Citibank Korea has been named the Best International Bank in Korea for 2023 by Asiamoney, a monthly financial magazine published in Hong Kong, the bank announced Friday. Asiamoney explained that it selected Citibank Korea for the latest award, as it demonstrated significant improvements in performance across various financial metrics, citing tangible gains in total revenue and net income compared to the previous year. The bank showed particularly strong growth in the corporate banking businesses

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 20.03 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,512.10 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, all three major US indexes gained ground, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite up 1.37 percent, as communication and IT shares rallied on favorable news in the artificial intelligence sector. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, jumped more than 5 percent on t

South Korea logged a current account surplus for the sixth straight month in October on the back of a trade surplus, a reduction in the service deficit and increased dividend income from overseas, central bank data showed Friday. The country's current account surplus reached $6.8 billion in October, widening from the surplus of $5.42 billion the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. October's surplus came as the country's trade balance has remained

LG Energy Solutions and the nation's top-ranked Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have made a significant discovery in lithium metal battery technology, as revealed in a research paper in the prestigious journal Nature Energy, potentially increasing electric vehicle range by 50 percent and drastically enhancing battery efficiency and lifespan. The discovery stems from a collaboration that began over two years ago at the Frontier Research Laboratory, a joint venture between

It was a rough year for K-pop, with big firms' shares taking a roller-coaster ride despite outstanding performances, hitting an annual peak in the summer and plummeting in recent months. But the bumpy ride is set to settle down for the most part, with major risk factors being resolved and individual firms pushing through with their global business ventures for long-term qualitative growth, industry watchers say. YG Entertainment finally came out of the shadows on Wednesday, when it anno

Doosan Robotics, seemingly buoyed by its high-profile stock debut last month, on Tuesday invited a group of reporters to its Suwon plant in Gyeonggi Province, the production base of the nation’s largest robotics company. “At Doosan Robotics, we aim to revolutionize work by developing cobots for augmenting human efforts with great precision, safety and high cost-effectiveness to help address labor shortages across numerous sectors more accessibly," said Ryu Jung-hoon, CEO of Doos

South Korean stocks ended lower Thursday as investors were concerned the US economy may be losing steam. The local currency sharply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 3.31 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 2,492.07. Trade volume was moderate at 440.6 million shares worth 8.03 trillion won ($6.06 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 525 to 354. Institutions dumped a combined 204.8 billion won worth of shares, while individual and foreign inve

Lotte Group's year-end reshuffle announced on Wednesday signals a focus on new growth opportunities, placing the third-generation scion at the forefront. The conglomerate, ranked as the country's sixth-largest, has initiated this year's executive reform as it grapples with declining performance in its major subsidiaries. During an annual board meeting, a panel of 38 affiliates appointed 14 new chief executive officers. Among them, Shin Yoo-yeol, the 37-year-old eldest son of Lotte

LG Electronics said Thursday it has become the ninth governing body member of the Scalable Open Architecture for Embedded Edge, also known as SOAFEE, opening up opportunities in the future mobility industry. Established in 2021, SOAFEE is a special interest group of companies working together to build a cloud-native architecture for software-defined vehicles. Last year, LG Electronics first joined the SOAFEE as a voting member, actively taking part in the technical steering committee and working

SK Group, the country’s second-largest conglomerate, has carried out a complete reshuffle of its top leadership, with a new, younger generation of top executives taking the helm at key affiliates to tackle the ever-changing business environment. In its year-end executive reshuffle on Thursday, the chiefs of four major affiliates -- SK Supex Council Chairman Cho Dae-sik, SK Innovation Vice Chairman Kim Jun, SK Corp. Vice Chairman Jang Dong-hyun and SK hynix Inc. Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho

South Korean beauty giant LG Household & Health Care said Thursday that its sales on Japan's Qoo10 posted record growth of nearly 300 percent after its debut on the country's leading online marketplace just six months ago. Since June, the company has actively been raising its brand awareness and expanding its customer base in Japan through its participation in Qoo10's megasized sales event, also dubbed the "megawari" event in Japanese. Based on sales for the November

Samsung SDI said Thursday it has set up a team dedicated to pushing forward the development of the next generation all-solid-state batteries. All-solid-state batteries are called “game changer batteries,” in which all the components are solid. Theoretically, they have higher levels of energy density and are more stable than lithium-ion batteries using liquid or polymer gel electrolytes. The new “ASB business team,” headed by Go Joo-young, executive vice president and he

LG Electronics said Thursday that it has recently held the 33rd-anniversary event of its Indonesian operation, titled “Life’s Good Day,” with some 6,500 employees and their family members joining. The tech giant travels around the world to introduce its new brand identity, Life’s Good, putting renewed emphasis on customer satisfaction. (LG Electronics)

Citibank Korea on Wednesday shared insights on the digital market and presented overseas business opportunities to the nation’s leading digital companies during the “Korea Digital Leaders Summit 2023." The summit targeted the bank’s corporate clients, who run businesses on digital platforms including e-commerce, video games, fintech and online travel agencies. Some 30 leaders and executives from digital businesses participated in this year’s event. “We hope the

The South Korean government will push to pay for part of urea imports when companies need to buy the chemical from nations other than China as part of efforts to prevent a supply shortage and ensure a longer-term stable supply, the industry minister has said. Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu made the remarks during a meeting with reporters Wednesday, as China's recent suspension of customs procedures for urea shipments to South Korea has raised concerns about a supply crisis. "We have enough

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Thursday as tech shares took a cue from overnight losses in US heavyweights, like Nvidia and Microsoft. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 8.91 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,486.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, all three major US indexes lost ground despite jobs data that reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve may start cutting its rates early next year. AI chip leader Nvidia sank 2.3 percent, while Microsof

Mirae Asset Securities, Korea’s largest investment bank and securities firm, said Wednesday that it has appointed Vice Chairman Heo Sun-ho as CEO. He will lead the company’s sprawling business together with Vice Chairman Kim Mi-seob, whose appointment was confirmed earlier in October. With Heo’s appointment, which was approved at a board of directors meeting earlier on the day, the company has completed a generational shift in its long-held dual leadership system. Heo will co

GC Biopharma, GC Group’s biopharmaceutical unit, announced Wednesday that the company held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first Indonesian plasma fractionation plant within an industrial complex near the country's capital of Jakarta. The event comes six months after the company received approval from the Indonesian government to join the construction project, a trilateral partnership with the Indonesian Red Cross and P.T Triman, a local drugmaker. Under the partnership, GC Biopharm

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat Wednesday as major shares ended in mixed territory. The local currency lost ground against the US dollar. Swinging between gains and losses, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 1.1 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 2,495.38. Trade volume was slim at 384.3 million shares worth 7.51 trillion won ($5.71 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 499 to 371. Institutions scooped up a net 240.5 billion won worth of shares, while individual a

Korea is in the middle of blame-shifting, as banks face more than 3 trillion won ($2.28 billion) in losses combined in the first half of next year from the sales of equity-linked securities tied to a Hong Kong index. Financial authorities are considering creating guidelines for compensation regarding the sales of ELS products tracking the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, seeing the possibility of banks’ misselling. The value of ELS products sold by Korea’s five major banks set to m