Hana Bank, Bank of Korea and BGF Retail sign MOU for Project Hangang Phase 2 deposit tokens Hana Bank said Thursday it signed a three-way memorandum of understanding with the Bank of Korea and BGF Retail at the central bank’s headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday to help advance “Project Hangang Phase 2,” a pilot program testing deposit tokens, and to promote digital finance innovation. The agreement expands a deposit-token pilot led by the Bank of Korea together with the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service. It is aimed at enabling real-world payments April 3, 2026

MMCA Cheongju to Offer Free Exhibition Admission to Troops in North Chungcheong Province The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Cheongju Art Storage Center said Thursday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the ROK Army’s 37th Infantry Division on March 24 to run arts and culture programs and support museum visits for service members. The agreement is intended to broaden access to cultural experiences for troops carrying out mandatory service, as well as their families and civilian employees. The museum said the program will cover not only the division April 3, 2026

Toss Payments Says It Has Fully Deployed Post-Quantum Cryptography in Korea Toss Payments said on April 3 it has become the first company in South Korea’s finance and information technology sectors to fully adopt post-quantum cryptography, or PQC. PQC refers to next-generation encryption based on complex mathematical algorithms designed to withstand decryption attempts even by quantum computers. Quantum computers, which use principles of quantum mechanics, are expected in theory to solve problems that would take conventional supercomputers thousands of years in ju April 3, 2026

Korean Films Line Up for April Releases After 15 Million-Ticket Hit 'The King and the Man Who Lives' The Korean box office has been buoyed by “The King and the Man Who Lives,” which drew 15 million moviegoers and helped bring audiences back to theaters. Attention is now shifting to April releases, with new Korean films rolling out across genres, from crime thrillers to horror and human drama. Leading the early April slate is “Endgame Investigation,” which opened April 2. It is director Park Cheol-hwan’s first feature film, after earning notice for the series “Grid” and “Dominant April 3, 2026

Korea to Recruit 300 Trainees for 2026 Creative Content Mentoring Program The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency said Thursday they will recruit 300 trainees through April 15 for the 2026 Creative Content Talent Companion Program. Now in its 15th year, the program is a flagship effort to develop talent across the content industry. Past graduates include Hong Bichira, creator of the webtoon “Severe Trauma Center: Golden Hour,” director Jang Jae-hyun of the film “Exhuma,” and writer Moon Ji-won of the drama “Extraordina April 2, 2026

Six Policy Lenders to Back Hyundai Motor Group’s Saemangeum Growth Hub Project Six state-run policy finance institutions, including the Korea Development Bank, are set to support Hyundai Motor Group’s project to build an innovation-led growth hub in the Saemangeum area of North Jeolla Province. Financial industry officials said Thursday that a consultative body made up of the Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea Trade Insurance Corp. and Korea Technology Finance Corp. is expected to sign a m April 2, 2026

Policy Split Deepens Divide Between Korea’s Pharma and Biotech Sectors Korea’s pharmaceutical and biotech industry is showing a sharper divide as government policy moves in opposite directions. While authorities are rolling out support measures to foster biotech, they have also decided to cut prices for generic drugs, leaving drugmakers bracing for tighter margins.  Industry officials said April 2 that Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, the country’s two biggest biotech companies, are each targeting more than 5 trillion won in sales this year.  Both compan April 2, 2026

Korean Pharma-Bio Briefing: Kolon Life Science, Daewoong, Celltrion, Daewon, Samsung Medical Center Kolon Life Science secures additional Asia patents for TG-C mixed-cell gene therapy Kolon Life Science said Thursday that patents covering the “mixed-cell gene therapy” approach used in TG-C, an osteoarthritis gene therapy being developed by affiliate Kolon TissueGene, have recently been approved for registration in several Asian markets. The patents cover a technique that combines cells engineered to produce growth factors (TGF-β or BMP) with cells designed to respond to those s April 2, 2026

Prain Sports golfers target new-season wins after 63 tour victories, 36.8 billion won in prize money Prain Sports golfers are gearing up for the start of South Korea’s men’s and women’s tours, with 22 players set to begin their push for titles. Active players under the management company have combined for 63 wins on the top-tier KLPGA and KPGA tours and about 36.8 billion won in career prize money — an unusually large total for a single agency. Sixteen players are preparing to compete on the KLPGA Tour this season: Lee Jeong-min, Lee Ju-mi, Park Ji-young, Park Gyeol, Han Jin-seon, Park B April 2, 2026

ILLIT to Hold Seoul Children’s Grand Park Festival for ‘MAMIHLAPINATAPAI’ Release 그룹 아일릿(ILLIT)이 미니 4집 '마밀라피나타파이'(MAMIHLAPINATAPAI) 발매를 기념해 오는 5월 5일 서울어린이대공원에서 축제를 연다. 빌리프랩은 2일 "일명 '아일릿 서울 어린이대공원 페스티벌'"을 소개하며 "이 행사는 아일릿의 신보 타이틀곡인 '잇츠 미(It's Me)'를 메인 테마로 꾸며진다. 가족과 친구 단위의 방문객이 함께 즐길 수 있는 다양한 체험 부스가 마련되고 아일릿은 신곡 무대로 열기를 더할 예정"이라고 밝혔다. 이어 "'아일릿 서울 어린이대공원 April 2, 2026