steep decline

Steel POSCO raises ship steel prices as Korea's tariffs curb supply

POSCO Holdings Inc. has raised second-quarter prices of thick plates used in vessels amid concerns over tighter supply after South Korea levied anti...

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...

Beauty & Cosmetics K-beauty shake-up: APR, Shinsegae rise as Aekyung declines

South Korea’s beauty industry is undergoing a major reshuffle, with new players rising to prominence while established giants face growing com...

Private equity South Korea emerges as private equity firms’ global hub

New York-based Apollo Global Management and London-based Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) have joined the ranks of global private equity firms that ...

Economy S.Korea logs current account surplus in Jan; Growth slows

South Korea reported a current account surplus for 21 straight months in January but with a moderated gain largely due to a contraction in the goods...

Korean startups South Korea loses tech startups at rapid clip amid dwindling funding

Concerns are growing that the tech startup ecosystem in South Korea, home to global tech household name Samsung Electronics Co., would be trapped in...

Economy Korea’s weak exports add to Trump tariff risk woes

South Korea’s exports in the first two months skidded as sales to the world’s two largest economies China and the US fell, adding to con...

Economy S.Korea's foreign reserves amount to $415.4 bn in Nov

South Korea's official foreign reserves at the end of November amounted to $415.4 billion.According to the Bank Of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday, the nat...

Economy Korea’s export growth at 14-month low, adds to BOK rate cut views

South Korea’s export growth fell to a 14-month low in November with shipments to the world’s two biggest markets the US and China down, ...

Mergers & Acquisitions Korea Zinc chair hatches plan to maintain management control

Korea Zinc Inc. Chair Choi Yun-birm said on Sunday he has a strategy for defending management control of the world’s top zinc and lead smelter...

Markets Samsung Securities lowers Samsung Electro-Mechanics target price

South Korea's Samsung Securities lowered its target price for Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. to 160,000 won ($120) from 210,000 won. The securit...

E-commerce Yanolja's Nasdaq IPO plan hit by Qoo10's liquidity turmoil

Yanolja Co., South Korea’s leading travel and accommodation booking platform operator, may delay its Nasdaq initial public offering plan due t...

Beauty & Cosmetics Fashion ODM Pond Group buys K-beauty retailer Most

Pond Group, a South Korean original design manufacturing (ODM) clothing company, said on Monday it has acquired Most Inc., a domestic beauty product...

Korean food South Korea enjoys record-high kimchi exports in first half

South Korea's kimchi exports surged to an all-time high for a six-month period in the first half of this year, according to data from the Korea Agro...

Pension funds Samsung, SK Hynix lead value increase in Korea NPS' local shares in Q2

The second-quarter rally of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. shares drove a value increase in the domestic stock asset held by South Korea&...

Banking & Finance Mirae Asset's US dividend premium fund surpasses $72 mn in net assets

South Korea's Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. announced on Tuesday that the net assets of its Mirae Asset US Dividend Premium Fund, which invests...

Tech, Media & Telecom KT to make AI, media-focused reshuffle in July

KT Corp., South Korea’s largest telecom service provider, is slated for an organizational reshuffle next month to reinforce its business-to-bu...

Corporate bonds Hyosung Chemical receives negative credit rating outlook

South Korean credit rating agency NICE Investors Service Co. (NICE) downgraded Hyosung Chemical's credit rating outlook from stable to negative on W...

Corporate bonds Korea’s Eduwill suffers credit-rating cuts, capital erosion

Eduwill Corp., South Korea’s leading provider of online and offline test prep courses for adults, has taken a hit from a series of credit-rati...

The KED View Korea: Underrated as seat of commercial arbitration

South Korean companies prefer seats of arbitration in other countries over domestic ones to resolve disputes even for the cases that could be settle...

Private equity Affinity eyes full control of food container maker Lock&Lock

Affinity Equity Partners, which holds a 69.64% stake in South Korean food container manufacturer Lock&Lock Co., is slated to buy most of the com...

Tech, Media & Telecom In South Korea, Instagram thrives while Facebook declines

In South Korea, one of the world’s most wired countries, people can’t live without social networking services for everyday communication...

Korean chipmakers Samsung's chip stockpile declines in Q4 2023

Samsung Electronics Co. has reported a decrease in its semiconductor inventory for the first time in 10 quarters, signaling a rebound in the memory ...

Real estate Korean real estate firms put up for sale amid lasting market downturn

A growing number of private real estate firms are being put up for sale in South Korea amid a prolonged market downturn and increasing delinquencies...

Leadership & Management Tobacco maker KT&G names its COO as final CEO candidate

South Korea’s KT&G Corp., the world’s leading tobacco maker, appointed its Chief Operating Officer Bang Kyung-man as the final candi...

Earnings S-Oil’s 2023 operating profit more than halves on weak refining margins

S-Oil Corp., the South Korean unit of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., on Friday posted a 58.3% decline in its operating profit last year, weighed by lower re...

Food & Beverage Whisky imports hit record high in S. Korea amid falling wine interest

Soaring highballs propelled whisky consumption to record heights in South Korea last year, while pandemic-driven interest in wine waned significantl...

Korean innovators at CES 2024 LG Display unveils brightest OLED TV panel for turnaround

LAS VEGAS, NV -- LG Display Co., the global leading manufacturer of large-size organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels, introduced the industry&r...

Economy Korean current account surplus at 19-month high on exports recovery

South Korea’s current account surplus hit a 19-month high in October as goods exports reported their first on-year growth in 14 months amid si...

North Korea Kim Jong Un urges women to be good comrades — and give birth

SEOUL—Kim Jong Un has a new mission for North Korean women: Have more babies.Kim acknowledged the impoverished nation’s plunging bi...