Authorities suspect North Korea behind W45b Upbit hack

Lazarus Group, North Korea’s state-backed hacking unit, is being floated as a strong suspect behind the roughly 45 billion won ($30.7 million) cryptocurrency hacking incident at Upbit, South Korea’s top virtual asset exchange. Authorities said Friday they are currently conducting an on-site inspection of Upbit, and strongly suspect that Lazarus Group played a part in the heist. Upbit suffered a massive hacking attack Thursday, resulting in an estimated loss of 44.5 billion won in Solana-based as

Nov. 28, 2025

Mirae Asset’s physical gold ETF gains traction amid gold, crypto rush

As global demand for safe-haven gold and alternative assets such as cryptocurrencies continues to surge, Mirae Asset Global Investments’ physical gold exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is drawing increased interest in the Australian market. Global X Australia -- formerly called ETF Securities and acquired by Mirae Asset in 2022 -- launched the world’s first physical gold ETF, Global X Physical Gold, in 2003. As of Nov. 20, the fund’s net assets stood at $5.97 billion. The firm is credited with popul

Nov. 28, 2025

Samsung overhauls memory unit to reclaim edge in HBM race

Samsung Electronics has undertaken a sweeping organizational overhaul of its memory business, industry sources said Friday, in a bid to sharpen its edge in the race for next-generation memory chips. Under the reshuffle, the tech giant has launched a new memory development unit that consolidates its key research functions, including its high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, development team. The newly created unit will be led by Hwang Sang-joon, who currently oversees the DRAM product and technology tea

Nov. 28, 2025

LGE earmarks W200b for shareholder returns, plans to retire all treasury shares

LG Electronics said Friday it will commit a total of 200 billion won ($143 million) to shareholder returns over the next two years, and retire all remaining treasury shares after approval at next year’s annual general shareholders' meeting. The announcement came as part of the company’s disclosure on the progress of its value enhancement plan unveiled last year. LG said the update is intended to keep the market informed of how the plan is being executed. Under the new commitment, the company sai

Nov. 28, 2025

ASEAN+3 nations agree to strengthen regional cooperation

Vice finance ministers of South Korea, China, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to strengthen regional cooperation to address uncertainties and create new growth opportunities, Seoul's finance ministry said Friday. The consensus was reached during the ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meeting, held in Hong Kong on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. South Korea sent Deputy Finance Minister Choi Ji-young as its chief de

Nov. 28, 2025

Seoul shares open lower on tech, financial losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday on losses from tech and shipbuilding shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 21.51 points, or 0.54 percent, to 3,965.4 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The US stock market closed on the Thanksgiving Day holiday. In Seoul, tech giant Samsung Electronics fell 1.55 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix retreated 0.92 percent. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering declined 1.76 percent, and Hanwha Ocean dropped 1.45 percent.

Nov. 28, 2025

Industrial output falls in Oct. on base effect of chip production; retail sales rebound

South Korea's industrial output declined in October compared with the previous month, government data showed Friday, largely due to a base effect in semiconductor production despite the industry's ongoing upcycle. Industrial production went down 2.5 percent from a month earlier in October, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It marks the sharpest on-month decline in five years and eight months. The output of the mining and manufacturing sector, considered the backbone

Nov. 28, 2025

Information of 6.1 mln users, employees of Netmarble leaked in suspected hacking

Game publisher Netmarble said Thursday personal data of 6.1 million users and employees has been leaked in a possible hacking attempt targeting its PC game site. "We have confirmed and are responding to a customer data leak caused by an external hacking attempt on Nov. 22," Netmarble said in a notice posted on its website. The company said the information suspected to have been leaked includes customer data from its casual PC game service webpage, information of internet cafe affiliate owners pr

Nov. 27, 2025

LG revamps leadership to drive AI, bio, cleantech growth

LG Group announced a sweeping executive reshuffle on Thursday, naming new chief executive officers at major affiliates, including LG Electronics and LG Chem, in a generational shift designed to strengthen the conglomerate’s future-focused management strategy. Approved at year-end board meetings across affiliates, the 2026 personnel changes highlight LG’s continued emphasis on field-driven leadership and the recruitment of top research and development talent to power its next growth engines. LG E

Nov. 27, 2025

Korens gets cleared of trade secret infringement allegations

Korens, a South Korean automotive parts supplier, has been cleared of a trade secret infringement allegation raised by its crosstown rival SNT Motiv, the company announced Thursday. The Busan High Prosecutors’ Office dismissed an appeal case from SNT Motiv last week, citing that it found no evidence to support SNT Motiv's allegation that Korens illegally obtained the information on adhesive application quantities or drying conditions or leaked the related data to the outside. The prosecution add

Nov. 27, 2025

Hahn & Co. awarded W66b for Namyang Dairy deal delay

Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Co. has won its damages suit against former Namyang Dairy Products Chair Hong Won-sik, with a Seoul court ordering Hong to pay 66 billion won ($45 million) for delaying the company’s acquisition. The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ruled partly in favor of Hahn & Co., ordering Hong to compensate the firm for losses stemming from his refusal to honor a 2021 share purchase agreement, plus interest for delayed payment. The court dismissed all other cl

Nov. 27, 2025

Seoul shares up for 3rd day on US rate cut hope

South Korean stocks closed higher for a third consecutive session Thursday, boosted by hopes for a rate cut in the United States. The local currency was trading almost unchanged against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 26.04 points, or 0.66 percent, to close at 3,986.91. Trade volume was moderate at 251.6 million shares worth 12.85 trillion won ($8.77 billion), with winners outpacing decliners 482 to 389. Foreigners and institutions purchased a net 149.6 billi

Nov. 27, 2025

Weak won keeps BOK on hold despite growth upgrade

South Korea’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5 percent on Thursday, citing the won’s rapid depreciation as a key risk factor. The rate freeze was supported by five out of six members of the monetary policy board, excluding Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong, whose individual vote is not disclosed. One of the six members suggested bringing down the rate by 0.25 percentage point. Regarding the recent devaluation of the won, Rhee said, "One-sided movement (of the curre

Nov. 27, 2025

[Finance Awards] Kakao Bank bets big on AI to shape future of digital finance

Internet-only lender Kakao Bank is accelerating its artificial intelligence push as it reshapes its service model around what it calls “AI-native banking,” aiming to make financial services simpler, more intuitive and increasingly conversational. At the start of the year, the bank declared that AI would form the core of its operating infrastructure, spanning everything from customer-facing services to internal processes and global expansion strategies. CEO Yun Ho-young underscored the urgency of

Nov. 27, 2025

[Finance Awards] Toss marks 10 years with bold pivot beyond finance, deeper platform ecosystem

Viva Republica, operator of the all-in-one finance platform Toss, has emerged as one of South Korea’s most influential fintech players, redefining consumer expectations through a user-first model and an expanding ecosystem of bundled services. Since launching in 2015 as a simple money transfer app, Toss has grown into a comprehensive financial platform used by tens of millions. It introduced conveniences that quickly set new industry standards, including one-touch banking transactions, simplifie

Nov. 27, 2025