Goldman mulls redemption option for Coupang loan, but still undecided

Goldman Sachs has begun researching its right to call in the 300 billion won ($265 million) loan it provided against Coupang Corp.'s two distributio...

Korea’s leading e-book startups eye IPO in 2022

South Korea’s leading e-book platforms are targeting to go public next year. The country’s subscription-based e-book service provider Mi...

LX Group’s Pantos to enter e-commerce market with fulfillment service

Pantos Co., the logistics unit of South Korea’s newly established LX Group, is entering the global e-commerce market by launching a worldwide ...

HiteJinro's fruit-flavored soju becomes huge hit among Russian MZers

South Korea's leading soju maker HiteJinro Co. has been enjoying great success in Russia thanks to strong demand for fruit-flavored soju from local ...

Service marketplace Soomgo raises nearly $30 mn in Series C round

South Korea-based Brave Mobile Inc., the operator of service matching platform Soomgo, has secured 32 billion won ($28.6 million) in a Series C fund...

Delivery service provider Barogo wraps up $72 mn Series C round

Logistics IT platform service Barogo has successfully wrapped up an 80 billion won ($72 million) Series C round, far above the company's initial tar...

Laundry service Wash Swat wraps up $16 mn Series B round

South Korea-based laundry service startup Wash Swat Inc. has secured 17.5 billion won ($16 million) in Series B round funding, bringing the company'...

Hyundai Motor pilots EV mobility service for pets

Hyundai Motor Group will pilot an urban mobility service for pets in Seoul, using a specially designed Ray EV model by Kia Corp. The group said on A...

GS Galtex to partner with Kakao for mobility services

South Korea's GS Caltex Corp., aiming to become a logistics platform, will invest around 30 billion won ($26 million) in Kakao Mobility Corp. to str...

Kakao forays into pet taxi service; buys Pet Me Up

South Korea-based Kakao Mobility Corp., a subsidiary of mobile giant Kakao Corp., has acquired the country's leading pet taxi service, Pet Me Up, in...

GM Korea to cut production; carmakers call for govt action

The South Korean arm of General Motors Co. has become the country’s first automaker forced to cut production due to the global semiconductor c...

Two thirds of Koreans use OTT services; YouTube favored

Two out of every three Koreans used over-the-top (OTT) media last year, with YouTube the favored platform from which to watch videos and other strea...

Serial entrepreneur builds gateway for cloud services

“You see all of these buildings? All of the companies in these buildings will become our clients."These were the words of Lee Han-joo, chief e...

SK Innovation buys 13% stake in China’s EV battery-swap station operator

SK Innovation Co. has signed a deal to acquire a 13% stake in a Chinese electric vehicle battery-swap station operator, as the South Korean company ...

Calls grow for further or indefinite extension of short-selling ban

South Korean retail investors are speaking out against the lifting of a one-year ban on stock short selling ahead of its resumption scheduled for mi...

Autonomous driving startup 42dot plans Level 4 self-driving in Seoul

42dot, a South Korea-based autonomous driving startup, plans to launch a Level 4 self-driving service in some areas of Seoul next year.The company s...

Hahn & Co finances $700 mn Korean Air deal with about $400 mn debt

Hahn & Co., a South Korean private equity firm, has completed the payment for the 790 billion won ($722 million) purchase of Korean Air Lines' i...

Hyundai Motor JV to launch robotaxi services in US by 2023

Hyundai Motor Group's autonomous driving joint venture Motional and US-based ride-hailing company Lyft have joined forces to offer robotaxi servic...

Kyobo Life looks to invest in ESG bonds; calls for easing rules 

South Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance Co. is planning to invest several hundreds of millions of dollars in environmental, social and governance (ES...

BTS may be allowed to delay military service to age 30

South Korea is likely to allow the seven members of boy band BTS to postpone their mandatory national military service by two years until the age of 3...

Foreign cloud service providers led by Amazon, MS play big in Korea

Global cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) are taking a greater share of South Korea’s serverless computing market, where ...

Hyundai Card issues green bonds worth $379 mn to finance eco-friendly services

Hyundai Card Co. has issued green bonds worth 450 billion won ($379 million) to fund its green car financing services, the credit card company said on...

FKI calls for further easing of new CVC rules to spur investment

The South Korean government, which recently decided to allow holding companies of conglomerates to run corporate venture capital (CVC) units, needs to...

Korean Air, Hahn & Company closer to finalizing $845 mn in-flight meal service deal

Korean Air Lines Co. and local private equity firm Hahn & Company may sign the share purchase agreement (SPA) for the flag carrier’s in-flig...

[Upcoming IPO] Korean streaming service Watcha secures funding to join global players like Netflix

Watcha, a Korean streaming platform, is gearing up to tap into Japan and Southeast Asian markets following the completion of Series D funding worth 19...

US hedge fund calls on Korean Air to sell baggage handling unit

A US hedge fund with a stake in Korea Airport Service Co. Ltd. (KAS), a majority owned by Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd., is calling on the carrier to sell...

Korean LPs receive massive capital calls from global funds

Pension schemes and savings funds in South Korea are busy responding to a flood of capital calls simultaneously from foreign investment firms which ar...

App Doctor offers on-demand, hourly app service

For start-ups, applications are often a nuisance. Not only is it tough to develop one, but it's also a hassle to maintain and fix any issues. You're l...

Korean military fund invests in UK motorway service chain

The Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA) has invested 40 billion won ($34 million) to buy a minority stake in Welcome Break, the UK’s second biggest...

[ASK 2019 SUMMIT Panel Talks] Korean LPs call for more hedge fund communications

Korea Post and Kyobo Life Insurance Co. Ltd., the third-largest life insurer in South Korea, remain cautious about increasing exposure to hedge funds,...