SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of mid-sized firms in South Korea went up around 10 percent in 2024 from a year earlier, while their investments in research and development (R&D) markedly increased, government data showed Tuesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy had 6,474 mid-sized companies as of the end of 2024, up 606, or [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean businesses’ expenditure on data protection rose 14.3 percent from a year earlier in 2025, data showed Tuesday, amid companies having faced increased threats involving customer information theft this year. Local companies spent 2.4 trillion won (US$1.67 billion) in related areas this year, compared with 2.1 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Four out of 10 franchise owners have considered ending their contracts early but most abandoned the idea because of penalties, a government survey showed Tuesday, highlighting the sector’s challenging business structure. According to the survey by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), 42.5 percent of franchisees said they had considered [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of museum-branded cultural goods in South Korea have reached a record high this year, reflecting a surge in global and domestic interest in traditional Korean culture fueled by the broader momentum of K-culture. According to the National Museum Foundation of Korea, annual sales of “MU:DS,” the museum’s cultural merchandise [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean defense company Hanwha Aerospace Co. said Tuesday it has signed a 5.6 trillion-won (US$4 billion) contract with Poland’s arms procurement agency to supply Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems. The Polish Armament Agency and a consortium comprising Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha-WB Advanced System (HWB) signed the third-stage deal [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean investors switched to net sellers of U.S. stocks for the first time in around four months last week, data showed Tuesday, amid government measures to reshore capital into the local stock market. Local investors sold a net US$281.4 million of equities in the United States between Dec. [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The ROKS Ahn Mu, an indigenous submarine built with homegrown technology, returned home Tuesday after successfully conducting a monthlong joint anti-submarine exercise with the United States, according to the Navy. The Ahn Mu took part in the Silent Shark exercise, which kicked off on Nov. 18 in waters off [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics is deepening its long-running partnership with BMW by expanding cooperation from batteries and displays into automotive semiconductors, underscoring Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s push to position vehicle electronics as a core growth engine for the group. Under the latest agreement, Samsung will supply its in-house automotive processor, Exynos Auto, for [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s semiconductor industry is pushing back against political calls to relocate the massive Yongin semiconductor cluster away from the Seoul metropolitan area, warning that any abrupt change to the project could disrupt investment plans and undermine the country’s global competitiveness in chips. The concerns come after Kim Sung-hwan, the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea appears to be signaling a subtle but meaningful shift in its internal power structure, with new clues emerging from the license plates used by the country’s top leadership. An analysis of state media footage by Yonhap News Agency shows that Kim Jong Un has recently been using a [...]