How should Korea adjust its trade defenses against Chinese EVs?
Korea, home of the world’s third-largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Group, finds itself at a critical juncture as the rise of Chinese-made electric vehicles in the domestic market poses a complex challenge: how to protect national interests while embracing the inevitable shift toward electrification.
April 15, 2024 - 14:30:52
Banks puzzled by derivatives misselling proposal
Absence of court involvement ‘exceptional’ for Korea, experts say South Korean regulators’ push for banks to make up for investors’ losses incurred from equity-linked securities tied to a Hong Kong index has left both Korean and foreign banks baffled. Korea‘s major lenders accepted compensation guid
April 8, 2024 - 18:13:29
Political leeks: Scallions become election attack line
The green onion, a beloved vegetable among South Koreans, has unexpectedly become the latest political weapon for opposition parties to attack President Yoon Suk Yeol and the ruling party. It all started with Yoon‘s visit to a hypermarket in southern Seoul on March 18, just before he rolled out meas
April 7, 2024 - 18:40:33
Hyundai Motor’s bet on robot dog befalls murky outlook
Boston Dynamics continues to rack up losses as robotics business stuck in limbo Hyundai Motor Group has found itself at a crossroads as Boston Dynamics, a US-based robotics company that the Korean auto conglomerate acquired in 2021, struggles to find a breakthrough amid mounting losses. Over two yea
April 7, 2024 - 16:51:32
Korean shipbuilders eye US yards to tap Navy‘s lucrative repair deals
HD Hyundai, Hanwha seek to take advantage of protectionist laws -- Jones Act and Byrnes-Tollefson Amendments Korean automotive, battery and semiconductor titans have been navigating their investments toward American shores, driven by incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Scie
April 2, 2024 - 14:17:31
How CJ Olive Young became rare success story in beauty retail
Popular K-beauty store outpaced Amorepacific, LG H&B in sales last year, fueling speculation of imminent stock debut CJ Group‘s health and beauty drugstore CJ Olive Young is making significant strides in leading the cosmetics market both domestically and internationally. Just last week, during MLB‘s
March 28, 2024 - 14:33:33
Will Kakao Bank secure footing in untapped Thai market?
Thailand has remained an untapped market for South Korean financial firms since their exodus during the financial crisis in the late 1990s. Now Kakao Bank, the nation’s No. 1 online-only bank, is eyeing an expansion into the burgeoning digital banking market in Southeast Asia‘s second-largest econom
March 19, 2024 - 16:15:33
Will KG Mobility, Korea‘s SUV dark horse, triumph globally?
KG Mobility, a stalwart in the South Korean sport utility vehicle scene previously known as Ssangyong Motors, has set an ambitious total sales goal of 147,000 units for this year, a 26.6 percent increase from last year, as it aims to penetrate overseas markets in Europe and Southeast Asia, away from
March 14, 2024 - 15:15:35
Will Webull reshape Korea‘s mobile trading?
Commission-free US platform aims high with imminent Korean launch Webull Corporation, a prominent US-based online stock trading platform, has initiated preliminary operations to establish its presence in South Korea. Speculation surrounding the debut of the New York-headquartered company‘s services
March 13, 2024 - 16:52:32
Tussle over Nexon’s loot box controversy intensifies
Nexon faces Korea’s largest game-related class action suit over deceiving MapleStory players The feud over South Korean game developer Nexon‘s Maplestory, a popular side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG, is escalating, with gamers filing a class action suit and Nex
March 12, 2024 - 15:38:37
Coupang‘s Farfetch gambit: Was the deal undervalued?
In December last year, South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang made a surprise announcement that it was buying Farfetch, the British luxury shopping platform, in a $500 million deal. The highly-publicized acquisition seemed like a win-win for both: Coupang’s global expansion could be accelerated, back
March 12, 2024 - 15:13:37
Missing pieces of ‘value-up’ program
The government’s measures aimed at increasing shareholder returns to boost Korea‘s undervalued stock market have sparked much debate on their effectiveness due to the lack of motivational drivers for companies to join the program. In the Corporate Value-up Program announced by the Financial Services
March 10, 2024 - 16:38:14
[‘Kimchi premium’ returns, but weaker
Price discrepancy narrows as more investors join After the global rally of bitcoin earlier this week, the “kimchi premium,” -- the price discrepancy in cryptocurrency between Korea and international markets -- has soared as well. Shortly after the global price of bitcoin hit a record high, rising ab
March 7, 2024 - 16:04:23
Warship rivals at loggerheads
Defense experts say it‘s not time for Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to fight The dispute between South Korea’s two major shipbuilders -- Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, housed under Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, respectively -- is escalating, with Hanwha
March 5, 2024 - 15:44:20
Shipping constraints shackle Korea‘s auto export boom
Korean automakers are grappling to maintain their export momentum due to a shortage of car carriers to transport them, driven by the increasing volume of Chinese automotive exports and stringent maritime environmental regulations. The scenario has led to an unprecedented rise in the cost of charteri
March 4, 2024 - 17:16:28