Shinhan Financial kicks off tailor-made fund with KKR

Shinhan Financial Group said Thursday it has created a tailor-made fund worth $200 million with global private equity fund operator Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.The move reflected Shinhan’s efforts to grow beyond the local market and promote its global alternative investment capacity down the road.It also came in line with a memorandum of understanding on global alternative investment partnership that the two counterparts had signed in September 2018. The latest fund, tailor-made exclusively fo

MarketJan. 9, 2020

[News Focus] Government unemployment calculations face skepticism

SEJONG -- Government officials actively publicized that the number of unemployed people aged between 15 and 29 and the corresponding unemployment rate had dropped during the Moon Jae-in administration.They used a variety of figures held by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in their online policy briefing in December 2019, dismissing arguments in the market that the youth jobless rate has become severe.A government official cited the figure that the number of jobless Koreans aged 15-29 was abo

EconomyJan. 9, 2020

Coupang prepares for IPO as early as 2021: report

Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is preparing for an initial public offering as early as 2021, according to industry sources on Thursday. Citing anonymous officials, Bloomberg reported that Coupang has begun gearing up for an IPO, starting with tax structuring. Established in 2010 by CEO Kim Bom, Coupang was valued at $9 billion at the end of 2018. Amid rumors that the SoftBank-backed company would go public, Kim said he had mulled the option -- the “most difficult” in his career -- i

ConsumerJan. 9, 2020

Choo’s prosecution reshuffle fuels controversy

Rival parties clashed over the new justice minister’s decision to replace senior prosecutors who have played leading roles in investigations targeting Cheong Wa Dae officials. On Wednesday, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae announced a personnel reshuffle affecting 32 senior posts at the prosecution, mainly targeting those who have focused on scandals involving former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and presidential aides. Choo took office last week pledging to carry out President Moon Jae-in’s p

PoliticsJan. 9, 2020

[Newsmaker] Restricted military areas to be opened up

Restricted military areas in South Korea, concentrated in regions adjacent to Seoul, will be opened up to the public for business development, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said Thursday. The areas to be affected are mostly near Seoul in surrounding Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces, and cover 77 square kilometers -- roughly 27 times the size of Seoul’s financial district of Yeouido. The areas would include regions as far away as the Chungcheong and Gyeongsang provinces, the party sa

DefenseJan. 9, 2020

Moon vows to promote new industries, regional economy in Pohang

President Moon Jae-in visited a special regulation-free district in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday to highlight the need for bold action to encourage new industries and revitalize the regional economy. Moon attended an investment ceremony where GS Engineering & Construction and authorities of the province and city signed an agreement for a new battery recycling factory. He also visited a steel mill in the port city operated by the country’s leading steelmaker Posco.Duri

IndustryJan. 9, 2020

[CES 2020] SKT plans major transformation, including name change: CEO

SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho said the company will face major changes down the road including a name change, during a press conference on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Wednesday. According to Park, the company is targeting initial public offerings for some of its affiliates in the near future. If possible, a name change could also be considered. The mobile carrier aims to expand its cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence with local and global businesses

TechnologyJan. 9, 2020

Moon to hold press conference for new year next week

President Moon Jae-in plans to hold his press conference for 2020 next week, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday, a couple of days after he detailed this year's policy priorities, including a renewed push for various inter-Korean programs.Moon will meet with more than 200 local and foreign reporters at Cheong Wa Dae for the event to be televised starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. It's scheduled to last for 90 minutes, according to his spokesperson Ko Min-jung. In a format similar to his press conference fo

PoliticsJan. 9, 2020

Women paid 40% less than men in Seoul

Three in 10 women working in Seoul belonged to the bracket of “low income” earners as women on average were paid 63 percent of what men were paid, government data showed Thursday.  According to statistics on gender equality unveiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, some 54 percent of female residents in Seoul aged over 15 were participating in the labor market as of 2018, compared to 71.9 percent of male residents in the capital. 　Female workers were paid 2.1 million w

Social AffairsJan. 9, 2020

Riot Games Korea chief passes away

Park Jun-kyu, country head of Riot Games Korea, passed away Thursday. He was 44. Riot Games Korea said that Park was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2019 and that his condition drastically worsened early this month. Due to his characteristic hardworking nature, Park refused to take leave or make his illness publicly known up until the day of his death, a Riot Games Korea official said.  The industry responded in shock to the news of his passing. Park’s last public appearance had only b

