DB Insurance to Close $1.65B Fortegra Buyout May 30 in Korea's First US Insurer M&A
DB Insurance (005830.KS) closes its $1.65B Fortegra buyout May 30 — Korea's first US insurer takeover and the industry's largest cross-border M&A.
Wall Street Chip Rout Stacks Onto Friday's 6.1% KOSPI Plunge, Setting Up Anxious Monday for Samsung, SK Hynix
If Monday opens down another 3-4%, do I cut KOSPI exposure or buy the dip? That depends entirely on whether you believe the AI memory trade is correcting or ...
Samsung, SK Hynix Drive 43% of Record ₩48 Trillion KOSPI Turnover Even as Foreigners Dump ₩46 Trillion
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix accounted for 43% of KOSPI's record ₩48 trillion daily average May turnover even as foreigners net-sold ₩4.6 trillion of Korean stocks over 12 record sessions.
Kakao Books ~300x Return on ₩2B Dunamu Seed, Pivots ₩1T to AI
Kakao Investment will sell its 6.55% Dunamu stake to Hana Bank for ₩1.003 trillion on June 15, booking roughly a 300x return on ₩35.5B invested since 2012 and earmarking proceeds for AI.
Korea Gains a Point on MSCI Scorecard, but Wednesday's Reclassification Review Is the Real Test
MSCI cut Korea's minus-rated accessibility categories to five from six, upgrading investment-instrument availability. The annual classification review on June 23 will determine whether Korea re-enters the developed-market watchlist for the first time since 2014.
Samsung (005930.KS) Overtakes Meta to Enter Global Top 10
Samsung Electronics HBM4 Sales Top USD 1 Billion Four Months After Launch as Nvidia Vera Rubin Demand Accelerates
Samsung Electronics crossed the USD 1 billion milestone in HBM4 chip sales just four months after its February 2026 launch, targeting USD 1.2 billion by month-end as Nvidia Vera Rubin ramps.
Samsung Wage Deal Passes 73.7%, Hard-Wiring 10.5% of Chip Profit Into a Bonus Pool That Shareholders Want to Void
Samsung Electronics' joint unions ratified the 2026 wage deal at 73.7%, but a minority-shareholder group said on May 27 it will file a nullification suit against the 10.5%-of-chip-profit bonus pool as a disguised dividend that bypassed shareholder approval.
Samsung Electronics' ₩600M Bonus Resets the Math for Samsung Biologics Strike Talks
The tentative wage deal that pulled Samsung Electronics — Korea's largest chipmaker — back from an 18-day general strike has handed the still-striking union at Samsung Biologics — Korea's largest cont
SK Group Chair Vows to Double HBM Wafer Output in Five Years as Huang Hails Hynix’s USD 1 Trillion Cap
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won pledged at Computex 2026 to double SK hynix’s wafer production capacity within five years, warning the global HBM supply crunch will persist through 2030, as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hailed SK hynix’s USD 1 trillion market-cap milestone at a bilateral Taipei meeting.
SK Square Hits Record ₩1.891 Million Intraday, Outpacing SK Hynix as Index Cap Drives Proxy Demand
SK Square's shares touched a record intraday high of ₩1,891,000 in June, climbing 44% on the month as a 10% index weight cap on SK Hynix pushes institutional investors toward the holding company.
Kakao Unveils Kanana Agentic AI at KPAIX 2026, Positions KakaoTalk as Korea's Government Service Gateway
Kakao Corp. (035720.KS) unveiled its Kanana agentic AI at KPAIX 2026 in Goyang, partnering with South Korea's government to turn KakaoTalk into a national AI service hub while launching Commerce Catalog Advertising.
SK hynix Orders ₩44.2B HBM4 Griffin Bonders From Hanmi
SK hynix ordered HBM4 production equipment worth ₩44.2 billion ($28.7 million) from Hanmi Semiconductor, Korea's dominant maker of HBM thermo-compression bonders.
