BOK delivers first-ever 50-bp hike to curb inflation

South Korea’s central bank on Wednesday took the most aggressive measure with a 50-basis-point policy interest rate hike for the first time in...

Commercial real estate market in Seoul shrinks in H1 2022

The commercial real estate market in Seoul slowed this year, according to a report by South Korean online property platform RSquare. The sum of the ...

Dunamu to nurture 500 Korean startups to create jobs

Dunamu, the operator of South Kora’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has launched two programs to support 500 startups over the next fi...

The case for improved Seoul-Tokyo relations

Unlike the West or China, which showed vastly different reactions, most South Koreans had a more complicated initial response to the news of forme...

Hyundai Motor to build 1st Korea plant in 29 years

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s top automaker, is set to build a domestic electric vehicle plant in its first local production investment i...

Korean exporters fret over looming labor strife at Long Beach, Hamburg

South Korea’s major companies are anxious about looming labor strife at the Port of Long Beach, California and strikes at German ports –...

Korea Zinc buys US e-waste recycling firm for $332 mn

Korea Zinc, the world’s largest lead and zinc smelter, agreed to buy a majority stake in a US-based electronic waste recycling company for $33...

Sell Korea intensifies as foreigners dump bonds for 1st time in 18 months

A selloff in risk assets in South Korea is intensifying as foreigners turned net sellers of Korean bonds for the first time in 18 months in June whi...

South Korea’s unicorn startups, including Viva Republica, delay IPOs

South Korean startups that exceed $1 billion in valuations, known as unicorns, are pushing back their initial public offering (IPO) dates.The move c...

Samsung Elec. to launch Korea's first dual SIM smartphones in August

Samsung Electronics Co. is slated to enable embedded subscriber identity modules (eSIMs) into its new foldable smartphones available in South Korea ...

Kakao-invested game developer Shiftup becomes unicorn startup

Shiftup Co., a South Korean mobile game developer, has joined the ranks of unicorns, or private companies worth $1 billion or more.The studio behind...

Korea, game developers in tug of war over P2E genre

A battle over play-to-earn (P2E) games in South Korea between the government and the industry has yet to show any signs of abating as the authority ...

Korean PE firms' 2021 funds bet on parts makers, dividend stock

IMM Investment Co. and STIC Investments Co., the two most active South Korean private equity firms in 2021 fundraising, made bets on a dividend-focu...

Hansol Paper joins Series A funding for RIU worth $1.5 mn 

Hansol Paper Co. announced Thursday that it participated as a strategic investor in a Series A funding worth 2 billion won ($1.5 million) for South ...

Blockchain game developer Planetarium Labs raises $32 mn 

Planetarium Labs raised $32 million in a Series A funding round, led by Animoca Brands, and joined by Samsung Next, WeMade, and Krust Universe.The s...

Korean retirement funds, mutual aids struggle with profitability

Some major retirement funds in South Korea are raising interest rates on their members’ savings accounts in line with global central banks&rsq...

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...

Hyundai Motor raises N.America workforce, cuts China staff

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s top automaker, ramped up its workforce in North America by more than 50% last year where its presence is grow...

Korea hydrogen council launches $382 mn fund

The Korea H2 Business Summit, a business council established by South Korea’s leading conglomerates to invest in the hydrogen industry, launch...

Korea faces risk from record $114 bn in inventory assets

South Korea’s major listed companies held record inventory assets as they piled up raw materials to deal with the global supply chain disrupti...

Biden and leaders of Japan and South Korea pledge greater cooperation

President Biden met with the heads of Japan and South Korea—the first such gathering between the three countries’ leaders in nearly five...

Korea inflation at 24-year high, adds to big step views

South Korea’s inflation accelerated to a 24-year high last month, reinforcing expectations that the central bank may raise interest rates by 5...

Krafton founder: Robotics, deep learning should be S.Korea’s future

Krafton Inc. founder and chairman Chang Byung-gyu is a rare example of a serial entrepreneur in South Korea – a country dominated by family-ow...

Korean firms with high ESG scores show great P/E ratios

South Korean corporates’ price-earnings ratios are affected by their environmental, social and governance (ESG) management, experts said at an...

Unison Capital puts Korea dental scanner maker up for sale

Unison Capital Inc., a middle-market focused private equity firm, put the world’s third-largest 3D dental scanner maker on the market. The dea...

Naver’s web browser Whale challenges global rivals

South Korea’s homegrown web browser Whale, developed by Naver Corp., is quietly increasing its presence in the domestic market, where Google C...

LS Cable to step up ESG efforts by recycling wooden cable drums

LS Cable & System Ltd. is slated to begin recycling wooden cable drums as part of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) management effo...

Top S.Korean firms face carbon neutrality dilemma

South Korea’s top 30 companies emitted their largest-ever amount of carbon dioxide last year, contrary to their goal of reducing greenhouse ga...

SSG.COM joins race for top spot in luxury online shopping in Korea

SSG.COM, the e-commerce brand of South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Inc., launched its online luxury goods marketplace SSG Luxury on July 3. Focusi...

Korean biotech firms fold COVID-19 therapeutics development businesses

A string of South Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies are waving the white flag when it comes to developing COVID-19 treatments. As the...