South Korea

South Korean film "12:12: The Day" is a story about the country's 1979 military coup. Some viewers see parallels with present-day politics.
Politics

South Korean hit '12:12: The Day' highlights political divides

Smash film draws huge audiences as nation braces for key elections

23 December 2023
Samsung has told suppliers that it aims to churn out more than 240 million smartphones in 2024 as the Android phone maker foresees an improvement in consumer sentiment.
Technology

Samsung and other Android smartphone makers gearing up for better 2024

Bigger orders from Oppo and Honor indicate industry is pulling out of yearslong slump

22 December 2023
Chairman Jin Roy Ryu of the Federation of Korean Industries speaks to reporters in Seoul on Dec. 21. (Photo courtesy of FKI)
International relations

South Korea business lobby seeks regular meetings with U.S., Japan

Chairman Jin Roy Ryu calls for talks on chip and EV supply chains

22 December 2023
Han Dong-hoon, center, stepped down as South Korea's justice minister to head the ruling People Power Party. (Yonhap/Kyodo)
Politics

South Korea's justice minister to head ruling party

Han Dong-hoon becomes face of PPP ahead of April elections

22 December 2023
Chinese tourists visit Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew temple in August. People from the country made up the world's biggest outbound travel market before the COVID pandemic, with 155 million trips in 2019. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Travel & Leisure

In charts: How Asia's tourism recovery is held back by stay-home Chinese

World's biggest foreign travel market hurt by weak economy, safety concerns

21 December 2023
Samsung Electronics is building a chip research facility in the Japanese city of Yokohama. 
Semiconductors

Samsung to receive up to $140m in subsidies for Japan chip facility

Japan's industry ministry to pay for up to half of Yokohama hub's cost

21 December 2023
South Korea's HMM is the world's eighth-largest container carrier by capacity. (HMM)
Business deals

South Korean shipper HMM set to be acquired by poultry conglomerate

Harim, which owns a smaller shipper, named preferred bidder with $5bn offer

20 December 2023
From left, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meet in San Francisco in November. The countries seek to bolster cooperation in the face of security challenges in East Asia.
Defense

U.S., Japan, South Korea start sharing missile information in real time

North Korean advances spur push for quicker, more accurate analysis

20 December 2023
Hyundai Motor is making "final arrangements" to sell its Russian unit after suspending factory operations in March 2022.
Automobiles

Hyundai Motor to sell Russian unit to local dealer

South Korean automaker's factory operations suspended amid war in Ukraine

19 December 2023
Line says the investment in Line Next is the largest funding round in the Asian blockchain Web3 industry this year. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura)
DealStreetAsia

Line Next obtains funding from Peter Thiel-linked investors

South Korean Web3 and blockchain-focused venture launched by Line in 2021

15 December 2023
Online comics, or webtoons, are catching on in South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and beyond. AI is now part of the production process. (Nikkei montage/Source photo courtesy of Onoma AI)
Media & Entertainment

AI technology finds its way into South Korean comics, dramas

Startups make synopses, storyboards for studios, but some fans concerned

14 December 2023
Residents of South Korea's Jeju Island protest against the acceptance of asylum seekers from Yemen on June 30, 2018. 
Politics

South Korean rising political star makes stern shift on refugees

Justice minister tipped for 2027 run seeks terror checks after opening doors to migrants

14 December 2023
ASML CEO Peter Wennink, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong attend a meeting in Veldhoven on Dec. 12.
Semiconductors

ASML and Samsung strike $760m deal on memory chip equipment research

South Korea and the Netherlands strengthen advanced semiconductor cooperation

13 December 2023
Stream article image
The Big Story

The great nanometer chip race

China looks for shortcuts as TSMC, Samsung and Intel push the limits of miniaturization

13 December 2023
Critics are raising questions over President Yoon Suk Yeol's frequent trips overseas. He is off to the Netherlands this week, his sixth visit to Europe; he has been to the U.S. five times, and paid visits to India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 
Politics

South Korean president's trips abroad attract growing scrutiny

Netherlands visit is Yoon's 16th overseas excursion since taking power last year

11 December 2023
Singapore's commercial property investment volume declined 11%, year-on-year, to $2 billion in the third quarter of 2023. (Photo by Norman Goh)
Market Spotlight

From Singapore to South Korea, commercial property deals falter

Japan and India are bright spots, although most real estate investors remain wary

11 December 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and then-Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi in November 2015. (Pool via  AP)
Your Week in Asia

Xi to Vietnam for rail, Yoon to Netherlands for chips, BOJ Tankan

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

10 December 2023
Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami speaks in an interview with Nikkei Asia. The company's whisky is part of the increasing popularity of highballs in South Korea. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok)
Interview

Suntory CEO pleased with strong South Korea whisky demand

Takeshi Niinami says interest part of countries' growing cultural connections

10 December 2023
A bull statue at the Bombay Stock Exchange. India's benchmark Sensex index ended Friday at a record high.
Markets

India, Taiwan stocks draw emerging-market investors as China slumps

Growth hopes lift Sensex to record; U.S. rate cut chatter boosts other currencies

9 December 2023
Satsuma Golf Resort is popular among South Korean golf enthusiasts, who like to enjoy the sport in warm weather. 
Travel & Leisure

South Korean driving range operator buys Japan golf resort

Show Golf expands in light of sport's growing popularity at home

8 December 2023
Kurt Campbell testifies during a confirmation hearing for deputy secretary of state at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Dec. 7. 
Indo-Pacific

China won't win trust of Japan and South Korea: Kurt Campbell

Deputy secretary of state nominee says U.S. must stay focused on Indo-Pacific

8 December 2023
A POSCO Chemical battery pack for electric vehicles is displayed at the InterBattery exhibition in Seoul in March 2022. The company changed its name to POSCO Future M this year. 
8 December 2023
A South Korean couple take care of their baby son at their home in Seoul in December 2018. 
Society

New South Korean statistics worsen dread over low birthrate

Officials seek to encourage more births but have failed to stop decline

5 December 2023
South Korea's Agency for Defense Development conducted its third test flight of the rocket off Jeju Island on Dec. 4. (Hanwha Systems)
Defense

South Korea test-fires solid-fuel rocket and puts satellite into orbit

Seoul steps up pursuit of satellite surveillance on North Korea

5 December 2023
Cleaners work to prevent bedbugs at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Nov. 17.
Travel & Leisure

Bedbugs threaten to bite Asia's post-COVID travel recovery

Scares in South Korea, Hong Kong and elsewhere are manageable, experts say

3 December 2023