LG launches ChatExaone AI beta service, available soon for enterprise use

South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate LG Group has made its artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatExaone, available to external users, sign...

Korean budget carriers in the red as Japan travel slows, fare war intensifies

South Korea’s low-cost carriers (LCCs) are racking up losses as slowing growth in travel, particularly to Japan, fueled price wars to fill exc...

Cohen & Steers names Andrew Shin to lead S.Korea institutional business

US-based investment firm Cohen & Steers Inc. has appointed Andrew Shin, a 20-year veteran of the institutional investment market, as vice presid...

Shinsegae, Hana Financial, Bain Capital to finance $438 mn Starfield Cheongna

Shinsegae Property, a subsidiary of South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group, on Tuesday unveiled a 600 billion won ($438 million) investment agree...

Korea Investment & Securities, Capital Group eye product launch in Korea

Korea Investment & Securities Co. (KIS), a unit of Korea Investment Holdings Co., is exploring new offshore funds for individual investors in co...

NH, KB Securities, Kookmin Bank, Kim & Chang lead capital markets in H1

NH Investment & Securities Co. retained its lead in South Korea’s equity capital market (ECM) in the first half, riding a surge in large-s...

Calls grow for stronger LP oversight in national strategic asset M&As

MBK Partners’ takeover attempt of Korea Zinc Inc. has exposed the vulnerability of national strategic assets to private equity ownership, posi...

Affirma Capital to acquire Equis’ Korean waste assets for $294 million

Affirma Capital, a Singapore-headquartered buyout private equity firm, has agreed to acquire the entire portfolio of South Korean waste processing a...

Miri Capital closes in on STIC Investments chairman’s stake

Miri Capital Management LLC has steadily raised its stake in STIC Investments Inc., narrowing the ownership gap with the firm’s founder and Ch...

S.Korea’s CDMO giant Samsung Biologics to offer CRO services

Samsung Biologics Co., the world’s largest contract drugmaker, will enter the contract research organization (CRO) market by leveraging its va...

K-pop pilgrimage boosts Seoul ahead of BTS comeback

With the days numbered until all seven BTS members reunite as a group, a K-pop pilgrimage is revitalizing Seoul’s cultural and tourism sectors...

Hyundai Motor-backed Motional names AI veteran Laura Major as CEO

Motional Inc., the autonomous driving joint venture backed by Hyundai Motor Group, has appointed Laura Major, an artificial intelligence and robotic...

Seoul, once-rising art hub, feels pinch of global strains  

In Seoul’s Hannam district, the storefront that once housed Various Small Fires (VSF) now sits empty, a “For Rent” sign taped to i...

SpaceX’s Starlink, Eutelsat’s OneWeb land in Korea for LEO satellite services

South Korea has officially cleared the way for low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet services, granting regulatory approval for SpaceX’s St...

South Korea’s startup M&A winter deepens capital bottleneck  

South Korea’s startup M&A winter has deepened as once major investors like conglomerates are prioritizing restructuring over expansion, ch...

NPS, KIC step up focus on mid-market infrastructure

The National Pension Service (NPS) and Korea Investment Corp. (KIC) are actively exploring mid-market infrastructure opportunities as they are expec...

Korean pension funds, insurers seek customized investment vehicles

South Korean institutional investors are increasingly interested in separately managed accounts (SMAs) that offer customized strategies, as well as ...

Korean financial firms launch global IR blitz to woo foreign capital  

Chiefs of South Korea’s major financial groups – Shinhan, Woori and iM – are ramping up global investor outreach with new sharehol...

Bain Capital sells 6% stake in Korea’s Classys via block deal for $163 million

Bain Capital LP has offloaded a 6% stake in South Korean medical aesthetics company Classys Inc. through a block trade, raising 228 billion won ($16...

Korean Air, Delta to buy 25% stake in Canada’s WestJet for $550 million

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s largest full-service carrier, and its joint venture partner Delta Air Lines Inc. will acquire a 25% stake ...

S.Korea’s GEPS to commit $143 million to foreign mid-cap buyout funds

The Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS), one of South Korea’s top three public pension programs, will commit up to 200 billion won ($1...

Coupang’s Q1 revenue up; quarterly dip signals rising competition

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, extended its year-on-year sales growth with an 11.1% increase to post $7.9 billion in...

Seoul-backed K-beauty brands set to make global mark

As Korean beauty products continue to captivate global consumers, five Seoul-based cosmetics and wellness companies are gearing up to penetrate deep...

S.Korea’s medical tourism thrives on weak currency

Foreign visitors to South Korea jumped nearly 20% early this year, largely driven by a sharp depreciation in the country’s currency value agai...

Korea not to appeal ruling in favor of Mason Capital in Samsung case

South Korea said on Friday it has decided not to appeal a Singaporean court’s rejection of its lawsuit to annul an investor-state dispute sett...

LG CNS breaks into US smart city market

LG CNS Co., the information technology service unit of South Korea’s LG Group, has won its first public-sector smart city contracts in the US,...

US PE firm Miri Capital ups stake in Korea’s STIC Investments

US private equity firm Miri Capital Management LLC said on Tuesday it has raised its stake in STIC Investments Inc. to step up its shareholder activ...

Hanwha Aerospace slashes planned rights offering size to $1.6 billion

Hanwha Aerospace Co., a leading South Korean defense company, said on Tuesday it plans to slash the size of its proposed rights offering to 2.3 tril...

UBS tops Korea’s buyout deal advisory in Q1 thanks to Lotte

UBS Group AG, the frontrunner in South Korea's M&A market last year, retained the top position in the country's buyout advisory market in the fi...

Korean Air purchases GE engines for new Boeing aircraft

Korean Air Lines Co. has agreed to buy engines from GE Aerospace to power its new Boeing aircraft, GE Aerospace said on Wednesday.Under the agreemen...