SEOUL, South Korea — SK hynix Inc., the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, is negotiating one of the lowest underwriting fee rates in recent Wall Street history for what could rank among the largest share sales ever, as it prepares to list American depositary receipts on Nasdaq amid surging global demand for artificial intelligence hardware.
Eddie Kim
Jul 04, 2026
SEOUL, South Korea — Major South Korean retailers are pouring more money into cybersecurity defenses following a wave of high-profile data breaches that exposed millions of consumers' personal information and intensified pressure to safeguard customer and payment data.
Eddie Kim
Jul 03, 2026
SEOUL, South Korea — Overseas cryptocurrency exchanges are offering South Korean investors ultra-high-risk derivatives that allow bets on the direction of the local stock market with leverage reaching as high as 150 times, raising alarms among regulators about circumvention of domestic safeguards.
Eddie Kim
Jul 02, 2026
SEOUL, South Korea — Wild swings in South Korea's benchmark Kospi index are transforming the stock market into what some investors describe as a casino, where retail traders chase quick gains through leveraged exchange-traded funds rather than pursuing long-term strategies.
Eddie Kim
Jul 01, 2026
SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix announced plans Monday to invest a combined 800 trillion won ($520 billion) in four new semiconductor fabrication plants in South Korea's southwest region, part of a major government-backed initiative to bolster the country's position in the global artificial intelligence race.
Eddie Kim
Jun 30, 2026
SEOUL, South Korea — Hong Myung-bo stepped down as head coach of the South Korean men's national football team on Sunday, taking full responsibility for the squad's failure to advance from the group stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
Eddie Kim
Jun 29, 2026
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean airlines are slashing fuel surcharges for international flights in July, offering relief to travelers and carriers alike as jet fuel prices ease following earlier spikes tied to Middle East tensions.
Eddie Kim
Jun 28, 2026
SEOUL — SK Hynix has launched a midcareer recruitment campaign focused on high-bandwidth memory expertise that closely aligns with talent from Samsung Electronics' struggling Foundry and System LSI divisions, intensifying competition for skilled engineers amid internal discontent over bonuses at its rival.
Eddie Kim
Jun 27, 2026
SEOUL — Ambitious plans by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to establish semiconductor facilities in South Korea's southwestern Jeolla region symbolize the government's push for balanced national development beyond the Seoul metropolitan area.
Eddie Kim
Jun 26, 2026
SEOUL — South Korea's introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix has failed to stem capital outflows, with domestic investors continuing to pour billions into similar Hong Kong-listed products despite regulatory efforts to keep money at home.
Eddie Kim
Jun 25, 2026
South Korea's Hanwha Ocean has launched an unusually aggressive marketing campaign to win Canada's largest-ever military procurement, a push that appears to have rattled its German rival, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, as Ottawa nears a decision that could come as early as this week.
Eddie Kim
Jun 24, 2026
SEOUL — South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index suffered a sharp selloff Tuesday, plunging nearly 10% and triggering a market-wide circuit breaker as heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led a broad tech rout amid global concerns over artificial intelligence valuations and profit-taking.
Eddie Kim
Jun 23, 2026
South Korea is positioning itself for a role in Middle East reconstruction once the region's latest conflict winds down, but the Foreign Ministry said Monday it has not yet received any formal request to join financing efforts, even as it quietly set up a dedicated task force weeks ago to prepare Korean companies for postwar opportunities.
Eddie Kim
Jun 22, 2026
Samsung Electronics is considering discontinuing several of its home appliance product lines this year, according to people familiar with the matter, as the South Korean tech giant redirects spending toward its booming memory chip business and away from consumer electronics divisions that have struggled to turn a profit.
Eddie Kim
Jun 21, 2026
North Korea is facing fresh allegations that its state broadcaster aired FIFA World Cup 2026 matches without securing official rights, a move that could expose Pyongyang to disciplinary action from football's governing body if the claims are confirmed.
Eddie Kim
Jun 20, 2026
SEOUL — OpenAI on Friday began displaying advertisements to users of its lower-tier ChatGPT plans in South Korea, marking the latest expansion of its ad-supported model as the company seeks new revenue streams to support massive AI infrastructure costs amid fierce competition.
