S. Korea's exports dip 3.8% on-year in Oct.

South Korea's exports fell 3.8 percent on-year in October on fewer working days and the fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak, customs data showed Monday. The country's overseas shipments stood at $44.9 billion last month, compared with $46.6 billion the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The October tally snapped a brief rebound in September, when the country's exports rebounded for the first time in seven months by growing 7.3 percent on-year amid the COVI

EconomyNov. 16, 2020

Loans to accommodation, food services sectors jump amid resurgence of virus

Loans to accommodation and food services sectors have jumped due to a recent resurgence of the novel coronavirus, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding loans to lodging and eating businesses totaled 71.1 trillion won ($64.2 billion) as of September, up 21.5 percent from a year ago, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK measured the sectors' production index at 79.7 at the end of September, the lowest since February 2007. The index rebounded to 99.8 in July but beg

EconomyNov. 16, 2020

NCSOFT Q3 net jumps over 30% on strong sales of key game titles

NCSOFT Corp., a major South Korean online and mobile game developer, said Monday its third-quarter net income rose 34.3 percent from a year earlier thanks to the continued popularity of its major mobile games. Net income stood at 152.5 billion won ($136.7 million) in the July-September period, compared with 113.6 billion won a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing. Operating income spiked 68.9 percent on-year to 217.7 billion won, while sales rose 47.1 percent to 585.2 billion won ove

IndustryNov. 16, 2020

Alcohol imports drop for 1st time in 10 years in 2019

South Korea's alcohol imports fell for the first time in 10 years in 2019 amid a boycott of Japanese beer due to a bilateral trade row, data showed Monday. South Korea's liquor imports came to 466,000 kiloliters in 2019, down 6 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the local alcohol industry. It represents the first on-year decrease since 2009, shortly after the global financial crisis. Last year's decline was attributed mainly to a fall in i

EconomyNov. 16, 2020

17 Korean companies on this year’s DJSI list

A total of 17 South Korean conglomerates, including LG Electronics, SK Holdings and CJ CheilJedang, made the list of the 2020 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, according to consulting agency Korea Productivity Center on Sunday. The DJSI, co-operated by US-based finacial data firm S&P Dow Jones Indices and Switchland-based RobecoSAM, serves as the evaluation method for global sustainability management and the standard for investment. The indices consist of three geographical breakdowns--wo

IndustryNov. 15, 2020

Hyundai Mobis appoints Axel Maschka as global sales head

Hyundai Mobis, South Korea’s biggest auto parts maker and a key affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, announced Friday that Axel J. Maschka will become the new head of the company’s global sales division. Maschka is the first non-Korean executive to be hired by Hyundai Mobis in the non-R&D area. Maschka is also the highest-ranking foreign executive ever appointed in the company’s history. Hailing from Germany, Maschka has 30 years of experience in the automotive industry and

IndustryNov. 15, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] Hyundai Motor’s new Kona returns with race-inspired N-Line

Hyundai Motor’s latest Kona model was launched in South Korea as the automaker’s first race-inspired sport utility vehicle. Since the compact SUV Kona was first launched in 2017, other models, such as the Kona Electric and Kona Hybrid, were released in 2017 and 2018, respectively. This year, Hyundai added another derivative, the N-Line. Last month, the Korea Herald had an opportunity to test-drive the newest Kona for about two hours in Gyeonggi Province. The Kona N-Line looks mo

MobilityNov. 15, 2020

S. Korean investors bet on electric vehicle stocks

Since the election of Joe Biden as the US president earlier this month, South Korean investors have rushed to purchase stocks of electric vehicle producers in the US that are expected to gather momentum during the new presidency, data showed Sunday. From Nov. 9 to 13, after Biden’s victory started becoming clear, domestic investors bought a combined $96.63 million worth of stocks for electric vehicle makers, including Xpeng Motors and Tesla. Among the EV companies and other US stocks i

MarketNov. 15, 2020

Ministries to discuss Korean Air’s plan to buy rival Asiana

Following reports of Korean Air’s possible acquisition of Asiana Airlines, the government is set to hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the deal between South Korea’s flag carriers, according to financial industry sources on Sunday. During a ministerial meeting presided over by the country’s chief of economy and industries, ways to normalize Asiana’s business are expected to be discussed, including reported plans by Hanjin Group, which owns Korean Air, to buy out its tr

MobilityNov. 15, 2020

Hyundai to launch Genesis GV80 SUV in US within this year

Hyundai Motor Co. said Sunday it will begin the sale of the GV80 SUV under its independent Genesis brand in the United States within this year to support sales despite the coronavirus outbreak. Hyundai launched the GV80 SUV in South Korea in January and plans to introduce the first SUV model with the Genesis badge in the US as well as other markets such as Australia, Russia and the Middle East in the fourth quarter, a company spokesman said over the phone. The maker of the Sonata sedan and t

