SM mulls ending producer contract with founder Lee Soo-man's firm

SM Entertainment Co. announced Thursday it is considering terminating the production contract with Like Planning, wholly owned by its founder Lee So...

Korean big-box stores see credit rating downgrades

Two credit rating agencies have lowered South Korean big-box retail giants’ credit profiles. Korea’s top three big-box stores, Homeplus ...

Daesang Life, China’s Sinopharm to launch health foods joint venture

Daesang Life Science Corp., a South Korean health foods maker, has signed an initial agreement with China’s Sinopharm International to launch ...

South Korea’s merch-producing platforms target influencers 

Digital content creators in South Korea – YouTube partners, Tiktok creators and webtoon writers – are no longer relying solely on subscr...

Korea Woori Card to start installment finance biz in Indonesia

Woori Card Co. is set to start the installment finance business in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy as the credit card unit of Sout...

Pet health: Korean genetic testing firms' new target market

South Korean direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies are rushing to the veterinary diagnostics market where they see greater potential gr...

SK invests in US digital healthcare firm Cala Health

South Korea's SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. has dipped its toes into the rapidly growing digital healthcare market by investing in Cala Health, a US-bas...

Leisure, airline stocks to shine as Japan sets to ease travel curbs

South Korea’s travel and airline stocks are expected to shine as Japan plans to ease its border controls in June. Korea’s Shinhan Inve...

Boryung takes 'health is wealth' to whole new level – space

South Korean biotech and pharmaceutical companies are expanding their footholds in the global space medicine market. Boryung, formerly Boryung Pharm...

Morgan Stanley PE closes first Korean buyout in 8 yrs

Morgan Stanley Private Equity has acquired a South Korean dietary supplements maker Life & Bio Co., in its first Korean buyout deal in eight yea...

Korean ad agencies vying for bigger slice of virtual space

South Korean advertisement agencies, led by Innocean Worldwide Inc. and Cheil Worldwide Inc., are stepping up efforts to acquire digital technology ...

Innocean to wholly own US media agency Canvas with 49% stake buy

Innocean Worldwide Holdings Inc., a South Korean marketing company, will wholly own US media agency joint venture Canvas Worldwide LLC by acquiring ...

Korea reopening stocks rally as govt. eases COVID-19 restrictions

South Korea’s reopening stocks jumped on Friday as the government eases COVID-19-curbing restrictions and as the number of the Omicron variant...

App-rich LG smart TVs blur lines with smartphones

From home workouts to math and science courses, thousands of apps now available on LG smart TVs are blurring the lines between TVs and smartphones.S...

VR star signs with K-pop label YG Entertainment

South Korean game developer and publisher Smilegate announced Monday that its virtual human signed an exclusive contract with an affiliate of global...

KTCU posts highest investment return since 2009

Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU), a retirement fund for South Korean teachers and employees, earned an 11.3% return from investment last y...

Korea’s reopening stocks shine despite surging Omicron cases

South Korea’s reopening stocks rallied even as the local COVID-19 cases hit record-highs with the spread of the Omicron variant. Investors rai...

Seoul launches investment promotion agency for FDI expansion

The city of Seoul launched Invest Seoul on Feb. 7, an investment promotion agency (IPA) to attract foreign investment and overseas companies. The ca...

GS launches corporate VC firm

GS announced the establishment of a corporate venture capital (CVC) firm Sunday, the first of its kind for a holding company in Korea. The announcem...

Mental health app Spring Health emerges amid pandemic

Spring Health, a US-based mental health care provider, has emerged stronger in the prolonged pandemic era, with the five-year-old startup valued at ...

Dunamu evolves from outlier to qualified investor in Woori

"It caused quite a commotion in our industry." This was the common response by cryptocurrency exchange insiders to the news that Dunamu Inc., an ope...

Korean Air gets Vietnam’s regulatory approval for acquisition of Asiana

Korean Air Lines Co. (KAL) said on Tuesday it has obtained regulatory approval from Vietnam for its 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) deal to acquir...

K-pop stars see huge capital gains from stock options

Executives and employees of top K-pop agencies such as SM Entertainment Co. and YG Entertainment Inc. are expected to earn huge capital gains from...

Yanolja, HanaTour team up to take lead in travel market

South Korea’s No. 1 accommodation booking platform Yanolja has joined forces with the country's leading travel agency HanaTour Service Inc. to...

High-priced drugs add to pressure for Korea's healthcare reform

A number of new rare disease treatments, approved in South Korea over the past year, are still unaffordable for the public because of their price ta...

Regulatory moves delay Kakao Group’s IPO plans

Toughening regulations on big tech firms in South Korea are impacting the IPO timeline of Kakao Pay Corp. and Kakao Mobility Corp. According to the ...

S.Korea's bio-health industry exports log best-ever first half in 2021

South Korea's bio-health industry exports log best-ever first half in 2021 South Korea’s diagnostic kits, biosimilars and health-related bio-...

Brazil gives emergency use nod for Celltrion’s COVID-19 treatment

South Korean drugmaker Celltrion Inc. has added Brazil to the list of countries that have granted emergency use approval for its COVID-19 treatment ...

MBK sees new opportunities in China's regulatory risk

China's regulatory crackdown on Chinese technology and private education companies is driving up the level of volatility and creating mispricing in ...

China's top travel agency to join bid for Korea's online retail platform

China’s leading online travel agency (OTA) Trip.com will be joining the race to acquire South Korea’s online retail platform Interpark C...