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EXPLAINER How $133 mil. funding dispute between MBK, Meritz pushed Homeplus toward collapse
Once Korea’s second-largest discount store operator, Homeplus decided to temporarily close stores beginning Monday after running out of cash, leaving it unable to pay suppliers or even cover basic operating expenses. The retailer now faces an uncertain future after the Seoul Bankruptcy Court terminated its rehabilitation proceedings earlier this month. Without an immediate 200 billion won ($133 million) cash injection, industry observers say it is effectively on the path toward liquidation unless a last-minute rescue materializes. Why $133 million? So why has 200 billion won become the figure that could determine Homeplus’ fate? The number represents the minimum amount the court said the company needed to carry out its restructuring plan. After years of struggling with the decline of Korea’s hypermarket sector and consumers’ shift to online shopping, Homeplus — owned by private equity firm MBK Partners — initially sought a buyer. But no deal materialized. One hurdle was an accounting assessment showing that the company’s liquidation value was more than 1 trillion won higher th
4 MIN READBy Park Han-sol

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Telecoms step up cybersecurity spending after breaches

Major telecom companies — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — are sharply increasing their cybersecurity investments and strengthening security governance following last year's high-profile breaches, positioning security as a core business priority rather than a compliance obligation. According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the three carriers’ combined information security investment rose to about 367.5 billion won ($243.9 million) in 2025, up about 22 percent from 301.2 billion won a year earlier, far outpacing the approximately 4 percent growth in overall IT investment. On average, the three carriers devoted nearly 7 percent of their overall IT investment to information security last year, compared with 5.8 percent in 2024. The widening gap reflects a shift in investment priorities as telecom companies respond to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats while seeking to restore consumer confidence after last year's security incidents. SK Telecom and its fixed-line affiliate SK Broadband together invested 143.4 billion won in information security, the largest amount am

9h agoBy Lee Gyu-lee

Telecoms step up cybersecurity spending after breaches

Tight timeline puts southwestern chip cluster plan at risk

As the Korean government pushes to complete a new 800 trillion won ($532 billion) semiconductor cluster in the country's southwestern region and begin mass production there by 2030 — within President Lee Jae Myung's single five-year term — concerns are growing that the tight timeline could put the entire project at risk. The government stresses that the target is achievable by rolling out measures to address concerns raised by experts over securing sufficient industrial water, power supply, workforce and land, but industry officials argue the timeline is based on the optimistic assumption that every step will proceed without delays. Given that the downside risks are as significant as the scale of the investment, they say the government should allow for greater flexibility rather than becoming overly fixated on its political timetable. According to government officials, the central government is accelerating plans to relocate facilities at Gwangju Military Air Base, the site selected for the semiconductor cluster, to nearby Muan County, South Jeolla Province. It aims to begin the rel

9h agoBy Nam Hyun-woo

Tight timeline puts southwestern chip cluster plan at risk

LS Electric, Infineon team up to power AI data center boom

LS Electric said it signed a memorandum of understanding with German semiconductor maker Infineon Technologies on Friday to jointly develop direct current, or DC, power technologies for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and next-generation power grids. The agreement, signed at LS Electric's research and development campus in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, was attended by LS Electric Executive Vice President Ahn Gil-young, who oversees production and research and business development; Infineon Chief Sales Officer and Senior Vice President Andreas Weisl, who leads the company's industrial and infrastructure division; and Lee Seung-soo, CEO of Infineon Technologies Korea. The companies will co-develop power semiconductor-based DC solutions, including power conversion systems for energy storage systems, solid-state transformers and solid-state circuit breakers — components that reduce power-conversion steps to cut energy loss and improve efficiency in high-density environments like AI data centers. LS Electric will lead system design, integration and commercialization, while Infineon

12h agoBy Jhoo Dong-chan

LS Electric, Infineon team up to power AI data center boom

SK Telink expands satellite network into highway disaster response

SK Telink is bringing low-Earth orbit satellite communications to Korea's road network for the first time in a bid to fortify the nation's critical infrastructure. Under a deal announced Monday, the satellite communications provider will equip Korea Expressway Corp. with satellite-backed systems designed to ensure uninterrupted connectivity. The highway deployment builds on SK Telink's recent partnership with Korea Electric Power Corp., extending the company's satellite communications network from the energy sector directly into public disaster response operations. SK Telink said the project marks the first application of low-Earth orbit satellite communications in Korea's road and transportation infrastructure. The company has installed mobile Starlink terminals for Korea Expressway Corp. to help maintain communications when terrestrial networks are disrupted by heavy rain, wildfires, earthquakes or other emergencies, or when incidents occur in areas with limited network coverage. Korea Expressway Corp. said it has completed the initial deployment across 10 regional headquarters. The agen

12h agoBy Lee Kyung-min

SK Telink expands satellite network into highway disaster response

Google Cloud expands partnership with Samsung to accelerate agentic AI

Google Cloud said Monday it is partnering with Samsung Electronics to roll out its Gemini Enterprise AI platform to employees across Samsung's Device eXperience (DX) Division worldwide, including in Korea. Google Cloud called it its largest enterprise agentic artificial intelligence (AI) deployment in the country to date, aiming to set a new global benchmark for workplace productivity and operational innovation. Ruth Sun, president of Google Cloud Korea, said true workplace transformation in the agentic era requires moving beyond simple productivity tools toward deeper operational intelligence, calling Gemini Enterprise a secure foundation for Samsung employees to enter true enterprise AI and accelerate business innovation at global scale. The companies are building a dual-structure system: The Gemini Enterprise App serves as a conversational hub connecting Samsung's scattered internal systems, letting employees search and synthesize internal knowledge in real time rather than manually digging through data. The rollout is also meant to lay the groundwork for more advanced, autonomous mul

