Samsung Electronics’ first artificial intelligence (AI) smartphone, the Galaxy S24 series, is set to be unveiled on Jan. 18.According to industry sources on Jan. 14, Samsung Electronics will reveal the Galaxy S24 series at its first half of the year product launch event, Galaxy Unpacked 2024, schedu
SK Group announced that the cumulative number of visitors to the SK Group’s integrated exhibition hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), held from Jan. 9 to 12, was expected to reach around 60,000 by the third day of the opening, Jan. 11. In fact, throughout the event, long lines of visitor
Foreign tourists spent 5.64 million won (US$4,297) and 1.43 million won on duty-free goods per capita in November 2022 and November 2023, respectively. The amount plunged by more than 70%.The number of foreigners who visited domestic duty-free shops in November more than doubled to 646,000 from the
The heads of the four major Korean conglomerates are expected not to participate in this year’s Davos Forum.Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo will not attend the 2024 Davos Forum,
According to foreign media on Jan. 10, American investment bank Jefferies reported that Apple’s sales in China are increasingly suffering due to intense competition from local Chinese smartphone manufacturers, including Huawei.Chinese smartphone makers continue to aggressively challenge the market w
LS Eco Energy (formerly known as LS Cable & System Asia) has become the first Korean company to sign a large-scale long-term rare earth purchase contract in Vietnam. The contract signing is expected to stabilize LS Eco Energy’s rare earth supply chain by diversifying import sources of rare earth tha
STX has secured a stake in a local lithium mine in Peru to secure lithium, a key material for secondary batteries and trade lithium concentrates.STX announced on Jan. 9 that it has secured a stake in a lithium mine located in Puno Province in southeastern Peru and an off-take right to sell lithium c
SK hynix has successfully issued a US$1.5 billion dollar-denominated bond.According to foreign reports on Jan. 9, SK hynix conducted demand forecasts for dollar bonds in Asia, Europe, and the United States the previous day and confirmed the issuance of a US$1.5 billion bond. The issued dollar bonds
With the re-addition of Guatemala, the only Central American country that had previously withdrawn from the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korea and Central American nations, the FTA has reached its final completion.The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) announced that it formall
In 2023, overseas construction orders totaled US$33.31 billion, exceeding US$30 billion for the fourth consecutive year. However, it is just short of the target of US$35 billion.According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) on Jan. 8, 321 Korean overseas construction compa
The joint battery plant of Chinese battery maker CATL and U.S. automaker Ford in the United States is not excluded from those eligible for subsidies under the local Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of the U.S. government, a leading Chinese newspaper reported.“Ford has not found anything in the IRA or i
Starting from the second half of this year, South Korean companies will have the option to settle export and import payments in Korean won when engaging in trade transactions with certain countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This move is expected to allow businesses to
Despite a record influx of foreign workers, South Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still facing a labor shortage.According to a comprehensive survey on foreign labor employment conducted by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (K-Biz), 29.7% of the 1,200 SMEs employ
The government’s new entrusted operating funds for the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), the sovereign wealth fund, have effectively ceased from 2022 until last year. Some argue that the KIC faces concerns about its international competitiveness. In a landscape where competing sovereign wealth fun
The Korean government will increase an influx of foreign workers to industrial sites and rural areas suffering from labor shortages in 2024 to more than 260,000 from 170,000 in 2023 in response to the Korea’s population crisis and labor shortage, according to the Korean Government’s Economic Policy
The Korean government has earnestly taken steps to address the escalating population crisis, which has emerged as a significant social concern in the nation. More efforts will be made to bolster support for childbirth and the upbringing of infants and children, aimed at mitigating the population dec
In 2023, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea exceeded US$32.7 billion, a record high. High-tech materials, parts, and equipment such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and biotech items led the increase in FDI in Korea.According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Jan. 4, FDI
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on Jan. 4 that it has uncovered additional evidence of illegal short selling amounting to tens of billions of won, following the detection of naked short selling by global investment banks BNP Paribas and HSBC.In a New Year’s press conference for in-
In India, where global corporations and investors are focusing their attention as the “next China,” Mirae Asset Global Investments is gaining influence in the local market by surpassing 1 trillion won in assets under management (AUM) with its exchange-traded funds (ETFs).According to the asset manag
Blueprints of a submarine designed by Hanwha Ocean (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) have been leaked to Taiwan, with the police currently investigating the matter. The leaked submarine blueprints pertain to the DSME1400 model, a variant of the 209-class KSS-1 submarine. Three of t