Hyundai Rotem Seals ₩748.2 Billion, 20-Year Morocco Maintenance Pact, Lifting Korea's Total Rail Bet Near ₩3 Trillion
Hyundai Rotem sealed a KRW 748.2 billion (USD 487.3M) 20-year maintenance contract with ONCF, pushing Korea's total Morocco rail commitment to ~KRW 2.98 trillion ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
MU Rallies +6.4%; SK Hynix Set for +1.56% Average Next-Session Move in 31-Case Analog
China Blocks Meta's $2 Billion Manus Deal, Forcing Korean AI Sector to Reprice Cross-Border Risk
Samsung Union Vote Tops 87% as 18-Day Strike Recedes — Locking In a 10-Year Treasury-Share Bonus Engine
Combined turnout in Samsung Electronics' two-union ratification ballot reached 87.4% by Day 4, locking in a 10-year, 10.5%-of-DS-profit treasury-share bonus engine worth ~₩37 trillion in 2026 alone.
The 2-Week Ceasefire: The Heavy Burden of Uncertainty Behind the Price Tag
LG Chem Commits KRW 15 Trillion to R&D by 2035, Targeting Semiconductor Packaging and Robotics Materials
LG Chem commits KRW 15 trillion (USD 9.74 billion) in R&D through 2035, with 70% targeted at semiconductor, EV, and robotics materials and 30% at anticancer drugs, as the company pivots from petrochemicals to high-margin specialties.
Samsung Electronics to Shutter Malaysia Plant, Outsource Dishwashers in Appliance Overhaul
Hanmi Pharmaceutical to Debut Second Muscle-Preserving Obesity Drug at ADA 2026
Hanmi Pharmaceutical will unveil LA-MSTN, its second muscle-preserving obesity drug candidate, at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting in New Orleans on June 5-8, 2026, alongside seven other obesity-pipeline studies.
Samsung (005930.KS) Anchors $175M Element Biosciences Round
SK Hynix Unveils 'iHBM' In-Package Cooling, Cuts Thermal Resistance 30% as HBM5 Race Opens
SK Hynix disclosed iHBM, an in-package cooling architecture that cuts HBM thermal resistance by more than 30%, slated to debut in HBM5 as the AI memory race pivots from stacking to heat control.
onsemi's $7B Synaptics Deal Reshapes Edge-AI Chips for Korea
The Double-Edged Sword of Southeast Asia's Property Boom: A view from Cambodia
Samsung Biologics Partial Strike Extends Into Day Three; Full Walkout Set for May 1
Samsung (005930.KS) Chair Warns 18-Day Strike Risks ₩30T Hit
KakaoBank Launches Unified 'Investment Tab' as Korean Fintechs Pivot to Hyper-Personalization
NTS Audit Targets Meritz Securities as Korea's Finance Sweep Widens
Korea's National Tax Service (NTS), the country's central tax authority, opened a special tax audit of Meritz Securities on May 11, according to Chosun Biz.
Samsung Electronics Closes 1.8% Higher as KOSPI Defies OpenAI Selloff
Korea to List 18 Leveraged ETFs on Samsung, SK Hynix May 27
Samsung (005930.KS) Averts Strike; Treasury Deal Sparks Lawsuit
Naver Shares Jump 5% on Speculation It Will Bid for Baemin Operator
Shares of Naver (035420.KS), the operator of Korea's dominant search portal and a sprawling commerce, fintech and AI stack, jumped more than 5% on Thursday, May 14,
Samsung (005930.KS) Mediation Fails; 40K Chip Strike Looms May 21
Samsung's NLRC bonus mediation collapsed before dawn Wednesday, with the union setting an 18-day general strike from May 21 involving more than 40,000 chip-division workers.
