SK hynix witnessed its sales in China and the US more than double to contribute to an overall growth in revenue in the first half of this year, according to the company’s half-year report Sunday. The world’s second-largest memory chip maker said it logged a total of 28.8 trillion won ($21.26 billion) in sales in the January-June period this year, marking a significant recovery from the 12.3 trillion won the company achieved in the same time last year. In this year's record, 55.4

Artificial intelligence startup Rebellions and Sapeon Korea officially signed a merger, signaling the birth of the country's first AI unicorn, SK Telecom, Sapeon Korea’s parent company, said Sunday. Rebellions, a fabless chip designer valued at 900 billion won ($664 million), and Sapeon Korea, the AI chip supplier for data centers valued at 550 billion won, have joined hands to carve out a spot in the global AI chip market that is currently dominated by US-based graphic processing uni

By Lee Seong-woo Vice president, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry "I'll keep changing it for you." This tagline from a global shopping website's free return policy ad recently stirred up controversy here. Despite receiving a warning from the government for its misleading ad, the e-commerce platform managed to climb to second place among the country's most popular shopping apps. But this surge in overseas direct purchases is not all rosy -- it in fact comes

SK Networks said Friday it will commit $30 million in a $130 million fund formed by SBVA to invest in artificial intelligence startups. It is the second-largest investment among fund participants. The SBVA-led fund -- Alpha Intelligence Fund -- plans to focus on investing in promising early-stage startups in the AI, robotics and deep tech fields. SK Networks, a general trading affiliate of SK Group, which announced its vision as an AI company this year, plans to go beyond fund investment and bus

South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group has opened its new Vietnam headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Thiem financial district, bringing its subsidiaries together under one roof, the company said Sunday. On Thursday, Shinhan’s five Vietnamese subsidiaries — Shinhan Bank, Shinhan Finance, Shinhan Life, Shinhan Securities and Shinhan DS — relocated to The Mett Building, a landmark in the new urban area of Thu Thiem. The opening ceremony was attended by key executive

Interpark Commerce filed for a debt restructuring program with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on Friday, following in the footsteps of two sister e-commerce giants amid a liquidity crisis. The company's request for an autonomous restructuring support (ARS) program came 18 days after TMON and WeMakePrice filed for the same program to negotiate with creditors for rescheduling overdue payments. With Friday's decision, all three Korean e-commerce companies under Qoo10 are now subject to the co

South Korean sports apparel firm Fila Holdings reported a jump in second-quarter profits, driven by robust performance from its golf equipment subsidiary and strong brand momentum abroad. According to its recent earnings report Friday, its revenue rose 2.5 percent year-on-year to 1.18 trillion won ($887 million) in the April-June period. Its operating profit surged 52.4 percent to 140.15 billion won. Its US subsidiary, Acushnet, in particular, reported 937.77 billion won in sales, driving up the

Celltrion Group on Friday ditched its planned merger of the two units Celltrion and Celltrion Pharm after months of fierce resistance from shareholders. The two companies announced that they would focus on their core operations and work on creating synergy within their respective firms. The decision comes after a series of evaluations conducted by a special review committee set up by their boards of directors, external studies by accounting firms and shareholder surveys. "We established the

Namyang Dairy Products, one of South Korea's largest dairy companies, is embarking on a major overhaul under new ownership to shed its scandal-ridden past. On Friday, the company’s newly appointed board of directors announced a series of reform measures aimed at rebuilding the company’s reputation and regaining consumer trust. "We're establishing guidelines for law-abiding business practices to prevent illegal activities," said Lee Sang-wook, Namyang's chief compliance dire

SK hynix, the world’s No. 2 memory chipmaker, was the only company that elevated its market share in the soaring global DRAM market in the second quarter of this year, according to market tracker TrendForce Friday. In the April-June period, DRAM sales totaled $22.9 billion, a 24.8 percent jump from the previous quarter. Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, retained its No. 1 position with $9.8 billion in sales. But the company’s market share slightly decre

NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals, the Nasdaq-listed biotech firm affiliated with South Korean drug maker DongA ST, announced Wednesday the company has completed patient enrollment for the first part of the phase 1 clinical trial for its antiobesity drug, dubbed DA-1726. DA-1726, designed to induce weight loss and glycemic control by simultaneously affecting GLP-1 and the glucagon receptor, is a drug candidate for treating obesity developed as an oxyntomodulin analog. In January, NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals

A mass sell-off of EVs has begun in South Korea, following a fire involving a Mercedes-Benz EV in Incheon that destroyed more than 140 cars and sparked proposals to restrict EVs' access to underground parking lots. Since the fire on Aug. 1, the market has been flooded with used EVs. K Car, Korea’s second-largest used car trading platform, reported an 184 percent increase in used EV listings in the first week of August compared to the final week of July. The Mercedes-Benz EQE series, w

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