Lime investors face tough compensation fight

Investors in beleaguered hedge fund Lime Asset Management are facing a bumpy road to get compensation for their losses. By no later than Friday, every investor in the hedge fund is expected to find out their confirmed individual losses in their combined 1.7 trillion-won ($1.4 billion) investment made under the convoluted master-feeder fund structure -- involving four master funds and 173 feeder funds as of end-2019. The losses of Lime Asset’s feeder funds may vary, but in some cases be

MarketFeb. 17, 2020

Moon calls on government to focus on reducing economic impact of virus

President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for close cooperation among economy-related government bodies in reviving the economy and dealing with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. “Economic ministries have the important task for realizing clear changes in people’s livelihoods and the economy. (Their) shoulders have become heavier due to the COVID-19 situation,” Moon said at the annual operations briefing by economy-related government organizations. The bodies that held t

PoliticsFeb. 17, 2020

Coronavirus tips help stop the flu

Tips on preventing the spread of the new coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease now called COVID-19, seem to be helping control influenza in South Korea. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday, the number of flu patients stood at 16 per 1,000 outpatients in the second week of February. That represents a 67 percent decline from the season’s peak of 49, recorded in the fourth week of December. The number of flu patients had steadily declined,

Social AffairsFeb. 17, 2020

Number of foreigners in Korea surpasses 2.5 million

The number of foreign nationals in South Korea reached a record 2.5 million in December, government data shows. According to the Korea Immigration Service on Monday, there were 2.5 million foreign nationals on short- or long-term visas here as of December 2019, up 3.7 percent from a month earlier. From a year ago, the tally increased by 6.6 percent. Foreign citizens now account for 4.9 percent of Korea’s population, which has risen steadily since it hit the 1 million mark in 2007 and r

Social AffairsFeb. 17, 2020

[Monitor] Six out of 10 Korean firms anticipated worsened business from coronavirus

Six out of 10 Korean companies expect their business to worsen due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, a survey released by the Korea Economic Research Institute showed. The survey, conducted by Mono Research on the top 1,000 companies by revenue, showed that 61.8 percent of them said the outbreak will hamper their overall revenue and exports. Among those with production facilities in China, 83.9 percent said they will be hurt by the virus. A prolonged pandemic will hurt the auto industry the

IndustryFeb. 17, 2020

Zico's 'Any Song' rules S. Korean music charts backed by viral cover dance videos

Zico, a rapper and music producer, became the latest K-pop sensation as his latest hip-hop number, "Any Song," topped weekly domestic music charts for the fourth week in a row. The hypnotic song topped the Gaon weekly digital chart, operated by the Korea Music Content Association, for the week of Feb. 2-8, securing its fourth week atop the chart. Since its release on January, "Any Song" has stayed on top of daily digital song charts of major online music streaming service

K-popFeb. 17, 2020

Hwacheon ice fishing festival closes after overcoming warm weather

HWACHEON -- This year's Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, a popular winter event hosted by the Gangwon Province county of Hwacheon, northeast of Seoul, drew to a close on Sunday, after more than 400,000 tourists from home and abroad enjoyed 21 days of ice fishing, bare hand fishing and other winter activities. The 2020 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival kicked off on Jan. 27 after being postponed twice due to unseasonably warm weather and came to a close at 6:30 p.m. Sunday with a closing ceremo

Social AffairsFeb. 17, 2020

SsangYong’s Rexton Sports logs 40,000 units of annual sales for 2 years

SsangYong Motor’s flagship sports utility vehicle Rexton Sports has sold more than 40,000 units annually for the second year in a row, the carmaker announced Monday.  This is the first time Ssangyong has sold over 40,000 units of an SUV brand two years in a row, the company said.  SsangYong Motor said 41,717 Rexton Sports vehicles were sold in 2018, accounting for 99.2 percent of the total number of pickup trucks sold in Korea that year. In 2019, a total of 41,328 Rexton Sport

MobilityFeb. 17, 2020

[Photo News] Convenience stores enjoy boom

With changing consumption patterns amid the rising number of single-member households and online shopping, the convenience store chains in South Korea reaped their largest margins last year, according to industry data.  GS25 made 256.5 billion won in operating profit last year, its largest on record.  CU also marked a record 196.6 billion won in operating profit.  The consolidated operating profit of Emart, the large retail store chain, meanwhile, dropped 67.4 percent to 150.7

IndustryFeb. 17, 2020

With fist bumps, Osmo Vanska signals SPO’s ‘Resurrection’

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra kicked off a new beginning over the weekend with Mahler’s symphony “Resurrection,” under the baton of new music director Osmo Vanska. Vanska, 67, was appointed as SPO music director last May. On Friday and Saturday, the Finnish conductor held his inaugural concerts at the Lotte Concert Hall in eastern Seoul, presenting Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor “Resurrection.”   From the very start, the maestro was bold. Instead

