SEOUL — Marking its 66th anniversary, Seoul Economic Daily is now delivering core information about Korea's investment market — from mergers and acquisitions to won-denominated stablecoins — to readers worldwide in real time. The newspaper has launched English editions of Signal, its capital markets publication, and Decenter, its blockchain publication, strengthening its information services for global investors. At the center of the effort is the use of artificial intelligence to translate the paper's original reporting into English at speed.
Seoul Economic Daily opened the Signal English site (en.sedaily.com/signal) on Aug. 10 and began service on the Decenter English site (en.decenter.kr) on Sept. 1. The move extends AI translation expertise built up on the paper's existing English site into highly specialized fields such as M&A and digital assets.
Both English editions run without dedicated translation reporters. AI translates Korean articles into English, and AI then proofreads the result. The system, built on Claude and tuned for Seoul Economic Daily's articles, is designed to convey technical content and context rather than simply render sentences. Once a Korean article is filed, the English version appears within five minutes. The sites apply search engine optimization as well as answer engine optimization, which targets generative AI search.
The Signal English edition aims to serve as an information gateway for overseas institutional investors looking into Korea's capital markets. Organized into six sections — deals, finance, alternative investments, global, industry and reports — it covers domestic capital market news including M&A, initial public offerings, private equity funds and fundraising.
A paid membership service aimed at overseas institutional investors has also been introduced. The fee is $500 a month, and subscribers can sign up with cards issued outside Korea. Specialized content on major M&A deals and industry issues is offered exclusively to members. Since the site opened, 30 member-only articles have been published, including nine on M&A and nine on industry issues.
The site also offers a "Reports" service that allows readers to review Korean corporate disclosures in English. Filings posted on the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, known as DART, are summarized in English to improve access for overseas investment banks and institutional investors. Signal's proprietary M&A league tables are also provided in English.
Overseas readers have shown interest from the early days of the service. The Signal English edition recorded 26,319 page views over the past 30 days, an average of about 880 a day. Interest was concentrated on content about Korean semiconductors and M&A. Five of the 10 most-viewed articles concerned Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, with a story on the two companies' share buybacks drawing the most views. Major M&A stories, including MBK Partners' acquisition of a Japanese company, also ranked near the top.
Signal launched in September 2018 as a "premium convergence media" outlet and has covered the M&A, IPO, private equity and alternative investment markets for eight years. It breaks news on major deals, analyzes transaction structures through features such as "Signal Inside," and publishes M&A league tables twice a year. It also maintains full market quotes, fund return data and an archive of research institute reports.
The Decenter English edition focuses on delivering news from Korea's digital asset market to overseas readers in real time. Along with news across six sections — industry, markets, policy, global, people and opinion — it provides prices for the 50 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The front page is built around the latest news, and a link to the English edition has been placed on the existing Decenter site to improve access.
The site concentrates on Korean market information that has been hard to reach from abroad, such as fund flows at domestic exchanges and shifts in cryptocurrency regulation. With discussions over issuing a won-denominated stablecoin centered on Korea's financial industry, the plan is to relay market developments and regulatory changes in English quickly for overseas investors who have had little access to them.
Decenter launched in January 2018 as Korea's first and longest-running blockchain publication, covering domestic and overseas digital asset markets and policy. It also hosts "Bitcoin Seoul," a global blockchain event, each year. This year's event, held June 4-5 at the FKI Tower in Seoul's Yeouido district, featured 48 speakers, including from the Canton Foundation and SBI Digital Markets, and drew 770 visitors over two days.
Behind Seoul Economic Daily's push into English-language services for its specialized publications is growing interest among overseas investors in Korea's investment market. According to Signal's league tables, foreign capital took part in more than 70% of large M&A deals worth 500 billion won or more last year. As overseas capital emerges as a major player in Korea's M&A market, demand is growing for English-language information not only on disclosures but also on deals still in progress, according to the analysis.
