HD Hyundai clinches W2.13tr HMM megaship deal

HD Hyundai said Monday it has secured a 2.13 trillion won ($1.44 billion) contract to build eight ultra-large container ships for Korea’s shipping giant HMM, marking the shipbuilder’s biggest order in 18 years as global demand for high-efficiency vessels remains strong. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the shipbuilding unit of HD Hyundai, said the 13,400 twenty-foot equivalent unit, or TEU, vessels will run on dual-fuel liquefied natural gas engines and feature fuel tanks about 1.5

Nov. 24, 2025

Korea starts brokered carbon trading

South Korea began brokered emissions trading Monday, stepping up efforts to curb carbon output and pull more liquidity into the credits market. The new system permits the trading of carbon credits much like equities, widening access by giving institutions an easier entry point. The rollout builds on last year’s amendment to the Act on the Allocation and Trading of Greenhouse Gas Emission Permits to allow brokered trading via securities companies and the naming of NH Investment & Securities as th

Nov. 24, 2025

Inside Thailand’s next-generation industrial zones

Thailand, ASEAN’s second-largest economy, is accelerating industrial upgrades under its Ignite Thailand strategy as it courts foreign investors, including South Korean firms. About an hour east of Bangkok on Tuesday, Araya Industrial Estate was buzzing with construction, with heavy machinery rolling across newly cleared land and a multistory building already rising. An official at Frasers Property, one of its developers, said progress has outpaced expectations since the February launch. “Around

Nov. 23, 2025

[Thailand Forum] Forum energizes Bangkok with business, culture, soft-power diplomacy

Laughter swept across the Grand Ballroom at Bangkok’s Grand Hyatt Erawan last Monday when Yuthasak Supasorn, chair of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, stepped to the lectern and introduced himself — to the delight of the crowd — in his Korean name, “Yoo Tae-seok.” The light moment set the energetic tone that carried through the day. His greeting, and the warmth it drew in return, reflected the mood at the Ignite Thailand–Korea Business Forum, co-hosted by South Korea’s Herald Media G

Nov. 23, 2025

Regulator moves toward penalizing MBK over handling of Homeplus

South Korea’s financial regulator is set to take disciplinary action against private equity firm MBK Partners over its management of Homeplus, Korea’s second-largest hypermarket chain, according to reports. The Financial Supervisory Service reportedly gave advance notice of heavy disciplinary action -- signaling a suspension from duty -- to MBK Partners on Friday. The regulator has been looking into whether the terms of the redemption rights for the redeemable convertible preferred shares were r

Nov. 23, 2025

Golfzon expands China push with hybrid indoor course

South Korean screen golf operator Golfzon said Sunday it was accelerating its expansion in China with its City Golf indoor-course brand, which blends virtual screen golf with real greens, and is emerging as a testbed for Beijing’s digital sports initiative. City Golf was cited by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the General Administration of Sport as one of the country's leading smart-sports cases in December 2024. The recognition comes as Beijing rolls out an aggressi

Nov. 23, 2025

Korean dried seaweed exports top $1b on solid US demand

South Korea’s exports of dried seaweed products, known as "gim" in Korean, have surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time amid rising global demand led by the US, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Sunday. As of Thursday, seaweed exports had risen 13.2 percent from the same period last year to $1.02 billion. Full-year seaweed exports have been on an upward climb, rising from $793 million in 2023 to $997 million in 2024. The United States was Korea’s top seaweed export destination,

Nov. 23, 2025

Korean trade agency opens new office in Georgia

South Korea’s state-run trade promotion agency said Sunday it has opened new office in Georgia to help Korean companies tap opportunities in the emerging Caucasus region. The office in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, is the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency’s 130th overseas trade outpost and its first in the country. KOTRA expects the office will serve as a strategic foothold for companies to expand into the wider Caucasus region — comprising Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan — a logistics an

Nov. 23, 2025

Imdang foundation donates W500m to KAIST for space research

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Sunday it has received a 500 million won ($340,000) donation from the Imdang Scholarship & Cultural Foundation to support the modernization of its space research infrastructure. Hyun Jeong-eun, chair of Hyundai Group and an advisor to the foundation, KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung and Han Jae-hung, director of KAIST Space Institute, attended a congratulatory ceremony held at the KAIST Seoul Campus on Friday. The Imdang Scholarship & Cu

Nov. 23, 2025

Korea’s defense exports triple in Middle East over past 5 years: report

Korea’s defense exports to the Middle East have tripled over the past five years, underscoring the region's growing strategic importance in Seoul’s arms trade as President Lee Jae Myung visits the broader Middle East and North Africa region on a state trip. According to a report by the Export-Import Bank of Korea on Sunday, Korea’s arms exports to the Middle East surged more than threefold from $241 million in 2019 to $747.5 million in 2024. The increase was primarily driven by the region’s effo

Nov. 23, 2025

Thai PM pledges support for Korean investment, urging deeper ties

Korea Herald correspondent BANGKOK — Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul reaffirmed Thailand’s commitment to supporting South Korean companies expanding their investment and operations in the country, highlighting that the two economies can deepen cooperation by leveraging Korea’s technological strengths and Thailand’s industrial base and skilled workforce. Speaking to a South Korean economic delegation consisting of more than 30 business and political leaders, Anutin said, “Korea is one of

Nov. 23, 2025

Korean machinery, metal SMEs seek to tap wider ASEAN market at Metalex 2025

Korea Herald correspondent BANGKOK — A group of small and mid-sized South Korean machinery and parts manufacturers participated in Thailand's largest metalworking exhibition, Metalex 2025, as part of the Korea Pavilion organized by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, or KOTRA. Although Thailand is not considered an easy market for Korean suppliers — with Japanese firms dominating most categories and Chinese manufacturers expanding their presence with low-priced steel products — Korean p

Nov. 23, 2025

FTC vows fair platform oversight despite US pushback

SEJONG — Amid intensifying global scrutiny over digital platform regulation, South Korea’s antitrust chief has reaffirmed that any new rules will adhere to nondiscriminatory principles, signaling caution as Seoul navigates politically sensitive trade concerns. Fair Trade Commission Chair Ju Biung-ghi, speaking Friday at his first press conference since taking office in September, stressed that Korea will “consistently pursue policies that do not discriminate based on nationality,” a message aime

Nov. 23, 2025

In a world of walls, BRIDGE Summit 2025 builds a pathway for ideas and a shared future for the global content economy

For more than a century, the global media environment has been shaped by industries that developed along separate tracks — news, film, music, gaming, advertising, education and the technologies that distribute them. Today, those boundaries are collapsing with unusual speed. A news story travels on the same channels as short-form video; a song becomes a trend through a gaming platform; a film’s success hinges as much on algorithmic discovery as on traditional marketing. What once felt like distin

Nov. 23, 2025

SK chief urges ‘new capitalism’ that measures social value

SK Group Chair Chey Tae-won on Friday urged the adoption of a "new capitalism" model that evaluates not only financial performance but also the social value created by companies in tackling global challenges such as climate change, inequality and demographic shifts. Speaking at the Tokyo Forum 2025, a two-day event jointly hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and the University of Tokyo, Chey said the shortcomings of traditional capitalism have become more pronounced as societies co

Nov. 21, 2025