North Jeolla Province is betting on the National Pension Service (NPS), which manages 1.6 quadrillion won ($1.2 trillion) in assets, to help transform the region into Korea's third financial hub. But while the world's third-largest pension fund has drawn a growing number of asset managers to the region, infrastructure gaps and difficulties in attracting financial talent are raising questions about whether the ambition can become reality, industry officials said Tuesday. Located about 250 kilometers south of Seoul, North Jeolla Province has traditionally been known for its agricultural roots and cultural heritage. That began to change in 2015, when the NPS relocated to Jeonju, the province's largest city. Domestic and foreign asset managers are flocking to Jeonju to deepen ties with the NPS. In June, the NPS began awarding an additional point to asset managers with a presence in Jeonju for selecting investment managers. From global asset managers such as BlackRock, Blackstone, BNY, Franklin Templeton and PIMCO, to domestic players including Mirae Asset, Samsung, Hanwha and KB Asset Manage

Hyundai Motor and Kia will test Level 4 autonomous heavy-duty trucks on real-world logistics routes next year, working with domestic self-driving software companies to develop technology for commercial deployment, the carmakers said Tuesday. The automakers will develop two test vehicles — a hydrogen fuel cell-powered Xcient truck and a conventional Xcient truck — and provide them to partners early next year. Both will feature customized control units and vehicle interfaces designed to integrate autonomous-driving systems. The trials will continue through the end of next year along two routes: a roughly 100-kilometer route combining highways and urban roads, and a 400-kilometer route focused primarily on highway driving. Hyundai Motor and Kia signed an agreement Tuesday with Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis and two autonomous-driving software developers, Mars Auto and RideFlux, to conduct the tests using the Hyundai Motor Group’s existing logistics network. Mars Auto and RideFlux will install their respective autonomous-driving systems in the trucks, while Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glo

Foreign experts accounted for less than 1 percent of research personnel at Korean companies, a report showed Tuesday, with companies identifying visa and related administrative issues as the biggest obstacles to hiring foreign workers in the field. According to the report by the Korea Industrial Technology Association (KOITA), there were 72,224 corporate research and development organizations registered with the association in 2025. Of those, only 1,945, or 2.7 percent, employed foreign researchers. The number of foreign researchers stood at 3,155, accounting for just 0.7 percent of the total research workforce. The number of research and development organizations employing foreign researchers and the number of foreign researchers increased 57.9 percent and 21.4 percent over the past decade, respectively. However, foreign researchers' share of the total research workforce remained virtually unchanged at around 0.7 percent. The report also included a survey of 1,225 companies conducted from Aug. 21 to 28 to assess their experiences with foreign researchers, hiring plans and recruitment c

Korea and the Czech Republic have reviewed progress in their joint nuclear energy project and discussed ways to bolster bilateral cooperation in the sector, the industry ministry said Tuesday. The virtual meeting between Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and his Czech counterpart, Karel Havlicek, came after a Korean consortium led by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power formally signed a contract to build the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic last year. During the third meeting of the Dukovany Steering Committee, the two sides confirmed the project is proceeding as planned and discussed deepening cooperation in the global nuclear energy industry. Kim, meanwhile, expressed concerns over the European Union's Industrial Accelerator Act, saying it could hinder participation by non-EU countries in the region's nuclear energy industry. He asked Prague to make diplomatic efforts to ensure the act does not adversely affect bilateral ties. The two sides plan to hold the fourth committee meeting in Korea this year, alongside business events to promote exchanges between nuclear energy compani

Korean banks are expanding lending services to foreign residents as they seek to tap a growing customer base beyond traditional services such as bank accounts and overseas remittances, industry officials said Tuesday. The shift reflects intensifying competition for foreign customers, including migrant workers and international students, as lenders broaden their offerings to include loans. Major commercial banks have rolled out dedicated loan products for foreign borrowers in recent years. Hana Bank launched the Hana Foreigner EZ Loan in August for E-7 and E-9 visa holders, offering loans of up to 10 million won ($7,500) for terms of up to 30 months. Shinhan Bank introduced its SOL Global Loan with a maximum limit of 20 million won, while NH NongHyup Bank rolled out its K-Foreigner Credit Loan, which offers loans of up to 30 million won to foreign borrowers. Regional lenders have established an early foothold in the market. Jeonbuk Bank, based in North Jeolla Province, launched loan services for foreign customers in 2016 and introduced online lending services in 2023. Kwangju Bank, BNK Kyo

