my timesThe Korea Times
Business

Companies

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

BAT Rothmans launches Global Editions by Dunhill in Korea as int'l debut

BAT Rothmans announced, Wednesday, the global launch of its new cigarette line, Global Editions by Dunhill, with Korea selected as the first market for its debut. The launch marks the first-ever sub-brand under the prestigious Dunhill label and introduces three unique editions inspired by iconic travel destinations: New York, Paris and London. Crafted with the lifestyle and tastes of Korean consumers in mind, Global Editions by Dunhill is designed around the concept of escapism — the desire to break away momentarily from everyday life. The brand aims to capture the joy of travel and adventure, offering consumers a brief sensory escape from their daily routines. A key focus of the launch is the product’s distinctive packaging, which reflects Korea’s sophisticated visual culture. BAT Rothmans developed the design through a "Hot Housing" process, involving collaboration between Korean creatives — including art directors, graphic designers and 3D artists — and the brand’s in-house team. The result is a vibrant, refined design that stands out from conventional cigarette packagin

May 7, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
BAT Rothmans launches Global Editions by Dunhill in Korea as int'l debut

Samsung Electronics acquires premium audio brands from Masimo

Samsung Electronics’ audio subsidiary Harman International will acquire the audio business of U.S.-based Masimo, which operates premium audio brands including Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), marking the Korean company's first high-profile acquisition in nine years. According to Samsung, Harman has signed a sales and purchase agreement with Masimo to take over the latter’s audio division at 500 billion won ($350 million). Harman plans to complete the acquisition by the end of the year. Under the deal, Masimo’s audio brands including B&W, Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio and Definitive Technology will join Harman's existing portfolio. Masimo is an American health technology and consumer electronics company, which acquired the aforementioned brands by taking over Sound United in 2022 for $1 billion. B&W is a British brand found in 1966, renowned for its distinctive design and sound quality as seen in products such as the Nautilus and Zeppelin speakers. In recent years, it is expanded its consumer base with Px series noise-canceling wireless headphones. Denon is a 115-year-old brand known as the inv

May 7, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Electronics acquires premium audio brands from Masimo

Coupang's $7.9 bil. Q1 sales set record

Coupang reported a record-breaking performance in the first quarter, with sales reaching 11.5 trillion won, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Based on the average exchange rate for the quarter of 1,452.66 won per dollar, the figure translates to $7.9 billion. Quarterly sales rose 21 percent compared to the same period last year. The New York Stock Exchange-listed company also recorded earnings of 233.7 billion won during the quarter, marking a 300 percent increase from a year earlier. The performance came after Korea's e-commerce platform giant saw its number of active users increase by 9 percent to 23.4 million from the previous year’s 21.5 million. The users include consumers who used the company’s product commerce channels, including Rocket Delivery and Rocket Fresh, and platform sellers who used channels like Rocket Growth and Marketplace. Product commerce alone posted sales of 10 trillion won in the first quarter, a 16 percent jump from previous year. Per user, the sector saw sales of 427,000 won, a year-on-year increase of 6 percent. Coupan

May 7, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
Coupang's $7.9 bil. Q1 sales set record

Regulator orders TMON, WeMakePrice to rectify handling of refund requests

The antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has ordered two local e-commerce platforms, TMON and WeMakePrice, to address their failure to make refunds or repayments to consumers amid a liquidity crisis last year. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) issued correction orders for the companies, saying they have violated the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce. TMON failed to return approximately 67.5 billion won ($48.3 million) to its customers within the legally required three business days, despite refund requests, from December 2023 to July 2024, according to the FTC. WeMakePrice is accused of failing to process 2.3 billion won worth of refund requests within three business days between March and July last year. The two platforms were at the center of a massive payment delay scandal last year, sparked by liquidity problems of its parent company based in Singapore, Qoo10. They are currently undergoing court-led rehabilitation processes after filing for court receivership last year. On top of the correction orders, the FTC also issued a directive requiring the companies to submit

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Regulator orders TMON, WeMakePrice to rectify handling of refund requests

Bio Korea 2025 kicks off in Seoul to explore future of biohealth industry

Bio Korea 2025, Korea's largest health and pharmaceutical industry trade fair, kicked off Wednesday, bringing together some 750 companies from across the world to showcase the latest technological innovations and trends in the bio sector. The annual trade show, now in its 20th year, opened at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in southern Seoul for a three-day run under the theme "Innovation and Cooperation, Shaping the Future Together," according to its organizers. Some 30,000 visitors are expected to take a look around 429 booths operated by 323 companies worldwide, the organizers said. In the business partnering program, major global and Korean biopharmas will take part, including Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Celltrion Inc. and SK bioscience. This year's event will explore developments in the biohealth sector driven by artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies, and recent industry trends, such as new modalities and anti-aging. "To help Korea emerge as a global hub for the biohealth industry, the government will actively promote the de

