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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.

NCSOFT targets $3.38 bil. in sales by 2030 through more shooters, anime games

SEONGNAM — NCSOFT, a major Korean game developer and publisher, said Thursday it aims to achieve 5 trillion won ($3.38 billion) in annual sales by 2030 through a long-term, sustainable strategy based on a diversified product portfolio. "I promised that we will post 2.5 trillion won in sales for this year, with meaningful operating profit," Park Byung-moo, co-chief executive officer (CEO) of NCSOFT, said during a press conference held at the company's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. "We will grow every year and every quarter," he said. "Ultimately, we will achieve annual sales of 5 trillion won by 2030, with a return on equity of about 15 percent." NCSOFT posted 1.5 trillion won in sales in 2025, down 4.5 percent from a year earlier, amid sluggish demand for its massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) titles, such as Lineage, Aion, Blade & Soul and Guild Wars. "Our game portfolio depends largely on MMORPG titles and certain markets, such as Korea, Taiwan and Japan," he said. "This imbalance increases the volatility of our earnings, as success or failure of a s

Mar 12, 2026By Yonhap
NCSOFT targets $3.38 bil. in sales by 2030 through more shooters, anime games

Retailers gear up for BTS concert with themed promotions

Major offline retailers in Seoul are redecorating stores and ensuring stocks of popular items as BTS gets ready to take center stage in Gwanghwamun next week for a concert expected to draw massive crowds. Department stores are redesigning shopping areas and building new themed spaces to attract global fans visiting the city for the March 21 concert. Convenience store chains across Seoul are also preparing for a surge in sales. Lotte Department Store will illuminate its main branch buildings in Myeong-dong, including the luxury-focused Avenuel wing, in the purple color associated with the K-pop group from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. from Thursday through Sunday. The retailer will also host a K-Wave Shopping Week promotion from March 19 to 29 at its main branch, its Jamsil branch and at Lotte Outlets at Seoul Station. During the event, stores will be decorated with BTS- and K-pop-themed displays and feature special products labeled “Korea Only.” The Myeong-dong branch will also operate a K-Gift Curation Space at the Food Hall on the first basement floor, showcasing representative Korean gifts, i

Mar 12, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Retailers gear up for BTS concert with themed promotions

Samsung, LG display arms closely watching fallout of Middle East crisis

Heads of Korean display makers said Thursday they are closely monitoring the potential fallout of the U.S.-Iran war amid concerns that the Middle East conflict could trigger inflation and push up production costs. "If the war lasts longer, the price burden of raw materials will rise significantly," Samsung Display CEO Yi Chung told reporters ahead of the general meeting of the Korea Display Industry Association held in Seoul. "While conditions are not favorable due to rising memory chip prices, the war between the United States and Iran is expected to lead to inflation, making the situation even more difficult in the second half," Yi said. The outlook followed industry concerns that rising global memory chip prices amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom may lead smartphone makers to reduce shipments due to higher costs, eventually weakening demand for display panels. "(The performance) of memory chip producers may be strong, but clients using memory chips are facing challenges," Yi added. "It is crucial (for companies) to reduce production costs and cooperate with partners to enhance

Mar 12, 2026By Yonhap
Samsung, LG display arms closely watching fallout of Middle East crisis

Villa Records gives Korean twist to classic cocktails

A well-known bar in Seoul’s popular Gangnam District has introduced a new lineup of cocktails for 2026, featuring authentic Korean flavors in a twist on popular classics. Villa Records furniture and lifestyle company CEO Jo Yeong-jun unveiled 25 new cocktails for the brand's bar during a press conference Monday. He crafted the drinks using molecular gastronomy techniques to uncover the unique qualities of ingredients commonly used in Korea and turn them into his signature creations. The Busan-born bartender’s new cocktails are his own unique variations of some of the most globally popular drinks today. Drawing inspiration from the flavor of grilled tangerines, he came up with his own version of a Negroni. Rather than a classic mojito, his version includes the beloved condensed milk featured in Korean desserts like bingsu, a kind of shaved ice. The prohibition-era bee's knees cocktail gets a new lift from honey, drawing from Jo's memories of dipping slices of Gorgonzola pizza in the sweet syrup. Jo also draws on history, including a molecular variation on "somaek" — an iconic Korea

Mar 12, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Villa Records gives Korean twist to classic cocktails

Lotte Card given penalty for leaking critical information of 450,000 customers

Lotte Card has been slapped with a penalty and a fine for leaking resident registration numbers of about 450,000 customers in a hacking incident last year, the state data protection watchdog said Thursday. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said it decided to impose a penalty of 9.62 billion won ($6.51 million) and a fine of 4.8 million won on Lotte Card during a plenary meeting Wednesday for violating the Personal Information Protection Act. The PIPC began a probe into Lotte Card in September last year, when it was notified by the Financial Supervisory Service of the massive personal data breach at the credit card company. The investigation found that the hacking of Lotte Card's online payment system resulted in the leak of personal credit information for about 2.97 million people, including the resident registration numbers of some 450,000. The company was found to have processed the resident registration numbers beyond the scope permitted by law by recording them in plain text in log files generated during the online payment process. It was also found that the compa

