Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 9 outperforms BMW iX, Volvo EX90 in German magazine's SUV review SEOUL, December 12 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor’s flagship electric SUV, the Ioniq 9, has taken the top spot in a major German comparison of electric SUVs, outperforming competing models from BMW, Volvo and Polestar, the company said Friday. German automotive magazine Auto Zeitung evaluated the Ioniq 9 against the BMW iX, Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3, reviewing categories including body design, driving convenience, powertrain and dynamic performance. The publication highlighted t December 12, 2025

Shinsegae chairman flies to US to attend dinner hosted by VP Vance SEOUL, December 12 (AJP) - Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin departed for the United States on Friday to attend a Christmas dinner hosted by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance at the vice president’s residence in Washington D.C. The event, scheduled for Friday evening, local time, is expected to draw prominent figures from U.S. political and business circles, as well as members of the Rockbridge Network, an American public policy and investment organization founded by Va December 12, 2025

Kakao Healthcare steps up digital healthcare push with distribution deal with US firm SEOUL, December 12 (AJP) - Kakao Healthcare said Friday it has signed an exclusive supply agreement with Dexcom, giving the South Korean digital health platform sole distribution rights for Dexcom's continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) products in South Korea. Dexcom is a U.S.-based medical technology company specializing in CGM systems for people with diabetes. Under the deal, the two companies will expand real-time blood glucose management services using Dexcom’s C December 12, 2025

Hyundai Motor Group to supply 224 hydrogen buses to Guangzhou SEOUL, December 12 (AJP) - Hyundai Motor Group said Friday that its Chinese fuel-cell unit, HTWO Guangzhou, has won a contract to supply hydrogen-powered city buses to Guangzhou State-owned Bus Group, marking the largest single hydrogen bus procurement project in China to date. Under the project, HTWO Guangzhou will supply 224 buses to the Guangzhou operator. Hyundai said the order represents a significant milestone in its efforts to expand its hydrogen mobility footprint in Chi December 12, 2025

KakaoBank's collaboration with Indonesia's Superbank gains momentum with 'Lucky Card' rollout SEOUL, December 12 (AJP) - KakaoBank is deepening its partnership with Indonesian digital lender Superbank, its first overseas equity investment, as the South Korean internet-only bank steps up efforts to expand abroad. KakaoBank said on Friday it advised Superbank on the launch of a new financial product, following a financial consulting agreement signed between the two companies in November last year. Under the deal, KakaoBank has been sharing its mobile banking expertise an December 12, 2025

Celltrion secures major U.S. formulary deal for biosimilar Avtozma SEOUL, December 12 (AJP) - South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion said Friday it has secured formulary inclusion for its autoimmune disease treatment Avtozma with Synergie Medication Collective, a major pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) formed by several Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies in the United States. The intravenous formulation of Avtozma, a biosimilar of Roche's tocilizumab, has been listed as a preferred drug across all public and private insurance formulari December 12, 2025

Foreign investors turn net sellers of Korean stocks in November SEOUL, December 12 (AJP) - Foreign investors sold more than 13 trillion won ($9.7 billion) worth of South Korean equities in November, turning net sellers for the first time in six months, while resuming net purchases of local bonds. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Friday, offshore investors recorded net equity sales of 13.4 trillion won. They offloaded 13.5 trillion won on the Kospi but were modest net buyers on the Kosdaq, purchasing 118 billion won. December 12, 2025

Weaker won sends Korea's import prices up to a 19-mo high SEOUL, December 12 (AJP) -South Korea’s import prices climbed in November despite a sharp pullback in global fuel costs, as the won’s depreciation against the U.S. dollar outweighed relief from cheaper energy, Bank of Korea data showed Friday. The import price index rose 2.6 percent on month and 2.2 percent on year to 141.82, accelerating from October’s 138.19 and posting the steepest monthly increase since April last year. The gains came even as Dubai crud December 12, 2025

Korea hopes to let fabless catch up to fab power through $520 billion mega spending SEOUL, December 11 (AJP) - That South Korea is a semiconductor powerhouse is established fact: it is home to the world’s largest memory-chip production base. But in the fabless sector — the chip-design layer that defines system-semiconductor competitiveness — the country remains a laggard. That gap is driving an urgent and ambitious push to cultivate proprietary chip architecture capabilities. The government-led vision calls for more than 700 trillion won (about December 11, 2025

KT Cloud unveils liquid-cooling systems for AI data centers SEOUL, December 11 (AJP) - KT Cloud has launched South Korea’s first commercial liquid-cooling system using direct-to-chip (D2C) technology, stepping up efforts to capture a growing share of the AI data center market. The company on Thursday opened a center which replicates a full AI data center environment to showcase high-efficiency, high-reliability operations. D2C cooling works by attaching a cold plate directly to a server’s GPU chip and circulating coolant December 11, 2025