South Korea

Joongang Ilbo | English | News | Jan. 15, 2026 | Regulation

The South Korean government has launched special foreign exchange inspections targeting over 1,100 exporters to combat illegal currency transactions amid a weakening won. These inspections focus on exporters who keep dollar earnings overseas or use them to repay foreign debts instead of repatriating the funds to Korea. The Korea Customs Service (KCS) finalized the plan following a meeting at the government complex in Daejeon, with exchange rate stabilization marked as a core objective for 2026.

The KCS is inspecting 1,138 companies this year, including 62 large firms, 424 midsize companies, and 652 small- and medium-sized enterprises, marking a tenfold increase in the number of inspections compared to 2025. Targeted companies include those with over $50 million in trade over the past five years or cases showing substantial discrepancies between reported exports and imports or trade payments processed by banks. The KCS reported a $294.8 billion gap between customs-reported trade values and bank-handled payments from January to November 2025, the largest in five years.

Customs officials suspect some companies delay collecting trade payments to profit from foreign exchange fluctuations, potentially engage in unreported investments, debt repayments, or slush fund creation. A 2025 inspection found 97% of examined companies involved in illegal transactions totaling 2.2 trillion won ($1.5 billion). The KCS emphasized that delayed trade payments reduce domestic dollar liquidity, with only about 40% of $1.18 trillion in foreign currency earned from January to November 2025 coming from trade payments.

Authorities plan to strictly enforce rules ensuring foreign currency earnings are brought into Korea, pursuing criminal investigations in cases involving large or unexplained uncollected export payments. Despite concerns that the inspections could hinder business activity, KCS officials assured investigations would target only clear violations to avoid disrupting legitimate trade.

Deal Street Asia | English | News | Jan. 15, 2026 | UndeterminedMergers & Acquisitions

Singapore-based private equity firm The Sylvan Group, backed by South Korea’s Hyundai Family, is partnering with SK Innovation to invest approximately $300 million in South Korea's hydrogen mobility sector. The investment will be channelled through SK Hyverse, a hydrogen mobility business planning to establish 29 liquefied hydrogen refuelling hubs nationwide by 2029. These hubs aim to support over 6,000 hydrogen-powered buses and will be strategically located near major bus depots to stimulate demand and improve fleet utilisation.

The capital deployment will occur in phases as the refuelling network expands. Sylvan’s co-founder and CEO Scott Jeun described the deal as a buyout-style partnership to jointly manage and grow the hydrogen mobility business, aligning with Sylvan’s focus on sustainability-driven investments that combine operational execution and capital. South Korea is the initial launch market, with plans to potentially expand to other Asian countries after proving scalability and operating performance.

SK Innovation will contribute expertise throughout the hydrogen value chain, including production, liquefaction, and downstream applications. The hydrogen supply for the bus network will come from long-term agreements sourced from SK’s liquefied hydrogen facilities in Incheon, aiming to ensure stable and reliable fuel availability for fleet operators. Sylvan, founded in 2019 by Hyundai family member Kyungsun Chung and Scott Jeun, specializes in buyout investments across Asia with a sustainability emphasis.

Hankyoreh - E | English | News | Jan. 15, 2026 | Shifting Geopolitical Alliances

President Lee Jae Myung has proposed four major inter-Korean and international cooperation projects that emphasize multilateral collaboration involving China and Russia, aiming to catalyze a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations and shift the Northeast Asia regional order from conflict to cooperation. Key initiatives include a high-speed railway linking Seoul, Pyongyang, and Beijing, building upon previous agreements from 2018 and expanding to include China to strengthen cooperation among the three capitals.

The second initiative focuses on health care cooperation, seeking to create an international trust fund to support infectious disease response and modernization of county-level hospitals in North Korea. This humanitarian effort aligns with Kim Jong-un’s declared “public health revolution” starting in 2025 and could circumvent sanctions due to its nature.

The third project involves developing the Wonsan-Kalma “peace tourism” zone, a critical national project for Kim Jong-un aimed at attracting tourists to revive the resort area, which currently suffers from low international visitation and debt. This effort will proceed in phases, targeting ethnic Koreans abroad and tourists from South Korea and China.

The fourth initiative centers on revitalizing the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI), a multilateral cooperation framework including South Korea, China, Russia, and Mongolia, with indirect North Korean involvement. Lee seeks China’s cooperation in mediating this effort, which includes recent cross-border infrastructure developments by North Korea and Russia. This marks a strategic attempt to improve regional cooperation and constructive change in South Korea-Russia relations despite geopolitical tensions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.