• 
  Shinhan Bank Tops South Korea’s Retirement Pension Market With 54.74 Trillion Won Shinhan Bank said it has become the top financial institution in South Korea’s retirement pension market. The bank said Tuesday that its retirement pension assets reached 54.7391 trillion won, based on disclosures on the Financial Supervisory Service’s Integrated Pension Portal. It said the figure is the largest across the financial industry, including banks, securities firms and insurers. Shinhan Bank said assets grew evenly across defined benefit (DB), defined contribution (DC) and ind April 15, 2026
• 
  BTS Places Six Songs on Billboard Hot 100 for Third Straight Week BTS extended its run on Billboard’s main singles chart, placing six songs on the Hot 100 for a third consecutive week. The group also appeared on Rolling Stone’s May special cover, underscoring its global profile. According to Billboard’s latest charts released April 14, “SWIM,” the title track from BTS’ fifth full-length album “ARIRANG,” ranked No. 5 on the April 18 Hot 100. Five other tracks from the album also charted: “Body to Body” at No. 52, “2.0” at No. 67, “Hooligan” at No. 72, “N April 15, 2026
• 
  Toss Signs MOU With Korea Franchise Association to Expand FacePay Viva Republica, the operator of Toss, is moving to expand use of its FacePay service. Toss said on 15일 it signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with the Korea Franchise Industry Association. Under the agreement, the two sides plan to roll out Toss’ facial-recognition payment service, FacePay, across franchise stores. The association will support adoption among its member companies, while Toss will provide the payment infrastructure and technology. FacePay is a simple payment April 15, 2026
• 
  Korean Drugmakers Reshape R&D as Price Cuts and Commercial Law Changes Loom Korean drugmakers are reorganizing research and development around their headquarters and speeding up outside hiring and internal reshuffles as policy changes such as drug price cuts and revisions to the Commercial Act take shape. The moves are aimed at concentrating new-drug development and commercialization capabilities as profitability is expected to come under pressure. According to the industry on the 14th, Ildong Pharmaceutical decided the previous day to merge its R&D subsidiary Unov April 14, 2026
• 
  KBO Hits Leader Son Ah-seop Traded to Doosan for Lee Gyo-hoon, Cash KBO League career hits leader Son Ah-seop is leaving the Hanwha Eagles and joining the Doosan Bears in a trade. Hanwha announced on the 14th that it will send Son to Doosan in exchange for left-hander Lee Gyo-hoon and 150 million won in cash. Son, a veteran outfielder, was acquired by Hanwha in a trade from the NC Dinos in July last year. After about eight months with the Eagles, he will now wear a Doosan uniform. Since debuting in 2007, Son has played 20 seasons and owns a .319 career b April 14, 2026
• 
  Streamers Gwajuseyeon and BJ K confirm relationship in live broadcast Streamer Gwajuseyeon and BJ K have drawn attention after publicly confirming they are dating. On the 13th, K hosted a live broadcast titled “K’s major announcement” on his SOOP channel. Gwajuseyeon appeared alongside him during the stream. “We’re dating,” K said, making their relationship official. K said they first met at an after-party following an acquaintance’s wedding in July last year. He said they stayed in touch, spent about a month in an early stage of getting to kn April 14, 2026
• 
  JW Pharmaceutical to Distribute Hemophilia Comic for Women; MFDS Issues Atopic Dermatitis Injection Guidance JW Pharmaceutical to distribute educational comic for women with hemophilia for World Hemophilia Day JW Pharmaceutical said Tuesday it will produce and distribute an educational comic book for women with hemophilia and carriers ahead of World Hemophilia Day on April 17. Titled “It’s OK to Be a Little Different, Because We’re Together,” the comic is part of the company’s annual hemophilia support program, the Bravo Campaign. The company said it aims to improve public understanding of wom April 14, 2026
• 
  Doosan E&C We’ve Golf Team Gets Early 2026 KLPGA Win as Kim Min-sol Goes Wire-to-Wire Doosan E&C’s We’ve golf team has opened the 2026 season with an early victory on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association tour, signaling momentum at the start of the year. Kim Min-sol, who plays for Doosan E&C, won the iM Financial Open, which ended April 12, delivering the team’s first win of the season. She led from the opening round through the final round for her second career wire-to-wire victory, never giving up the lead. The win was notable because April 14, 2026
• 
  Banks Brace for Fierce Bidding for Seoul, Incheon and Other Local Government Depository Deals Local governments’ depository contracts are emerging as a major battleground for South Korea’s banks, with competition expected to intensify as several large jurisdictions near the end of their current agreements. According to the financial industry on April 14, five governments — Seoul, Incheon, Sejong City, South Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province — will see their depository agreements with banks expire at the end of December. Shinhan Bank currently handles Seoul’s first a April 14, 2026
• 
  Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young seeks film industry solutions on holdback, funding “I think we can work through this quickly.” Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young said on the 14th that the government, the film industry and the Korean Film Council should form a public-private consultative body to address pending issues, stressing the need for swift action. Speaking at a meeting with filmmakers in Seoul’s Jung District on supplementary budget planning for the film sector, Choi said there were areas that also required talks with theater April 14, 2026