12h agoBy Jhoo Dong-chan

Google Cloud expands partnership with Samsung to accelerate agentic AI

JobKorea widens lead as Korea's top recruitment platform

JobKorea has widened its lead in Korea's competitive online recruitment market, surpassing 10 million monthly active users in the first half of 2026 as its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven hiring services attracted more job seekers and strengthened its position as the country's largest platform for full-time employment. The AI and data-based human resources technology platform said Monday that its cumulative monthly active users reached about 10.86 million during the first half of the year, according to data analyzed with Mobile Index. The figure exceeded rival platforms, including Saramin with 9.79 million users, Remember with 4.83 million, Incruit with 870,000 and Wanted with 480,000. The gap between JobKorea and the second-largest platform widened to about 1.07 million users, compared with roughly 630,000 a year earlier. JobKorea also led the industry in new app installations during the first half, recording about 1.49 million downloads. Saramin posted about 770,000 new installations, while Remember recorded about 240,000. JobKorea said it was the only full-time recruitment platform

12h agoBy Lee Kyung-min

JobKorea widens lead as Korea's top recruitment platform

3 major department stores post record H1 foreign sales amid K-wave

Korea's three major department store chains said Monday they posted record first-half sales from foreign shoppers, driven by the growing popularity of Korean fashion and other K-content. In the January-June period, foreign purchases at Hyundai Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store and Lotte Department Store reached 500 billion won ($332 million), 580 billion won and 600 billion won, respectively, nearing their full-year totals for 2025, according to the companies' sales data. In 2025, Hyundai, Shinsegae and Lotte posted foreign sales of 700 billion won, 650 billion won and 730 billion won, respectively. All three expect their annual foreign sales to exceed 1 trillion won for the first time this year. "Foreign sales at Lotte Department Store's Myeongdong branch in central Seoul surged 140 percent from a year earlier in the first half, with foreign shoppers accounting for 70 percent of sales at Kinetic Ground, a dedicated K-fashion zone targeting young global consumers," a Lotte source said. The customer base has expanded beyond Greater China to include visitors from North America an

12h agoBy Yonhap

3 major department stores post record H1 foreign sales amid K-wave

Hyundai Rotem acquires NATO quality assurance certificate for 1st time

The state-run defense agency in charge of quality assurance has awarded Hyundai Rotem Co. a certificate for quality management standards required by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in regard to the supply of defense products, officials said Monday. Hyundai Rotem received the certificate confirming that it meets NATO's quality assurance standards for its K2 tanks and other arms products, according to the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality. It marks the first time the agency has conferred the certificate on a defense firm since it acquired the right in March last year. The move is expected to bolster the entry of domestic defense firms into NATO's collective defense procurement market, reportedly valued at 15 trillion won ($10 billion), and enhance the credibility of the quality assurance system, according to officials.

13h agoBy Yonhap

Hyundai Rotem acquires NATO quality assurance certificate for 1st time

AMCHAM launches 'K-Doorknock' to support Korean companies expanding in US

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) has launched "K-Doorknock," a new advocacy program aimed at helping Korean companies strengthen their business and investment presence in the United States. The initiative will debut Monday (local time) in Washington, D.C., as part of AMCHAM's annual Washington Doorknock mission, which runs through Thursday. Washington Doorknock has long served as AMCHAM's flagship advocacy program, bringing business leaders to the U.S. capital to meet policymakers and opinion leaders on issues affecting bilateral economic ties. The newly introduced K-Doorknock expands that effort by providing a dedicated platform for Korean companies to engage directly with U.S. government officials and business leaders as they expand operations and investments in the U.S. AMCHAM said the new initiative reflects the increasingly two-way nature of the Korea-U.S. economic partnership, with the chamber seeking to support not only U.S. companies operating in Korea but also Korean companies investing and creating jobs in the United States. The inaugural K-Doorknock delegation

13h agoBy Nam Hyun-woo

AMCHAM launches 'K-Doorknock' to support Korean companies expanding in US

Homeplus temporarily closes outlets starting Monday

Financially troubled discount store chain Homeplus said Monday it has decided to temporarily close its outlets starting Monday due to a lack of operating capital and difficulties in maintaining store operations. The decision came after the Seoul Bankruptcy Court terminated Homeplus' rehabilitation proceedings on July 3, saying the company had failed to secure at least 200 billion won ($130 million) needed to carry out its self-rescue plan. The retailer, wholly owned by private equity firm MBK Partners, has been financially strapped by a prolonged slump in the discount store industry and entered court-led rehabilitation in March 2025. Homeplus has asked its largest creditor, Meritz Financial Group, to provide a 200 billion-won working capital loan, but its request has yet to be accepted. "Most of our operating funds have been completely exhausted, leaving us unable to make payments to suppliers or cover operating expenses needed to keep our stores open," a company official said. He said both Homeplus' headquarters and all discount stores will suspend operations starting Monday to ensure se

14h agoBy Yonhap

Homeplus temporarily closes outlets starting Monday

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