Mar 12, 2026By Yonhap
Lotte Card given penalty for leaking critical information of 450,000 customers

AMD's Lisa Su to visit Korea next week, may meet with Samsung chief

Lisa Su, the head of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), is expected to visit Korea next week and meet with local conglomerate executives, industry sources said Wednesday. The CEO of the U.S. chip giant may arrive in Korea next Wednesday, in what would be her first trip to the country since taking the position in 2014, the sources said. During her visit, Su is expected to meet with Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of the country's largest local portal operator, Naver. A meeting with the head of Samsung Electronics, Lee Jae-yong, is also highly likely, the sources said. The AMD chief's visit comes as the U.S. chipmaker is challenging NVIDIA's dominance in the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors market, securing major partnerships with big tech firms such as OpenAI and Meta Platforms. Industry watchers expect Su to request Samsung's Lee expand the supply of high bandwidth memory, or HBM, a key component in AI accelerators. Samsung is a longtime HBM supply partner of AMD. Samsung announced last month it has started mass production of HBM4s, marking the world's first shipment of the advanced chip for AI

Mar 11, 2026By Yonhap
AMD's Lisa Su to visit Korea next week, may meet with Samsung chief

State oil company chief apologizes for steep price hikes at gov't-run stations

The chief of the Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) apologized Wednesday for steep price hikes at government-run gas stations, as Seoul seeks to rein in soaring oil prices at home amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. "We deeply regret that some budget gas stations, which should be at the forefront of stabilizing market prices of petroleum goods, increased their consumer prices in a short period of time," Son Joo-suk, president and CEO of KNOC, said in an official statement. "As the head of KNOC, I feel a heavy responsibility and offer my sincere apologies," he said. Son's apology came amid growing controversy over steep price hikes at some stations of the government-run budget gas station chain. One of them raised its diesel price by 606 won ($0.41) per liter in a single day on Thursday, the highest daily increase among all gas stations across the country that day. Its total price increase reached 850 won per liter over five days since the outbreak of the conflict in Iran. The KNOC chief explained that excessive price hikes were seen at some individually operated outlets due to thei

Mar 11, 2026By Yonhap
State oil company chief apologizes for steep price hikes at gov't-run stations

Korean Air extends Dubai flight suspension until March 28 over Middle East tensions

Korean Air said Wednesday it will extend the suspension of its Incheon-Dubai flights through March 28 due to ongoing military conflict in the Middle East. Its KE951 and KE952 flights between Korea's Incheon and the United Arab Emirates' Dubai have been suspended since Feb. 28, when the airline brought back KE951 and canceled KE952 following U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran. The suspension of the Incheon-Dubai route had originally been scheduled to be lifted this coming Sunday, but the company decided to extend the measure for two more weeks as the Dubai authorities have notified it of an extended flight ban. The carrier said it will decide whether to resume operations after that date based on the situation. Korean Air is the only Korean carrier operating regular flights between Incheon and Dubai.

Mar 11, 2026By Yonhap
Korean Air extends Dubai flight suspension until March 28 over Middle East tensions

Samsung SDI warns against prismatic battery patent infringement

Samsung SDI said Wednesday it will not tolerate patent infringement or technology theft involving its prismatic battery technology as more competitors move to enter the segment. “We will not overlook any patent infringement or technology misappropriation involving the prismatic battery,” Joo Yong-lak, executive vice president and head of Samsung SDI’s research center, said on the sidelines of InterBattery 2026 at Coex in Seoul. Responding to a question about competitors’ recent plans to enter the prismatic battery business, Joo said the company is closely monitoring the situation. “As a company leading the technology, we are keeping a close eye on developments,” he said. Joo emphasized that prismatic battery technology has a high barrier to entry. “The technology and manufacturing processes for prismatic batteries involve very high entry barriers,” he said. “Extensive know-how and technological expertise must be accumulated across materials, components, design, manufacturing and production processes, making it difficult to achieve in a short period of time.” He added th

Mar 11, 2026By Park Jae-hyuk
Samsung SDI warns against prismatic battery patent infringement

MBK injects $68 mil. emergency financing into Homeplus

MBK Partners has extended a total of 100 billion won ($68 million) in emergency debtor-in-possession financing to Homeplus to help stabilize the retailer’s operations, the company said Wednesday. The private equity firm provided 50 billion won, following its initial provision of 50 billion won on March 4, completing the full amount. Homeplus entered court-led rehabilitation in March 2025 and has yet to secure a clear path toward a full business turnaround. On March 3 this year, just one day before the original deadline, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court granted a two-month extension for creditors to approve the company’s rehabilitation plan. Without the extension or approval of the plan, the country’s second-largest supermarket chain could have faced the possibility of bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings. The latest funding support follows the court’s decision to extend the deadline. The funding was arranged after MBK Chairman Michael ByungJu Kim secured a 100 billion won loan from Woori Financial Group using personal assets, including his residence, as collateral. The borrowed funds w

Mar 11, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
MBK injects $68 mil. emergency financing into Homeplus
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