SK Hynix (000660.KS) Tops ₩1,000T Market Cap, KOSPI's 2nd Ever
Celltrion Launches Tocilizumab Biosimilar Avtozma in Japan, Expanding Autoimmune Portfolio to Four
Samsung (005930.KS) Names Lee Won-jin TV Chief in Reshuffle
KB Financial Drafts 3-Year Strategy as Yang Eyes Second Term
KB Financial Group, Korea's largest financial holding group by net profit, has begun drafting a fresh mid-to-long-term strategy at the very moment it opens the contest to choose its next chairman — a
Nvidia's Huang Meets Samsung (005930.KS) on HBM4 Deal
Nvidia's Huang in Seoul as Hyundai AI Hub Nears Sign-Off
Nvidia (NVDA) Chief Executive Jensen Huang spent the third day of a four-day South Korea visit moving between two ends of the same bet: cars and video games. On
Samsung and SK hynix Bonus Windfall Lifts Luxury Sales Up to 200% at Korea's Semicon-Belt Department Stores
Department stores in Korea's semiconductor-belt — home to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix facilities — logged luxury sales surging up to 200% year-on-year in the first five months of 2026, as AI-chip profits translated into some of the biggest paychecks in Korean corporate history.
SK Hynix Drives 5.5% KOSPI Plunge as SpaceX IPO, US CPI Loom
LG Innotek Crosses ₩1 Million as Hana Lifts Target to ₩1.3M on AI Substrate Re-Rating
LG Innotek (011070.KS) opened up 20% on May 26, 2026, crossing the ₩1 million emperor-stock tier as Hana Securities lifted its target to ₩1.3M from ₩700,000.
Samsung Deploys ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude Group-Wide
Samsung Electronics officially launches its company-wide AI transformation, deploying ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude across all affiliates in June 2026.
Dutch Envoy Pushes Korea Tech Pact Beyond ASML, Flags Photonics as Next Joint Frontier
Dutch ambassador Peter van der Vliet told Nikkei Asia that Seoul-Hague tech ties now reach beyond ASML's lithography stack, flagging photonics as the next field for joint cooperation.
Concrete Strike Threatens Samsung (005930.KS), SK Hynix Fabs
Kakao (035720.KS) Faces First HQ Strike; MSIT Steps In
Kia to Retire Granbird After 60 Years as Chinese EV Buses and Emissions Rules Squeeze Korea's Last Diesel Coach Maker
Kia will discontinue its Granbird large bus within 1-2 years, ending a 60-year legacy as Chinese EV buses and emissions rules make the diesel coach unprofitable.
Samsung's System LSI Guides to Annual Loss Despite Record Q1 Revenue as SoC Drag Persists
The head of Samsung Electronics' (005930
Pulmuone Extends 11-Year U.S. Tofu Lead as Jan–May Sales Climb 16.8% to ₩107.8 Billion
Pulmuone Foods USA logged ₩107.8 billion in Jan–May 2026 U.S. tofu revenues, up 16.8% year on year, as water-pack and high-protein formats drive record-pace sales across 15,000 U.S. stores.
KakaoPay, Toss Pay Pull Payment Services From Megabox as Court Freeze Locks Out Refunds
KakaoPay and Toss Pay pull payment gateway services from Megabox after Seoul Bankruptcy Court freezes JoongAng Group assets. Megabox carries 2,212% debt-to-equity ratio after 6 consecutive loss years.
IMM PE Seals ₩1.11 Trillion Deal to Take 80% of CGBio, Betting on USD 1.6 Billion in U.S. Medical Device Sales
Intel Hires Former SK Hynix CEO Seok-Hee Lee to Run Its Advanced Packaging Push
Intel named former SK Hynix president Seok-Hee Lee as EVP of Intel Foundry, putting the Korean memory veteran in charge of advanced packaging as Intel chases profitable foundry revenue.
KOSPI Closes Above 8,000 on the Eve of Korea's First 2x Single-Stock Leverage ETFs on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix
Korea's KOSPI closed at a record 8,047.51 on May 26, 2026 — its first-ever close above 8,000 — one day before eight asset managers list the country's first 2x single-stock leverage ETFs on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Korea Debuts 2x Samsung, SK Hynix Leverage ETFs May 27 as FSS Curbs Launch Marketing
South Korea's first single-stock leveraged exchange-traded products tracking Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) at ±2x daily returns will list on the Korea Exchange (KRX, Korea's
Celltrion (068270.KS) Adds ₩200B to 2026 Buyback as 0.05 Bonus Issue Sets June Listing
Celltrion added a ₩100B treasury buyback plus a ₩100B parent purchase on May 21, lifting 2026 cancellations toward ~₩2T as a 0.05 bonus issue lists 10.92M shares.
