South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, led by declines in big-cap tech shares amid concerns about an economic slowdown. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) shed 32.29 points, or 1.29 percent, to 2,472.38 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The country's industrial output, retail sales and facility investment all fell on-month in October, deepening concerns about a lack of growth momentum, government data showed. Presenting a bleak growth outlook for 2025, the Bank of K

Chinese nationals accounted for 56 percent of all housing units owned by foreigners in South Korea, data showed Friday. According to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the home ownership of foreigners, Chinese nationals owned 52,798 out of the 95,058 housing units registered under foreign nationals in the country as of the end of June. The number of homes owned by Chinese nationals grew 4.9 percent from six months earlier. Following Chinese, Americans owned 21,36

Korean Air’s 1.8 trillion won ($1.4 billion) merger with its smaller rival Asiana Airlines has secured approval from Europe’s antitrust regulator, bringing Korea’s flag carrier one step closer to becoming the largest airline in Northeast Asia. The European Commission announced on Thursday that it has decided to give the nod to the high-profile merger, 10 months after it granted conditional approval in February when it required Korean Air to further reduce overlapping routes to

Shin Yoo-yeol, the eldest son of Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, has been promoted to executive vice president of Lotte Corp., the group's holding unit, to oversee the retail giant’s global strategy and speed up its leadership succession plans. Lotte announced a management reshuffle on Thursday, replacing 21 CEOs across its affiliates. Born in 1986, Shin currently leads the future growth division at Lotte Corp. and the global strategy division at Lotte Biologics. He previously ser

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the nation’s top two chipmakers, are apparently in a rush to secure subsidies for their massive facility spending in recent years in the US, following a fresh threat from President-elect Donald Trump that he could cancel the promised Chips Act federal funding. On Monday, Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the leaders selected by Trump to head the proposed Department of Government Efficiency alongside Tesla founder Elon Musk, hinted at the possibility of subsidy cuts,

South Korean stocks ended slightly higher Thursday, despite big-cap tech losses, as investors assessed the Bank of Korea's surprise back-to-back policy rate cut to spur growth. The local currency rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 1.61 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,504.67, ending a two-day losing streak. Trade volume was a bit slim at 333.44 million shares worth 7.37 trillion won (US$5.28 billion), with winners outnumbering los

Innocean, a marketing agency affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, said Thursday it has completed a campaign in the US, titled “Villains Against Evil.” A collaboration with the National Coalition Against Censorship, the campaign aims to oppose to a recent move to ban children's books on specific issues such as LGBTQ+ and racism in school libraries. In the AI-powered short-form videos, fairy tale villains voice their concerns, stating, “Banning books is the ultimate evil.&

KB Financial Group’s decision to name its insurance unit head as the next CEO of KB Kookmin Bank has shown its willingness to optimize synergies among pan-KB affiliates. The CEO recommendation committee of KB Financial Group recommended that KB Life Insurance CEO Lee Hwan-ju lead KB Kookmin Bank on Wednesday. “We recommended Lee as a final candidate who can stably pursue substantial growth and drive consistent improvement in corporate and shareholder value through structural improv

Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo-sun will be relocating as the new chief of Samsung SDI, the battery-making unit said Thursday. Choi has a Ph.D in electrical engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He has served in key positions at Samsung Electronics, including head of DRAM development in the memory division, head of strategic marketing and head of the America for the device solutions division. He later became head of the large display business unit and CEO of Samsu

The Industrial Bank of Korea is nearing the final steps to open a subsidiary in Poland next year. The state-run lender said Thursday that the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, or KNF, had authorized its application to set up a corporate entity, making it the first Korean bank to mark such a milestone. IBK in May 2023 opened its first office in Wroclaw, in a venture to establish Poland as the bank's foothold for European expansion. In March, it filed its application for the local subsi

South Korean oil refiner S-Oil hosted an awards ceremony in Seoul on Thursday to honor the contributions of eight “Hero Firefighters,” together with the Korea National Council on Social Welfare. At the 2024 Hero Firefighters Award Ceremony, a panel of firefighting experts named Fire Lt. Yoo Seung-geol as the “Top Hero Firefighter.” Yoo received a cash prize of 20 million won ($14,300) for acts of bravery. In June, he rescued a person trapped in a flood during an underwate

Samsung SDS, the South Korean IT solutions affiliate of Samsung Group, said Thursday that it has appointed Lee June-hee, corporate executive vice president of the Network Business Division at Samsung Electronics, as its new CEO. Lee is recognized as an expert in information technology. He has played a key role in leading the commercialization of Samsung’s flagship smartphone Galaxy series and 5G networks at the tech giant. After graduating in electrical and computer engineering at Seoul Na

Factory workers often experience physical strain and injuries as they are exposed to overhead work, heavy lifting and other repetitive tasks. For instance, a Hyundai Motor plant worker on an assembly line has to lift their arms anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 times a day. On Wednesday, Hyundai Motor Group unveiled a new wearable robotic exoskeleton, called “X-ble Shoulder,” which promises to reduce stress on factory workers' joints by up to 60 percent. The first product released in

Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang has launched its first instant fried rice product in the United States, the company said Thursday, as part of its efforts to meet rising global demand for Korean ready-to-eat meals. The new product, Bibigo Korean BBQ Fried Rice, is the company’s first in the shelf-stable fried rice category in the US, and looks to replicate the popularity of its frozen fried rice line in Korea. The fried rice is seasoned with Korean barbecue sauces and uses brown rice as it

Samsung Display announced Thursday that it has appointed Yi Chung, head of mobile display business at the display maker, as its new chief executive officer. Yi has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Pohang University of Science and Technology. He is a seasoned expert in display technology, having accumulated extensive experience in liquid crystal display and organic light-emitting diode development and process technologies during his tenure at Samsung Electronics’ LCD Division and Samsun

South Korean brokerage Mirae Asset Securities announced on Thursday that it has completed the acquisition of Indian brokerage house Sharekhan Limited, marking a significant milestone in its Indian operations. It marks the first time a Korean company has acquired an Indian brokerage firm. Mirae Asset achieved this in just six years since entering the Indian market in 2017. The acquisition follows the Korean brokerage's stake purchase agreement with Sharekhan Limited, signed last December. Si

South Korea's top economic policymaker on Thursday welcomed the central bank's unexpected decision to cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a row, reaffirming the government's commitment to revitalizing economic growth. In a surprise move, the monetary policy committee of the Bank of Korea (BOK) slashed its key rate by 25 basis points to 3 percent, one month after it cut the rate by a quarter percentage point in the first pivot in its policy stance in over three y

The Bank of Korea slashed the base interest rate for the second consecutive time Thursday, amid heightened uncertainties and slow growth. The cut surprised the market as the local currency has weakened against the dollar in recent weeks. The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board trimmed the base rate by 25 basis points, bringing it down to 3 percent. Four of the other six monetary policy board members, not including BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong, agreed to the rate cut, while the remaining two

South Korean stocks opened a tad lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street led by declines in big-cap tech shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) shed 3.05 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,500.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Foreigners were on a selling mode, which offset buying by institutions and retail investors. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slid 0.6 percent as major tech shares lo

SK hynix on Wednesday announced plans to increase dividend payouts by 25 percent per share by 2027 as part of a broader strategy to boost corporate value amid the chipmaker's rapid growth in the artificial intelligence chip market. As part of its new shareholder return program, the company will raise annual dividends to 1,500 won ($1.08) per share over the next three years, up from the current 1,200 won. This will result in a total annual dividend payout of approximately 1 trillion won, SK