South Korea’s largest private equity firm Hahn & Company said Friday it has completed the acquisition of the industrial film business of SK Group affiliate SKC in a deal worth 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion). The latest deal is the largest merger and acquisition closed in the country this year amid M&A jitters globally. The company said SKC’s industrial film business has full potential as its products are widely used in advanced technologies for the display, mobile and se

Market Dec. 2, 2022

SK Group, the nation’s second-largest conglomerate, appears to be seeking stability rather than drastic changes in the face of economic uncertainty, as it carried out a modest year-end leadership reshuffle across affiliates. SK Supex Council, the group’s top decision-making body, said its Chairman Cho Dae-sik will extend his two-year term again for a fourth time since he took the post in a unanimous vote among council members in 2017. The council, however, replaced the heads of the f

Industry Dec. 1, 2022

One month after Lee Jae-yong was promoted to the top post at Samsung Electronics, South Koreans are found to have a more favorable view of him than before, data showed Thursday. According to research firm Data&Research, a total of 18,335 online posts, excluding news reports, featuring the phrase “Chairman Lee Jae-yong” have been published in the month since his promotion to chairman on Oct. 27. The figure almost doubled from 9,764 posts a month earlier. During the same period, Le

Industry Dec. 1, 2022

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it will boost the supply of 5G network solutions to Japan’s No. 1 mobile operator NTT Docomo. After being chosen as a 5G network solution provider for Docomo in March, Samsung will provide additional 5G network radio units, which can send out major frequency bands operated by the Japanese mobile operator. Docomo has nearly 84 million users across the neighboring country as of March. The Japanese telecom company launched 5G services in March 2020. With str

Technology Nov. 30, 2022

US President Joe Biden will visit SK Siltron CSS in Michigan, the American branch of silicon wafer maker SK Siltron under South Korea's SK Group, on Tuesday, according to the White House and industry sources here. The surprise visit will mark the president’s first visit to a Korean semiconductor facility in the US. The US president was expected to arrive at the plant Tuesday afternoon, the latest development surrounding his renewed push for rebuilding the US manufacturing sector. He w

Industry Nov. 29, 2022

South Korean users spent less time on Twitter compared to the month before billionaire Elon Musk took over the social media platform in a drama-plagued $44 billion deal, industry data showed Monday. According to local data tracker Mobile Index, the average time a local user spent on Twitter was 43.94 minutes for the four weeks of Oct. 28 to Nov. 24, down from 45.9 minutes marked a month prior to the highly publicized purchase. The number of daily active users on the platform in that period, howe

Technology Nov. 28, 2022

Ahead of the 2022 Mama Awards set to take place at the end of the month in Japan, the awards organizers on Friday announced the star-studded lineup of presenters from both Korea and Japan. Veteran actors Hwang Jung-min and Jung Woo-sung, singer-turned-actors Ahn so-hee, Han Sun-hwa, Im Si-wan and Hwang Min-hyun, and actors Kim Dong-wook, Seo Ji-hye, Yeo Jin-goo, Woo Do-hwan and Nam Yoon-su were confirmed as presenters for the biggest annual music awards in the K-pop industry. Along with comedian

K-pop Nov. 25, 2022

The long-awaited Melon Music Awards are just around the corner, with a star-studded lineup now in place. Returning as an in-person event after a nearly three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, big-name artists are set to grace the renowned musical event. The 14th edition of the awards show will be held at its usual venue at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, southwestern Seoul, at 6 p.m. on Saturday, according to Kakao Entertainment, which runs Melon, the country’s largest music streaming platform

K-pop Nov. 24, 2022

Leading music sales tracker Hanteo Chart will host its first-ever offline music awards next year to commemorate its 30th anniversary, the chart's operator said Wednesday. The “Hanteo Music Awards 2022” ceremony will take place at the Jamsil Arena of the Seoul Sports Complex in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Feb. 10-11, according to operator Hanteo Global. Awardees will be selected based on data collected in real time by Hanteo Chart. Starting with next year’s ceremony, it plans to h

K-pop Nov. 23, 2022

Rookie boy group Tempest made a speedy comeback with its third EP, “On and On,” on Tuesday. The new release marked the act’s return to the stage just three months after the release of its second EP “Shining Up” in August. The septet aims to show a strong will to achieve its dreams through the latest EP, the band’s leader Lew said at a press showcase event held at Sungshin Women's University in Seoul ahead of the EP’s release at 6 p.m. “Listene

K-pop Nov. 22, 2022

As the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Qatar on Sunday, South Korea united to cheer for the national team, chanting and singing songs together. Local artists release World Cup-themed songs every season to add to the festive spirit. “For Victory” and “The Shouts of Reds” are among the popular cheering songs released by veteran modern rock band TransFixion. “We went on a hiatus for about four years after releasing our debut album ‘Come Back to Me' in 2002

Performance Nov. 21, 2022

About six months after becoming the winner of NBC’s “American Song Contest" singer AleXa has returned to the K-pop scene with a new EP, “Girls Gone Vogue,” aiming to show her multi-faceted sides to a global audience. The K-pop singer held a press showcase to talk about the new release and its production at Ilchi Art Hall in Seoul, Friday, ahead of the EP's release at noon, the same day. She made a comeback with more seasoned music and diverse tones. “I wan

K-pop Nov. 11, 2022

While the sky in Korea was graced by a mesmerizing total lunar eclipse, the 12-time Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter and guitarist Jack White flooded a Seoul concert hall on Tuesday night with a light haze and shades of blue with rock ‘n’ roll energy. The concert, held at Yes24 Live Hall in eastern Seoul, was part of the American rock musician’s global "Supply Chain Issues Tour” and his first show in the country. Although the event was scheduled late on a weekd

Performance Nov. 9, 2022

K-pop diva BoA will make a grand return with her third EP on Nov. 22, the singer’s agency SM Entertainment announced on Tuesday. The agency preceded the official announcement by dropping a teaser image for BoA’s new album “Forgive Me” at midnight Tuesday on the artist’s official social media. It will mark her first album release in nearly two years since “Better” came out in December 2020 in celebration of the artist’s 20th debut anniversary. Al

K-pop Nov. 8, 2022

The Korea Music Copyright Association, the biggest music copyright manager in the country, with some 46,000 songwriters and composers’ music works trusted to the association, said Wednesday that it ranked ninth in terms of music royalty collections among 142 societies in the same sector around the globe. Citing data from the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, the France-based world’s largest network in the creative sectors with 228 member societies i

Performance Nov. 2, 2022