Hanwha outpaces chaebol rivals in market cap growth

Hanwha Group has witnessed the biggest increase in corporate value among South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates this year, highlighting its key role in the country’s recent trade negotiations with the US. As of Aug. 1, the market capitalization of Hanwha Group and its 12 listed subsidiaries on the nation’s main bourse, the Kospi exchange, skyrocketed 177.5 percent to 120.7 trillion won ($86.9 billion) compared to the end of 2024. This marks the highest growth rate among South Korea's 10 biggest corp

Aug. 5, 2025

Korea’s first won-pegged digital token debuts in test by fanC

South Korea’s first won-pegged stablecoin was test-launched Tuesday by fanC, the developer and issuer of the namesake digital token, in partnership with local financial software firm Initech, marking a key step toward the adoption of won-denominated stablecoins. Named KRWIN, the stablecoin is pegged one-to-one to the Korean won. It is the first time a private entity has issued a won-based digital asset with potential use in the real economy. According to fanC, the release is a demo launch to tes

Aug. 5, 2025

LG Chem begins construction of Korea’s first 'green diesel' plant

LG Chem has begun construction on Korea’s first hydrotreated vegetable oil production facility, furthering the company’s strategy to bring the supply of eco-friendly raw materials in-house amid rising global demand for sustainable alternatives. The company announced Monday that construction has started on the HVO plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province. Once completed in 2027, the facility is expected to produce 300,000 tons of HVO annually. HVO, sometimes called green diesel, is produced by

Aug. 4, 2025

[Photo News] Woori Bank's dealing room revamped

Woori Bank CEO Jung Jin-wan (center) poses with company officials during a ceremony marking the renewal of the bank’s global dealing room at its headquarters in central Seoul on Monday. The revamped facility now includes a new electronic display and ticker board for real-time monitoring of global markets. The renovation comes as Woori Bank steps up its foreign exchange operations. Last year, it launched the digital trading platform “Woori Won FX” and established a dedicated foreign exchange desk

Aug. 4, 2025

Toss gains US broker-dealer license, eyes Q3 launch for direct trading

Toss Securities plans to offer direct trading for US shares soon, following the recent broker-dealer approval obtained by its subsidiary, the Internet brokerage firm announced Monday. TSA Financial, a US subsidiary of Toss Securities, was registered in June as a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a self-regulatory organization for the US brokerage industry, according to the firm. With this license, Toss Securities can now provide direct brokerage services through TSA Financia

Aug. 4, 2025

LG deepens bio push with US anticancer biotech

LG Group is accelerating its push into the biohealth sector by investing in Strand Therapeutics, a US-based developer of messenger RNA-based cancer therapies. LG recently participated as a Series B investor in Strand Therapeutics through its venture capital arm, LG Technology Ventures, according to industry sources Sunday. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the biopharma firm was founded in 2017 by a group of synthetic biologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The firm s

Aug. 3, 2025

High-value gas orders lift Korean shipbuilders' profit outlook

South Korea’s major shipbuilders ― HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean ― are set to post stronger profit growth over the coming quarters, as high-margin gas carrier orders placed since 2023 begin to flow into their earnings. These liquefied natural gas, ammonia and liquefied petroleum gas carriers, typically priced more than 10 percent higher than earlier contracts, are expected to sharply boost shipyard profitability amid stabilizing construction costs. HD Hyu

Aug. 3, 2025

Major S. Korean shipbuilders launch joint task force for massive US investment project

Major South Korean shipbuilders have launched a joint task force to support the government's cooperation with the United States under a recently agreed-upon large-scale investment project in the US shipbuilding sector, officials said Sunday. The top three shipbuilders -- HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hanwha Ocean Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. -- along with the Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Association, have formed the TF and held an inaugural meeting recently, according to

Aug. 3, 2025

Poland signs $6.5 billion deal to purchase 2nd batch of K2 tanks

Poland on Friday signed a deal worth about US$6.5 billion to purchase the second batch of K2 tanks from major South Korean defense contractor Hyundai Rotem Co., Seoul's defense ministry said. The deal marks the largest-ever arms export contract won by a South Korean company and the first major one since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration in June. Under the deal, Poland will be supplied with 180 K2 tanks and 81 other support vehicles. It follows up on a contract Poland signed in 2022

Aug. 1, 2025

Hanwha says US Navy chief toured Philly Shipyard ahead of Korea-US tariff deal

US Navy Secretary John Phelan and White House Budget Director Russell Vought visited Hanwha Group's Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia on Wednesday, just hours before South Korea and the US finalized their new tariff agreement, Hanwha said Friday. The visit is seen as a contributing factor in the deal, with a shipbuilding partnership between the two countries reportedly playing a key role. According to Hanwha, Phelan and Vought toured major production facilities at the Philadelphia site, guided by

Aug. 1, 2025

'Baby Shark' Pinkfong eyes management buyout alongside IPO: reports

The Pinkfong Company, creator of the global children’s sensation "Baby Shark," is reportedly pursuing a management buyout in parallel with its planned market debut, according to industry sources on Friday. In May, the company filed for a preliminary review to list on the Kosdaq, marking a renewed push for an initial public offering six years after it first floated the idea in 2019. Multiple industry reports suggest that Pinkfong is in talks with potential buyers regarding a management sale. Acco

Aug. 1, 2025

SK hynix overtakes Samsung to lead global memory market for 1st time with HBM surge

SK hynix has claimed the top spot in the global memory chip market for the first time, overtaking long-time leader Samsung Electronics on the back of its dominance in high bandwidth memory chips, the highly lucrative artificial intelligence products. According to market tracker Counterpoint Research on Thursday, SK hynix recorded 21.8 trillion won ($15.6 billion) in memory sales, including both DRAM and NAND products, in the April-June period, narrowly surpassing Samsung's 21.2 trillion won. SK

Aug. 1, 2025

Korea holds line on chips as US tariff deal offers strategic relief

South Korean chipmakers expressed cautious optimism Thursday following a tariff agreement between Seoul and Washington that ensures they will not be treated less favorably than other countries in any future US tariffs on semiconductors. Experts say the impact of potential tariffs may be limited as Korean chips, especially advanced memory and foundry products, are difficult to replace and critical to US tech firms' ambitions in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. “Korea has se

July 31, 2025

Korea draws red line on beef, rice in US trade deal

In a dramatic conclusion to trade negotiations between South Korea and the US, the Korean government announced Thursday that it had secured a tariff cut from the originally proposed 25 percent to 15 percent without yielding to further opening of its agriculture and livestock markets. Months of pressure from Washington centered on demands to lift Korea’s ban on beef from cattle over 30 months old and to expand rice imports. “We have agreed not to further open Korea’s rice and beef markets, given

July 31, 2025

Korea sails into US shipbuilding with $150b MASGA push

Korean shipbuilders are looking to make the most of cooperation with the US, as the Korean government on Thursday pledged a $150 billion fund to support shipbuilding investments in the US. Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol touted the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again, or MASGA, project as making the biggest difference in the tariff deal struck this week with the Trump administration. “We expect our shipbuilders, which have world-class ship desi

July 31, 2025