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Mergers & Acquisitions Mubadala, Goldman Sachs to invest $700 mn in Kakao Mobility

United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. and Goldman Sachs are set to invest a combined $700 million in Kakao Mobil...

Mergers & Acquisitions Harman acquires Masimo’s audio arm in Samsung’s car audio push

Harman International Industries Inc., wholly owned by Samsung Electronics Co., has acquired Masimo Corp.’s audio business for $350 million, a ...

Markets Kakao shares sink on SK Telecom’s stake sell-off news

Kakao Corp. shares underperformed its peers and the broad market on Friday after SK Telecom Co. sold off its entire stake in the South Korean platfo...

E-commerce Naver, Kurly tie up to counter e-commerce giant Coupang

South Korea’s online giant Naver Corp. and dawn grocery platform service provider Kurly Inc. have joined forces for a potential stake acquisit...

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 Korean entertainment stocks advance, unfazed by US tariff concerns

South Korean entertainment and gaming stocks climbed on Friday, defying a broader market drop as investors sought refuge in sectors seen as immune t...

Automobiles Korea’s KG Mobility teams up with Chery to develop mid to large SUVs

KG Mobility Corp., a South Korean automaker specializing in sport utility vehicles, said on Wednesday it joined hands with China’s fourth-larg...

Korean chipmakers DB GlobalChip forays into mobile phone OLED driver chip market

DB GlobalChip Co., the chip design subsidiary of South Korea’s chip foundry company DB HiTek Co., has begun mass-producing organic light-emitt...

Leadership & Management Samsung mobile chief fills leadership void in device division

Samsung Electronics Co. has appointed TM Roh, president and head of its mobile eXperience (MX) business, as the new chief of its device eXperience (...

Leadership & Management Hanwha gears up for 3rd-generation leadership with chairman’s stake gift

South Korea’s chemical-to-defense conglomerate Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn will hand over half of his holdings in the conglomerate&rs...

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...

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...

Korean games Krafton buys India’s Nautilus Mobile, fueling IP race in Korean game scene

Krafton Inc., one of South Korea’s top four market-cap gaming firms, has taken over Indian game developer Nautilus Mobile for $14 million, upp...

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 ...

Mergers & Acquisitions VIG taps KDB financing to buy 40% stake in Kakao Mobility

South Korea’s private equity firm VIG Partners’ buyout of minority stakes in Kakao Mobility Corp., the nation’s most popular taxi-...

Leadership & Management Samsung Chairman Lee meets with Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun for partnership

BEIJING – Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong has met with Xiaomi Inc. Chief Executive Lei Jun in the Chinese capital, raising specu...

Corporate strategy Hyundai chief Chung Euisun targets software-led car dominance by 2028

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun has set an ambitious target to outpace Tesla Inc. in software-defined vehicle (SDV) technology by 2028, un...

Pension funds KB, Samsung SRA, Capstone named NPS’ core property fund operators

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) has selected three asset managers to oversee its domestic core real estate platform fund — ...

Upcoming IPOs Hanwha Energy begins IPO process, key to 3rd-generation shift

Hanwha Energy Corp., wholly owned by Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn’s three sons, has embarked on the process of going public – a ...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Hanwha develops cutting-edge stealth paint for next-generation warships

Hanwha Ocean Co., a leading South Korean warship builder, has developed and tested an advanced stealth paint designed for the country’s KDDX n...

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 ...

Games Chinese games expand foothold in South Korea

Chinese games are making deep inroads into South Korea, increasing their presence in the mobile gaming market amid a lack of restrictions on foreign...

Mergers & Acquisitions S.Korean grocery delivery platform Oasis at forefront to acquire TMON

South Korea’s grocery delivery platform Oasis Corp., which has been looking to expand its e-commerce market at home and abroad, is seeking to ...

E-commerce Korea’s beauty wholesaler to invest $10 mn in fashion platform Balaan

South Korea’s cosmetics wholesaler Silicon2 Co. is set to invest $10 million in financially troubled luxury fashion e-commerce platform operat...

Korean startups Hyundai Motor spins off 4 in-house startups in energy, AI, mobility

South Korea’s auto behemoth Hyundai Motor Group has spun off its four in-house startups with innovative technologies in mobility, automation a...

Electric vehicles Kia CEO stands firm on electrification strategy, premieres EV4 in Europe

TARRAGONA, Spain – Despite a temporary slowdown in electric vehicle demand and intensifying competition from Chinese automakers, Kia Corp. rem...

Energy Korea’s OCI, Israel’s Arava Power to jointly build solar cell plant in Texas

OCI Energy Co., a US subsidiary of South Korea’s OCI Holdings Co., and Israel’s Arava Power will jointly build a solar cell power plant ...

Regulations S.Korea needs to allow short-selling for all listed stocks: FSS chief

Lee Bok-hyun, governor of South Korea’s top financial watchdog body, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), said on Thursday that there shou...

E-commerce Korean e-commerce platforms’ growth cools; Naver Shopping sales down

South Korea’s major e-commerce platforms, including Naver Shopping, are showing signs of slowing growth amid the rise of Chinese platform gian...

Korean games Nexon becomes 1st Korean game publisher with over 4 trillion won in sales

Nexon Co., the parent of Nexon Games Co., became the first Korean game developer to achieve the 4 trillion won ($2.8 billion) sales milestone in 202...