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Bio Korea 2025 kicks off in Seoul to explore future of biohealth industry

Outside directors at Korean firms overrepresented by academics, ex-bureaucrats: survey

Outside directors at Korean companies are disproportionately represented by those with a background in academia and the government, a survey showed Wednesday, raising concerns over a lack of board-level business expertise compared with global competitors. According to the survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) last year on 160 corporate outside directors, 36 percent said they came from academia, while 14 percent had a background in the government. The survey showed only 15 percent had executive business backgrounds, which was in stark contrast with companies in the United States and Japan. At S&P 500 companies in the United States, 72 percent of outside directors had business experience, while that figure stood at 52 percent among Nikkei 225 firms in Japan. The KCCI attributed the trend in Korea to local regulations under the Fair Trade Act, which classifies a company owned by an outside director as an affiliate of a large business group unless exempted. Industry watchers say this rule effectively deters entrepreneurs from joining boards of listed companies.

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Outside directors at Korean firms overrepresented by academics, ex-bureaucrats: survey

SK chairman apologizes for telecom unit’s massive data breach

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won apologized on Wednesday for SK Telecom's recent data breach, which could potentially affect approximately 25 million customers of the mobile carrier. "We have recently caused inconvenience and concern to the public and our customers due to SK Telecom’s data breach," Chey said. "I offer my sincere apology on behalf of SK Group." Chey appeared before the public about two weeks after the data breach threw the country into confusion. SK Telecom, whose customers account for nearly half of the country’s population of 52 million, detected a cyberattack on April 18 and found signs of a large-scale leak of customers’ universal subscriber identity module (USIM) data. The telco announced the incident on April 22. The exact scale of the breach and its resulting damage remain unclear. In response, SK Telecom has urged its customers to use its USIM protection service. This service blocks a USIM from connecting to the network if the identifier data sets do not match. Additionally, the company is offering free USIM card replacements to all of its customers. However,

May 7, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
SK chairman apologizes for telecom unit’s massive data breach

Overseas branches of Korean insurers return to black in 2024

Overseas branches of Korean insurance companies saw their net income turn to the black last year on the back of increased revenues and a base effect, data showed Wednesday. The 44 overseas businesses of four life insurers and seven nonlife insurance firms here posted a combined net profit of $159 million last year, swinging from a loss of $14.3 million the previous year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The financial regulator attributed the rebound in their net profit to increased revenues and the base effect. In 2023, severe natural disasters, such as the wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui, together with Typhoon Mawar that hit the U.S. territory of Guam, had caused a sharp decline in their profit. Nonlife insurance firms logged a net profit of $95 million last year, and life insurers posted a combined net profit of $64 million. Their assets reached $7.34 billion at the end of last year, up 14.3 percent from a year ago, according to the watchdog.

May 7, 2025By Yonhap
Overseas branches of Korean insurers return to black in 2024

Trump's drug tariff plan likely to intensify pressure on Korea-US trade talks

United States President Donald Trump resumed his tariff-based pressure on Tuesday, saying that he plans to announce pharmaceutical tariffs “within the next two weeks.” The scope and potential impact of the drug tariffs on Korean industries remain unclear, but Trump’s mention of a specific timeframe is seen as an indication that Washington is accelerating tariff negotiations with its trade partners, including Korea. The push came amid ongoing working-level talks between the trade authorities of the two countries, centered around what Korea calls a "July package" — a set of trade deals aimed at mitigating the effects of Washington's proposed "reciprocal" and item-specific tariffs. As the U.S. moves to accelerate negotiations, concerns are growing over Korea’s weakened bargaining power amid a vacuum in its political leadership. While signing an executive order to incentivize prescription drug manufacturing in the U.S., Trump revealed the pharmaceutical-specific tariff plan. His administration announced last month that it had launched a Section 232 investigation into the impact of

May 6, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Trump's drug tariff plan likely to intensify pressure on Korea-US trade talks

Samsung SDI batteries target European interest in AI

Samsung SDI is introducing its latest batteries to meet rising demand from the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry at InterBattery Europe 2025 in Germany, according to Samsung Group’s battery and electronic materials manufacturing arm, Tuesday. The company will operate five exhibition zones at its booth — SBB 1.5 energy storage system (ESS), AI Data Center, Prismatic Tech Hub, Battery Showroom and Net Zero Gate — during the event continuing from Wednesday to Friday (local time) in Munich. The company's slogan is “InCelligent Life, Always ON.” Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) batteries will be one of the categories the company will showcase, responding to ongoing advancements in AI and increasing UPS demand in the global IT industry. U8A1, a key product in the category, was designed to supply emergency power to AI data centers during outages. The company said it features the highest power output in the industry and improves space efficiency for data center operators. Installing U8A1-equipped UPS can save up to 33 percent more installation space compared to previous m

May 6, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan
Samsung SDI batteries target European interest in AI
previous page
296297298299300
next page

Most Read in Business