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Dec. 10, 2025
FosterBridge forum spotlights Korea–Thailand startup bridge

As early-stage investment activity in Korea continues to slow, Korean public and private sector actors are turning to Southeast Asia as a partner in ecosystem building. This shift was on display at the FosterBridge 2025 forum, a two-day startup and investment event held this week at Seoul Startup Hub M Plus. While the event featured global investors from more than 20 countries, the most concrete outcome was a new partnership between Korea’s FosterBridge platform and Thailand’s Techsauce, one of
Dec. 2, 2025
Celltrion, Galux partner on multispecific antibody drugs

Korean biopharma giant Celltrion has teamed up with artificial intelligence drug design startup Galux to co-develop next-generation autoimmune disease therapies using multispecific antibodies, the companies said Tuesday. Under the collaboration, Galux will handle AI-based antibody design and early-stage validation, while Celltrion will lead preclinical and clinical development and commercialization. The companies aim to establish a faster, more efficient model that shortens the path from candida
Nov. 11, 2025
Gen Z picks Zeta: Korean chatbot overtakes ChatGPT

Zeta, a locally developed artificial intelligence chatbot app, has overtaken ChatGPT to become the most-used AI chatbot in South Korea, according to new industry data released Tuesday. Wiseapp Retail, a market analytics firm that monitors app and payment trends based on 51.2 million Android and iOS users nationwide, reported that Zeta recorded 73.62 million cumulative hours of user engagement in October. This figure significantly surpassed OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which came in second with 48.28 millio
Nov. 6, 2025
Fescaro enters agricultural machinery cybersecurity with Daedong

South Korean mobility software solutions provider Fescaro said Thursday that it has secured a cybersecurity project from Daedong, a leading agricultural machinery manufacturer here, marking the company’s entry into the specialized mobility market. The deal comes as the European Union’s Cyber Resilience Act, adopted in 2024, requires cybersecurity measures for all products containing digital elements. Beginning in 2027, the regulation will make cybersecurity mandatory for all mobility-related pro
Oct. 16, 2025
Kospi breaks through 3,700

Kospi reached a historic high on Thursday, breaking past 3,700 points for the first time, buoyed by strong earnings and optimism that Seoul and Washington are nearing a deal in their trade negotiations. Seoul’s benchmark index closed at a record 3,748.37, up 91.09 points, or 2.49 percent. It opened 0.51 percent higher at 3,675.82, immediately surpassing the previous intraday record of 3,659.91 set a day earlier. The index crossed 3,700 within 15 minutes of trading and continued to climb through
Oct. 15, 2025
‘Family restaurants’ make comeback with full plates in lean times

What Koreans call “family restaurants” — Western-style dining chains serving steak, pasta and salad bars — were once the kind of place families saved for birthdays or graduations in the 1990s and 2000s. Today, that taste of affluence has worn off in an economy where they now promise abundance at prices that still feel fair, with a new crop of outlets sprouting up. According to market tracker Euromonitor, the number of family restaurant outlets in Korea rose from 309 in 2023 to 344 this year, wit
Oct. 2, 2025
Metanation partners with Zkrypto to build blockchain-based voting system

Metanation, operator of South Korea’s short-form challenge platform ShortChall, said on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with blockchain technology firm Zkrypto to develop a proof-of-concept blockchain-based voting system. Under the deal, Zkrypto will provide its zkVoting solution to record and store voting data on the blockchain, as well as support related testing and ensure the integrity of the process. Metanation will design the voting user interface and experience within the ShortCha

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