Korea posts worst economic contraction since 1998; down 1%

South Korea’s economic growth rate dropped by 1 percent last year, its worst performance since the 1998 Asian financial crisis when the coun...

SM Line eyes H2 IPO on Korean bourse, aims to expand US trade

South Korea’s SM Group, formerly known as Samla Midas Group, is pushing for an initial public offering of its merchant liner, SM Line Corp., o...

Naver-invested startups line up for IPOs; market seems welcome

South Korean startups invested in by top online portal Naver Corp. are gearing up for debuts on the local bourse amid expectations of a welcome mark...

HMM, SM Line to deploy container ships to support Korean exporters

South Korea’s leading shipping companies have decided to deploy at least five container carriers on major sea routes to provide support for lo...

GM Korea to curb production as global chip shortages worsen

GM Korea Co., a subsidiary of US auto giant General Motors Co., is slashing production rates due to a component supply disruption, the latest sign t...

S.Korea's online fashion platform eyes global expansion

Online fashion platform Musinsa Co., a familiar name among Gen Zers and millennials in South Korea, is ready to go global. This month, the Korean co...

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...

Delivery Hero could face up to $1.4 bn in fines if it fails to sell Yogiyo

Food delivery giant Delivery Hero SE is facing some time pressure to sell South Korea’s No. 2 food delivery app Yogiyo, estimated at 2 trillio...

Korea requires major companies to disclose ESG activities from 2025

Big companies listed on South Korea’s major stock market will be required to disclose their business activities related to environmental, soci...

S.Korea’s VC fundraising hits all-time high in 2020

Venture capital funds in South Korea have raised their largest-ever amount of 6.6 trillion won ($6 billion) last year, supported by government polic...

KKR’s Asia real estate fund draws around $400 mn from Korea

South Korean institutional investors, including the National Pension Service, have committed around $400 million to KKR’s Asia real estate f...

KKR’s $3.9 bn Asia infra fund raises $130 mn from Korea

The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU) and financial services firms in South Korea have committed $130 million to KKR & Co.’s inau...

S.Korea's cleaning and disinfecting appliance exports soar amid COVID-19 pandemic

Increased time spent at home due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rise in exports of cleaning and disinfecting appliances, including ...

Yellow Umbrella Mutual seeks Korea's bond managers for $550 mn mandate

The Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund, a $12 billion savings arm for South Korea’s small business owners, is looking to mandate four domestic fi...

CPPIB owns one-quarter of Korea’s listed logistics REIT

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has emerged as the top shareholder in South Korea’s only listed logistics real estate inves...

Korea Resources seeks sale of Australia coal mine to slash debt

Korea Resources Corp. is planning to sell its 82.25% stake in a coal mine in Australia, as part of efforts to cut its debt totaling 6.7 trillion won...

S.Korea's ESG bond issues could top $920 mn in Jan

South Korea's environmental, social and governance (ESG) bond market is seeing strong growth as companies are driven by institutional investors' inc...

E-commerce giant eBay kicks off $4.6 bn sale of eBay Korea

E-commerce giant eBay Inc. has officially kicked off the sale process of eBay Korea Co., valued up to 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion), with its sa...

Korea’s chip exports to top $100 bn in 2021, second-best performance ever

South Korea’s semiconductor exports are expected to top $100 billion this year, led by rising demand for DRAM and system chips.According to th...

S.Korea to back $18 bn domestic VC fund plan by 2025

The South Korean government will inject 1 trillion won ($924 million) into homegrown venture capital funds this year, with a plan to launch three VC...

Korea’s EV battery trio among world’s top 5; seen gaining further ground

South Korea’s three major electric vehicle battery makers have grown significantly over the past year, securing spots on the world’s top...

Korean companies sit on record dry powder, may open M&A floodgates

South Korea’s major companies are sitting on a record amount of cash reserves, setting the foundation for the merger and acquisition (M&A)...

S.Korean unicorn companies line up for IPOs

Huge sums of money have been flowing into growth sectors globally, prompting South Korean unicorn companies, or non-listed companies with an enterpr...

S.Korea's stock market cap tops nominal GDP for the first time

The combined value of South Korea’s main stock market, which wrapped up last year at its highest-ever closing level, topped the country’...

Korea’s retail investors go West, eye golden ticket for big money

For South Korean stock investors, 2020 may go down in history as the year of The Great Quest for big money, and at the end of their journey they fou...

Credit Suisse retains top spot in Korea’s M&A advisory league

Credit Suisse has maintained its top position on South Korea’s M&A advisory league table in 2020, working on most of the high-profile deal...

Korea’s stock markets rise most among majors; beat S&P 500, Nasdaq gains

South Korean bourses on Wednesday wrapped up this year's trade at their highest levels of the year, rising the most among major equity markets and b...

Korea’s fried chicken brands fly high on food delivery boom

Once derided as a tomb for the self-employed due to cut-throat competition, fried chicken franchises in South Korea have emerged as a main beneficia...

Moderna deal shows Korea’s prowess as global hub for biopharma CMO

South Korea is emerging as a global hub for the contract manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals following its latest deal to procure COVID-19 vaccines ...

Korea’s liquidity-driven IPO market sets slew of fresh records in 2020

As the stock markets around the globe took a wild ride amid the pandemic in 2020, ample liquidity led to plenty of fresh records in the initial publ...