With Canadian Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Minister Mary Ng leading a large-scale trade mission to Korea, high-level business leaders from both countries have come together to call for expanding cooperation in not only traditional industries such as energy but in cu
Instagram has surpassed Naver and YouTube to claim the spot of Korea’s second-most-used app.On April 23, sample data from domestic smartphone users by app and retail analysis service WiseApp showed that Instagram’s average monthly launch count for the first quarter was 14.93374 billion times. This p
The number of affiliates belonging to Korea’s conglomerates crossed 3,000 for the first time in 2023. The increase is the result of business diversification in response to an unstable global business environment, but the increase has generated many negative side effects.As of May 2023, the number of
Netflix Services Korea has begun an administrative lawsuit against Korea’s tax authorities over 78 billion won (US$57 million) in tax imposed on the OTT giant. Much attention is being paid to see how the Korean court will rule on the unfair practice of global platform companies such as Netflix not p
It has been revealed that the four American “big tech” companies -- Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Meta -- collectively garnered around 9 trillion won in sales and about 600 billion won in operating profit in South Korea over the past year.According to the audit reports disclosed in the Financial Sup
In the global competitive race for artificial intelligence (AI) technology, South Korea is losing its core competitive edge as top talent is turning away from the country. Foreign companies, with their overwhelming financial power, are successfully attracting these skilled individuals.According to t
It has been revealed that the market capitalization of the domestic stock market surged by nearly 100 trillion won in the first quarter of this year.According to the corporate analysis firm Korea CXO Research Institute on April 16, the total market capitalization of 2,692 stocks, excluding preferred
Starting this year, the Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) agreements agreed upon by the heads of conglomerates and their family members will be subject to mandatory disclosure. Consequently, companies affiliated with major corporate groups are obligated to disclose the status of RSUs, not only for listed
With Coupang significantly increasing the subscription fee for its paid membership service, “Wow Membership,” last week, a “membership showdown” has commenced in the retail industry. This move comes amid continued aggression from Chinese e-commerce giants such as AliExpress and Temu, expanding the f
U.S.-based semiconductor company Intel has declared a counteroffensive in the AI semiconductor market led by Nvidia. Intel plans to create an open platform for AI development that rivals Nvidia’s semiconductors and AI development platform, aiming to form a new alliance system. For this purpose, Inte
Amid astronomical subsidies being poured into the semiconductor industry by countries like the United States and Japan, the South Korean government has decided to explore domestic investment incentives. There’s speculation that discussions on ‘semiconductor subsidy cash support’ could materialize, g
The AI semiconductor market, currently concentrated on Nvidia and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), is expected to diversify into DRAM and other areas moving forward.On March 28, Kwon Seok-jun, a professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, participated in the 2024 ACE Semi
Naver is taking a significant step into the robotics market by unveiling the world’s first robot operating system based on a web platform. Its greatest strength is compatibility with web services, positioning Naver to become the “Android of Robotics” in the still-nascent robot OS market.During the ‘
Naver Team announced on March 5 that it signed a partnership with Aramco Digital, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, to foster digital innovation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including Saudi Arabia.Through this agreement, both parties aim to establish a sovereign cloud and super app
Naver and Samsung C&T are joining forces to expand their future business ecosystems by leveraging each other’s capabilities. On Feb. 28, Naver Cloud and Naver Labs, along with the Construction Division of Samsung C&T, announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Naver 1
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at bk@nhqv.com -- Ed.Global stock markets have rallied of late, with the S&P500 surging for four months in a row. In February, the Kospi has outperformed other major markets. But, the fast market growth is likely to bolster p
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced it will hold the K-Business Day in the Middle East 2024 export consultation session on Feb. 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and on Feb. 29 in Dubai, the UAE, in collaboration with the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises. This initiative aims to su
Gaudio Lab, a leading AI audio technology company, is set to participate in MWC 2024 to showcase innovative AI audio technologies that will be essential for the new era of spatial computing.Gaudio Lab will host its booth in the KOTRA Korea Pavilion at MWC Barcelona, where attendees can have a sneak
Following the announcement of the government’s introduction of a program to enhance corporate value, stocks with a low price-to-book ratio (PBR) showed strength. Over the past two weeks, foreign investors’ net purchases on the KOSPI surpassed 5 trillion won. While low PBR stocks surged due to foreig
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has decided to review the designation of dominant business entities, which is at the core of the Fair Competition Promotion Act (the Platform Act for short). This means that virtually, the Korean market watchdog will review the designation from scratch. Industr