demand for travel

IPOs Lotte to retake $269 mn stake in logistics arm after flopped IPO

Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate by assets, will buy back a stake in Lotte Global Logistics Co. from the latter’s f...

Airlines Korean LCCs boost travel demand to global tourist hubs

South Korean low-cost carriers (LCCs), including Air Premia Inc. and Air Busan Co., have been expanding into underserved smaller cities, but also dr...

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...

Automobiles Exports of Korea-made used cars to hit record high in 2025

South Korea’s exports of used cars by its homegrown auto brands are expected to hit a historic high this year, thanks to their improved brand ...

Travel & Leisure Korean hotels bask in rising foreign visitors; travel agencies in trouble

Hotels in South Korea are booming thanks to a surge in foreign visitors on a weaker won currency, while domestic travel agencies are suffering from ...

Aerospace & Defense South Korean defense industry thriving on strong overseas demand

The South Korean defense industry's current heyday is expected to continue for a while as global demand for Korean-made weapons and combat systems h...

Shipping & Shipbuilding With domestic dockyards fully booked, Korean shipbuilders turn overseas

As order books swell amid green shipping mandates, LNG demand and military naval modernization, South Korean shipbuilders are extending their global...

Business & Politics S.Korea's Han, Trump discuss transactional diplomacy in 1st direct talks

South Korea’s Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo spoke with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday to discuss various issues of mu...

E-commerce Luxury fashion platform Balaan files for court receivership amid slump

South Korea’s top luxury goods e-commerce platform Balaan Co. said on Monday it has filed for corporate rehabilitation with a Seoul court as t...

Korean chipmakers SK Hynix aims to lock in all 2026 HBM orders by mid-2025

SK Hynix Inc., the world’s largest supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), aims to lock in orders for its entire 2026 HBM output by the end o...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Hanwha wins $1.6 billion order to build 6 container ships for Evergreen

Hanwha Ocean Co., a leading South Korean shipbuilder, said on Monday it has won a 2.33 trillion won ($1.61 billion) order to build six eco-friendly,...

Automobiles Kia to ramp up Seltos output to meet high global demand

Kia Corp. will expand production of its compact sport utility vehicle, the Seltos, after selling 310,000 units of the model across the globe, making...

Corporate bonds S.Korea’s corporate bond market cools amid poor earnings

Investors’ appetite for corporate debts sold by South Korea’s petrochemical, retail and battery companies has waned this month amid grim...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Korean shipbuilders to benefit from rising LNG, oil tanker demand

South Korean shipbuilders are expected to benefit from a potential surge in demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil carriers as US Pres...

Commodities FOMO-driven gold rush lifts kimchi premium on gold to highest level

With South Korean retail investors joining the global gold rush in ‘fear of missing out’, or FOMO, the country’s gold price has ...

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...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD KSOE bags $371 mn LNG bunker ship order

The outlook for South Korean shipbuilders’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering ship construction looks bright as the global LNG-powered ship...

Earnings Samsung to focus on HBM, other high-end chips after weak Q4 earnings

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, on Friday vowed to cut its production of legacy chips and increase sales of pre...

Korean food K-food, fashion, beauty to up ante on global push in 2025

South Korean food, beauty and fashion companies, which have enjoyed robust demand for their products in overseas markets this year, will grow bolder...

Retail S.Korean gov't to lift two-bottle limit on duty-free alcohol

South Korean government will lift the number restriction of duty-free alcohol bottles for inbound travelers and halve the patent fees to boost the d...

Korean stock market Korean stocks diverge: Winners, losers of Yoon’s martial law debacle

South Korean stocks showed clear divergences on Wednesday amid a mixed market outlook as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration, re...

Travel & Leisure S.Korean overseas card spending posts record $5.71 bn in Q3

With the increase in international travel during the summer, overseas card spending by South Korean residents reached a record high in the third qua...

Corporate bonds Triple-A rated SK Telecom, KT tap 10-year bond market

South Korean companies with top-notch credit ratings such as SK Telecom Co. and KT Corp. are returning to the long-term bond market amid growing int...

Energy POSCO Int'l starts commissioning of Senex Energy gas facility

South Korea's POSCO International Corp. said on Monday it has begun commissioning its first gas processing facility at Senex Energy’s Atlas ...

Corporate restructuring Lotte Group denies liquidity crisis rumors to calm bond holders

Lotte Group on Thursday denied liquidity crisis rumors sparked by Lotte Chemical Corp.'s struggle to meet a bond redemption request after the South ...

Mergers & Acquisitions Hyosung Chemical scraps specialty gas unit sale to IMM, STIC

Hyosung Chemical Corp. has failed to reach an agreement with a consortium of IMM Private Equity and STIC Investments Inc. to sell its specialty gas ...

Retail Korean duty-free shops post Q3 losses; no signs of recovery

The four major duty-free shop operators in South Korea on Thursday posted operating losses in the third quarter, marking the first quarter in almo...

Retail S.Korea’s food delivery apps relish fresh boom in demand

South Korea’s online food delivery market is poised to hit record-high transactions in 2024 as lower fees triggered by Coupang Eats’ fre...

Korean Investors Mirae Asset’s TIGER Nasdaq 100 ETF crosses $2.8 bn in net assets

South Korea's Mirae Asset Global Investments said on Tuesday that that its TIGER Nasdaq 100 ETF has become the second US-focused ETF listed in South...

Earnings Samsung SDI's operating profit plunges in Q3 amid EV chasm

Samsung SDI Co., the world’s sixth-largest battery maker, continues to grapple with dwindling battery demand from the electric vehicle industr...