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 ...

South Korean airlines bank on China routes for profit recovery

South Korean airlines bank on China routes for profit recovery

South Korean airlines are ramping up international routes, particularly to China, Japan and Southeast Asian countries, in a bid to boost profitabili...

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 ...

LG Electronics' Q2 profit halves as US tariffs bite

LG Electronics' Q2 profit halves as US tariffs bite

Earnings at LG Electronics Inc. nearly halved in the second quarter after the Trump administration's tariff hikes pushed up raw material costs, maki...

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...

Samsung's Q2 profit seen weaker, bottoming out in H2

Samsung's Q2 profit seen weaker, bottoming out in H2

Samsung Electronics Co. is likely to deliver weaker-than-expected results for the second quarter, with operating profit estimated to decline by more...

Korea to allow non-profits to buy bad consumer loans

Korea to allow non-profits to buy bad consumer loans

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has proposed regulatory changes that would allow non-profit organizations to purchase bad loans from individ...

Korea’s aesthetic medicine enjoys golden era with surge in foreign spending

Korea’s aesthetic medicine enjoys golden era with surge in foreign spending

As beauty-conscious tourists continue to flock to Seoul’s clinics, South Korea’s aesthetic medicine sector may be entering a golden era,...

Samsung flexes financial muscle as insurance, card units top rankings

Samsung flexes financial muscle as insurance, card units top rankings

Samsung Group’s financial affiliates are closing in on KB Financial Group for the top spot in South Korea’s financial services sector, u...

Dawn delivery pioneer Kurly posts 1st-ever quarterly profit

Dawn delivery pioneer Kurly posts 1st-ever quarterly profit

Kurly Inc., a pioneer in South Korea’s dawn delivery market, has posted its first-ever quarterly profit, bucking a slowdown in private consump...

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...

KakaoBank posts record Q1 profit, eyes Thai expansion after Indonesia

KakaoBank posts record Q1 profit, eyes Thai expansion after Indonesia

KakaoBank Corp., a leading South Korean internet-only bank, posted its highest quarterly profit in the first quarter, defying a drop in interest inc...

Samsung Biologics bags $514 mn CMO contract from US pharma

Samsung Biologics bags $514 mn CMO contract from US pharma

Samsung Biologics Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturing organization (CMO), said on Monday it has secured a $5.14 million order from...

KB Financial logs 61% profit growth, rebounding from ELS fiasco

KB Financial logs 61% profit growth, rebounding from ELS fiasco

KB Financial Group Inc. on Thursday reported a 61% jump in first-quarter profit, led by a nearly threefold rise in earnings at its flagship unit Koo...

SK Hynix’s Q1 profit soars on HBM chips, beats Samsung’s overall earnings

SK Hynix’s Q1 profit soars on HBM chips, beats Samsung’s overall earnings

SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, reported a dramatic surge in first-quarter profits on Thursday, delivering the sec...

Korean hotels bask in rising foreign visitors; travel agencies in trouble

Korean hotels bask in rising foreign visitors; travel agencies in trouble

Hotels in South Korea are booming thanks to a surge in foreign visitors on a weaker won currency, while domestic travel agencies are suffering from ...

South Korean defense industry thriving on strong overseas demand

South Korean defense industry thriving on strong overseas demand

The South Korean defense industry's current heyday is expected to continue for a while as global demand for Korean-made weapons and combat systems h...

Samsung’s Q1 profit beats expectations; Q2 outlook murky on tariff war

Samsung’s Q1 profit beats expectations; Q2 outlook murky on tariff war

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter operating profit on Tuesday, booste...

Samsung unveils upgraded AI-powered OLED TVs

Samsung unveils upgraded AI-powered OLED TVs

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday showcased its new lineup of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs with advanced artificial intelligence features...

Hana Asset Management to merge with Hana Alternative Asset

Hana Asset Management to merge with Hana Alternative Asset

Hana Financial Group, the parent of Hana Bank and Hana Securities Co, will merge its two asset management arms to bolster its non-banking services, ...

Hana Financial CEO set for reappointment with foreign investor backing

Hana Financial CEO set for reappointment with foreign investor backing

More than half of the foreign shareholders in Hana Financial Group have thrown their support behind Chief Executive Ham Young-joo for a second term,...

Kia’s Chinese operations turn to profit after 8 years; Export strategy pays off

Kia’s Chinese operations turn to profit after 8 years; Export strategy pays off

South Korea’s No. 2 automaker Kia Corp. saw its Chinese operations turn profitable in 2024 for the first time in eight years as brisk exports ...

S.Korea’s sovereign fund KIC logs 8.5% return in 2024

S.Korea’s sovereign fund KIC logs 8.5% return in 2024

The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) reported an annual return of 8.49% last year thanks to steady gains from equity investments led by the AI tec...

Coupang posts profit for 2 straight years in 2024 on new growth drivers

Coupang posts profit for 2 straight years in 2024 on new growth drivers

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s answer to global e-commerce giant Amazon.com, ended last year with profit for the second straight year thanks to t...

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...

Meritz cheers record profit in 2024, boasts top 3 market cap

Meritz cheers record profit in 2024, boasts top 3 market cap

Meritz Financial Group Inc. has reported its best-ever net profit for last year thanks to handsome gains from investments by its insurance and secur...

Hanmi Semiconductor to retire $90 mn treasury shares in May

Hanmi Semiconductor to retire $90 mn treasury shares in May

Hanmi Semiconductor Co. on Thursday announced a plan to retire 130.0 billion won ($90 million) worth of treasury shares in May, marking its largest-...

Hanwha Systems posts record earnings in 2024 on brisk defense sales

Hanwha Systems posts record earnings in 2024 on brisk defense sales

Hanwha Systems Co., a leading South Korean defense company, reported its best-ever earnings last year thanks to brisk sales of its defense systems i...

Shinhan Bank reclaims top spot as S.Korea’s leading lender

Shinhan Bank reclaims top spot as S.Korea’s leading lender

Shinhan Bank, a key arm of Shinhan Financial Group, reclaimed its position as South Korea’s top lender posting its largest-ever profit in 2024...

KB Financial to buy back $359 bn in shares after record net profit in 2024

KB Financial to buy back $359 bn in shares after record net profit in 2024

KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s largest financial holding group, will spend nearly 1.8 trillion won ($1.2 billion) to boost shareholder...

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