MobilityNov. 15, 2020

Shinhan Bank partners with Microsoft to develop R&D platform

Shinhan Bank said Sunday said it would collaborate with Microsoft Korea in building and operating its new research and development platform. On Friday, the two companies signed a strategic partnership for Shinhan’s Expace -- a combination of “experience” and “space” -- which will allow the bank’s digital team to work with fintech companies, startups and other innovative firms to develop and test cutting-edge financial services and technology. Expace’s

MarketNov. 15, 2020

Shinhan presses ahead with zero-carbon drive

South Korea’s financial behemoth Shinhan Financial Group has pledged to promote carbon neutrality in Korea and the rest of East Asia by adopting environmentally friendly standards for its investment portfolios and intra-group management. By announcing its “zero carbon drive,” at a board meeting for social responsibility on Friday in Seoul, the nation’s No.1 banking group by total assets vowed to adopt eco-friendly lending and investment rules for firms and industries res

MarketNov. 15, 2020

Mirae Asset Daewoo listed on DJSI for 9th consecutive year

Korean brokerage firm Mirae Asset Daewoo has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the ninth consecutive year in recognition of its sustainable efforts for environmental, social and governance, or ESG, causes, the company said Sunday. The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the longest-running global sustainability benchmark, provides information about companies’ sustainable business practices as reflected in their investment portfolios. Launched in 1999, it curr

MarketNov. 15, 2020

KRX, S&P DJI develop carbon efficiency green new deal index

South Korea’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange and S&P Dow Jones Indices are set to launch a new index Monday that gauges the contributions of companies in reducing carbon emissions in line with the Moon Jae-in administration’s “Green New Deal” initiative, one of the key pillars of its economic stimulus package, the officials said Sunday. The KRX/S&P Carbon Efficiency Green New Deal Index aims to persuade local companies to put greater effort into cutting carb

MarketNov. 15, 2020

Korean institutional investors turn to fast-growing private debt market

Despite the pandemic increasing the risk of doing so, institutional investors in South Korea said they would venture into unfamiliar nonbank financing bets, such as private debt funds. Representatives of Korean investors said last week at PDI Seoul Forum Virtual Experience 2020 that they are developing an eye for suitable external partners dedicated to private debt fund management, as this particular asset class has become a more reliable source of income than traditional assets like stocks, wh

MarketNov. 15, 2020

Samsung smartphones' domestic market share exceeds 70% for first time: market researcher

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's biggest smartphone maker, saw its domestic market share exceed 70 percent for the first time in the third quarter on new products, a market research firm said Sunday. For the three months that ended in September, Samsung Electronics produced 3.4 million smartphones to account for 72.3 percent of the local smartphone markets, according to data from Strategy Analytics, Inc. New products such as the Galaxy Note 20 smartphone and the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Galaxy

TechnologyNov. 15, 2020

Hyundai Mobis hires ex-Valeo sales expert

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker, said Sunday it has hired an ex-Valeo sales expert as it strives to ride out an extended coronavirus pandemic. Hyundai Mobis appointed Axel J. Maschka as executive vice president in charge of the company's global sales division. He will directly report to Chief Executive Officer Park Chung-kook from Monday, the company said in a statement. It is the first time for the company to name a non-Korean executive in the significant sales divi

IndustryNov. 15, 2020

GM recalls EVs equipped with LG Chem batteries

General Motors Co. said Saturday it has decided to recall electric vehicles equipped with batteries made by South Korean producer LG Chem Ltd. due to safety concerns. The recall covers the Bolt EV produced from 2017 to 2019, installed with LG Chem‘s batteries made from Ochang, 120 kilometers south of Seoul. The measure came amid concerns that the batteries could cause fires when fully charged. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched investigations into three f

IndustryNov. 14, 2020

Hong calls for trade multilateralism, support for debt-ridden economies

South Korea‘s finance minister highlighted the need to promote free trade under multilateral regimes, while expressing support for assistance to debt-ridden developing economies during a G-20 meeting, his ministry said Saturday. “We need to revitalize global trade through multilateral trade systems,” Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during the Extraordinary G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting held virtually on Friday. “Trade regulations ca

EconomyNov. 14, 2020

Microsoft says N. Korean, Russian hackers attacking COVID-19 vaccine makers

WASHINGTON -- US tech giant Microsoft has detected cyberattacks from three foreign entities, including two from North Korea, against companies and research institutes working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, a company official said Friday, urging government action to protect such facilities. “In recent months, we‘ve detected cyberattacks from three nation-state actors targeting seven prominent companies directly involved in researching vaccines and treatments for COVID-19,” Tom

IndustryNov. 14, 2020