South Korean banks and insurers are hunting for overseas deals to lift growth, signaling a broader outward turn by an industry that largely stayed home while companies including Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. built global businesses.

KKR & Co. expects more dealmaking opportunities in South Korea after plowing around $3 billion into the country this year, betting its central role in the global artificial-intelligence supply chain will fuel demand for everything from data centers to power.

South Korea has identified a gas-fired power project in Texas as the first US investment under a trade deal agreed last year, a step that could help ease tensions between the two allies after months of friction over the pace of progress related to Seoul’s investment commitments.

Samsung Biologics Co. is seeking to raise about 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in a rights offering to fund its acquisition of PolyPeptide Group.

Citigroup Inc. anticipates record global debt and equity issuance from South Korean firms in 2026 as companies tap international investors for growth capital, led by SK Hynix Inc.’s landmark $26.5 billion US listing.

Kakao Mobility is considering listing shares held by TPG Capital on a US exchange, seeking to tap the global appetite for Korean companies highlighted by SK Hynix Inc.’s blockbuster offering last month.

US President Donald Trump is hoping to meet Kim Jong Un this year and says the North Korean leader has responded to a request to talk. North Korea has denied there’s been any direct communication and appears unmoved by Trump’s overtures.

SK Hynix Inc. unveiled plans to buy back 40 trillion won ($29 billion) of stock and return more profits to investors, moving to stabilize its shares after they fell more than 50% in two months.

South Korea’s central bank bought gold-related assets for the first time in 13 years, joining global reserve managers turning to the precious metal as a hedge against geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

North Korea said it will pursue unspecified “additional military options” in response to Japan’s expanding defense capabilities, accusing Tokyo of reviving the ambitions of a “war criminal state.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the navy must become part of the country’s nuclear war deterrent, using a ship inspection to underscore Pyongyang’s military ambitions ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit next week.

When Lee Kun-hee, the patriarch behind Samsung Electronics Co. died in 2020, his dynasty soon dealt with a crisis on two fronts: first, a multi-billion-dollar inheritance tax. The following year, his son Jay Y. Lee was jailed after being convicted of bribing South Korea’s former President Park Geun-hye to win support for his succession.

South Korea nominated Shin Hyun Song as the nation’s next central bank governor, charging the senior Bank for International Settlements official with steering monetary policy at a time of growing uncertainty due to the conflict in Iran.

South Korea nominated Shin Hyun Song as the nation’s next central bank governor, charging the senior Bank for International Settlements official with steering monetary policy at a time of growing uncertainty due to the conflict in Iran.

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Inc. said they plan to cancel a combined 20.8 trillion won ($14.1 billion) of treasury shares, one of the largest such moves by South Korean conglomerates as firms respond to governance reforms aimed at boosting shareholder returns.

Digital lender K Bank Co. surged in its trading debut as South Korean stocks rebounded from the previous day’s record rout.

Seoul apartment prices extended their gains, ahead of next week’s central bank meeting to review interest rates, though the pace of increase slowed to the weakest in about five months as the Lunar New Year holiday dampened demand.

South Korea is likely to roll out around 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) in fresh fiscal stimulus as early as March to address uneven economic growth, with support expected for sectors including culture and the arts, Citigroup said in a report Thursday.

The frenzy for the company behind the viral children’s hit “Baby Shark” has quickly cooled, with shares dropping below the initial public offering price just days after their trading debut.

South Korea’s property market picked up steam, reversing three straight weeks of moderating price increases in a signal that strengthens the case for the central bank to hold interest rates steady at next week’s policy meeting.