meritz leaps to No. 2 financial holding firm in South Korea

Meritz Financial Group Inc., once a medium-sized financial service firm in South Korea, has become the second-most valuable publicly traded financia...

Electronics LG renames premium built-in appliance brand; Moody’s outlook up

LG Electronics Inc., South Korea’s top appliance maker, has rebranded its 10-year-old premium built-in kitchen appliance business to double do...