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The South Korean government will keep fuel price ceilings unchanged for another four weeks as renewed tensions in the Middle East push global oil prices higher, the Industry Ministry said Friday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said the maximum prices for gasoline, diesel and kerosene supplied by local refiners to gas stations will remain unchanged from the previous four-week period…
Samsung Electronics said Friday it plans to return between 90 trillion won ($65.2 billion) and 110 trillion won to shareholders this year, marking the largest shareholder return ever undertaken by a Korean company. The tech giant said its board approved the plan earlier in the day, with the upper end of the range more than five times its previous record of 20.3 trillion won in 2020. “The record…
Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul, the three budget carriers under Hanjin Group, are set to operate as a single airline under the Jin Air name starting in March. The boards of all three companies approved the merger plan and signed the agreement Friday. Each carrier is planning for shareholder ratification in December, then regulatory approval, before the combined airline launches March 17, 2027.…
Samsung SDI said Friday it will sell a portion of its stake in affiliate Samsung Display for 4.45 trillion won ($3.22 billion), as the battery maker seeks to secure funds for investment in future growth businesses. In a regulatory filing, Samsung SDI said it will sell 13.09 million shares in Samsung Display for 340,000 won apiece, representing about 33 percent of its current holdings in the…
Five years after setting the benchmark for executive luxury, the face-lifted Mercedes-Benz S-Class has returned to Korea, packing extensive upgrades in performance, safety and digital technology. Marking Shirin Emeera’s first major launch as Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO since taking the helm in July, the flagship sedan is set to prove whether it can reclaim its crown in an increasingly competitive…
Kakao said Friday it has no plans to turn Kakao X, the investment company to be created through its planned corporate split, into a holding company. “We can say with certainty that there are absolutely no plans to convert Kakao X into a holding company after the split,” Kim Do-young, CEO nominee for Kakao X, said at a briefing Friday afternoon. Kakao’s board earlier Friday approved a plan to split…
Seoul stocks ended higher on Friday as investors pin hopes on large-scale shareholder return schemes from the country's top two chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed up 60.37 points, or 0.88 percent, to 6,912.95, after rising as high as 6,954.12. Trade volume was moderate at 404.5 million…
Foreign investors pulled sharply out of South Korean equities in July, with UK investors leading a massive stock sell-off even as US investors remained net buyers, data showed Friday. According to data released by the Financial Supervisory Service, foreign investors net sold 31.7 trillion ($22.9 billion) won worth of listed stocks in July, extending their net-selling streak to seven months.…
LG Display returned to a first-half operating profit despite lower sales, as restructuring and a shift away from low-margin LCD panels reduced the share of revenue absorbed by production costs. The company posted 11.15 trillion won ($8.06 billion) in revenue for the first half of 2026, down 4.3 percent from a year earlier, according to its half-year regulatory filing last week. Cost of sales fell…
Celltrion said Friday it has launched the intravenous formulation of SteQeyma for autoimmune diseases in Japan. Celltrion launched the IV formulation about four months after receiving approval from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in April. In addition to its existing indications for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, the product now also covers Crohn’s disease, significantly…
Lippo General Insurance, the Indonesian subsidiary of Hanwha General Insurance, posted record first-half earnings, extending its record-breaking run for a second straight year. The Jakarta-based insurer recorded revenue of 2.32 trillion rupiah ($131 million) in the January-June period, up 33.9 percent from 1.73 trillion rupiah a year earlier. Pretax profit rose 10.2 percent to 130.5 billion rupiah…
Chinese home appliance maker Dreame Technology said Friday it plans to expand beyond robot vacuum cleaners in South Korea, positioning the country as a key market for premium small appliances and artificial intelligence-powered smart-home products. At a brand launch event in Seoul, Dreame said it will build a localized product ecosystem spanning personal care, kitchen and living appliances, using…
Doosan Enerbility said Friday it has won a 930 billion won ($683 million) contract to build the Misfah combined-cycle power plant in Oman. The plant is scheduled for completion in April 2029 and is expected to help meet Oman’s electricity demand and stabilize energy supply. Doosan Enerbility will carry out engineering, procurement and construction work as part of a consortium with a power plant…
Kakao said Friday it will split into two listed companies, Kakao AI and Kakao X, as the IT giant restructures its businesses around artificial intelligence. Kakao AI will house KakaoTalk, South Korea’s dominant mobile messenger, along with the company’s AI, advertising and commerce businesses. Kakao X will bring together fintech, content and mobility under an investment-focused structure. On…
South Korea will launch the "Future Fund" to promote long-term economic growth, using what the government calls "windfall revenue" from increased tax collection driven by the recent artificial intelligence boom, the budget ministry said Friday. The Ministry of Planning and Budget unveiled the plan in partnership with relevant government agencies, saying the AI industry has sparked a major…
Hyundai Motor labor union launched a full-day strike Friday, bringing production to a halt across the company’s key plants in South Korea as wage negotiations remain deadlocked. The walkout marks the first time since 2016 that members of the Hyundai Motor branch of the Korea Metal Workers’ Union have staged an eight-hour, full-day strike for each shift. The escalating strikes raise concerns that…
Seoul shares opened lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street as US Treasury yields again rose and higher oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. After opening 1.35 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index trimmed its losses, falling 21.05 points, or 0.31 percent, to 6,831.53 as of 9:15 a.m. US Treasury yields resumed their upward trend Thursday, reversing much…
South Korea's exports surged 56 percent from a year earlier over the first 20 days of August, customs data showed Friday, with shipments of semiconductors reaching a fresh high. Outbound shipments reached $55.2 billion in the Aug. 1-20 period, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. It was the highest level for the 20-day period for any August. Imports went up 19 percent on-year to $41.2…
The labor union of Hyundai Motor Co. launched a full-day strike Friday after failing to reach an agreement with management over wages, raising concerns about further production disruptions amid sluggish vehicle sales. It marks the first time in 10 years that the automaker's union has staged an eight-hour strike. Production lines at Hyundai Motor's plants in Ulsan, Jeonju and Asan are set to be…
South Korea's producer prices fell for the first time in 11 months in July, driven by lower global crude oil prices despite a sharp rise in prices of agricultural products amid a heat wave, central bank data showed Friday. The producer price index, a key gauge of future consumer inflation, fell 0.4 percent last month from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.…
Eqqualberry, the K-beauty skincare brand operated by Boosters, drew thousands of visitors to its booth at a US beauty festival this month, weeks after landing its first major retail listing in the UK. The company said Thursday that it drew roughly 4,000 visitors to its booth over three days at Olive Young Festa LA 2026, a K-beauty event held Aug. 14-16 as part of the broader Korean culture…
Primemas Inc. is stepping up its collaboration with Micron Technology as the semiconductor startup moves closer to mass production of its compute express link (CXL), pooled-memory technology for AI data centers. The company plans to begin mass production of JBOM, short for “just a bunch of memory,” with Micron in the second half of this year, executives said Thursday. The system combines multiple…