PerformanceFeb. 17, 2020

World Bank to highlight Korea’s economy, technology

The World Bank will host a special event that highlights South Korea’s economy and innovative technology this week with the Korean government dispatching a special delegation, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Monday. The government delegation of around 140 officials led by Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom will attend Korea-WBG Partnership Week for Innovation and Technology, which kicks off Tuesday and runs for three days at the World Bank headquarters in Washington. Officials f

EconomyFeb. 17, 2020

Culture Ministry to inject W50b toward loans for tourism businesses hit by COVID-19 outbreak

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Monday announced that it will inject 50 billion won ($42.3 million) to provide loans without collateral to small and medium-sized companies involved in tourism, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. “We hope that providing prompt and practical emergency financial assistance will help those suffering in the tourism industry due to the spread of COVID-19 recover and revitalize management fast,” ministry official Choi Jae-won sai

TravelFeb. 17, 2020

S. Koreans on cruise ship to face two-week quarantine upon return

South Koreans aboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship off the coast of Japan will face an additional two-week quarantine period back in Korea, if they wish to return, according to public health authorities on Monday. 　 Earlier on Sunday, Seoul announced it would repatriate Korean passengers and crew members from the Diamond Princess ship being held under quarantine at the Yokohama port, where 355 cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed, in the largest cluster of virus cases outside o

Foreign AffairsFeb. 17, 2020

Ministry denies report on military intel-gathering equipment

The defense ministry denied a new report Monday that the military failed to detect signs of a North Korean rocket launch last year as a maritime intelligence-gathering device was out of service at the time. The vernacular daily Joongang Ilbo reported that key parts of the wiretapping equipment broke down around February and took three months to fix as the broken parts had to be sent to Canada. That led to the South failing to detect signs in advance of a North Korean rocket launch in April, th

DefenseFeb. 17, 2020

Who will chair boards at Samsung, Hyundai Motor?

Attention is turning to who will replace the leadership on the boards of Korea’s tech and automobile behemoths -- Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor -- at the upcoming general shareholders meetings in March. On Friday, Lee Sang-hoon, chairman of Samsung Electronics’ board, resigned from his role after being found guilty of sabotaging labor unit activities. Lee was sentenced to 18 months in jail in December upon conviction of violating labor union-related laws. On his resignat

IndustryFeb. 17, 2020

Posco International discovers new gas field in Myanmar

Posco International said Monday that it had discovered a new offshore gas reservoir near Myanmar, raising hopes for a new cash cow for the company. According to the Korean company, it began exploratory undersea drilling on Jan. 12 for its Mahar gas project. The company drilled 2,598 meters into the seabed, more than 1,000 meters below the water, and carried out drill stem testing to discover the gas reservoir, which could yield about 38 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The company s

IndustryFeb. 17, 2020

[Newsmaker] Chinese students in Korea advised 14-day self-isolation

The government said Monday that it will advise Chinese students enrolled in Korean universities to suspend attending classes and to stay in isolation for two weeks, in an effort to rein in the spread of the COVID-19 virus, as they are set to return for the new school year. 　 Questions remain, however, over the effectiveness of the measures as they are not legally binding. While there are no legal grounds for local authorities to punish students breaking self-isolation rules, some Chinese studen

Social AffairsFeb. 17, 2020

[News Focus] Netmarble enters red in Q4, seeks change in 2020 through overseas biz

The year 2020 poses fresh challenges for Netmarble as the company strives to overcome a net loss from the acquisition of a home electronics company, while also adapting to the presence of two CEOs and tackling the global market with more game launches. Netmarble went into the red in the fourth quarter of 2019, having recorded a quarterly net loss of 6.3 billion won ($5.3 million) and a quarterly 10.3 billion won net loss attributable to its controlling shareholder. The loss resulted in part fr

IndustryFeb. 17, 2020

Hana Bank starts mobile banking service in Hong Kong

Hana Bank said Monday that it will launch its global mobile banking service in Hong Kong, making it the first Korean lender to provide such service in the global financial hub. The Global 1Q app will be available for use in Hong Kong now in addition to countries that include Canada, China, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, Panama and Vietnam. The service was launched in Canada in 2015. The app automatically recognizes the country of the user’s current location, allowing easy access to the ser

MarketFeb. 17, 2020

HiteJinro ups promotion of soju on overseas US military bases

Korean liquor maker HiteJinro will strengthen its promotion of soju to American soldiers, as sales of its spirits products exhibit continuous growth at exchange stores inside the confines of overseas US military bases, the company said Monday. The company said it will run a six-month marketing campaign of its soju products, including Chamisul, under the slogan, “Drink soju! Responsible Drinking!” starting this month, partnering with Stars and Stripes, a US military independent news

ConsumerFeb. 17, 2020