Samsung Electronics Strike 2026: Why an 18-Day Walkout Could Cost South Korea $22 Billion and Break Global Chip Supply
Kiwoom Securities in Exclusive Talks to Acquire Bithumb Stake as Korean Brokers Race for Crypto Foothold
Kiwoom Securities is negotiating to acquire a stake in Bithumb through a third-party share issuance, joining Samsung Securities and Mirae Asset in Korea's broker–crypto exchange consolidation race.
LG Display (034220.KS): 3rd-Gen Tandem OLED Cuts Power 18%
Samsung Electronics Faces May 21 General Strike as Court Sets Mid-May Ruling on Injunction
Samsung Electronics Launches Korean-Spec EHS Heat Pump Boiler, Targets Climate-Tech Appliance Segment
Upstage Closes Daum Acquisition from Kakao (035720.KS)
Upstage closed its share-swap acquisition of AXZ from Kakao (035720.KS), taking control of Daum, Korea's oldest internet portal.
LG Innotek, Applied Intuition CEOs Meet in Seoul to Widen Physical AI Pact
KB Financial Completes Won-Stablecoin Pilot Linking Hollys Coffee QR Payments to a Three-Minute Vietnam Remittance
KB Financial demoed a won-stablecoin chain linking Hollys QR payments to a Vietnam remittance via Kaia — under 3 minutes, 87% under SWIFT.
Kakao Averts First HQ Strike With Mediation Extension; Bonus Standoff Continues
Hana Financial (086790.KS) Faces Korea Special Tax Probe
Korea's FSS Opens Wash-Trading Probe Into Samsung-SK Hynix Single-Stock Leverage ETFs One Day After Debut
Korea's Financial Supervisory Service opened a wash-trading probe into single-stock leverage ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, one day after the products drew record day-one retail flows
Biosimilar M&A Tests Celltrion (068270.KS), Samsung Bioepis
SK Innovation Breaks Ground on $2.3 Billion Vietnam LNG-Power Hub, Targeting 2030 Start
LG Innotek Jumps as KB, NH Hike Targets on Substrate AI-Server Thesis
Samsung Unveils First AI Smart Glasses, Targeting Meta's 73% Lead
Samsung unveiled its first AI smart glasses with Google at I/O 2026, partnering with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker for a fall launch — challenging Meta's 73%
Samsung (005930.KS) Averts 18-Day Strike After Bonus Deal
Korean Retail Sells US Stocks a Third Straight Month as Samsung-SK Hynix Bet Tips KOSPI Volatility Past Wartime Highs
Korean retail investors net-sold USD 793M of US stocks in early June, a third straight month of outflows, as Samsung and SK Hynix now dominate 50.7% of KOSPI.
LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) Files for US Tariff Refund
NH Investment (005940.KS) Raises ₩400B for IMA Expansion
Korea's Samsung, SK Hynix Single-Stock Leverage ETFs Churn ₩37 Trillion in Turnover in Four Days, Stoking Overheating Alarms
Single-stock leveraged ETFs on Samsung and SK Hynix racked up ₩37 trillion in turnover within four trading days of their May 27 launch, while Samsung Electronics' market cap crossed USD 1.56 trillion to displace Meta from the global top 10.
Kakao Faces First Strike; the Real Risk Is the Pay Formula
Kakao (035720.KS) — operator of KakaoTalk, the messaging-and-payments app on which roughly 49 million South Koreans depend (Tech Times) — faced the first walkout in its history on Wednesday, June 10,
Samsung Medison Wins Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Ultrasound Deals
Samsung Medison, the medical-device subsidiary of Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), has won back-to-back ultrasound supply contracts at two of the most prestigio
Indonesia Nickel Cuts Hit LG Energy Solution (373220.KS)
Dual Sidecars Fire as Korea's KOSPI and KOSDAQ Erase Black Monday Losses
South Korean equities triggered consecutive buy-side sidecars Tuesday as the KOSPI and KOSDAQ staged a sharp recovery from Monday's 8.29% plunge, with Samsung and SK hynix reclaiming key price levels.
