South Korea’s domestic capital market is gearing up for a record year with a parade of initial public offerings set to eclipse a decade-old annual record of 10.1 trillion won ($8.9 billion), thanks to game developer Krafton’s expected blockbuster debut. This comes as Korean companies’ initial public offerings this year have already put their combined fundraising to a near-2020 level, according to IPO prospectuses submitted to Korean financial authorities. Through Sunday, 40

AsianInvestor, a Hong Kong-based publication dedicated to the investment activities of Asian asset owners, said Monday that it planned to offer a glimpse of the latest trends among Korean investors at a virtual event June 21-25. Institutional Investment Week Korea, the 14th event of its kind for Seoul investors, will focus on how Korean investors can rebalance their portfolios and build resilience into their investment strategies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual event was canceled last y

Samsung Life Insurance has set up a plan to invest 20 trillion won ($17.98 billion) in financial projects linked to environmental, social and governance initiatives by 2030, the company said Thursday. After holding ESG meetings among executives recently, the insurer announced its long-term plan to make investments in renewable energy businesses and ESG bonds while cutting carbon emissions in half and reducing paper use by 60 percent by the end of 2030. The company said it will also try to pu

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was the most heavily shorted stock in the South Korean market in the first month of a conditional resumption on short selling, data from the nation’s sole bourse operator showed Sunday. The amount of short sale transactions of the tech giant stood at 611.7 billion won ($549.18 million), an average of 34 billion won per day during 18 trading sessions from May 3 to Friday, according to the Korea Exchange data. Samsung shares have recently traded bearish,

As cities around the country battle over a proposed museum to house the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s art collection, the government said it would reveal details about the plan by mid-June. “The minister is likely to hold a press briefing in Seoul in mid-June to share the progress made so far regarding a new museum or storage place,” an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism told The Korea Herald. “We have formed a task force committee and

South Korean institutional investor Military Mutual Aid Association has named Lee Sang-hee, former top investor at Lotte Non-Life Insurance, as its new chief investment officer, the firm said Monday. Lee’s three-year term will start on Thursday, according to the institutional investor who manages 12.7 trillion won ($11.18 billion) in assets as of 2020. He will be responsible for overseeing 5 trillion-won worth of financial assets at MMAA -- including equities, fixed-income and alternative

Lee Jae-yong, the only son of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, has become the wealthiest entrepreneur in South Korea, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Thursday. The index shows a ranking of 500 richest people around the world. The list of the world’s top billionaires, compiled by media firm Bloomberg, showed the junior Lee owns $12.6 billion of assets as of May 12 to take the 170th spot among the 500 richest people. He inherited shares of Samsung Group affiliat

Global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co. retained the No. 1 spot on the list of South Korea's top 500 companies in 2020, with 44 companies newly making the list, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Samsung Electronics, the flagship of South Korea's leading family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, remained the biggest company by sales last year, with its top line reaching 236.8 trillion won ($212 billion). Leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co., the marquee unit of automaking behemoth Hyunda

The heirs of the late Samsung Group chief Lee Kun-hee on Friday paid 2 trillion won ($1.79 billion) toward their 12 trillion won-plus inheritance tax bill. The remaining amount, which exceeds the 10.6 trillion won collected in inheritance taxes throughout the country from 2017 to 2019, will be paid in installments over the next five years. Lee, who died in October, left an estate that was estimated to be worth more than 26 trillion won, including about 19 trillion won in stocks in key companies

Samsung Electronics and Seoul National University Hospital agreed on Monday to launch an official team to coordinate a 300 billion won ($267 million) donation from the bereaved family of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee for children with cancer and rare diseases. On behalf of the Lees, Samsung Electronics Presidents Sung In-hee and Rhee In-yong, in charge of social contributions and corporate relations, attended the ceremony with Seoul National University Hospital President Kim Yon-su and

Lee Jae-young, vice chairman of global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co., has emerged as South Korea's richest stockholder following inheriting stocks from his late father, a corporate tracker said Monday. Lee's mother and his two sisters also ranked second to fourth, with Kim Beom-su, founder and chief of South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp, dropping to fifth, according to CXO Institute. The value of Lee's stock holdings stood at 15.62 trillion won ($14 billion) as of Frid

Samsung’s ownership family on Friday announced how the late group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s Samsung stocks would be distributed among its members. Many local analysts saw it as the finale in a long, storied process of passing down control over the colossal corporate empire to the third-generation leader, Lee Jae-yong. The junior Lee, the deceased’s only son who had run the group on behalf of his bedridden father since 2014, inherited half of his holdings in Samsung Life Insuranc

Lee Jae-yong, the eldest son of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, officially became the leader of the Samsung empire by inheriting 50 percent of his father’s stake in Samsung Life Insurance, the company’s regulatory filing showed Friday. Lee received more than 20 million shares of the life insurer, owning a 10.44 percent stake in the affiliate, according to the filing. Samsung C&T, the construction arm and de facto holding company of Samsung Group, remains the largest sh

The bereaved family of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee is not at odds over who should get what from the late tycoon’s Samsung company shares, worth 19 trillion won ($17.06 billion) in total, officials at Samsung Electronics, the flagship unit of the conglomerate, said Wednesday. The late Lee’s equity holdings have immense implications for the group’s ownership structure, influencing the Lee family’s continued grip over the colossal corporate empire, which alone acco

The founding family of Samsung Group will donate 1 trillion won ($899 million) to bolster the country’s medical infrastructure, including building Korea’s first hospital for infectious diseases, Samsung Electronics announced on Wednesday. The announcement was part of the bereaved family’s plan on inheritance tax payments on assets of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who died on Oct. 25. The Lee family has decided to donate 700 billion won to better equip the medical s