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...

Fictional K-pop band Saja Boys beat BTS, Blackpink to top US Spotify charts

Fictional K-pop band Saja Boys beat BTS, Blackpink to top US Spotify charts

A fictional K-pop boy band from a Netflix animated feature has achieved what few real-world Korean acts have – to top the US Spotify chart.You...

POSCO E&C wins $1.1 bn LNG terminal deal in Thailand

POSCO E&C wins $1.1 bn LNG terminal deal in Thailand

POSCO E&C Co., a South Korean engineering and construction company, said on Tuesday that it has secured a 1.5 trillion won ($1.1 billion) contra...

Goldman Sachs acquires Mercure Ambassador: 1st stint with Korean hotels

Goldman Sachs acquires Mercure Ambassador: 1st stint with Korean hotels

Goldman Sachs, in partnership with JB Asset Management Co., has acquired Mercure Ambassador Seoul Hongdae, a prominent mixed-use commercial property...

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...

Naver Financial seeks to acquire S. Korean real estate data platform Asil

Naver Financial seeks to acquire S. Korean real estate data platform Asil

Naver Financial Corp., the fintech subsidiary of South Korean tech giant Naver Corp., is looking to acquire Asil, a domestic big data-based real est...

EQT taps ex-DHK Management CEO to lead S.Korea's real estate push

EQT taps ex-DHK Management CEO to lead S.Korea's real estate push

Swedish asset manager EQT Partners, also the largest private equity firm in Europe, has named David Kim, chief executive of South Korean real estate...

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...

S.Korean military fund to make $73 mn commitment to real estate funds

S.Korean military fund to make $73 mn commitment to real estate funds

The Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA), a South Korean retirement fund, is stepping up efforts to diversify its investment portfolio with a 100 ...

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...

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...

Seoul’s prime office transactions rise 6% in Q1 despite weak sentiment

Seoul’s prime office transactions rise 6% in Q1 despite weak sentiment

Despite mounting economic headwinds and heightened investor caution, the prime office market in Seoul posted a modest recovery in the first quarter,...

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 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...

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...

Mirae, Koramco, Hana shortlisted for Korea Post’s core real estate fund

Mirae, Koramco, Hana shortlisted for Korea Post’s core real estate fund

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Koramco REITs Management and Trust Co. and Hana Alternative Asset Management Co. were shortlisted for the mandat...

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 ...

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