Ikea Korea workers to strike over ‘discriminatory’ treatment

Ikea Korea’s labor union plans to launch a three-day strike next week, accusing the Swedish furniture brand of discriminatory treatment toward local staff. About 800 of the workers at the company’s outlets in Gwangmyeong, Goyang and Yongin in Gyeonggi Province and its service call centers will join the walkout from Dec. 24-27, said the union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions on Thursday. That constitutes one-third of Ikea Korea’s 2,500 employees. &

ConsumerDec. 17, 2020

Conglomerates mobilize coporate facilities to ease sickbed shortage

While South Korea reels under the third wave of COVID-19 infections and its consequences, leading conglomerates here are making gestures to alleviate the top priority dilemma for health authorities -- the shortage of sickbeds and medical facilities. SK Group, the country’s third-largest conglomerate in assets, said Thursday that its decision-making body SUPEX Council has donated 12 billion won ($11 million) to the Community Chest of Korea. The latest contribution not only came as part w

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

LS C&S wins extensive submarine cable deal worth W200b

LS Cable & System, the world’s third-largest wire and cable maker by sales, said Thursday that it has won a submarine cable supply deal worth around 200 billion won ($183 million), marking the largest deal of the kind in more than 10 years. Slated to be completed by end-2023, the given project aims at connecting South Jeolla Province’s Wando to Jeju Island by installing some 90 kilometers of high voltage, direct current -- or HVDC -- submarine cable. LS C&S will be undert

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

Seoul stocks close nearly flat amid virus woes

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat Thursday as investors remained wary of spiking COVID-19 cases and looming virus restrictions. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.36 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,770.43 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 998.4 million shares worth some 15.8 trillion won ($14.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 493 to 352. Foreigners sold a net 301.1 billion won, and institutions off

MarketDec. 17, 2020

Doosan Heavy teams up with local govt. to build offshore wind farm

South Korea's top power plant builder Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. said Thursday that it has joined forces with a local government to build an offshore wind farm in seas off the coast of the southwestern part of the country. Doosan Heavy signed a deal with the government of North Jeolla Province to cooperate on the construction of a 2.4-gigawatt offshore wind farm to be completed by 2028, a 14 trillion-won ($12.8 billion) project, the company said in an emailed statement. Und

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

Exports of K-pop albums, videos hit record

South Korea’s outbound shipments of music albums and videos reached an all-time high this year, in the wake of growing popularity of K-pop acts worldwide, data showed Thursday. According to data from the Korea Customs Service, the export amounts surged by 94.9 percent on-year to $170 million for the January to November period. It was based on the export declaration data of physical CDs and DVDs. Records of online music downloads and streaming services were not included. Album exports so

EconomyDec. 17, 2020

Electronic appliances and at-home spa products enjoy sales surge as pandemic worsens

Remote work and home entertainment devices have enjoyed a surge in sales in recent weeks as the coronavirus pandemic worsens, major online shopping platforms said on Thursday. According to Tmon, sales of work-from-home and entertainment electronic appliances saw a 270 percent year-on-year increase on average in the last two weeks. While sales of PCs were up 162 percent, desktop computers saw a 143 percent increase in sales. Laptops, webcams and graphic cards also enjoyed a sales bump as well a

ConsumerDec. 17, 2020

Air Busan cabin crew to wear goggles on domestic flights

Low-cost carrier Air Busan will make goggles mandatory for all cabin crew from Thursday, including those on domestic flights, as South Korea struggles to rein in coronavirus outbreaks. Before, only those on international flights had to wear safety glasses. The company said the measure would “relieve the worries of passengers.” Korea announced over 1,000 new cases Thursday, with over 400 of those cases in Seoul. The new move will also see ground staff wear goggles and masks and be

MobilityDec. 17, 2020

Posco to buy 15% stake in Australia's Black Rock Mining

Posco, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker by output, said Thursday it has agreed to buy a 15 percent stake in Black Rock Mining for $7.5 million. The deal will pave the way for Posco to secure graphite fines, a material required to make anodes, according to the steelmaker. Still, Posco said no specific date has been set for the formal signing of an offtake agreement with the Australia-based graphite producer. An anode is a key material in a battery that preserves lithium coming from th

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

[News Focus] COVID-19 self-testing may be game changer

Even before the novel coronavirus got out of China late last year, South Korean government and diagnostic firms knew what was coming and what they needed to do. The insight made the country the world’s main supplier of COVID-19 test kits during the initial phase of the pandemic. Nearly a year later and faced with fierce new waves of infections threatening to undermine the country’s early success in the virus fight, officials from the government and industry officials met Wednesda

