KakaoBank’s skyrocketing valuation fuels debate on financial reform

There have been near-endless debates regarding the “proper valuation” of KakaoBank, South Korea’s largest internet-only bank that ...

Fintech platform Toss seeks $180 mn in fresh funding

South Korean fintech startup Toss is seeking to raise 200 billion won ($177 million) in fresh funding, which would almost treble its valuation to 8 ...

Internet-only K Bank to raise $1.05 bn in rights offering

South Korea’s first internet-only bank, K Bank, will be raising 1.2 trillion won ($1.05 billion) from existing and new investors for business ...

Naver joins Korean central bank's digital currency initiative

South Korea’s platform giant Naver Corp. is taking the leap into the digital currency platform market with its plans to participate in the Ban...

Amorepacific posts 191.1% growth in Q1 profit, recovers in China

South Korea’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific Group reported a sharp turnaround in revenue and operating profit for the first quarter of 2021.The...

Korea Credit Data raises over $35 mn from Pavilion, GS, KB Bank

South Korea-based fintech firm Korea Credit Data (KCD) has raised around 40 billion won ($36 million) from Singapore-based private equity firm Pavil...

Doosan Infracore to build 15,000 forklift engines for China’s Linde

Doosan Infracore Co., a leading South Korean heavy machinery and construction equipment maker, has won an order to build 15,000 forklift engines fro...

Kakao Bank applies for preliminary review of 2021 IPO

Kakao Bank, South Korea's No.1 mobile banking app., has kicked off the process to go public by applying for a preliminary review of its stock market...

Banks keen to lend to Samsung heirs for inheritance tax

South Korean banks are queuing up to extend credit to Samsung Group's de-facto leader Jay Y. Lee and his family who are due to pay over 2 trillion w...

Hyundai Motor to launch Genesis in China, posts record US sales

Hyundai Motor Co. and sister firm Kia Corp. posted their best-ever March and first-quarter sales in the US, where the South Korean companies are wor...

SK Holdings, China’s Geely launch $300 million future mobility fund

South Korea’s SK Holdings Co. and China’s leading carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. have launched a $300 million joint fund...

Hyundai, Kia set to change gear to revive China sales

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. posted their worst results in China last year since they advanced into that neighboring market in 2002. Their Chines...

Hyundai Glovis, Changjiu team up to boost China-Europe rail transport

South Korea-based Hyundai Glovis Co. has teamed up with China’s largest automotive logistics firm, Changjiu Group, to foster rail transport op...

China logistics firms yield decent returns for Korean investors

MBK Partners and two leading South Korean conglomerates – SK and CJ groups – have chalked up hefty returns from investments in Chinese l...

S.Korean internet-only bank seeks to raise $540 mn; attracts global PE firms

South Korea’s internet-only bank, K bank, is seeking to raise up to 600 billion won ($540 million) through a rights offering, attracting glo...

Korea’s EV battery trio controls half of global market ex-China

South Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd. and two other major domestic electric vehicle battery makers have grown significantly, controlling more ...

Global folding screen market to explode as Samsung set to supply to China

Samsung Display Co., a leading South Korean display panel maker, will supply foldable displays to select smartphone makers in China amid industry fo...

Korean banks fund alternative deals with $540 mn loans via KIC

South Korean banks have offered a combined $540 million in syndicated loans to fund overseas alternative investments, in which Korea Investment Corp...

Tight margins, regulatory meddling weigh on Korean banks

The five leading banks in South Korea, including Kookmin and Shinhan, logged their first drop in net profit last year in five years, dented by shrin...

SK Hynix completes construction of its largest $3.14 bn chip plant

SK Hynix Inc. has completed the construction of its largest chip plant, which will use cutting-edge technology to produce memory semiconductors to m...

SK, China’s Geely eye investment fund for hydrogen, eco-friendly business

South Korea’s SK Holdings Co. and China’s Geely Auto Group are looking to set up a joint fund designed to invest in hydrogen and other e...

S.Korean chem firms hasten shift to bioplastics amid China's plastic ban

South Korea’s chemical industry is in crisis mode as China declares war on plastics, likely to deliver a heavy blow to Korean companies that b...

SK Innovation buys 13% stake in China’s EV battery-swap station operator

SK Innovation Co. has signed a deal to acquire a 13% stake in a Chinese electric vehicle battery-swap station operator, as the South Korean company ...

Hana Bank issues $600 mn euro-currency bonds with negative yield

Hana Bank has become South Korea’s first commercial bank to issue foreign currency bonds at a negative yield, raising 500 million euros ($606 ...

Internet portal Naver in negotiations to buy Korea’s Jeju Bank

Naver Corp., South Korea’s top online portal, is interested in buying Jeju Bank, named for and based on the country's largest island, to secur...

Hyundai inks deal to build first overseas hydrogen fuel cell plant in China

Hyundai Motor Co. has signed a contract to build its first overseas hydrogen fuel cell systems plant in China as the South Korean company aims to en...

S.Korean banks' household, company loans near $1.8 trn

South Korean households and companies have taken out fresh loans worth 208 trillion won ($189 billion) from banks last year, pushing the outstanding...

SKC in talks to sell stake in PET film-making China unit

SKC Ltd. of South Korea’s SK Group is in negotiations to sell a stake in its polyester (PET) film unit in China, which it values at 150 billio...

Hyundai Motor to build first overseas hydrogen fuel cell plant in China

Hyundai Motor Co. will build its first overseas hydrogen fuel cell systems plant in China as the South Korean company aims to enter the world’...

Kakao Bank wraps up $921 mn rights offering

South Korea's mobile-only bank has wrapped up its $920.5 million rights offering, placing the enterprise value at around 9.3 trillion won ($8.6 ...