Business

Korea’s telecoms face leadership turmoil after hacking fiascos

Korea’s top telecom companies — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — are facing leadership turbulence following a series of massive hacking incidents, prompting management reshuffles and intensified scrutiny over executive accountability. SK Telecom took the first decisive action on Thursday, appointing Chief Governance Officer Jung Jai-hun as the new CEO, replacing Ryu Young-sang, who had served since 2021. The company’s leadership change accompanied the release of its third-quarter earnings, which revealed its first-ever operating loss since quarterly reporting began in 2000. It reported an operating loss of 52.2 billion won ($36.5 million), with revenue sliding 16.8 percent year-on-year to 2.66 trillion won. The company also suspended its third-quarter dividend. The financial setback was primarily due to sizable one-off costs from the massive hacking incident that leaked the information records of nearly 27 million users. The costs included around 500 billion won in customer compensation and contract cancellation fee waivers, and a 134.8 billion won fine from the Personal Informatio

Nov 3, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

Korea’s telecoms face leadership turmoil after hacking fiascos

Banking & Finance

AIA Korea promotes healthier living at Seoul marathon

AIA Korea participated in the 2025 JTBC Seoul Marathon Sunday as an official sponsor for the third consecutive year, the company said Monday. This year, the insurer expanded its involvement in one of the nation’s most iconic races by introducing a new campaign, “Run Together, Give Together,” reaffirming its commitment to helping people live healthier, longer and better lives. The marathon featured a distinctive AIA-exclusive experience. Team AIA runners trained under Korean women’s marathon legend Kwon Eun-joo and her professional coaching team, ran side by side during the event and enjoyed special access to the AIA experience booth in Yeouido Park, dedicated to celebrating runners and promoting health and wellness. A total of 730 AIA runners took part, including customers, AIA Premier Partners’ master planners, telesales representatives and employees, many of whom were first-time marathoners. Alongside the new campaign, AIA Korea pledged to donate 100 million won ($70,000) to the National Cancer Center. “It is an honor for AIA Korea to sponsor the JTBC Seoul Marathon for the

Nov 3, 2025By Jun Ji-hye

AIA Korea promotes healthier living at Seoul marathon

Companies

Samyang returns to roots with revival of Korea’s 1st instant noodle recipe

Samyang Foods on Monday launched a new instant noodle that ambitiously revives the key recipe of the company’s — and Korea’s — first ramyeon product, Samyang Ramen, which used beef tallow — the same ingredient that once caused its sales to plummet due to unproven rumors and public backlash in 1989. The company’s Vice Chairman Kim Jung-soo said the introduction of the new product, Samyang 1963, is not just another product launch, but a symbolic return to the philosophy of late honorary Chairman Chun Joong-yoon. Chun, who founded the company in 1961 and was Kim’s father-in-law, aimed to provide affordable instant noodles to Koreans amid widespread poverty. Samyang 1963, launched amid a global craze for the company’s Buldak noodles, uses beef tallow to deep-fry the noodles and to make a liquid soup base, which adds what the company described as a “deep, beefy taste” to the broth. The launch comes exactly 36 years after a lawsuit was filed against Samyang Foods for allegedly using a “non-edible” ingredient. Sparked by an anonymous tip to the police, the unfounded rum

Nov 3, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan

Samyang returns to roots with revival of Korea’s 1st instant noodle recipe

Tech & Science

SK Group pivots from scale to efficiency to meet soaring AI market demand

SK Group showcased its capabilities for meeting the fast-growing market demand for artificial intelligence (AI) during its 2025 SK AI Summit Monday, where Chairman Chey Tae-won emphasized “efficiency over scale” in the group’s approach to providing memory chips, infrastructure and services. SK Group affiliates and partner companies across the semiconductor, energy, AI data center and agent services sectors joined the annual forum at Coex in southern Seoul, sharing the latest updates for their products and services to industry and academic leaders. “The exponential growth in demand for computing power is far more serious, as supply cannot keep up,” Chey said during his keynote speech. “It is time to shift the paradigm from a competition of scale to a competition of efficiency.” Chey said demand for AI computing power maintains a sharp growth trajectory with the rise of AI inferencing, which requires more tokens than current training-based models. He added that the trend is accelerating: As business-to-business AI adoption expands, agentic AI becomes more widespread and nati

Nov 3, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo

SK Group pivots from scale to efficiency to meet soaring AI market demand

Companies

Dongwon F&B accelerates global expansion with hallabong iced tea

Dongwon F&B is ramping up efforts for global expansion with the launch of Boseong Hongcha hallabong iced tea — the firm’s new strategic model inspired by Korean traditional culture, the company said Monday. The product is the first new iced tea launched by Dongwon in nearly two years. The Boseong Hongcha iced tea lineups reinterpret tea leaves from Boseong — once presented as royal tribute during the Joseon Dynasty — by blending traditional tea flavors with the modern zero-calorie trend. According to data from NielsenIQ, a consumer market research firm, the lineup maintained its top spot in the local ready-to-drink black tea market in 2024. In September, Dongwon F&B signed a partnership with the Korea Heritage Agency to collaborate on promoting the nation’s cultural heritage in areas such as product packaging and goods development. “We will strengthen our global presence with the flagship iced tea brand and its new product,” an official from the company said. Hallabong is a unique citrus fruit famously associated with the nation’s southern island of Jeju. As Korean custome