Hanwha Life Insurance is expanding its financial education initiatives to Indonesia, aimed at helping teenagers build financial literacy in an increasingly digital landscape, the insurer said Tuesday. Developed with the international nonprofit Save the Children, the program is based in Indonesia’s Bandung, where young people face risks, including illegal lending and online scams and gambling, as digital financial services become more widespread. The project builds on Hanwha Life’s work in Vietnam last year, when it provided education to financially vulnerable groups, including women and young people. The Bandung program is designed to continue beyond its initial run by training local students and teachers to lead financial education. Ten high school students at each participating school are chosen to teach their peers, with support from university mentors at the Bandung Institute of Technology. Teachers are also receiving training to deliver lessons themselves. It has so far reached around 600 teenagers and 100 university students and teachers. In January, Hanwha Life plans to bring 2

Coway is promoting three mattresses under its BEREX brand to meet diverse sleeping preferences, offering options for people with different sleeping postures and couples who prefer different levels of firmness. The company said its lineup is designed to accommodate differences in body shape and sleeping habits, as Koreans tend to get relatively little sleep, making it increasingly important for consumers to improve their sleep quality. According to a 2024 survey by the Korean Society of Sleep Research, Koreans sleep an average of six hours and 58 minutes a day, placing the country among the lowest-ranked OECD members in terms of sleep duration. With limited hours of sleep, more consumers are seeking better-quality rest, making it increasingly important for mattress makers to address their diverse needs. For people who sleep on their backs or prefer firmer support, Coway recommends the BEREX Modi Mattress, which uses individually pocketed signature springs made with high-strength steel wire from POSCO for durability and stability, along with Contour 7-Zone Foam designed to distribute body

Budding artificial intelligence (AI) researchers presented the results of their work during an internship program jointly organized by Microsoft Research and the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP), showcasing new findings in areas such as visual agentic AI, brain-inspired AI, AI-native systems and spatial intelligence. Microsoft, IITP and the Ministry of Science and ICT jointly held the 2026 Korea Day presentation event at Microsoft Korea Office in central Seoul, Tuesday, with over 100 students, mentors and officials from Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) and IITP attending. IITP is the policy-planning and management arm of the ministry. “By embracing interdisciplinary and cross-boundary research rooted in Asia Pacific, we aim to define the new paradigm of computing and AI for the better,” Microsoft Research Accelerator Director Lee Mi-ran said. “Our collaboration with Korea is not a series of one-off events. It has been built steadily over more than 20 years … Government provides the framework, universities provide the talent and idea

Mercedes-Benz Korea is betting that a more affordable all-electric CLA sedan will revive its flagging electric vehicle (EV) business in the country, as Tesla and Chinese rivals gain ground in one of Asia’s most competitive imported-car markets. The German luxury automaker introduced the all-new electric CLA and GLC on Monday, with the entry-level CLA coupe-type sedan priced from 52.9 million won ($40,000). The pricing marks a major shift from Mercedes-Benz’s traditional premium positioning, placing its new electric sedan closer to mass-market alternatives, including Tesla’s Model Y, which starts at 49.99 million won in Korea. The Model Y was the country’s best-selling vehicle last month, largely due to its competitive pricing. The launch of the price-competitive CLA comes as Mercedes-Benz struggles to rev up sluggish EV sales. The company’s electric car lineup, previously a major source of growth, has lost momentum following the August 2024 fire involving a Mercedes-Benz EQE sedan in an underground parking garage in Incheon. Mercedes-Benz’s EV sales in Korea reached a peak of

LIG Defense & Aerospace (LIG D&A) and Doosan Enerbility have agreed to jointly develop engines for guided missiles and aircraft, combining the defense firm’s missile expertise with the power equipment maker’s turbine technology, LIG D&A said Tuesday. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday at Doosan Tower in the Bundang area of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The ceremony was attended by the head of LIG D&A’s missile systems business division, the head of Doosan Enerbility’s power service business group and other senior officials. LIG D&A, formerly known as LIG Nex1, is Korea’s leading maker of guided weapons, which are missiles and other munitions that can be steered toward a target after launch. The company changed its name in March to reflect its expansion into aerospace. Doosan Enerbility, best known for building power plant equipment, is developing next-generation aircraft propulsion technology based on expertise built up in gas turbines for electricity generation. Under the agreement, the companies will pair LIG D&A’s capabilities in developing and

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) said Tuesday it has secured a 1.91 trillion-won ($1.44 billion) order from South Korean shipping company HMM to build eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel container ships. HD KSOE, the shipbuilding subholding company of HD Hyundai, said the vessels will be equipped with engines capable of running on both LNG and conventional marine fuels. The 13,000-twenty-foot-equivalent-unit (TEU)-class ships will measure 337 meters in length, 51 meters in width and 27.9 meters in height. Two vessels will be built at affiliate HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyard in the southeastern city of Ulsan. The remaining six will be constructed at HD Hyundai Samho's shipyard in the southwestern city of Yeongam. All eight vessels are scheduled to be delivered to HMM in stages by 2029. With the latest contract, HD KSOE has secured orders worth $20.19 billion for 182 vessels so far this year, achieving 86.6 percent of its annual order target.

