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  • Banking & Finance

    Shinhan Bank hit by data breach affecting 25,000 customers

    Shinhan Bank apologized Thursday after personal information belonging to about 25,000 customers was leaked in a data breach, as financial regulators launched an urgent inspection into the incident. According to the bank, the leaked information includes customers' names, phone numbers, annual income and loan eligibility limits, as well as other personal and credit information submitted for loan applications. The data also included 66 cases involving resident registration numbers and 97 cases involving connected information. The breach occurred as an unauthorized external party gained access to some of its services through an abnormal method that bypassed authentication. Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk apologized and said the bank will take full responsibility for any losses. "We take full responsibility for the fact that an information breach occurred at a financial institution entrusted with protecting our customers' valuable assets and information," Jung said in a statement. "I sincerely apologize for causing concern and inconvenience to our customers. We will devote all resources to addr

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    Shinhan Bank hit by data breach affecting 25,000 customers
  • Companies

    Samsung Bioepis, Teva enter commercialization agreement on 6 biosimilar candidates

    1 MIN READBy Nam Hyun-woo
    Samsung Bioepis, Teva enter commercialization agreement on 6 biosimilar candidates
  • Companies

    Renault Korea's sales drop 24.7% in September on weak demand

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Renault Korea's sales drop 24.7% in September on weak demand
  • Companies

    GM Korea's September sales surge 73.3% on strong exports

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    GM Korea's September sales surge 73.3% on strong exports
  • Companies

    Korean designer helps build LEGO's first Dragon Ball set

    2 MIN READBy Jhoo Dong-chan
    Korean designer helps build LEGO's first Dragon Ball set
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Banking & Finance

Banks advised to enhance risk management on surging ETF sales

The country's financial watchdog called on local lenders Thursday to heighten their risk management for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and prevent the misselling of such products amid a recent surge in sales of the financial products. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said sales of ETFs by banks to their customers have been on a sharp rise in tandem with a bull run on the local stock market. The banks' combined ETF sales amounted to 15.1 trillion won ($10.2 billion) in the first two months of the year, over three times higher than the 4.9 trillion won tallied over the first six months of last year, according to the FSS. The local stock market, however, recently saw large fluctuations due to the conflict in the Middle East, exposing underlying assets for the financial products to severe volatility. The financial watchdog stressed that banks need to well inform their customers of potential risks tied to the ETF products and also heighten their internal control.

Apr 9, 2026By Yonhap
Banks advised to enhance risk management on surging ETF sales
Companies

HD Hyundai completes world’s 1st ammonia-fueled tankers

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) said Thursday it has completed construction of two ammonia-fueled tankers for a Belgian ship operator, marking a milestone for eco-friendly shipping. The two liquefied gas tankers, named Antwerpen and Arlon after Belgian cities, were built for EXMAR LPG France, a subsidiary of Belgium-based floating solutions developer EXMAR. The vessels are part of four medium-sized ammonia-propelled gas carriers ordered in 2023 and 2024 and are scheduled for delivery in May and July. Each ship measures 190 meters in length, 30.4 meters in width and 18.8 meters in height, with a cargo capacity of 46,000 cubic meters. The dual-fuel vessels are equipped with three cargo tanks capable of carrying liquefied petroleum gas, ammonia and other liquefied gases. They also feature shaft generators and selective catalytic reduction systems to reduce carbon emissions, while ammonia gas detectors and purge recovery units enhance safety against potential leaks. The naming ceremony was held at the company’s shipyard in Ulsan, attended by around 70 officials, including Joo Won-ho, pr

Apr 9, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
HD Hyundai completes world’s 1st ammonia-fueled tankers
Banking & Finance

IBK workers uneasy over politicians' push to relocate bank to Daegu

A renewed push by politicians to relocate the headquarters of the state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) to the southeastern city of Daegu is raising concerns among bank employees, labor union officials said Thursday. The proposal has gained traction across party lines ahead of the June 3 local elections, as candidates in Daegu seek to appeal to voters with pledges to bring the bank's headquarters to the city. IBK, a major lender to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is currently headquartered in Seoul's Jung District and plays a key role in implementing government-backed financing programs. Kim Boo-kyum, a former prime minister and Daegu mayoral candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, has floated the relocation as a key campaign pledge. In a recent media interview, Kim said, "There are about 3,000 SMEs in Daegu. Since IBK was launched to support these businesses, it makes sense for it to be headquartered here." Similar calls have long been made by members of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), which has traditionally enjoyed strong support in the city. Rep

Apr 9, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin
IBK workers uneasy over politicians' push to relocate bank to Daegu
Business

LG unveils multimodal AI model that outperforms global rivals

LG AI Research introduced EXAONE 4.5, a multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) model designed to understand and reason across both text and images, marking a significant step in the company’s push to expand its proprietary AI ecosystem. The new model integrates a self-developed vision encoder with a large language model into a single system, forming a vision-language model capable of processing complex documents such as contracts, technical drawings and financial statements with a high degree of accuracy. According to LG AI Research, EXAONE 4.5 outperformed competing models, including those from OpenAI and Alibaba, across a range of benchmarks measuring visual understanding and reasoning. The model recorded an average score of 77.3 across five STEM-related evaluations, surpassing GPT-5 mini, Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Qwen3 235B. Across 13 evaluation metrics — including general visual understanding and document-based reasoning — the model also exceeded the performance of GPT-5 mini, Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Qwen3-VL, the company said. In coding performance, EXAONE 4.5 scored 81.4 on the L

Apr 9, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
LG unveils multimodal AI model that outperforms global rivals
Tech & Science

