On Feb. 8, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) unveiled its agenda for the year, intending to elevate the criteria for designating business conglomerates subject to disclosure. Criticism has been directed at the regulations governing the disclosure of business groups as they are unique to South Korea. T
President Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated the importance of adopting a global standard to address the “Korea Discount,” which indicates the undervaluation of the domestic stock market, during his televised speech on Feb. 7. This has sparked increased interest in low price-to-book ratio (PBR) stocks among i
Samsung Electronics is gearing up for the commencement of operations at its semiconductor contract manufacturing foundry in Taylor, Texas, in the U.S. by deploying manufacturing-related personnel in the second half of the year. If the current situation persists, there should be no issues with starti
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
SK hynix and Taiwan’s TSMC have established an “AI semiconductor alliance.” SK hynix, riding the wave of generative AI popularity, has emerged as a leader in the high bandwidth memory (HBM) market, while TSMC is the world’s largest semiconductor foundry. The strategy aims to consolidate the companie
The South Korean government has approved new projects worth 13.8 trillion won (US$11.5 billion) under the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) to be implemented by 2026, with 6.5 trillion won to be disbursed. Established in 1987, the EDCF is a fund for concessional loans aimed at supporting
Despite a slowdown in the growth of electric vehicles, it was revealed that the usage of electric vehicle batteries increased by 38.6 percent last year compared a year earlier. Chinese companies CATL and BYD jointly secured the top two positions in the global market. The market share of South Korea’
Shinhan Financial Group announced on Feb. 7 that it has received the “Leadership A” rating in the CDP Climate Change category announced by the Korean Committee of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) on Feb. 6, making it the only domestic financial institution to achieve this distinction.CDP is a glo
KT&G has rejected the request of an activist-oriented private equity fund to file a lawsuit seeking damages against its former and current directors.On Feb. 7, KT&G announced that it had decided not to file a lawsuit regarding the request from Flashlight Capital Partners (FCP), a private equity fund
The Korea Development Institute (KDI) recently evaluated the state of the South Korean economy, noting a recovery in exports but a slowdown in domestic consumption. This marks the third consecutive month that the KDI has assessed a “slowdown in domestic consumption.”On Feb. 7, the KDI assessed the e
A report has emerged stating that the level of maternity and childcare leave provided by domestic companies in South Korea ranks fifth among 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). However, despite the increase in the number of individuals taking childcare l
Korea’s current account surplus reached US$35.5 billion in 2023. This was mainly because the volume of goods exports reaching a yearly high at the end of 2023.The current account surplus stood at US$7.41 billion in December, according to a December 2023 provisional balance of payments data released
U.S. General Motors (GM) Chairwoman Mary Barra will visit South Korea to meet with battery partners -- LG Energy Solutions and Samsung SDI -- on Feb. 7. Barra has made several unofficial visits to South Korea since taking office as chairwoman in 2016, but this is the first time she has officially co
A contract worth US$3.2 billion has been finalized to export the KM-SAM2 (Cheongung) ballistic missile system, also known as the Korean Patriot Missile, to Saudi Arabia.The Korean Ministry of National Defense announced on Feb. 6 (local time) a contract for the export of 10 M-SAM2 batteries signed be
Pulmuone's innovative plant-based protein product, 'Tofu Bar,' continues its rapid sales growth, captivating the taste of local consumers in Japan's top three major convenience stores.Pulmuone, a South Korean fresh food company, announced on the 7th that the sales of Tofu Bar, launched by its Japane
Samsung Heavy Industries has secured a second-phase project for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers worth 4.6 trillion won (US$2.5 billion), following HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, marking another success for two of South Korea’s major shipbuilders in the Qatar LNG project.On Feb. 6, Samsung Heavy I
Samsung smartphones, once leading the market in the United States, have seen a significant drop in market share, facing a crisis as Galaxy sales plummet in one of the world’s largest markets.According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on Feb. 6, Samsung Electronics’ market share in the U
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy revealed on Jan. 6 that last year a total of 23 cases of overseas leakage of industrial technology, including “national core technologies,” were detected, marking an increase of 3 cases from the previous year. The government designates as national core tec
The global leading automotive company Toyota, which has been embroiled in a “quality certification fraud” scandal, announced a record-breaking net profit of 4.5 trillion yen, equivalent to 40.2 trillion won or US$30.28 billion, for the fiscal year 2023, spanning from April 2023 to March 2024. The pr
Due to the strength of the U.S. dollar, the foreign exchange reserves decreased last month for the first time in three months.According to the statistics of the “Foreign Reserves as of the End of January 2024” publication released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Feb. 5, South Korea’s foreign reserves