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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 Bank of Korea said the weakening won was the main reason for extending its rate freeze, in place since May. A rate cut now would widen the rate gap with the US Federal Reserve, potentially triggering capital outflows and adding further downward pressure on the currency. The won closed at 1,477.1 per dollar on Monday, its weakest level sin
Nov. 27, 2025 -
4th Nuri rocket launch opens up private-led space era in Korea
The successful launch of a fourth Nuri rocket from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, early Thursday signified not just further progress in the space industry, but an emphasis on empowering the private sector in the field. Although an abnormal signal from the pressure sensor of the umbilical attached to the rocket delayed the launch by 18 minutes to 1:13 a.m., it eventually deployed 13 satellites into orbit, though not all have made contact with ground control. It was the f
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Sales bid for court-rehabilitated retailer Homeplus fails due to lack of bidders
Homeplus, a financially troubled discount store chain currently under a court-led rehabilitation program, has failed to draw any bidders in an auction to sell the company, a Seoul court said Wednesday. No companies submitted their bids by the 3 p.m. deadline for the auction, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court said, although two companies had previously submitted letters of intent. Homeplus entered the rehabilitation program in March after two local credit rating agencies downgraded its corporate bonds f
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Youngone heiress builds on father’s legacy in Busan lecture
Youngone Corp. Vice Chair Sung Rae-eun, the executive behind the global success of The North Face brand, headlined a special guest lecture hosted by the Busan Federation of Textile & Fashion Industry on Tuesday at the Busan Fashion Biz Center. The seminar, titled “Endless Lessons: From Experience to Management,” was part of the center’s broader effort to support successful startups and strengthen the capabilities of new designers in the region. Opening her talk by introducing herself as a “facto
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Naver-Dunamu merger set to form W20tr fintech giant
South Korea’s leading internet platform Naver and crypto exchange operator Dunamu are moving toward a landmark merger that would create a 20 trillion won ($13.7 billion) fintech giant combining payments, digital assets and artificial intelligence-driven financial services. Naver said Wednesday that the boards of the company and its financial arm, Naver Financial, have approved a comprehensive share swap that will make Dunamu a wholly owned subsidiary. Under the deal, one Dunamu share will be exc
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Seoul shares rise over 2% amid rate cut hopes; won sharply rises
South Korean stocks rose by more than 2 percent Wednesday as foreign investors scooped up shares on continued hopes for a rate cut in the United States and the stabilized foreign exchange market. The Korean won fell sharply against the US dollar following Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol's pledge to take "decisive action" against excessive volatility in the won-dollar rate. The remark followed the National Pension Service's participation in a consultative body that oversees the FX market, which ha
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Friends turned rivals: Korean shipbuilding heirs enter MASGA race
As Korea looks to advance with its "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again," or MASGA, initiative, two chaebol leaders — HD Hyundai Chair Chung Ki-sun and Hanwha Group Vice Chair Kim Dong-kwan — face daunting tasks to successfully enter the United States market and continue to bolster global competitiveness. With the total amount of the investment in the MASGA project set at $150 billion between Seoul and Washington, Kim and Chung — each of them third-generation scions in their early 40s — have
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Crypto exchanges race to woo corporate clients
South Korea has yet to fully open the door to corporate cryptocurrency trading, but local exchanges are already racing to win over institutional clients, a segment widely seen as the key to deepening liquidity and stabilizing the country’s volatile virtual asset market. Earlier this year, the Financial Services Commission took its first cautious step by allowing a limited set of entities, including law enforcement agencies, nonprofits and virtual asset service providers, to conduct crypto transa
Nov. 26, 2025 -
4th Nuri mission moves Korea toward commercial spaceflight
South Korea’s first homegrown Nuri rocket, or KSLV-II, was set for its fourth launch early Thursday, marking a pivotal moment in the country’s bid to transition from a state-led space program to the commercially driven “New Space” model. After three successful missions between 2021 and 2023, the fourth flight represents more than a routine deployment. It is the first launch in which Hanwha Aerospace — not the government — is leading rocket production, assembly and supply-chain management, using
Nov. 26, 2025 -
SK hynix turns its HBM chips into ... chips
SK hynix, the world’s top memory chipmaker, is taking its high-performance HBM chips out of the server room and into snack aisles. The company on Tuesday unveiled HBM Chips, a honey-banana–flavored corn snack created in collaboration with convenience store chain 7-Eleven. The name comes from the semiconductor firm’s star product, high bandwidth memory, or HBM — the ultra-profitable chips powering today’s AI boom. Shaped like tiny, square semiconductor blocks, the chips are coated in honey-banana
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Samsung, SKT team up for 6G, AI-RAN research
SK Telecom said Wednesday it is joining hands with Samsung Electronics to develop key technologies for 6th Generation mobile networks to enhance AI-native wireless infrastructure. Signing the agreement earlier in the month, the two companies agreed to conduct joint research on AI-powered radio access networks, focusing on three core areas of AI-based channel estimation, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output antenna transmission and reception, and AI-RAN-driven scheduling and core network technologies.
Nov. 26, 2025 -
NPS now biggest force in FX market: finance minister
South Korea is tightening oversight of the National Pension Service’s growing sway over currency markets, unveiling a new four-way working group to monitor the long-term effects of the fund’s investment on the won. “The NPS has the single largest presence in the foreign-exchange market,” Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said at a briefing Wednesday. “When the fund undertakes large overseas investments in a short period relative to the size of the FX market, it can fuel price pressures and erode re
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Starbucks Korea wins top shared-growth award
Starbucks Korea said Tuesday it has received the Prime Minister’s Commendation at the 2025 Shared Growth Week Ceremony, recognizing its programs that support small merchants, local farms and community profit-sharing. The ceremony, held at KBIZ Hall in Seoul, was hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership to highlight collaboration between large companies and smaller enterprises. Starbucks was cited for its three-pillar “win-win” model: supporti
Nov. 26, 2025 -
GS heirs promoted to steer energy-transition push
GS Group announced a sweeping 2026 leadership reshuffle on Wednesday, elevating two core energy business chiefs to vice chairs as the conglomerate prepares for a major strategic reset in the global energy transition. The promotions of Hur Yong-soo, CEO of GS Energy, and Hur Se-hong, CEO of GS Caltex, to vice chair are the centerpiece of the shake-up. The two executives represent the third and fourth generations of the larger GS and LG founding family lineage, a fact that underscores the group’s
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Customs agency bets on AI to bolster border security, tax compliance
The Korea Customs Service is turning to artificial intelligence to strengthen border security, improve tax compliance and uphold fair trade order, as the nation confronts increasingly complex trade conditions, ranging from supply-chain shifts to US tariff policy changes and intensifying global tech competition. The customs agency recently adopted a new vision of “Leading Fair Growth with AI” to respond to the rapidly changing trade landscape and reinforce safeguards for the nation’s economy and
Nov. 26, 2025