Eddie Kim
Jun 19, 2026
SEOUL — South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index surged past the 9,000-point mark for the first time Thursday, driven by a powerful rally in semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix amid sustained global demand for artificial intelligence chips.
Eddie Kim
Jun 18, 2026
Hyundai Steel has signed a master research agreement with Louisiana State University to develop next-generation steelmaking technologies for the South Korean company's $5.8 billion electric arc furnace mill under construction in Ascension Parish, officials announced this week.
Eddie Kim
Jun 17, 2026
SEOUL — SK Group is exploring the construction of an artificial intelligence data center testbed in California, with SK Hynix taking the lead on land acquisition as the South Korean conglomerate seeks to gain hands-on experience in designing and operating large-scale AI infrastructure projects amid surging global demand.
Eddie Kim
Jun 16, 2026
SEOUL — South Korea is actively weighing the deployment of naval minesweepers to help clear the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement, as Seoul seeks to demonstrate stronger commitment to its alliance with Washington while navigating domestic legal and operational hurdles.
Eddie Kim
Jun 15, 2026
ROME — Korean and Italian business leaders, including top executives from Samsung Electronics, LS Group, Hyosung Group and Fincantieri, reaffirmed their commitment to deeper cooperation across high-tech industries, shipbuilding and design during a high-profile business roundtable held on the sidelines of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to Italy.
Eddie Kim
Jun 14, 2026
SEOUL — South Korean asset managers hoping to secure shares in SpaceX's blockbuster initial public offering were left with zero allocation after the U.S. rocket company's underwriters declined to assign any shares to domestic syndicates, forcing last-minute adjustments to their investment strategies for space-themed funds.
Eddie Kim
Jun 13, 2026
SEOUL — South Korea's privacy regulator imposed a record 624.68 billion won ($409.3 million) fine on e-commerce giant Coupang on Thursday for a massive data breach last year that exposed personal information of about 37.5 million users, highlighting serious lapses in the company's data security practices.
Eddie Kim
Jun 11, 2026
SEOUL — Unionized employees at South Korea's internet giant Kakao staged the company's first strike since its founding on Wednesday, a partial four-hour walkout that spotlighted growing tensions over compensation, job stability and management practices in the country's booming tech sector.
Eddie Kim
Jun 10, 2026
SEOUL — South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index staged a stunning V-shaped recovery Tuesday, surging more than 8% to reclaim the 8,000 level in one of its strongest single-day gains on record after plunging nearly the same amount the previous session amid global market jitters.
Eddie Kim
Jun 09, 2026
SEOUL, South Korea — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang wrapped up a high-profile visit to South Korea on Monday by announcing deepened cooperation with the country's leading conglomerates, embedding the U.S. chipmaker's artificial intelligence platforms across manufacturing, robotics, data centers and next-generation computing.
Eddie Kim
Jun 09, 2026
SEOUL — The South Korean won weakened sharply against the US dollar on Thursday, hitting its lowest level in more than two months as renewed military tensions between the United States and Iran fueled investor concerns over global energy supplies and economic stability.
Eddie Kim
Jun 05, 2026
SEOUL/SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have taken strategic stakes in Anthropic, the U.S. artificial intelligence company behind the Claude chatbot, as part of a massive $65 billion Series H funding round that values the startup at $965 billion post-money, making it the world's most valuable private AI firm.
Eddie Kim
May 30, 2026
Samsung Electronics sealed a new wage agreement with its unions on Wednesday after five months of tense negotiations, averting a potential strike that could have disrupted the global semiconductor supply chain. However, the ratification exposed sharp internal divisions between the company's semiconductor and consumer electronics divisions that may linger for years.
Eddie Kim
May 28, 2026
SEOUL — South Korea exported a record $11.4 billion worth of cosmetics in 2025, surpassing the United States and securing the position of the world's second-largest cosmetics exporter behind France, according to data released by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on May 23, 2026.
Eddie Kim
May 23, 2026
