Korea bets W4.7tr on frontier AI

South Korea plans to split its homegrown artificial intelligence development program into two tracks next year: a frontier model project backed by 4.7 trillion won ($3.49 billion) in proposed government investment and a separate effort to deploy Korean models across industries. The overhaul will open a new competition for frontier AI funding rather than automatically extending the existing support program for the two teams that survive the current selection process. Second Vice Minister of Scien

Oct. 5, 2026

Samsung set for record W100tr quarterly profit on memory boom

Samsung Electronics is poised to break the 100 trillion won mark in quarterly operating profit for the first time, as booming memory chip sales drive another record quarter. The company is expected to report third-quarter operating profit of 108.1 trillion won ($80.2 billion), up nearly ninefold from a year earlier, on revenue of 201.7 trillion won, according to brokerage estimates compiled by FnGuide as of Monday. Samsung releases preliminary earnings guidance Thursday. The forecasts imply reve

Oct. 5, 2026

Daewoo E&C’s new CEO puts profitability, expansion first

Daewoo Engineering & Construction's new CEO, Lee Kang-seok, took office with three keywords — "summit," "together" and "challenge" — to power the company's next stride as the construction industry shifts. The company announced Monday that its shareholders and board had formally appointed Lee as chief executive on Friday. Lee pledged to aim higher, build a culture where people work as one, and venture into new businesses on the strength of the company's expertise. "The future does not arrive beca

Oct. 5, 2026

MBK chief declines Homeplus audit summons

MBK Partners Chairman Michael ByungJu Kim has been named a parliamentary audit witness for a second consecutive year as lawmakers scrutinize the private equity firm’s handling of Homeplus. The National Assembly’s Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee has called Kim to testify at Wednesday’s audit of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Questions are expected to focus on emergency business stabilization funding provided following Homeplus’ entry into court-led rehabilitation and loss

Oct. 5, 2026

Korean Air chief wins CAPA leadership award

Korean Air and Hanjin Group Chairman and CEO Walter Cho has been named the Asia Airline executive of the year for his leadership through the pandemic and the airline’s merger with Asiana Airlines, Korean Air said Monday. Cho received the award at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia, held Thursday and Friday at New Chitose Airport on the northern Japanese island Hokkaido. The ceremony was held by CAPA — Center for Aviation, an aviation market intelligence provider that recognizes executives for t

Oct. 5, 2026

Korea’s first homegrown GLP-1: Can Hanmi’s Eppe undercut Mounjaro and Wegovy?

Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Eppe is poised to challenge Wegovy and Mounjaro in Korea’s fast-growing obesity drug market, with price emerging as a potentially decisive advantage. The homegrown glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, drug is expected to launch before year-end, pending approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Hanmi has yet to announce a final price, but industry estimates suggest a four-week supply could cost around 150,000 won ($111). That would undercut the lowest prices listed

Oct. 5, 2026

KT&G takes Incheon duty-free success to airports worldwide

KT&G is gaining new shelf space across global airport duty-free retail, from Kyrgyzstan to Bahrain to Istanbul, drawing on a 25-year run at Incheon Airport, where it has ranked among the top-selling brands. The push comes as global duty-free retail swells and KT&G turns its buyer network from trade shows into new markets. The South Korean tobacco maker has sold cigarettes at Incheon's duty-free shops since the day the airport opened in March 2001, and now sells about 100 products there, ranking

Oct. 5, 2026

Woori executes first derivatives deal through London hub

Woori Bank has arranged a loan of 70 million pounds ($93 million) and a matching interest rate swap for a London-based company, completing its first corporate derivatives deal through its London Trading Center, the lender said Monday. The transaction, signed Sept. 29 in cooperation with Woori’s London branch, allows the borrower to exchange floating-rate interest payments for fixed payments, reducing uncertainty over borrowing costs. Woori hedged the swap directly in the London market through it

Oct. 5, 2026

Hyundai Group chief reappointed honorary governor of North Chungcheong Province

Hyundai Group Chair Hyun Jeong-eun has been reappointed honorary governor of North Chungcheong Province, extending her service in the advisory role she first took on in 2020, the group said Monday. North Chungcheong Province Gov. Shin Yong-han presented Hyun with an appointment plaque at Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul on Friday. The honorary position recognizes contributions to regional development and involves advising on policy and supporting provincial initiatives. Hyun’s ties to the province d

Oct. 5, 2026

GS25 rides high on booming sales to North American visitors

North Americans have become the fastest-growing foreign customer base at GS25, the South Korean convenience store chain operated by GS Retail, trailing just behind the dominant customer base of people from Greater China. According to company data released Thursday, sales to North American customers at GS25 stores in Korea jumped 131 percent in the first eight months of the year from a year earlier, the steepest rise among all regional groups. Their share of foreign customer sales hit a record of

Oct. 4, 2026

Lee calls for thorough probe into personal data leaks at financial institutions

President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday called for a thorough investigation into a series of hacking attacks that caused personal information leaks at major banks and other financial institutions. Several financial firms suffered back-to-back leaks of customer information in recent hacking attacks, including Hana Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank. "President Lee was briefed on the recent data breaches at financial and public institutions and the measures taken in response," presidential spokesper

Oct. 4, 2026

Trump threatens tariffs of up to 300% as Korea faces pressure over US investment

US President Donald Trump said foreign companies that fail to build factories in the United States could face tariffs of up to 300 percent, as South Korea faces separate pressure from Washington over how it will carry out its $350 billion US investment commitment. Speaking at a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday, Trump presented tariffs and foreign investment as part of his economic record while campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Ohio is home

Oct. 4, 2026

Foreign investors sell W20.3tr in Korean stocks, led by SK hynix and Samsung Electronics

Foreign investors sold a net 20.3 trillion won ($15.1 billion) worth of shares on South Korea’s main Kospi market over the past month, with semiconductor heavyweights SK hynix and Samsung Electronics accounting for most of the outflow, market data showed Sunday. From Sept. 1 through Oct. 2, foreign investors recorded net sales of 20.305 trillion won, according to the Korea Exchange and financial data provider Yonhap Infomax. The total includes transactions on the after-market session introduced

Oct. 4, 2026

'Bank-led won stablecoins risk limiting innovation'

South Korea's proposed bank-led approach to won-backed stablecoins could give institutions with established payment networks little incentive to build alternatives, global industry executives said at a Seoul roundtable Wednesday. "If you give licenses to tier-one banks, as most regulators are inclined to do, there's little incentive to push the boundaries in building out infrastructure compared with giving them to a fintech," said Anthony Koo, head of payments at Singapore-based stablecoin issue

Oct. 4, 2026

State-run banks deny outside pressure over ‘Assassin(s)’ investment

South Korea’s two state-run banks denied on Saturday that outside pressure influenced their investment in the controversial historical film “Assassin(s),” saying the decisions were made independently. Industrial Bank of Korea said it decided to invest in the film after conducting its own internal review, while Korea Development Bank said it had only contributed capital to a fund and was not involved in the fund manager’s investment decisions. IBK said the investment went through the same review

Oct. 3, 2026