IndustryJan. 9, 2020

Civic groups slam US for Iran tensions, oppose troop deployment to Hormuz

Progressive civic groups in South Korea condemned the US on Thursday for killing Iran’s top military commander in a drone strike near Baghdad last week, urging the government not to deploy Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz. 　An association of 65 civic groups -- mostly labor unions, peace groups and left-wing groups -- called on the government not to be drawn into a US “war of aggression,” describing the targeted killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s eli

Social AffairsJan. 9, 2020

FM says US, Korea could differ on troop dispatch to Strait of Hormuz

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday that Seoul has so far made no decision on the US request to send troops to the Strait of Hormuz, adding that its stance might differ from Washington’s. “I think the US position and ours may not necessarily be the same, when it comes to our analysis of the situation and considering our bilateral relationships with the countries in the Middle East,” Kang told a plenary session of the National Assembly’s

Foreign AffairsJan. 9, 2020

S. Korea's NSC checks emergency response system in Middle East

South Korea's top security officials on Thursday reviewed the country's "emergency response system" for its citizens and firms in the Middle East and ships sailing through the area where military tensions have increased, Cheong Wa Dae said.In a standing committee session of the National Security Council, they assessed the current security conditions involving the stand-off between Iran and the United States, which have traded tit-for-tat attacks. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom and

PoliticsJan. 9, 2020

KDB, K-Growth to earmark W400b fund for supply chain autonomy

South Korea‘s state-owned lender Korea Development Bank and state-led fund-of-funds management company Korea Growth Investment (K-Growth) are looking for partners to earmark a combined 400 billion won ($344.9 million) to support materials and components sectors here and ensure national self-sufficiency in manufacturing supply chains.With the state backing 220 billion won, the funds are intended to foster the growth of Korean firms dedicated to materials components and equipment and ultimat

MarketJan. 9, 2020

[Photo News] Doosan debuts at CES

Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won looks at a cooperative robot being showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 in Las Vegas on Wednesday. It is the first time the infrastructure giant has taken part in the event. Park told reporters that the group was making efforts to take the lead in advanced technologies in its business areas. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

IndustryJan. 9, 2020

Samsung anti-corruption panel vows close scrutiny on management succession

The head of Samsung’s anti-corruption committee said Thursday that the panel would look closely into a broad range of issues affecting the group, including management succession, corruption and labor issues, with independence and autonomy.“The basic principles of the committee’s operation will be independence and autonomy,” said Kim Ji-hyung, the former Supreme Court justice who was named to head the compliance committee, in a press briefing on the day. Kim said he had re

IndustryJan. 9, 2020

World Bank trims 2020 global growth forecast amid slow trade recovery

Reflecting the slower-than-expected recovery of trade, the World Bank has lowered its forecast for this year’s global economic growth pace by 0.2 percentage point, South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday.In its biannual Global Economic Prospects report issued in Washington, the World Bank predicted that the world economy will expand 2.5 percent in 2020, down from its earlier outlook in June 2019.This annual growth rate is anticipated to rise gradually to 2.6 perce

EconomyJan. 9, 2020

LG Chem seeking business opportunities in Southeast Asia

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical company, said Thursday that it is seeking business opportunities in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries amid growing demand for electric motorcycles."We are considering businesses in various sectors in Indonesia as small electric vehicle markets such as electric motorcycles could grow in the country," a company official said.He said no specific decisions have been made yet on its possible businesses in Southeast Asia. The comments

IndustryJan. 9, 2020

Top diplomats of S. Korea, US to hold talks in San Francisco next week

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States will hold talks in San Francisco next week to discuss peace efforts with North Korea, tensions in the Middle East and the bilateral alliance, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her US counterpart Mike Pompeo were set to meet Tuesday, the ministry said, as Seoul and Washington face a set of tricky issues, including tense defense cost-sharing negotiations. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is a

Foreign AffairsJan. 9, 2020

Renault Samsung workers wage sudden strike, renegotiation falters

Unionized workers at Renault Samsung staged an impromptu partial strike late Wednesday despite a planned renegotiation with the management the next day, according to the automaker. The South Korean carmaker said the unionized workers staged a four hour-long partial strike by suspending the operation of the production line. A Renault Samsung representative told The Korea Herald that given the current situation, the planned renegotiation on Thursday has been canceled. According to t

MobilityJan. 9, 2020