SK hynix (000660.KS), Nvidia Sign HBM Pact for Vera Rubin AI
Foreign Ownership of KB Financial Tops 80% for First Time Since 2008, Reframing Chairman Reappointment
Foreign investors now own more than 80% of KB Financial Group for the first time since the holding company was established in 2008, bolstering Chairman Yang Jong-hee reappointment prospects.
South Korea Jumps to 21st in IMD World Competitiveness, Second-Highest Ever as Business Efficiency Surges 10 Spots
South Korea climbed six spots to 21st among 70 economies in the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, its second-highest result ever, driven by a 10-place surge in business efficiency and a rise to 15th in infrastructure.
KOSPI Tops 9,000 for First Time, Led by Just Two Chip Stocks
South Korea's KOSPI (the country's benchmark stock index) closed above 9,000 for the first time on June 18, finishing at 9,063. 84, up 199.
Korean Banks' JoongAng Group Exposure Tops ₩800 Billion as Receivership Tests Record Earnings
Five JoongAng Group units, including JTBC, sought court rehabilitation after a ₩700 billion sports-broadcast-rights bet went wrong. Hana Bank holds the largest exposure at ₩307 billion; analysts project limited provisioning impact on Korean lenders.
Samsung and SK Hynix Back Anthropic's Record USD 65B Round as AI Unicorn Files Near-$1 Trillion IPO
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix joined Anthropic as strategic infrastructure partners in its USD 65 billion Series H, lifting the AI lab to a USD 965 billion valuation ahead of a confidential S-1 filing. SK Telecom's USD 100M stake, booked at KRW 1.3 trillion, could revalue to KRW 3 trillion-plus at IPO.
Hormuz Held Hostage: The US-Iran War's Hidden Bill the World Is Paying
SK Biopharmaceuticals Signs USD 2.5 Billion AI Drug Discovery Deal With Insilico Medicine at BioUSA 2026, Expanding CNS Reach Beyond Epilepsy
SK Biopharmaceuticals (326030.KS) signed a USD 2.5 billion AI drug discovery deal with Insilico Medicine at BioUSA 2026 to develop neuroimmune CNS therapies, as 51 Korean biotech firms set new partnership benchmarks at the San Diego event.
Korean PM Threatens Emergency Arbitration as Samsung Electronics Strike Looms
PM Kim Min-seok told the nation Sunday that Seoul will weigh emergency arbitration if Samsung's 18-day chip strike proceeds, citing damage up to ₩100T.
Korea's 'Korea Discount' Cure Freezes IPO Market: HD Hyundai, LS, SK Ecoplant Shelve USD 6 Billion in Listings as Dual-Listing Rules Stall
South Korea's dual-listing ban has paralysed the KOSPI IPO pipeline — 2026 H1 fundraising collapsed 91% to USD 700M as HD Hyundai Robotics (USD 5.4B), SK Ecoplant, and LS Group shelve major listing plans.
Samsung (005930.KS): May 11 Bonus Mediation, Union Splits
KB Lifts LG Chem (051910.KS) to ₩470,000 on Q2 Profit Swing
Kakao Heads to Final Mediation as First-Ever Headquarters Strike Looms
Kakao Corp. (035720.KS) heads into a second and final mediation session Wednesday, May 27, with the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission, with a failure unlocking the legal right to stage the first walkout in Kakao headquarters history.
Samsung Bonus Civil War: '1%' Question Splits Unions Before Strike-Eve Mediation
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), the world's largest memory chipmaker, enters two days of state-supervised mediation Monday with an unusual problem: the labor side c
Hyundai Wia Weighs ₩370–880B Sale of K9/K2 Artillery Unit to Sister Rotem
Hyundai Wia is exploring a ₩370–880B sale of its defense unit to sister affiliate Hyundai Rotem, transferring K9 howitzer barrels and K2 tank main guns 50 years afte
Korean Retail US Stock Holdings Cross ₩300 Trillion as AI Rally Outpaces KOSPI Boom
Korean retail investors — locally nicknamed "Seohak Ants" (the colloquial term for Koreans buying overseas equities) — pushed their US stock holdings above ₩300 tril