Yes, it’s K-beauty: Strong buying appetite for makeup brands even before they're up for sale

Yes, it’s K-beauty: Strong buying appetite for makeup brands even before they're up for sale

In South Korea’s M&A landscape, beauty companies are no longer waiting to put themselves on the market. They’re being courted before...

Hanwha-owned burger chain Five Guys Korea up for sale two years after launch

Hanwha-owned burger chain Five Guys Korea up for sale two years after launch

South Korea’s Hanwha Group is seeking to sell the Korean operations of US premium burger chain Five Guys, two years after the brand’s hi...

Vietnam’s top leader to make 1st South Korea visit in 11 years

Vietnam’s top leader to make 1st South Korea visit in 11 years

To Lam, general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party and the country’s de facto ruling leader, is expected to make a state visit to So...

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 ...

Deal graveyard: S.Korean F&B franchise sales left without takers

Deal graveyard: S.Korean F&B franchise sales left without takers

Korean food is making waves globally, but back home, the story is different for food and beverage franchise operators. Franchisors in South Korea ar...

Blackpink's new single Jump tops Spotify daily chart

Blackpink's new single Jump tops Spotify daily chart

Blackpink's new single Jump has rocketed to No. 1 on the Spotify Daily Top Songs Global chart, YG Entertainment Inc., the company behind the girl gr...

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...

Hyundai premieres IONIQ 6 N: Latest motorsport DNA for electric age

Hyundai premieres IONIQ 6 N: Latest motorsport DNA for electric age

In a dramatic showing on the famed hill climb of West Sussex, Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday debuted the IONIQ 6 N, its second high-performance elect...

BTS’ Jungkook, IU crowned most-loved K-pop artists worldwide

BTS’ Jungkook, IU crowned most-loved K-pop artists worldwide

BTS’ Jungkook and IU, a singer and actress, have claimed the top spots on the most-favorite K-pop artist charts in both the male and female ca...

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...

Kia to make, sell China-launched EV5 in Korea to keep top spot

Kia to make, sell China-launched EV5 in Korea to keep top spot

Kia Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, plans to manufacture and sell the EV5, its first China-made all-electric vehicle, at home t...

Samsung Asset leads H1 AUM rankings amid ETF boom

Samsung Asset leads H1 AUM rankings amid ETF boom

South Korea’s asset management industry posted stellar growth in the first half of 2025, buoyed by a 28% surge in the country’s benchmar...

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...

KKR in control feud over Korea’s top solar power plant

KKR in control feud over Korea’s top solar power plant

Global private equity giant KKR & Co. Inc. is embroiled in a management dispute over South Korea’s top solar power plant with key individu...

NH, KB Securities, Kookmin Bank, Kim & Chang lead capital markets in H1

NH, KB Securities, Kookmin Bank, Kim & Chang lead capital markets in H1

NH Investment & Securities Co. retained its lead in South Korea’s equity capital market (ECM) in the first half, riding a surge in large-s...

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...

S.Korea's stablecoin frenzy fuels stock rally despite regulatory uncertainty

S.Korea's stablecoin frenzy fuels stock rally despite regulatory uncertainty

A wave of speculative fervor surrounding won-based stablecoins is sweeping South Korea’s equity markets, with nearly half of the top 30 perfor...

SK Hynix joins Samsung in 200 trillion won market cap club

SK Hynix joins Samsung in 200 trillion won market cap club

SK Hynix Inc. surpassed 200 trillion won ($147 billion) in market capitalization on Tuesday, becoming the second Korean stock in history to cross th...

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...

Amazon, Alibaba, TikTok up ante to woo Korean beauty brands

Amazon, Alibaba, TikTok up ante to woo Korean beauty brands

Riding the wave of global enthusiasm for K-Beauty, e-commerce powerhouses like Amazon and Alibaba are racing to bring South Korean cosmetics and bea...

South Korean eyewear poised to spark next global K-wave

South Korean eyewear poised to spark next global K-wave

As eyewear evolves into a key fashion statement, South Korea’s homegrown brands are setting their sights on the global stage with bold, unconv...

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...

Lee Jae-myung to meet with top business leaders ahead of G7 summit

Lee Jae-myung to meet with top business leaders ahead of G7 summit

South Korea’s newly elected President Lee Jae-myung plans to meet with the country’s top business leaders before departing for the Group...

Proxy voting rises in South Korea, but few vetoes cast

Proxy voting rises in South Korea, but few vetoes cast

An increasing number of asset management firms in South Korea are more frequently exercising their voting rights at portfolio companies. Nevertheles...

CJ Foodville goes global from in-flight meals to Starbucks bread

CJ Foodville goes global from in-flight meals to Starbucks bread

CJ Foodville Co., a South Korean food company, is deepening its presence in Southeast Asia with premium bakery products, catering to airplane passen...

Goodai Global poised to build L'Oréal-style empire via M&As

Goodai Global poised to build L'Oréal-style empire via M&As

Goodai Global Inc. is seeking to acquire South Korea’s first-generation independent cosmetics brand Skinfood for about 150 billion won ($108 m...

OpenAI sets up entity in Korea with most paid ChatGPT users outside US

OpenAI sets up entity in Korea with most paid ChatGPT users outside US

OpenAI Inc., the creator of generative AI ChatGPT, has established a legal entity in South Korea, which has the largest number of paying ChatGPT sub...

LG CNS, Cohere co-develop Korean-specific agentic AI

LG CNS, Cohere co-develop Korean-specific agentic AI

LG CNS Co., the information technology services arm of South Korea’s LG Group, has unveiled a lightweight Korean-specific large language model...

Europe looms large as K-beauty brands look to blue ocean; shares rise

Europe looms large as K-beauty brands look to blue ocean; shares rise

South Korea’s beauty industry has been reaping decent gains from traditionally strong markets such as China and the US – the world&rsquo...

NPS gobbles up Korea’s top 4 financial holding stocks

NPS gobbles up Korea’s top 4 financial holding stocks

South Korea’s largest institutional investor, the National Pension Service (NPS), remains a strong backer of the country’s top four fina...

President Lee meets Hyundai, LG chiefs, promotes ‘one team’ approach Hanwan Ocean wins $1.4 bn order to build 7 LNG dual-fuel ships K-content reign continues as Squid Game returns in force South Korea’s EV exports rebound in June after 16-month decline Yes, it’s K-beauty: Strong buying appetite for makeup brands even before they're up for sale