Korea Development
Unbiased History & Stories on Korea for Global Audience
Sponsored by Open Korea Foundation
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Korean Companies Entering Japan Hit ‘All-Time High Amid US-China Rivalry
in News
Economic contact points between South Korea and Japan are expanding, ranging from consumer goods to semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI)…
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Seoul to finance $200 bn US investment with forex earnings, state-backed bond issues
US President Donald Trump delivers opening remarks at the US-South Korea summit with President Lee Jae Myung at the Gyeongju…
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KDB recoups $664 mn in public funds from HMM’s buyback
Korea Development Bank’s heaquarters in Yeouido, Seoul The Korea Development Bank (KDB) has made its first recovery of public funds…
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S.Korea to scale up National Growth Fund to $110 bn with high-tech focus
President Lee Jae Myung gives the opening speech at a public briefing for the National Growth Fund in Seoul on…
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POSCO eyes KDB’s $5 bn stake in HMM to enter shipping industry
Poultry processor Harim walked away from a $5 billion deal to buy HMM in early 2024 POSCO Group, South Korea’s…
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Indirect Chinese investments via PEFs spark alarms over economic security
Lee Chi-hun, general director of the world economic analysis division at Korea Center for International Finance, gives a presentation during…
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S.Korea seeks to join Japan-led CPTPP economic alliance amid Trump-era tariff risks
Finance Minister Koo Yoon-cheol (center) speaks at the economy-related ministers’ meeting on Sept. 3, 2025 South Korea is seeking to…
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South Korea revises up Q2 GDP to 0.7% on stronger exports
Cars waiting for exporting at a port South Korea’s economy grew faster than initially estimated in the second quarter, helped…
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Bank of Korea nudges up 2025 growth outlook to 0.9% as stimulus cushions slowdown
Exports account for half the South Korean economy The Bank of Korea has slightly raised its growth forecast for this…
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HD Hyundai Heavy to merge with Hyundai Mipo as MASGA gains traction
HD Hyundai Heavy’s shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said on Wednesday that it will merge…
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Korea Inc pledges $150 bn US investment; KAL buys new planes, Samsung, Hyundai Motor vow extra spending
Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee (left) and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (third from left) chat with US businessmen…
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HD Hyundai Robotics to raise $144.3 mn to bolster AI-powered robots
HD Hyundai Robotics participated in AUTOMATICA 2025, the world-renowned robotics exhibition held in Germany, in July 2025 (Courtesy of HD…
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S.Korea cuts growth outlook to 0.9%, banks on AI to reignite economy
Container trucks move cargoes at Port of Busan South Korea’s government cut its 2025 economic growth forecast in half from…
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HMM to buy back $1.5 bn shares, paving way for KDB’s fund recovery
HMM Co., South Korea’s largest shipping firm, will buy back and cancel 2.14 trillion won ($1.5 billion) worth of shares,…
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Global investment banks raise S.Korea’s growth forecasts as trade tensions with US ease
Global investment banks are revising up their growth forecasts for South Korea, citing easing trade uncertainties and signs of a…
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Fabless chip unicorn FuriosaAI raises $120 mn in new funding
June Paik (right), founder and CEO of FuriosaAI, meets in April 2025 with President Lee Jae-Myung, who was then leader…
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S.Korea eyes $110 bn fund in bid to join world’s top 5 economies
President Lee Jae-myung (center) speaks at a cabinet meeting South Korea is considering creating a 150 trillion won ($110 billion)…
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Organic food chain Chorocmaeul up for sale amid liquidity woes
Chrocmaeul’s financial conditions have deteriorated since the acquisition by JeongYookGak in 2022 Financial investors in Chorocmaeul Co., a South Korean…
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Affirma Capital to acquire Equis’ Korean waste assets for $294 million
CEK Yeosu (Courtesy of CEK) Affirma Capital, a Singapore-headquartered buyout private equity firm, has agreed to acquire an entire portfolio…
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OpenAI sets up subsidiary in Korea with top paid ChatGPT users outside US
Jason Kwon, Open AI’s chief strategy officer (CSO), speaks during a media briefing in Seoul on May 26, 2025 OpenAI…
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Bill Clinton in Seoul to meet with MBK’s ByungJu Kim, business leaders
MBK Partners founder and Chairman Michael ByungJu Kim Michael ByungJu Kim, co-founder, partner and chairman of Seoul-based private equity firm…
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LS moves closer to Hanjin KAL’s white knight role vs Hoban
Hanjin KAL headquarters Hanjin KAL Corp., the largest shareholder of Korean Air Lines Co., is strengthening its alliance with LS…
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Hanjin KAL roars on renewed control dispute hints with Hoban
Shares of Hanjin KAL Corp., the holding firm of South Korean flag carrier Korean Air Lines Co., extended their rally…
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Mubadala, Goldman Sachs to invest $700 mn in Kakao Mobility
Kakao Mobility was founded in 2017 United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. and Goldman Sachs are set…
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Korea Securities Finance eyes its 1st foreign bond sale in 2026
The exterior view of Korea Securities Finance’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul Korea Securities Finance Corp. (KSF) is preparing to issue…
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Hanwha Ocean shares sink ahead of KDB stake block sale
Hanwha Ocean’s floating docks in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province (Courtesy of Yonhap) Investors rushed to dump Hanwha Ocean Co. shares…
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VIG taps KDB financing to buy 40% stake in Kakao Mobility
Kakao Mobility app and Kakao taxi South Korea’s private equity firm VIG Partners’ buyout of minority stakes in Kakao Mobility…
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China likely to lift ban on South Korea’s K-wave as early as May
BEIJING – China will likely lift its ban on Hallyu, or Korean popular culture in the country, as early as…
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South Korean State Think Tank Cuts 2025 Growth Forecast, Flags U.S. Tariff Risk
The Korean Development Institute now forecasts South Korea’s gross domestic product growth at 1.6% in 2025, slower than its projection…
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Korea to launch $23 bn high tech fund, bracing for Trump 2.0
Choi Sang-mok, South Korea’s acting president and minister of economy and finance South Korea will launch a high tech fund…
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Kakao set to announce AI partnership with OpenAI
Greg Brockman (left) and Sam Altman, co-founders of OpenAI, discuss the future of AI with Korean AI developers at a…
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How STIC Investments’ bet on animal fat processor DK O&T pays off
(Screenshot captured from DK O&T’s website) In South Korea, businesses handling livestock by-products had no investor appeal. They were generally…
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Premier Partners, Praxis Capital lead 2024 Korea PE fundraising
in News(Courtesy of Getty Images) Premier Partners and Praxis Capital are on course to raise 1 trillion won ($680 million) in…
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OpenAI, KDB to collaborate to enhance S.Korean AI ecosystem
in News
Kang Seok-hoon, Chairman of Korea Development Bank (right) and Jason Kwon, OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer The US-based OpenAI and Korea…
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Samsung C&T-Sumitomo consortium wins $3.7 billion Qatar project
in News
A combined cycle gas power plant and a desalination plant in Qatar An international consortium involving South Korea’s Samsung C&T…
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Woori Bank to arrange $3.7 bn for Qatar desalination, power plant
in News
South Korea’s Woori Bank said on Tuesday it will arrange the Qatar Ras Abu Fontas desalination and power plant project,…
