KH Explains In series
Major issues broken down to the basics.
#Explained
# Issues
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KH Explains In series
Major issues broken down to the basics.
Would you like to subscribe?
Drugmakers push back against government’s generic price cut plan
Korea’s pharmaceutical industry is bracing for a major clash with the government over a proposed cut to generic drug prices, warning the move could undermine research investment and trigger significant job losses. At the center of the dispute is the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s plan to lower the reimbursement price of generic drugs from 53.55 percent of the original branded medicine to 40 percent. The government says the measure is aimed at curbing health care costs and improving patient acc
Dec. 28, 2025 - 11:20:29
From steel to EVs, Korea races to retool factories with AI
South Korea is accelerating an AI-driven overhaul of its manufacturing sector as the government warns the country is losing ground to China — and may face irreversible decline without structural reform. “China has already moved ahead, and Korea is now in a catch-up position,” Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said. “If we fail to transform core manufacturing sectors such as automobiles, shipbuilding and all-solid-state batteries through AI, there is no future.” The warning comes as industry survey
Dec. 24, 2025 - 15:20:47
K-beauty goes hardware: Tech revolution more than skin-deep
Korean beauty devices have been shifting gears, easing their way into global skin care routines and learning, along the way, to do more. Korea’s exports of at-home beauty devices hit a record $212.2 million in 2024, nearly doubling from the year prior. Momentum continued into 2025, with exports jumping 42 percent on-year in the first half. Analysts at KPMG Korea trace the trend to the meeting point of proactive aging care and new technologies that deliver effective results. The beauty device mar
Dec. 20, 2025 - 16:00:00
Scale meets control at Korea’s top real estate manager
Igis Asset Management, Korea’s largest real estate asset manager, is facing a pivotal test as it searches for a new owner: Can it preserve the operational autonomy that has defined its investment style under a change in ownership? Igis is the undisputed leader in the nation's real estate fund market. As of the end of June, the firm held 66.8 trillion won ($45 billion) in assets under management, or AUM, ranking No. 1 domestically. Its scale and track record have been further reinforced by strong
Dec. 19, 2025 - 17:14:41
Inside Washington’s rare bet on Korea Zinc
The US government’s decision to back Korea Zinc’s planned $7.4 billion smelter in Tennessee came as a surprise, given how rarely Washington directly invests in foreign companies, especially in a sector linked to national security and strategic minerals. Under the plan, the US Department of Defense and undisclosed US investors will jointly invest $2.15 billion in a new joint venture, Crucible JV. The Pentagon is poised to hold a 40 percent stake in the JV alongside Korea Zinc to operate the criti
Dec. 18, 2025 - 14:47:46
Too thin to buy? Why ultraslim phones from Samsung, Apple aren’t selling
At Samsung’s retail store inside Lotte Department Store in Myeong-dong, the Galaxy S25 Edge sits prominently on display, but the staffer there says customer interest peaked months ago. “When it launched in May, people were curious,” he said. “Now most ask about the Fold. For the Edge, battery anxiety is what they mention first.” Across the street, at Apple’s Myeong-dong store, the pattern is similar. The iPhone Air, Apple’s slimmest phone to date, gets passing attention, but few linger. “The peo
Dec. 17, 2025 - 15:04:05
How Hyundai is closing in on Toyota in US hybrids
Toyota has set the pace in the US hybrid market for decades. The Prius defined the segment, while hybrid SUVs such as the RAV4 and Highlander entrenched Toyota’s dominance as American consumers gravitated toward larger vehicles. What once looked like an overly cautious strategy — prioritizing hybrids while rivals bet heavily on full electric vehicles — is now paying dividends. As US EV demand cools and subsidies fade, hybrids have reemerged as the most commercially resilient powertrain. That shi
Dec. 16, 2025 - 15:24:32
How IP cameras become Korea’s quiet privacy risk
