| Mobile Web

All articles List

Games & Commerce

South Korea pushes to shorten retailer payment cycles, industry on alert

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission plans to propose a bill in the first quarter to shorten payment deadlines in large-scale retailing. The changes would cut direct-purchase payment terms to 30 days from 60 and special-contract purchases to 20 days from 40. The move could raise liquidity pressure for retailers including Coupang, Kurly and Daiso, which the regulator cited as paying close to legal deadlines. Industry participants warned of reduced liquidity and potential financing needs.

AI & Enterprise

TheVentures makes pre-A investment in beanless coffee alternative brand SANS

TheVentures said on Jan. 12 it made a pre-A round investment in Wake, a foodtech startup that operates the beanless coffee alternative brand SANS. Co-investors included Shinsegae Group CVC Signite Partners. TheVentures said coffee-belt production fell 31 percent over the past five years and bean prices hit a 50-year high. It said Wake has differentiated technology to deliver a high-quality coffee experience without beans.

AI & Enterprise

Daol TS sets 2026 growth strategy around AI infrastructure, security and cloud native

Daol TS, a South Korean distributor specialising in IT infrastructure and solution distribution, said it will advance its business structure in 2026 by focusing on AI infrastructure, security and cloud native operations. The company created a cloud native team last year to support optimisation and automation across AI and data workloads and container-based infrastructure. It said it launched its all-in-one AI platform, DaolFusion, and posted revenue above 300 billion won in both 2024 and 2025.