Innocean, the advertising affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday its overseas units have won seven honors at advertising awards in the United States and the Middle East. Innocean USA received two silver awards at the 2026 Jay Chiat Awards, hosted by the American Association of Advertising Agencies. The 29-year-old competition judges anonymized case studies on how strategic thinking delivered real business results. Hyundai Motor’s “IONIQ 9 Escape Garage” won silver in the influencer and creator strategy category, while Genesis’ “A New Beginning in Luxury” took silver in automotive strategy. Both were produced with Canvas Worldwide, Innocean’s U.S. media subsidiary. In the IONIQ 9 campaign, three creator families used the electric SUV’s interior space, seating and EV features to complete escape-room missions, drawing 8.6 million views. Innocean USA’s social media team was also named in the agency social media category of marketing publication Adweek’s Team Visionary Awards. Its work included “Hyundai Jingle Road Trip,” which turned a jingle TikTok users made

Hankook Tire is extending its presence in global football as it returns for a third consecutive year as an official sponsor of the Ballon d’Or, with this year’s ceremony marking the award’s 70th anniversary and its first edition in London. Hankook Tire & Technology, part of Hankook & Company Group, said it will sponsor the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony, scheduled for Oct. 26 at the London Palladium Theatre. Established in 1956 by French football magazine France Football, the Ballon d’Or is widely regarded as one of the highest individual honors in football, recognizing players for their performances during the previous season. Since 2024, France Football, part of the L’Équipe Group, has organized the awards in partnership with UEFA. This year’s ceremony moves to London for the first time, commemorating seven decades since the award’s founding and paying tribute to Stanley Matthews, the England international who won the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956. The ceremony will also reveal the successors to last year’s winners, Aitana Bonmatí and Ousmane Dembélé. Hankook Tire said

CJ ONE is bringing its rewards program onto public transit, joining forces with mobility fintech company E-Dreams to connect travel, shopping and dining through a single membership platform for Korean and international customers. CJ OliveNetworks, which operates the lifestyle membership service, said Tuesday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with E-Dreams to expand membership benefits into mobility and payment services. The agreement was signed Monday at E-Dreams’ headquarters in central Seoul, with Yoo In-sang, CEO of CJ OliveNetworks, and Lee Jung-hwan, CEO of E-Dreams, in attendance. The first initiative will be a transportation card designed for international visitors to Korea, scheduled for release by the end of 2026. The card will combine E-Dreams’ public transportation payment functions with CJ ONE membership benefits, allowing foreign tourists to use buses and subways while earning and redeeming points at participating businesses. Distribution is planned through E-Dreams’ existing retail network, including airports and convenience stores. The partnership follows CJ

Samsung Bioepis has secured a decade-long exclusive supply deal for a rare disease treatment in Brazil, strengthening its position in Latin America’s largest pharmaceutical market while opening a new chapter in its partnership with the Brazilian government. The Korean biopharmaceutical company said Tuesday it had signed a local partnership agreement to supply SB12, a biosimilar of Soliris with the active ingredient eculizumab, to Brazil’s Ministry of Health. SB12 is used to treat rare conditions including paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a blood disorder, and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can damage blood cells, kidneys and other organs. Brazil’s health regulator, the National Health Surveillance Agency, known as ANVISA, approved the drug in December 2024. The Brazilian eculizumab market was worth about $170 million (250 billion won) last year, according to the company, which expects the 10-year exclusive supply agreement to provide a stable source of revenue. Under the government-led Productive Development Partnership program, Samsung Bioepis will work with Brazilia

GS Global is expanding into carbon credit trading through an equity investment in Hooxi Partners, a Korean carbon credit specialist, seeking to monetize emissions reductions from its existing eco-friendly businesses. GS Global said Tuesday that the investment would establish a strategic partnership, combining Hooxi Partners’ carbon reduction expertise with GS Global’s global network and trading capabilities. The investment comes as Korea's fourth emissions trading scheme, covering 2026-2030, takes effect. Tighter emissions caps, expanded paid allocations and stricter global carbon regulations are raising the cost of securing carbon credits and increasing exposure to price volatility. GS Global aims to turn carbon credits into a new growth engine. Founded in 2021, Hooxi Partners offers services ranging from carbon credit methodology development and emissions reduction project management to securing Korean Offset Credits (KOCs) and forward trading. The company focuses on transportation-related emissions reduction projects, particularly the transition to electric vehicles. It also oper

