high value added

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 ...

Corporate strategy KT&G eyes overseas M&A after rejecting activist fund's offer

KT&G Corp., South Korea’s dominant tobacco and ginseng producer, is seeking to acquire a Japanese ginseng company after dismissing a 1.9-t...

Energy South Korea nears Czech nuclear deal; Doosan, related stocks fly high

South Korea’s nuclear energy stocks surged this week as momentum builds around a landmark nuclear power project in the Czech Republic, with in...

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...

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...

Korean chipmakers SK Hynix bets on 3D HBM as next game-changer in AI chip race

SK Hynix Inc., the world’s top DRAM memory chipmaker, aims to redefine the competitive landscape in artificial intelligence memory chips with ...

Travel & Leisure S.Korea’s foreigners-only casinos bask in return of Chinese high rollers

South Korea’s foreigners-only casinos are witnessing a significant rise in their sales revenue with the return of high rollers from China and ...

Earnings Samsung’s Q1 profit beats expectations; Q2 outlook murky on tariff war

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter operating profit on Tuesday, booste...

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...

Retail Koreans’ craving for luxury goods fades

Until recently, it was not unusual to see people waiting in a long line in front of foreign haute couture brands’ stores early in the morning ...

Batteries LG Energy bags 1-GWh ESS battery deal from Poland’s PGE

LG Energy Solution Ltd. will supply 1 gigawatt-hour of energy storage system (ESS) batteries to a state-owned utility company in Poland in a deal ex...

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...

Korean chipmakers SK Hynix ships world’s first 12-layer HBM4 samples early

South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix Inc. has begun delivering samples of the world’s most advanced, next-generation high bandwidth memory ...

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...

Webtoons Naver’s Webtoon hints at ad business expansion in 2025

Webtoon Entertainment Inc., the Nasdaq-listed storytelling platform operator under South Korea’s internet giant Naver Corp., is set to expand ...

Food & Beverage Korean snacks mesmerize global consumers amid K-pop popularity

South Korea’s snack exports soared to a record high in February, surpassing $40 million for the first time, as global demand surged amid the s...

Business & Politics Trump says Korea interested in Alaska gas project; Korean firms skeptical

South Korea, Japan and other countries want to partner with the US in a $44 billion natural gas pipeline project in Alaska, President Donald Trump s...

Economy Korea to create new visa for high-quality foreign talent

South Korea said on Wednesday it plans to create a new visa to attract high-level foreign talent for advanced industries such as artificial intellig...

Sovereign wealth funds S.Korea’s sovereign fund KIC logs 8.5% return in 2024

The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) reported an annual return of 8.49% last year thanks to steady gains from equity investments led by the AI tec...

Shareholder value Hana Financial to boost corporate value by raising shareholder returns

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group aims to increase corporate value by ramping up shareholder returns based on a sustainable profit structure ...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean to jointly bid for high-stakes warship deals

South Korea’s two warship builders – HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Hanwha Ocean Co. – have agreed to join forces to pur...

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...

Shareholder value S.Korea’s top financial regulator pushes tax support for value-up program

South Korea is ramping up efforts to encourage companies to enhance shareholder value by providing tax support for its corporate value-up program, a...

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...

Korean stock market South Korean stock trading volume at 8-month high

Trading volume in South Korean stock market has surged to its highest level in eight months, with investors piling into defense, nuclear energy, shi...

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 ...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai in talks to buy back Korean ship parts maker

HD Hyundai Co., the world’s second-largest shipbuilder, is in talks with a private equity firm to buy back a South Korean ship parts manufactu...

Mergers & Acquisitions S.Korea’s bagel sensation London Bagel Museum attracts multiple foreign investors

London Bagel Museum, which has ignited a bagel fad in South Korea, has drawn strong interest from multiple investors from abroad for its stake sale ...

Korean stock market Samsung Biologics shares fly high to be Korea’s third most valuable firm

Samsung Biologics Co., the world’s largest contract drugmaker, has become South Korea’s third most valuable stock on the country’s...

Earnings Hanwha Systems posts record earnings in 2024 on brisk defense sales

Hanwha Systems Co., a leading South Korean defense company, reported its best-ever earnings last year thanks to brisk sales of its defense systems i...