Korean firms eye potential end to China's cultural ban with cautious optimism

SEOUL, February 20 (AJP) - South Korea’s business community is warily hopeful amid growing speculation that China may lift its long-standing, unofficial ban on Korean cultural content as early as May. The restrictions, imposed in retaliation for Seoul’s deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in 2017, dealt a severe blow to industries reliant on Chinese consumers. Among the hardest hit was AmorePacific, a major cosmetics firm, which

February 20, 2025

Korea's job growth slows to 6-year low as young, middle-aged workers struggle

SEOUL, February 20 (AJP) - South Korea’s labor market saw its slowest job growth in six years during the third quarter of 2024, as employment opportunities for workers in their 20s and 40s declined at an unprecedented rate, according to government data released Thursday. The number of jobs increased by 246,000 from a year earlier, marking the smallest third-quarter gain since 2018, Statistics Korea reported. The deceleration continues a downward trend from the 597,000 jobs add

February 20, 2025

HBM market share projected to exceed 30 percent of DRAM by 2028

SEOUL, February 20 (AJP) - High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is poised to capture 30.6 percent of the global DRAM market by 2028, fueled by the rapid expansion of cloud services and growing investments in artificial intelligence data centers, according to Gaurav Gupta, an analyst at Gartner. Speaking at SEMICON Korea 2025, Gupta emphasized the increasing role of HBM in the evolving semiconductor landscape. "As major suppliers refine their technology, the focus will shift toward

February 20, 2025

Mid-sized firms ramp up M&As amid economic slump

SEOUL, February 20 (AJP) - Mergers and acquisitions among South Korea’s mid-sized companies are accelerating as firms face a prolonged economic downturn and high interest rates. The number of M&A deals exceeding 100 billion won ($74.7 million) rose 12 percent to 474 cases in 2024. Daemyung Sono Group, which operates 18 hotels and resorts, invested 176 billion won to acquire a 26.77 percent stake in budget carrier T’way Air and is now in negotiations to purchase

February 20, 2025

Lotte Chemical to sell Pakistan unit to address liquidity concerns

SEOUL, February 20 (AJP) - Lotte Chemical announced plans to sell its Pakistan subsidiary, Lotte Chemical Pakistan (LCPL), for 97.9 billion won ($67.9 million) as it seeks to address concerns over its financial health. The Seoul-based firm will divest its entire 75.01 percent stake in LCPL to a consortium comprising Pakistan’s Asia Park Investment and the United Arab Emirates-based Montage Oil DMCC. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025. Lotte Chemi

February 20, 2025

Celltrion, SK Bio brace for US tariff fallout

SEOUL, February 20 (AJP) - South Korean pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are scrambling to devise contingency plans following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of proposed tariffs of 25 percent or higher on imported drugs, a move that could disrupt one of their most critical export markets. Trump's announcement has sent ripples through South Korea’s pharmaceutical sector, where leading firms such as Celltrion and SK Biopharmaceuticals have establis

February 20, 2025

POSCO bets on innovation as tariffs, Chinese steel shake industry

Editor's Note: This article is the seventh installment in our series on Asia's top 100 companies, exploring the strategies, challenges, and innovations driving the region's most influential corporations. SEOUL, February 19 (AJP) - For the 15th consecutive year, South Korean steelmaker POSCO has retained its title as the "World's Most Competitive Steelmaker," according to global steel analysis firm World Steel Dynamics. POSCO ranked as the world’s

February 20, 2025

Samsung weighs fees for mobile payment service

SEOUL, February 19 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics is moving to introduce fees for its Samsung Pay mobile payment service this year, following Apple Pay's growing presence in South Korea's digital payments market, according to financial industry sources Wednesday. Samsung Electronics, which has not charged card companies any fees since launching Samsung Pay in 2015, recently met with lawmakers and card companies to discuss implementing service fees. The discussions come as

February 19, 2025

Korean government eyes railway underground project to revive construction sector

SEOUL, February 19 (AJP) - The South Korean government on Wednesday unveiled a 4.3 trillion won ($2.98 billion) initiative to move railway infrastructure underground in three major cities, an effort aimed at revitalizing the country’s struggling construction sector. Announced during an economic policy meeting at the Government Complex Seoul, the initiative is part of a broader social overhead capital (SOC) strategy. The project will cover railway sections in Busan, Daejeon, an

February 19, 2025

SK Telecom replaces ChatGPT with in-house AI for call summaries

SEOUL, February 19 (AJP) - SK Telecom announced Wednesday it has fully transitioned to its in-house developed A.X artificial intelligence model for call summarization features, completely replacing external models like ChatGPT. "By using our in-house AI model for the call summary service, which handles up to 50 million uses daily, we have significantly reduced API costs previously paid to overseas AI model developers like OpenAI," said Kim Tae-yoon, SK Telecom's vice

February 19, 2025