South Korea has secured a fresh export win for its flagship K9 self-propelled howitzer, signing a 536 million euro ($625 million) contract with Finland in a deal that underscores growing global demand for proven artillery systems.Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administ
Hanwha Aerospace Co. has walked away from a deal to acquire Poongsan Corp.'s ammunition business, an around 1.5 trillion won ($1 billion) unit at the country’s leading copper smelter and defense equipment maker.In a regulatory filing on Thursday, Hanwha Aerospace, South Kor
South Korea’s fast-rising robotics sector is accelerating capital raisings to fund expansion, taking advantage of buoyant share prices. Investors, however, are increasingly divided over whether the moves signal a bold strategy or speculative excess.A wave of rights issues a
South Korea’s actively managed exchange-traded funds are fueling doubts about whether higher-cost stock pickers can deliver enough of an edge to justify their premium in a volatile market.According to ETF Check, operated by Koscom, on Thursday, Samsung Asset Management Co.'s KODEX 200 Active returned 24% over the past three months, virtually on par with the 24.2% return of its passive counterpart, KODEX 200, which tracks the KOSPI 200 Index
Kia Corp. on Thursday unveiled a 49 trillion won ($33 billion) investment plan through 2030, its largest-ever spending for a five-year period, as its accelerates a more localized, tailored-made strategy alongside its push into electrification, autonomous driving and robotics.At its 2026 CEO Investor Day, Song Ho-sung, chief executive of the South Korean carmaker, said the company aims to develop its first software-defined vehicle (SDV) model equi
Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest carmaker, overtook its larger affiliate Hyundai Motor Co. in quarterly US sales for the first time in two and a half years.The milestone highlights Kia’s successful shift toward hybrid sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and its rebranding from a budget-friendly automaker to a value-oriented leader recognized for design and quality, analysts said.In the first quarter, Kia sold 207,015 vehicles in the US, u
Squeezed by elevated labor costs and weak growth in a saturated home market, South Korean game developers and publishers are reining in research spending and shedding workers.The retrenchment marks a striking reversal for an industry that expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pand
Hyundai Motor Co. is working to produce its first software-defined vehicle (SDV) as early as late next year – a significant step in its bid to catch up with global leaders in next-generation automotive technology.The top South Korean carmaker has decided to begin pilot prod
At a moment when artificial intelligence can write copy, summarize contracts and generate polished images in seconds, South Korea – like many co
South Korea’s used car exports fell sharply in the first 20 days of March, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz snarled shipments, sent freigh
BYD Co., the world’s No. 1 electric vehicle manufacturer, has climbed into the top four imported car brands in South Korea by dealership count, overtaking established rivals such as Tesla Inc., auto industry sources in Seoul said on Tuesday.The
POSCO Holdings Inc., South Korea’s largest steelmaker, said on Wednesday it has decided to directly hire about 7,000 subcontracted workers gradually at its production hubs, becoming the first major manufacturer to do so since labor-friendly leg
Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of LG Group, met with the heads of Palantir Technologies Inc. and Skild AI in Silicon Valley as South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate deepens its search for new growth engines beyond its traditional electronics and ch
The National Pension Service (NPS) has bolstered its Asia real estate team with legal and structured financing specialists with master's degrees as it steps up diversification in South Korea's real estate market.Since Jun Ahn, a Cornell-educated real
Nearly two decades after the global financial crisis saddled structured finance with a reputation for opacity and risk, the asset class is drawing a fresh look as tighter regulation and greater transparency have improved investor understanding of the
Hanwha Group is emerging as the frontrunner to acquire the munitions business of Poongsan Corp., one of South Korea’s leading copper smelters and defense equipment makers – a deal that could reshape the country’s defense export mode
Affinity Equity Partners has dropped plans to challenge South Korea’s antitrust ruling blocking its takeover of Lotte Rental Co. and is instead pursuing a costlier, more time-consuming fallback: sell SK Rent-a-Car and try again.The Hong Kong-ba
South Korea’s dealmakers faced a much thinner market in the first quarter of this year, as rising geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty choked risk appetite and delayed large transactions, with Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers emerging as the
Sweden’s EQT Partners, one of Europe’s largest private equity firms, has secured close to 90% ownership of South Korean software company Douzone Bizon Co. following a tender offer and a series of negotiated share purchases.The global priv
South Korean investors may soon get a chance to buy into SpaceX before the shares begin trading, in what would mark a first for the country’s capital markets.Mirae Asset Financial Group is preparing a plan to distribute more than $1 billion of
South Korea’s dealmakers faced a much thinner market in the first quarter of this year, as rising geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty choked risk appetite and delayed large transactions, with Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers emerging as the
Japan’s LY Corp., operator of the Line messaging app, is poised to become the largest shareholder of Kakao Games Corp. in a 300 billion won ($201 million) deal that underscores the broader strategic shift of both LY and Kakao Corp., the South K
South Korea’s SK Ecoplant Co. is seeking to buy back shares from financial investors for 1 trillion won ($667.5 million) instead of an initial public offering (IPO) as its listing faced regulatory hurdles, according to investment banking indust
Shin Hyun-song, the nominee for the Bank of Korea (BOK) governor, said on Wednesday that the odds of stagflation in Asia’s fourth-largest economy remain low, even as the conflict in the Middle East adds to inflation risks and clouds Korea's growth outlook.In written responses submitted to Cha Gyu-geun, an opposition party lawmaker of the Nati
South Korea, still technically at war with North Korea, plans to cut troop levels at its frontline general outposts (GOPs) by 75% and replace much of that manpower with drones, robots and artificial intelligence-based surveillance systems.The far-reaching shift underscores both the country’s mounting demographic strain and a broader rethinkin
At a moment when artificial intelligence can write copy, summarize contracts and generate polished images in seconds, South Korea – like many countries confronting the rise of AI – is seeing renewed interest in jobs that are physical, per
South Korea, long synonymous with the world’s lowest birth rate and one of the fastest-aging populations, saw its highest monthly births in seven years in the first month of this year after recording a second straight annual increase in births
On an ordinary day, the broad avenue between Gyeongbok Palace and Gwanghwamun Gate carries buses, office workers and clusters of tourists pausing to photograph the mountains that rise behind Seoul’s royal palace.Seven days later, it will carry