K-beauty contract manufacturers see record Q2 profits; rally likely to continue

K-beauty contract manufacturers see record Q2 profits; rally likely to continue

South Korea’s major original design manufacturers (ODMs) for cosmetics, led by Cosmax Inc. and Kolmar Korea Co., are estimated to have posted ...

Samsung supplies newest nanoprism image sensors to Xiaomi to crack Sony’s lead

Samsung supplies newest nanoprism image sensors to Xiaomi to crack Sony’s lead

Samsung Electronics Co. is supplying a new high-performance image sensor featuring nanoprism technology to China’s Xiaomi, as the South Korean...

IMM Credit closes $700 mn blind credit fund backed by NPS

IMM Credit closes $700 mn blind credit fund backed by NPS

IMM Credit & Solutions Inc. (ICS), the private credit unit of South Korea’s major investment firm IMM Holdings Inc., has raised nearly 1 t...

Samsung’s Q2 operating profit halves amid sluggish chip sales

Samsung’s Q2 operating profit halves amid sluggish chip sales

Samsung Electronics Co.'s operating profit in the second quarter missed market expectations, with a 56% on-year fall, as its mainstay semiconductor ...

Blackstone in talks to acquire Korea’s top salon chain Juno Hair in $590 mn deal

Blackstone in talks to acquire Korea’s top salon chain Juno Hair in $590 mn deal

US private equity firm Blackstone Inc. is pursuing the acquisition of Juno Hair, South Korea’s largest premium hair salon chain, in a deal tha...

Hanwha acquires Indonesian bank, first foreign banking venture by Korean insurer

Hanwha acquires Indonesian bank, first foreign banking venture by Korean insurer

Hanwha Life Insurance Co. has become the first South Korean insurance firm to advance into the overseas banking sector by securing a controlling sta...

S.Korea’s pension fund NPS posts weaker returns amid US tariff concerns

S.Korea’s pension fund NPS posts weaker returns amid US tariff concerns

The National Pension Service (NPS), South Korea’s state-run pension fund and the country’s largest institutional investor, is posting sh...

Even barcodes copied: Counterfeits invasion threatens K-brands

Even barcodes copied: Counterfeits invasion threatens K-brands

Counterfeit Korean beauty, fashion and food products are surging on overseas e-commerce platforms, with lookalike packaging making them hard to dist...

Loss-making Lotte Chemical to sell water treatment unit to Synopex

Loss-making Lotte Chemical to sell water treatment unit to Synopex

Lotte Chemical Corp., South Korea’s second-largest petrochemical company grappling with mounting losses amid a prolonged industry downturn, wi...

Genesis targets broader European presence with EV trio

Genesis targets broader European presence with EV trio

Genesis, Hyundai Motor Co.'s premium brand, is expanding its European footprint to four additional countries –France, Spain, Italy and the Net...

Koramco targets $7 bn bet on Korea data centers

Koramco targets $7 bn bet on Korea data centers

Koramco Asset Management Co., South Korea’s leading real estate investment firm, plans to invest 10 trillion won ($7 billion) in domestic data...

NPS logs 0.87% return from first-quarter investment

NPS logs 0.87% return from first-quarter investment

The National Pension Service (NPS), South Korea’s state-run pension fund and the country’s largest institutional investor, announced on ...

KIC bets on Asian real estate; eyes residential, data centers

KIC bets on Asian real estate; eyes residential, data centers

The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) is zeroing in on Asia’s real estate market by region, while targeting residential facilities and data c...

South Korea’s Rznomics inks $1.3 bn out-licensing deal with Eli Lilly

South Korea’s Rznomics inks $1.3 bn out-licensing deal with Eli Lilly

Rznomics Inc., a South Korean RNA therapeutics developer, has signed an agreement worth more than $1.3 billion with US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lill...

SK Group seeks to sell SK Signet as part of sweeping portfolio realignment

SK Group seeks to sell SK Signet as part of sweeping portfolio realignment

South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate SK Group is seeking to divest SK Signet Inc., four years after acquiring the EV charger manufacturin...

Mubadala, Goldman Sachs to invest $700 mn in Kakao Mobility

Mubadala, Goldman Sachs to invest $700 mn in Kakao Mobility

United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. and Goldman Sachs are set to invest a combined $700 million in Kakao Mobil...

Mirae Asset to be named Korea Post’s core real estate fund operator

Mirae Asset to be named Korea Post’s core real estate fund operator

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. is set to manage the mandate of more than 600 billion won ($416.8 million) in core real estate fund investment by...

Meritz backs half of ex-manager’s $210 mn hedge fund

Meritz backs half of ex-manager’s $210 mn hedge fund

Meritz Financial Group Inc., one of South Korea’s most aggressive alternative asset managers, has committed 150 billion won ($105 million) to ...

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...

Kia to build North America-targeted electric pickup model

Kia to build North America-targeted electric pickup model

Kia Corp., South Korea’s second-largest carmaker, will build an electric pickup model tailored for North America to enter the world’s la...

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...

Global assets drive Korean teachers' fund to 11.1% return in 2024

Global assets drive Korean teachers' fund to 11.1% return in 2024

The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU) achieved an 11.1% return on investments in 2024, with overseas portfolios in stocks, infrastructure a...

Hyundai chief Chung Euisun targets software-led car dominance by 2028

Hyundai chief Chung Euisun targets software-led car dominance by 2028

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun has set an ambitious target to outpace Tesla Inc. in software-defined vehicle (SDV) technology by 2028, un...

Samsung in 'do or die' situation'; Lee sounds crisis alarm

Samsung in 'do or die' situation'; Lee sounds crisis alarm

Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong has warned the company's executives that the South Korean tech giant has lost its characteristic "rele...

China stock funds outperform US funds in South Korea

China stock funds outperform US funds in South Korea

Chinese stocks are attracting South Korean investors looking beyond Wall Street amid the downturn in US Big Tech stocks.South Korea’s equity f...

South Korea’s pension fund NPS risks massive loss from Homeplus fiasco

South Korea’s pension fund NPS risks massive loss from Homeplus fiasco

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the nation’s biggest institutional investor, could lose more than 1 trillion won ($692 mil...

South Korea’s forex reserves dip to nearly 5-year low in February

South Korea’s forex reserves dip to nearly 5-year low in February

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves diminished to the lowest level in nearly five years last month, largely due to the expanded forex swap...

Mirae Asset launches world’s 1st passive target-date ETF

Mirae Asset launches world’s 1st passive target-date ETF

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. is set to introduce the world’s first passive target-date exchange-traded fund (ETF) this month to attract ...

Celltrion wins EU approval for autoimmune disease treatment Avtozma

Celltrion wins EU approval for autoimmune disease treatment Avtozma

Celltrion Inc.’s Avtozma, a biosimilar to Roche’s autoimmune disease treatment Actemra, has won approval from the European Commission, f...

One-third of Korean petrochem bonds incur valuation losses

One-third of Korean petrochem bonds incur valuation losses

South Korean institutional investors, including banks, insurers and securities companies, have yet to fully benefit from recent declines in bond yie...

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