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

Kepco to adopt flexible electricity bills linked to resource costs

State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) said Thursday it will revamp its billing system by adopting flexible rates linked to global prices of resources next year, in a move to improve its profitability. "The current billing system failed to reflect fluctuations in production costs in a timely manner," Kepco said in a statement. "It has also remained unchanged since 2013 and also failed to notify consumers of additional prices linked to climate change," it added. South

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

[News Focus] Nationwide advance seen in housing prices

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the cost of housing climb across the nation during the second half of the year, with prices in six of the eight major cities posting growth of more than 8 percent since July. Sejong topped the list among the eight major cities and nine provinces in the nation as the average price of housing in the administrative city surged 28.4 percent in less than six months. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, Sejong’s average trading price, which posted 15.54 millio

EconomyDec. 17, 2020

Corporate sales dip at slower pace in Q3 amid pandemic

South Korean companies' sales declined at a slower pace in the third quarter than three months earlier as the manufacturing sector fared better amid improving exports, central bank data showed Thursday. Sales of local businesses fell 3.2 percent in the July-September period from a year earlier, slowing from a record 10.1 percent fall in the second quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The pace of a fall in corporate sales eased last quarter, but it marked the seventh con

EconomyDec. 17, 2020

S. Korea to focus on supporting economic recovery, preparing for post-pandemic era in 2021

South Korea plans to implement its economic policy next year to maintain economic recovery momentum and prepare for a post-pandemic era, the finance ministry said Thursday. The South Korean economy is expected to grow 3.2 percent next year, following this year's estimated contraction of 1.1 percent, the first contraction since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The ministry's 2020 and 2021 growth outlooks are lower than its June projection of

EconomyDec. 17, 2020

Income gap narrows to fresh record low in 2019

The income gap between the haves and have-nots in South Korean narrowed to a fresh record low in 2019, as the bottom 20 percent income bracket saw their income rise due to state welfare support, data showed Thursday. The Gini coefficient measured with disposable income, a gauge of income inequality, came in at 0.339 last year, down from 0.345 the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. A reading of zero means complete income equality, while higher numbers nearing one indica

EconomyDec. 17, 2020

Hyundai JV, Lyft to launch driverless US robotaxi services in 2023

Motional, the Hyundai Motor-Aptiv joint venture, said Thursday it has partnered with US ride-sharing firm Lyft Inc. to launch driverless robotaxi services in major US cities in 2023. Motional said it plans to deploy fully autonomous vehicles, which are based on the Korean automaker Hyundai Motor's platform, in Lyft's ride-sharing network in the United States. Lyft has the second-biggest ride-sharing network in the world's most important automobile market after Uber Technologies Inc. The busin

MobilityDec. 17, 2020

LG Electronics unveils theme for CES 2021

LG Electronics Inc. on Thursday unveiled its theme for the upcoming media event at the world's largest tech expo next year as the South Korean tech giant vowed to introduce products and solutions that could be useful in the new normal era of the pandemic. LG will hold a 30-minute virtual press conference at 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Jan. 11 under the theme of "Life is ON -- Make yourself @ Home" at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021 and will explain its latest innova

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

LG releases new 16-inch Gram laptop

LG Electronics Inc. on Thursday introduced a new 16-inch laptop that boasts better performance and portability. The South Korean tech giant said the LG Gram 16 will be added to its premium Gram laptop series, which has 14-, 15.6- and 17-inch models. The LG Gram 16 weighs only 1,190 grams and was certified by Guinness World Records as the world's lightest 16-inch laptop, according to the company. The latest product uses Wide Quad Extended Graphics Array high-resolution IPS display with a 16:10

TechnologyDec. 17, 2020

Samsung, IBM join hands to develop enterprise solutions

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it will collaborate with International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. to develop enterprise solutions with cutting-edge technologies. With its US partner, Samsung said it aims to provide enterprises with new 5G, edge computing and hybrid cloud solutions so that businesses can better manage their operations and embrace the fourth industrial revolution. "This planned collaboration will combine Samsung's industry-leading Galaxy 5G mobile devices and advan

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

Seoul stocks open lower as virus cases surge

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as the country is mulling implementing the strongest COVID-19 restrictions amid a recent surge in virus cases. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.73 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,765.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Wednesday, South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases hit a new high of 1,078, prompting authorities to consider adopting the highest level of social distancing measures, which would ban gatherings of 10

MarketDec. 17, 2020