ICT minister, telecom CEOs pledge trust, cheaper 5G, AI network investment

Deputy Prime Minister and Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon and the CEOs of three major telecom companies — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — issued a joint declaration Thursday, pledging to restore public trust, deliver tangible benefits such as cheaper 5G plans and expanded service, and ramp up investment in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered networks to secure the nation’s digital future. The minister met with the CEOs in Seoul to discuss how the industry can rebuild public trust following a series of data breach incidents last year, and pursue future growth amid a rapidly changing communications environment. The meeting marked the first gathering between the minister and industry heads since the new CEOs of SK Telecom and KT officially took office. Discussions centered around three key areas: restoring trust, improving affordability and driving AI network investments. Based on the discussions, the ministry and CEOs adopted a joint declaration, reaffirming their commitment to industrywide reform. “The hacking incidents last year made it all the more clear how serious the r

Apr 9, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
ICT minister, telecom CEOs pledge trust, cheaper 5G, AI network investment
Banking & Finance

Lotte Card given prior notice of penalty over massive data breach

Lotte Card has been notified by the financial watchdog of around 5 billion won ($3.38 million) in financial penalties and a business suspension of over four months over its massive data leak, informed sources said Thursday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) recently sent the prior notice to the credit card firm, with the penalties set to be finalized by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in the near future, according to the local industry sources. Lotte Card's online payment system was hacked last year, resulting in the leak of personal information of about 2.97 million customers. It was also found that the company did not take sufficient encryption measures for the log files. Earlier this month, the state data protection watchdog separately decided to impose a penalty of 9.62 billion won on Lotte Card.

Apr 9, 2026By Yonhap
Lotte Card given prior notice of penalty over massive data breach
Companies

LG Electronics targets Asia-Pacific growth with lifestyle products, subscription services

LG Electronics is stepping up its push into the Asia-Pacific region with a lineup of premium home appliances and AI-connected service offerings. The company is holding LG InnoFest 2026 APAC, which began Wednesday, in the southeastern port city of Busan over four days, bringing together key distributors and media from more than 20 countries across the Asia-Pacific region to showcase new products and business strategy. The event follows InnoFest editions held in the Middle East and Africa in February and Latin America in March, and marks the final leg of this year's global series. LG said holding the event in Korea was intended to give attendees direct exposure to the latest living trends that have gained international attention. The Asia-Pacific region, home to approximately 4.4 billion people, excluding the Middle East and Central Asia, represents the largest market in the Global South. LG said it allocated its largest exhibition space of this year's InnoFest series to the event, with displays designed around interior settings drawn from Korean TV shows as a vehicle for showcasing the co

Apr 9, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
LG Electronics targets Asia-Pacific growth with lifestyle products, subscription services
Companies

Starbucks Korea expands 'Focus Zone' locations near university campuses

Starbucks Korea is expanding its designated “Focus Zone” concept across its locations near university campuses, catering to customers who use cafes as dedicated spaces for studying or remote work. The company said the Focus Zone is a dedicated area within select stores designed for solo or paired customers visiting for study or work purposes. While Starbucks Korea has long offered single-occupancy seats and power outlet seating, it began operating the Focus Zone as a formally separated section in August last year, distinguishing it from general seating areas. Six locations currently feature the concept: Sillim Nokdu-geori, Songpa Bangi, Ilsan Hugok, Gwanggyo Sanghyeon Station, Sejong University and Hanyang University ERICA. The two most recent additions — the Sejong University and Hanyang University ERICA locations, both opened this year — were designed with university commercial districts in mind. At each, roughly half of the total floor space is allocated to the Focus Zone, reflecting the high proportion of student customers visiting for coursework and exam preparation. The comp

Apr 9, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Starbucks Korea expands 'Focus Zone' locations near university campuses
Companies

Samsung Display's QD-OLED monitor panels surpass 5 mil. cumulative shipments

Samsung Display said Monday its QD-OLED panels for monitors surpassed 5 million cumulative units shipped in March, roughly four years after the technology entered mass production. The company said it achieved the first 1 million units shipped as of May 2024, making the subsequent 4 million units the fastest ramp up in the product line's history. Samsung Display said it recorded average annual growth of more than 320 percent from 2021 through 2025 in the self-emissive monitor display segment. QD-OLED, or Quantum Dot Organic Light-Emitting Diode, integrates nanometer-scale semiconductor particles known as quantum dots directly into the display panel. Unlike conventional large-area OLED displays that rely on separate color filters, QD-OLED converts blue OLED light into red and green wavelengths through a quantum dot emissive layer. The technology delivers high color accuracy, wide color volume and broad viewing angles, along with faster pixel response times compared to liquid crystal displays at equivalent refresh rates. According to market research firm Omdia, the share of self-emissive pa

Apr 9, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Samsung Display's QD-OLED monitor panels surpass 5 mil. cumulative shipments
Companies

Gov't designates 145 companies to lead S. Korea's food exports

The government has selected 145 prominent and emerging companies to spearhead South Korea's food exports, the agriculture ministry said Thursday, as global demand for Korean cuisine is rapidly growing in line with the popularity of Korean culture. The companies will participate in the Global Next K-food Project led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, which is designed to help boost K-food exports, according to ministry officials. The project seeks to encourage large businesses to form alliances with small and medium-sized firms to jointly develop and promote food products targeting overseas markets. The ministry says the project will especially seek to boost exports of traditional Korean liquor, halal-certified K-food products, street food, functional food and fruits, among others. The ministry has set an annual export target of $16 billion for the food and agriculture sector this year, which would mark a 17.5 percent on-year spike from an all-time high of $13.62 billion posted in 2025.

Apr 9, 2026By Yonhap
Gov't designates 145 companies to lead S. Korea's food exports
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