Nov 3, 2025By Lee Min-hyung

Dongwon F&B accelerates global expansion with hallabong iced tea

Companies

‘Samsung Chairman Lee gave me pocket money’: Barista’s viral post brews a buzz

A barista’s online post about giving a cup of coffee to Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, and receiving 50,000 won ($36) in return has gone viral, drawing hundreds of thousands of views in less than a day. The employee, who was working at an Ediya Coffee location inside Hanwha Resort during the summit, wrote on social media Saturday, “I’ve had many special experiences, but meeting Chairman Lee was the most memorable,” sharing photos of herself with Lee and the 50,000-won bill he handed her. She recalled spotting Lee as he passed by and offering him a cup of coffee. After accepting the drink and thanking her, Lee began to walk away but soon turned back, pulled a 50,000-won bill from his pocket, and gave it to her. “He was so cool, handsome and gentle,” she said. “I’ll frame the money and keep it as a family treasure.” The post quickly spread online, racking up over 340,000 views and 9,000 likes. When one user commented, “The Samsung CEO gave you money from his po

Nov 3, 2025By Hankookilbo

‘Samsung Chairman Lee gave me pocket money’: Barista’s viral post brews a buzz

Companies

Beauty firms share K-beauty products with APEC guests

Major Korean beauty brands and platforms presented official gifts to VIPs at last week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, promoting K-beauty to international guests. CJ Olive Young, operator of offline Olive Young stores and its global online store, and LG H&H, seller of brands including The Whoo, VDL, and Beyond, offered selected products to the guests. For the APEC events, these companies presented products in specially designed containers reflecting Gyeongju, the host city and former capital of the ancient Silla Dynasty (57 B.C.–935 A.D.). Olive Young said on Sunday that it gifted The Best K-Beauty Selection sets to the leaders of 21 APEC economies. The gifts came in small wooden chests inspired by the iconic Silla golden crown and a traditional knot from royal Silla culture, each containing 17 items, including skincare, makeup and personal care products. The company said the selected beauty items comprised the products most popular in consumer markets across the Asia-Pacific region. They included brands from small- and medium-sized suppliers such as VT Cosmetics

Nov 2, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan

Beauty firms share K-beauty products with APEC guests

Banking & Finance

Hana Financial Group honored for long-term support of older adults in need

Hana Financial Group said Sunday that it has received a plaque of appreciation from the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres in recognition of its continued support for vulnerable older adults. The award ceremony was held Friday at the group's headquarters in Seoul. Founded in 1888 as the first religious order in Korea, the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres carry out a wide range of social welfare activities for the underprivileged, including operating child welfare centers, shelters for older adults without families, and residential facilities for people with disabilities. Since 2017, Hana Financial Group has supported the Saint Paul Nursing Home, a welfare facility for older adults operated by the Sisters, which provides care for older individuals with dementia and other age-related conditions. The group has donated a variety of essential items over the years, including electric beds, fall-prevention mattresses, wheelchairs, welfare equipment and agricultural products. It has also contributed to significant facility upgrades, such as the installation of heating and cooling systems and improv

Nov 2, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo

Hana Financial Group honored for long-term support of older adults in need

Tech & Science

AI, chip partnerships shape APEC 2025 outcomes

At this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the headlines went beyond familiar stories of trade disputes and diplomatic maneuvering, also highlighting bold new alliances in future technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. As leaders from the United States, China and other APEC member economies convened in Korea to address trade and security issues, the APEC CEO Summit — held from Oct. 29 to 31 — brought together more than 1,700 top executives and officials from global companies and major Korean conglomerates, enabling global tech leaders to rally around industry initiatives and partnerships to drive future technological innovation. Discussions for the sessions spanned finance, energy and culture, with a marked emphasis on the transformative potential of AI, semiconductors and cloud-based technologies. These sessions set the stage for landmark partnership announcements at the summit. The most anticipated announcements came from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who unveiled a series of partnership agreeme

Nov 2, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

AI, chip partnerships shape APEC 2025 outcomes

Companies

US-China maritime deal likely to lift sanctions on Hanwha Ocean

Hanwha Ocean is expected to benefit from the trade deal struck between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Beijing will presumably lift sanctions on Hanwha Ocean’s U.S. subsidiaries as a result of the agreement. According to a fact sheet released by the White House on Sunday, “China will remove measures it took in retaliation for the U.S.’s announcement of a Section 301 investigation on China’s Targeting the Maritime, Logistics and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance, and remove sanctions imposed on various shipping entities.” Washington also noted that it will suspend implementation of the responsive actions taken as part of the Section 301 investigation on China for one year, starting Nov. 10, and negotiate with China while “continuing its historic cooperation with the Republic of Korea and Japan on revitalizing American shipbuilding.” The fact sheet is an outcome of the Trump-Xi summit in Busan on Thursday, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The Section 301 investig

Nov 2, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo

Fried chicken chain bhc expands US footprint with first Virginia restaurant

Winners of the 22nd Economic Essay Contest

Science ministry vows $650 bil. investment in AI data centers

Korea launches K-Chicken Belt to boost gastronomy tourism

Samsung, partner firms sign agreement for mutual growth

Business

Fried chicken chain bhc expands US footprint with first Virginia restaurant

Winners of the 22nd Economic Essay Contest

Science ministry vows $650 bil. investment in AI data centers

Korea launches K-Chicken Belt to boost gastronomy tourism

Samsung, partner firms sign agreement for mutual growth

Read more

Korea’s telecoms face leadership turmoil after hacking fiascos

AIA Korea promotes healthier living at Seoul marathon

Samyang returns to roots with revival of Korea’s 1st instant noodle recipe

SK Group pivots from scale to efficiency to meet soaring AI market demand

Dongwon F&B accelerates global expansion with hallabong iced tea

‘Samsung Chairman Lee gave me pocket money’: Barista’s viral post brews a buzz

Beauty firms share K-beauty products with APEC guests

Hana Financial Group honored for long-term support of older adults in need

AI, chip partnerships shape APEC 2025 outcomes

US-China maritime deal likely to lift sanctions on Hanwha Ocean

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