Netflix Vice President of Public Policy Dean Garfield, decked in a green tracksuit costume from the hit Netflix show “Squid Game,” entered the press conference room at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul on Thursday, accompanied by the theme song from the drama series. Garfield began his speech by talking about how Netflix is willing to invest more into creating Korean content. However, when addressing the most heated issue on paying internet service providers bandwidth usage fees,

Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS, said Thursday that it has teamed up with South Korea’s top cryptocurrency exchange operator to establish a joint venture to branch out into the nonfungible token marketplace. The music agency is poised to acquire a 2.48 percent stake in Dunamu for 500 billion won ($423.7 million), as the operator of cryptocurrency exchange Upbit plans to issue 861,004 ordinary shares for third-party rights, offering to invite Hybe as a new shareholder. Dunamu also

Singapore-based battery startup challenges Li-ion paradigm with world’s largest Li-metal battery

The change of season has brought about bright reds, oranges, yellows and browns to the city, while some remaining greens bid a final farewell to the summer.  Indeed, Seoulites do not have to leave the city to enjoy the colors of the season. To enjoy the deepening autumn atmosphere and the crunch of fallen leaves under your feet, look out for Seoul Metropolitan Government’s “96 Fall Foliage Roads,” released last week. The list includes areas with spectacular colors of map

South Korean stocks advanced Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve signaled "patience" in raising interest rates. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.51 points, or 0.25 percent, to close at 2,983.22 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 759 million shares worth some 14.4 trillion won ($12.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 580 to 295. Foreigners bought a net 326 billion won, while retail investors s

A spinoff of the popular SBS variety show “Running Man” will be the first original content from South Korea on Disney+, the streaming platform said Thursday. The Walt Disney Company announced that “Outrun by Running Man” will star three members of the original cast -- Jee Seok-jin, Kim Jong-kook and Haha. While the original show’s main producer, director Im Hyung-taek, is behind the spinoff, its main star, Yoo Jae-suk, is not part of the upcoming series. “

Six municipalities, including Seoul, called upon the central government on Thursday to provide support to make up for their losses incurred by the free subway ride policy for the elderly and other people. The Seoul city government said the capital and five other cities -- Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju and Daejeon -- issued a joint statement calling for state compensation for financial losses caused by the free subway use policy for seniors, the disabled and those who have received national mer

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Thursday that the leaders of South Korea and Hungary and business leaders from South Korea and the Visegrad Group met to discuss cooperation in sectors such as EV batteries and biotechnology. The Visegrad Group, also known as the V4 countries, include Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The V4-Korea Business Forum was held in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday where President Moon Jae-in is visiting on a state visit until Thursday. Dur

South Korea’s Unification Minister Lee In-young on Thursday said the envisioned papal visit to North Korea is a real possibilty, and that it hinges on Pyongyang’s determination.  The minister accompanied President Moon Jae-in to his meeting with Pope Francis last week at the Vatican. During their talks, Moon asked the pope to visit the North to help build “momentum for peace” on the Korean Peninsula. In response, the pope, calling the two Koreas “brothers who

South Korean institutional investors have allocated a combined 90 million euros ($104 million) of commitment to a separately structured coinvestment vehicle of a fourth flagship fund by BlackRock Infrastructure Solutions, industry sources said Thursday. Seoul-based investment house IPM Asset Management said Thursday it has created the vehicle for Korean investors, allowing them to implement a coinvestment strategy alongside BlackRock’s fund, dubbed Global Infrastructure Solutions 4. Thr

Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday released a teaser for the electric SUV concept "Seven" ahead of its unveiling in the United States this month. The large-size SUV concept built on Hyundai Motor Group's dedicated EV platform, called E-GMP, comes with the group's IONIQ battery EV brand's signature design elements, the company said in a statement. The IONIQ brand's design elements include Parametric Pixels, the smallest unit of digital imaging. Hyundai plans to unveil the concept car at

KT&G Corp., South Korea's dominant tobacco company, said Thursday its third-quarter net profit jumped 29 percent from a year earlier on foreign-exchange-tied gains. Net profit for the three months ended in September rose to 359.2 billion won ($300 million) from a profit of 277.7 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement. "The won's weakness against the dollar drove up the value of the company's dollar-denominated assets and helped the quarterly bottomline,&qu

Two key suspects in a land development scandal were arrested early Thursday as investigators continue to delve into one of the largest-ever land development scandals in South Korea. The Seoul Central District Court on early Thursday issued arrest warrants for Kim Man-bae, owner of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, and Nam Wook, a lawyer who is suspected of involvement in the scandal. The two have been under investigation on suspicion of breach of trust and bribery in connection to the scandal.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Thursday that it has developed a virtual experience platform for ship construction for the first time in the local shipbuilding industry. The platform is mixed reality combining technologies of virtual reality and augmented reality, which allows for the experience of all processes of shipbuilding, Daewoo Shipbuilding said. Daewoo Shipbuilding said the platform will help win more orders for ships as it will be able to show shippers virtual