SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign nationals are becoming increasingly common among the founding families of South Korea’s largest conglomerates, particularly in the third and fourth generations, raising new questions about corporate governance and disclosure rules, according to a recent study. An analysis released Wednesday by CEO Score found that 41 members of controlling shareholder [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will strengthen its public system for supplying essential medicines and medical devices in 2026, seeking to prevent treatment disruptions and reduce patients’ financial burdens, the government said this week. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it will expand emergency import programs for rare and essential drugs, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has taken a step to strengthen its supply of strategic minerals by formally recognizing recycling and recovery from waste as a distinct industrial sector, a move aimed at shoring up domestic supply chains for materials critical to advanced manufacturing. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Thursday [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – China’s recent ban on exports of dual-use items with military applications to Japan will likely impact South Korea’s imports and industries, the industry ministry said Thursday, vowing measures to prevent a supply shortage of affected items. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources held a supply chain inspection meeting [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – The financial watchdog will launch an official audit of e-commerce giant Coupang Inc.’s financial unit next week over its high-interest loan product following a preliminary inspection, officials said Thursday. Coupang Financial has come under fire for charging high interest rates on loans to vendors by leveraging its dominant market [...]
LAS VEGAS•SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Motor Group placed robotics, rather than automobiles, at the center of its CES 2026 showcase in Las Vegas this week, signaling a strategic push to bring artificial intelligence–driven robots from research labs into factories and everyday life. Under the theme “AI Robotics, Beyond the Lab and Into Life,” [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will import 2.24 million fresh eggs from the United States this month to help stabilize domestic egg prices amid the recent spread of highly contagious avian influenza (AI), the agriculture ministry said Wednesday. The eggs will be purchased by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., and [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Astrogen Inc., a South Korean clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, said Wednesday it has signed a US$208.5 million deal with a Middle Eastern company to supply a therapeutic material for treating the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The partnership with United Arab Emirates-based pharmaceutical distributor Cigalah Medpharm Trading LLC [...]
LAS VEGAS, Jan.7 (Korea Bizwire) – The head of South Korea’s automotive giant Hyundai Motor Group met Tuesday (local time) with the chief executive officer (CEO) of Nvidia Corp. on the sidelines of CES 2026, raising expectations that the companies could partner in autonomous driving technologies. According to industry sources, Euisun Chung, executive chair of [...]
LAS VEGAS, Jan.7 (Korea Bizwire) – Lee Seok-hee, chief executive officer (CEO) of battery maker SK On Co., on Tuesday explored opportunities to expand business partnerships with Geely Auto and Hyundai Motor Group at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. “I visited CES at the request of our customers,” Lee told Yonhap News Agency after touring [...]