Photo=BIGHIT MUSIC K-pop’s business model is increasingly built around the combination of streaming, global touring and fan-platform engagement, giving music companies multiple ways to monetize a major release. Tomorrow X Together is leaning into that model with a new album arriving immediately after a three-night Seoul concert run in November. Tomorrow X Together, also known as TXT, will release its

Photo=Xiaomi The premium smartphone market is becoming a contest over specialized hardware—from privacy displays and advanced camera systems to next-generation chips—as Chinese manufacturers seek to challenge established leaders. Xiaomi’s latest flagship, unveiled September 23, illustrates how the shift could affect U.S. technology companies and investors as competition increasingly moves beyond screen size and processing power to differentiated hardware features. Xiaomi

Photo=Samsung The growing use of software and artificial intelligence in household appliances is creating a new operational risk for appliance makers and investors: A software update can now disable a product that once depended largely on hardware. A failure involving Samsung Electronics’ connected refrigerators shows how the shift toward AI-powered homes could add quality-control, cybersecurity and customer-service risks even as

Photo=Motionelements Cybersecurity is emerging as a growing operational risk for financial institutions and other critical infrastructure operators in South Korea, with a recent breach at the Bank of Korea exposing employee data and a surge in attacks against the central bank’s internet systems underscoring the challenge for companies and investors with exposure to the country’s financial sector. The Bank of

(Photo=MotionElements) South Korea’s standard bowl of rice is getting smaller as consumers rethink how much they need to eat at one sitting. Rice consumption has been declining for years as Korean diets become more varied, while smaller households have less need for large portions. At the same time, health and weight management have become more important in everyday food choices.