Public anxiety over data breaches has long centered on banks, platforms and telecom companies. But a more intimate and unsettling threat is spreading through everyday spaces: internet-connected security cameras installed in homes, hospitals and public facilities. Police recently arrested four suspects accused of hacking about 120,000 Internet Protocol cameras nationwide. The arrests come just a year after hundreds of private videos — filmed inside homes, karaoke rooms, Pilates studios and even m
Dec. 15, 2025 - 14:21:36
Korean battery makers rethink Europe strategy as China gains ground
As China’s battery titans face a glut at home and growing political headwinds in North America, they are redirecting their firepower toward Europe — the world’s second-largest EV market and, increasingly, the main battleground for global battery dominance. Backed by aggressive pricing and massive scale, Chinese suppliers are rapidly expanding through exports even before their landmark European plants come online, squeezing the space once firmly held by Korea’s LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and
Dec. 11, 2025 - 15:08:29
Posco, Dongwon weigh fresh bids as HMM sale resumes
As South Korea readies to reopen the sale of HMM after last year’s collapse, steel maker Posco Group and fisheries giant Dongwon Group are weighing whether to join a renewed bidding war for the country’s largest container carrier. The state-run Korea Development Bank, HMM’s largest shareholder with a 35.42 percent stake, recently sent out a request for proposals to local accounting firms to conduct a fair-value assessment, according to industry sources. Market watchers see the move as part of th
Dec. 11, 2025 - 14:59:44
Tesla self-driving debut in Korea sparks regulatory disadvantage for Hyundai
Tesla has begun rolling out its supervised "Full Self-Driving" system in South Korea, making the country the seventh market to gain access to the advanced driver-assistance feature — a capability not yet offered by Hyundai Motor Group or other local carmakers. Industry concerns are mounting with the system arriving just as Korea-US trade revisions scrapped the 50,000-vehicle limit on US-made cars entering Korea under US safety standards. With that cap removed, Tesla now faces fewer regulatory hu
Dec. 7, 2025 - 17:01:48
Shinhan chair's Ddangyo bet: How finance giant disrupted food delivery
When Shinhan Financial Group Chair Jin Ok-dong sent his bank into the food delivery business, critics scoffed at the idea of a financial giant chasing chicken-and-beer orders. But four years later, Ddangyo — Shinhan’s ultra-low-fee delivery app — is rewriting the rules of competition in Korea’s delivery market and reframing how a bank can wield its power for social impact. For Jin, Ddangyo was never about chasing tech multiples. It was a business expression of his long-held principle that financ
Dec. 3, 2025 - 14:52:23
How ex-employee exposed 33.7 million users: Coupang's security gaps explained
Fear is mounting over large-scale personal data breaches in Korea, with the latest incident at Coupang exposing information from 33.7 million users. The leak — believed to have been carried out by a former insider — has raised broader questions about how vulnerable major platforms remain despite heavy spending on cybersecurity. This explainer breaks down what happened, why insider attacks are uniquely hard to prevent, and what experts say needs to change. The leak affected nearly every Coupang u
Dec. 2, 2025 - 15:36:47
Is Coupang too deeply embedded? Users conflicted over next steps
The fate of South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, Coupang, hangs in the balance after a devastating data breach that exposed nearly all of its 33.7 million user accounts, a crisis of exceptional weight given how embedded the platform is in the daily lives of millions. There is outrage among the nearly three-quarters of the population affected by the cybersecurity lapse that led to the leakage of consumer data, including names, phone numbers, email addresses and shipping addresses. But many
Dec. 2, 2025 - 15:03:33
Hyundai Motor turns to local CEOs in high-stakes Asian reset
Hyundai Motor Co. is undertaking its most sweeping overhaul of Asian leadership since appointing Jose Munoz as its first foreign CEO last year — a move that reflects a broader strategic pivot toward deeper localization, as the automaker confronts intensifying US tariff risks and mounting pressure from Chinese EV competitors. By naming new local chiefs in China, Japan and India, Hyundai aims to accelerate decision-making in three of its most complex and strategically sensitive markets. But the sh
Dec. 1, 2025 - 15:25:23
