SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean investors poured record sums into exchange-traded funds last year, with both retail and foreign investors gravitating toward overseas equity benchmarks and high-growth thematic products, underscoring a broad shift in the country’s investment landscape. According to data released Sunday by financial information provider Yonhap Infomax, individual investors’ most heavily [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 50,000 customers of KT Corp., South Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier, have canceled their subscriptions after the telecom company began waiving early termination penalties following a major data breach, industry sources said Friday. According to the sources, 52,661 KT users moved to rival carriers between Wednesday and Saturday. [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Characters from the animated film K‑Pop Demon Hunters are drawing online attention that rivals — and in some cases surpasses — that of real-world global pop stars, underscoring the growing power of virtual idols in the social media age. According to an analysis cited by The Guardian, data from marketing [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Online interest in artificial intelligence, K-culture and personal identity surged in South Korea this year, reflecting shifting social values as technology, culture and individual choice increasingly shape public discourse. According to a report released Wednesday by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, online mentions of artificial intelligence rose 44 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Imports of long-life sterilized milk into South Korea have surged over the past decade, even as overall milk consumption declines and domestic dairy producers struggle with high costs and shrinking demand. According to data from the Korea Customs Service, imports of sterilized milk rose more than tenfold, from about 4,000 [...]
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. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are using less cash in their daily lives than ever before, but are holding on to more of it as a financial buffer, according to a new survey released by the Bank of Korea on Sunday. The central bank’s 2025 comprehensive survey on currency usage found that individuals [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are reporting their highest levels of satisfaction with leisure life in nearly a decade, reflecting a shift toward more meaningful and self-directed use of free time, according to a government survey released on Friday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture & Tourism [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — A new social media trend in South Korea that pairs exaggerated claims of poverty with images of conspicuous wealth is drawing growing backlash, as critics argue that the so-called “poverty meme” trivializes real economic hardship in a country marked by widening inequality. The trend, popular on the platform Threads, typically [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean investors turned to familiar blue chips and high-flying U.S. technology stocks when gifting shares this year, with Samsung Electronics emerging as the most popular choice, according to data released by KB Securities. An analysis of KB Securities’ stock-gifting service, covering transactions through Dec. 22, showed that shares of [...]