Major Korean card firms likely to adopt Apple Pay next month

SEOUL, February 27 (AJP) - Shinhan Card and KB Kookmin Card are set to introduce Apple Pay as early as next month, following Hyundai Card’s initial rollout. The expansion is expected to significantly widen the mobile payment service’s reach from its current 12.65 million users to potentially all iPhone users in South Korea. The broader adoption of Apple Pay, however, may place financial pressure on small business owners. Only 10 percent of South Korea’s 3.2

February 27, 2025

Lotte Construction may sell headquarters building in Seoul to address liquidity problem

SEOUL, February 27 (AJP) - Lotte Construction, a subsidiary of Lotte Group, is taking steps to liquidate assets worth approximately 1 trillion won (US$696 million), including the sale of its building in Seoul’s Seocho-gu, amid ongoing concerns about a liquidity crisis at the group. The construction firm said Thursday that it has commissioned property consulting firms to analyze the profitability of various options for its building, including an outright sale, self-development,

February 27, 2025

Toxic levels of lead found in pens sold on Chinese e-commerce platforms

SEOUL, February 27 (AJP) - Ballpoint pens sold on Chinese e-commerce platforms contained lead at levels 231 times higher than South Korea’s legal safety limits, according to tests conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The city government examined 16 stationery products available on platforms including Temu, Shein, and AliExpress ahead of the new school season. The results, released Thursday, revealed that seven of the items contained hazardous substances exceedi

February 27, 2025

US defense secretary plans South Korea trip for shipbuilding talks

SEOUL, February 27 (AJP) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is expected to visit South Korea next month, with discussions likely to focus on shipbuilding collaboration and defense cost-sharing, according to officials and industry sources, Thursday. The trip is set to follow U.S.-Japan defense ministerial talks in late March, positioning Hegseth as the first cabinet-level official from the second Trump administration to visit South Korea. “Secretary Hegseth's team

February 27, 2025

How TSMC of Taiwan became beating heart of AI chip industry

Editor's Note: This article is the eighth 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 26 (AJP) - At a distinguished industry event in late 2023, Jensen Huang, the founder and chief executive of Nvidia, took the stage to acknowledge a partnership he deemed indispensable to his company’s success. “Nvidia would not be possible w

February 27, 2025

South Korea birthrate rises for first time in 9 years

SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) - South Korea’s birth rate increased for the first time in nine years in 2024, with the number of newborns rising by approximately 8,300 to 238,300, according to preliminary data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday. The country’s total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — rose to 0.75 from 0.72 the previous year, marking the first uptick since 2015. The modest rebound f

February 26, 2025

Cryptocurrency exchange Upbit slapped with 3-month partial suspension

SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) - South Korea’s financial regulator has imposed a three-month partial business suspension on Dunamu, the operator of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, citing violations of anti-money laundering regulations. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced on Wednesday that the suspension, effective from March 7 to June 6, will bar new customers from transferring virtual assets to or from the platform. Existing users, however, w

February 26, 2025

Middle East's growing healthcare market attracts Korean companies

SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) - South Korean pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are making significant inroads into the Middle East, capitalizing on the region’s growing demand for medical and aesthetic treatments. Daewoong Pharmaceutical has recently entered the Saudi Arabian market with its botulinum toxin product, Nabota, making it the first Asian firm to introduce such a product in the country. While Daewoong had previously secured regulatory approvals in the United

February 26, 2025

HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean form alliance for naval vessel exports

SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) - South Korea’s leading shipbuilders, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, have set aside years of fierce competition to collaborate on exporting naval vessels, a move aimed at expanding their presence in the lucrative global defense market. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in Gwacheon. Under the agreement, HD Hyundai will take the lead in exp

February 26, 2025

Hyundai Rotem secures $1.53 billion contract to supply trains to Morocco

SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) - Hyundai Rotem, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, has signed a landmark $1.53 billion contract to supply double-decker electric trains to Morocco, the company announced Wednesday. The deal, the largest in the company's history, marks Hyundai Rotem’s first entry into the North African market. The agreement, signed Tuesday with Morocco’s national railway operator, surpasses the firm’s previous high-profile contracts in Australia an

February 26, 2025