North Chungcheong Province said Tuesday it will hold its annual cosmetics and beauty expo in Cheongju to help Korean companies expand exports of cosmetics and other beauty products. The Cosmetics & Beauty Expo Osong Korea 2026 will run from Thursday to Saturday in Osong, a district of Cheongju, 83 kilometers south of Seoul. The event aims to connect local companies with international buyers, according to the provincial government. More than 250 companies are expected to participate in the business-to-business (B2B)-focused event, which is being held under the theme "K-Beauty Osong seeks growth along with global partners." "This year's expo, the largest edition to date, will provide local companies with opportunities to expand into overseas markets and allow visitors to experience K-beauty products," Jang Woo-sung, director general of the provincial government's bureau of biologics, food and drugs, said. The expo has been held annually in Cheongju since 2013, except in 2014. The provincial government has partnered with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) to invite 200 domes

Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia said Tuesday they will conduct test operations of Level 4 autonomous trucks as part of an ongoing effort to advance self-driving technology and pave the way for commercialization. The automakers signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the project with Hyundai Motor Group affiliates Hyundai Mobis Co. and Hyundai Glovis Co., as well as autonomous driving technology startups Mars Auto and RideFlux, at the group's Namyang R&D Center in Hwaseong, southwest of Seoul. Level 4 autonomous driving allows vehicles to operate without human intervention, including in emergency situations, under specified conditions and within designated operational areas. According to the MOU, Hyundai Motor and Kia will develop and supply two Xcient trucks, including a hydrogen fuel cell model, early next year. The test program will cover approximately 500 kilometers across two routes: a 100-kilometer section combining highways and urban roads, and a 400-kilometer long-distance highway route.

China has set up a new state-owned enterprise dedicated to managing the country’s massive data resources, a significant move designed to turbocharge the nation’s artificial intelligence industry and bolster its digital economy. The National Data Group Co – based in China’s “city of the future”, Xiongan New Area in northern Hebei province – is tasked with “developing and utilising data resources, unlocking the value of data elements, serving AI development and fostering a data industry...

The OPPO Find X10 series is slated to start delivering on 26 October 2026, and there’s many ways you can stack the launch promotions.

If you are getting an iPhone Duo, you best purchase it with AppleCare, because it’s one very expensive phone to repair.

The Intel and AMD versions share most of their core specifications too, though their displays differ.

Despite being one of the few gaming phones out there left, it still packs in the latest and greatest.

The Barracuda V2 Pro shaves weight from its 2022 predecessor, and comes with two kinds of microphones.

Alibaba Group Holding’s research arm, Damo Academy, has seen more than 6 billion chips shipped based on its XuanTie RISC-V architecture, marking a milestone as the tech giant doubles down on the open standard in artificial intelligence and automotive systems. Meng Jianyi, chief scientist at Damo Academy, announced the figure on Monday at the annual RISC-V Summit China in Shenzhen. The achievement comes as Chinese companies seek to play a greater role in the global RISC-V ecosystem, an...

Alibaba Group Holding’s research arm, Damo Academy, has seen more than 6 billion chips shipped based on its XuanTie RISC-V architecture, marking a milestone as the tech giant doubles down on the open standard in artificial intelligence and automotive systems. Meng Jianyi, chief scientist at Damo Academy, announced the figure on Monday at the annual RISC-V Summit China in Shenzhen. The achievement comes as Chinese companies seek to play a greater role in the global RISC-V ecosystem, an...

The event will likely see the unveiling of the long-awaited MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen, along with a new iPad mini and other new Macs.

Only 10 sets of the black-and-silver film camera and 35mm lens will be sold, exclusively at the MBS store.

The upcoming Find X10 series will get an Agent Mode that can organise information from apps and files to complete tasks such as planning a trip.

Korean beauty company APR said Monday that its flagship skin care brand, Medicube, is now sold in about 400 Costco stores in the United States. The move expands the brand’s presence in physical stores in North America. Medicube products went on sale at Costco’s U.S. stores this month, and the company plans to expand to all of the warehouse club’s U.S. locations. This month it also finished rolling out to every Costco store in Korea. It plans to enter Costco in Canada and Europe as well. For the launch, APR made a Costco-only package of its Zero Pore Pad, one of Medicube’s best-selling products. The company said the toner pad has ranked first in Amazon’s U.S. facial toners and astringents category since February 2025. APR plans to add products from its popular PDRN line to its Costco lineup. The line features an ingredient made from salmon DNA. The Costco deal is the latest in a series of U.S. retail expansions. Medicube entered about 1,400 Ulta Beauty stores in August last year, more than 1,500 Target stores in April and about 3,000 Walmart stores in June. It is also set to en