Return of the K-pop queens: Blackpink, Twice power up YG, JYP

Return of the K-pop queens: Blackpink, Twice power up YG, JYP

Blackpink and Twice, two of South Korea’s most prominent K-pop female acts, made high-profile returns on Friday with new releases, heightening...

Organic food chain Chorocmaeul up for sale amid liquidity woes

Organic food chain Chorocmaeul up for sale amid liquidity woes

Financial investors in Chorocmaeul Co., a South Korean organic food store chain, are seeking to sell the management control of the company, which re...

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

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...

Hong Kong-based CLSA to invest $36.6 mn in K-Beauty pioneer Jungsaemmool Beauty

Hong Kong-based CLSA to invest $36.6 mn in K-Beauty pioneer Jungsaemmool Beauty

Hong Kong-based private equity firm CLSA Capital Partners Ltd. has been picked as a preferred bidder to invest 50 billion won ($36.6 million) in Jun...

JKL Partners to acquire $150 mn cult-favorite bagel chain London Bagel

JKL Partners to acquire $150 mn cult-favorite bagel chain London Bagel

JKL Partners Inc., a Seoul-based private equity firm, is set to acquire London Bagel Museum, a growing sensation in South Korea’s booming prem...

Is chip winter over? Doomsayers gone as Korea’s DRAM exports surge

Is chip winter over? Doomsayers gone as Korea’s DRAM exports surge

Global memory chip markets, long weighed down by excess inventories and sagging demand, are showing early signs of a thaw.South Korea’s export...

K-pop pilgrimage boosts Seoul ahead of BTS comeback

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...

Shinhan expands global IR push to woo foreign investors

Shinhan expands global IR push to woo foreign investors

Shinhan Financial Group Co. is stepping up efforts to attract foreign investors with back-to-back global investor relations (IR) campaigns, as South...

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

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 to lift stock holdings to 55% by 2030, raising risk appetite

NPS to lift stock holdings to 55% by 2030, raising risk appetite

The National Pension Service (NPS) plans to raise its equity allocation to about 55% of its assets by 2030 from 40.4% as of the end of February, Sou...

Carlyle CEO shares investment tips with Korean retail investors

Carlyle CEO shares investment tips with Korean retail investors

The head of The Carlyle Group met with Korean retail investors in a rare session on Thursday, sharing insights on the US economy and global credit m...

POBA bullish on REITs, real estate debts and senior housing

POBA bullish on REITs, real estate debts and senior housing

South Korea’s Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) is betting big on real estate investment trusts (REITs) and senior housing in the US...

Korean financial firms launch global IR blitz to woo foreign capital  

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...

Hamilton Lane invests in IMM infrastructure fund in secondary deal

Hamilton Lane invests in IMM infrastructure fund in secondary deal

Global private market investor Hamilton Lane Inc. has acquired a stake in Seoul-based alternative investment firm IMM Investment’s infrastruct...

S.Korea's crypto market doubles to $77.5 bn with 20% of population trading

S.Korea's crypto market doubles to $77.5 bn with 20% of population trading

South Korea’s cryptocurrency market surged to nearly 108 trillion won ($77.5 billion) in the second half of last year, fueled by growing retai...

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

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...

Lotte to retake $269 mn stake in logistics arm after flopped IPO

Lotte to retake $269 mn stake in logistics arm after flopped IPO

Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate by assets, will buy back a stake in Lotte Global Logistics Co. from the latter’s f...

Mirae Asset bets on China as Korean investors’ US focus draws concern

Mirae Asset bets on China as Korean investors’ US focus draws concern

South Korea’s leading asset manager Mirae Asset Financial Group is increasingly unveiling China-focused investment products as Chairman P...

Activist fund Oasis boosts Korea team amid investor-friendly policy shift

Activist fund Oasis boosts Korea team amid investor-friendly policy shift

Hong Kong-based activist fund Oasis Management is ramping up hiring for its Korea team as Seoul’s push to boost corporate value and strengthen...

LG Chem’s medical skincare business sale draws tepid bid

LG Chem’s medical skincare business sale draws tepid bid

South Korean chemical giant LG Chem Ltd.'s offer for sale of its cosmetics filler business, tagged with an asking price of more than 500 billion won...

S&P reaffirms South Korea’s AA credit rating with stable outlook

S&P reaffirms South Korea’s AA credit rating with stable outlook

S&P Global Ratings has reaffirmed South Korea’s sovereign credit rating at AA with a stable outlook, citing the country’s resilient ...

NPS pours $3.9 bn to buttress Korean stock market

NPS pours $3.9 bn to buttress Korean stock market

South Korea’s National Pension Service, the country’s largest institutional investor, has come to the rescue of the domestic stock marke...

Kakao Entertainment scraps IPO, seeks new buyer

Kakao Entertainment scraps IPO, seeks new buyer

Kakao Corp., South Korea’s largest mobile platform, is looking to sell a majority stake in Kakao Entertainment Corp., dropping a plan to take ...

South Korean stocks, currency dive amid deeper US tariff turmoil

South Korean stocks, currency dive amid deeper US tariff turmoil

The South Korean stock market logged its biggest daily loss of more than 5% in eight months on Monday, joining its Asian peers bruised by panic sell...

Kakao Entertainment sheds loss-making units, revives IPO prospects

Kakao Entertainment sheds loss-making units, revives IPO prospects

Kakao Entertainment Corp. has been divesting unprofitable music labels and digital content platforms, which it has gobbled up over the past few year...

Korean financial firms face growing risks in overseas property investments

Korean financial firms face growing risks in overseas property investments

South Korea’s financial institutions are increasingly at risk of their overseas real estate investments turning sour, government data showed o...

Strong momentum in non-US markets, digital real estate: Principal AM CEO

Strong momentum in non-US markets, digital real estate: Principal AM CEO

It is time to shift focus toward non-US markets after years of stellar performance of US assets driven by the robust world’s No. 1 economy, sa...

All listed stocks to be available for shorting in South Korea

All listed stocks to be available for shorting in South Korea

South Korea will allow short selling of all listed stocks in the country as of Monday for the first time in five years, raising expectations of more...

Hyundai Steel picks Donaldsonville as $5.8 bn US plant site, seeks investors

Hyundai Steel picks Donaldsonville as $5.8 bn US plant site, seeks investors

South Korea’s Hyundai Steel Co. has chosen Donaldsonville, Louisiana, as the location for its $5.8 billion US steel mill, marking a major stra...

CPPIB invests in Seoul office building for rental housing conversion

CPPIB invests in Seoul office building for rental housing conversion

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and South Korean property developer MGRV have jointly acquired the headquarters of a domestic women...

Kakao Pay backs out of acquisition deal for SSG Pay, Smile Pay Hanwha in talks to buy five-star hotel Paraspara Seoul Kia's Lego-like PV5 with 16 variants to hit market in July Stray Kids make K-pop history with landmark stadium show in Germany S.Korea’s most prominent business leader returns with all charges cleared