Seoul shares likely to move in tight range in coming week; US election in focus

South Korean shares are likely to move in a tight range in the coming week amid rising uncertainties from the presidential election and stimulus talks in the United States, analysts said on Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,341.53 points on Friday, dropping 2.11 percent from the previous Thursday, the last session before the holiday weekend. Local analysts attributed the KOSPI's weekly decline to the resurgence in COVID-19 outbreaks at home. South K

MarketOct. 17, 2020

Hyundai, Kia's market share in Europe likely to top 7% this year

   South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. may see their combined share in the European market surpass 7 percent for the first time this year, industry watchers said Friday. Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold 101,322 vehicles in Europe in September, down 0.8 percent from a year earlier and representing a 7.8 percent market share, according to the two companies. Hyundai's sales declined 4.6 percent on-year to 49,439 units in Europe last month, w

MobilityOct. 16, 2020

LG Electronics to introduce new home appliance collection next week

LG Electronics has introduced a teaser video on its official website and its YouTube channel, in which the company hinted at a new collection of home appliances it would roll out Wednesday. In the 15-second video, the company showed silhouettes of different types of home appliances, including laundry machines, dishwashers and the company‘s signature steam closet. The new home appliances from LG Electronics are expected to come in refreshed designs and colors, according to the industry s

TechnologyOct. 16, 2020

Homeplus partners with E&J Gallo to expand US wine lineup

Homeplus said Friday it had signed a strategic partnership with E&J Gallo, a US-based winery, to introduce a wide range of US wines to the Korean market. According to the hypermarket chain, the two companies held an online joint business plan signing ceremony, to agree on establishing a stable distribution network. Founded in 1933, E&J Gallo stands as one of the biggest wineries in the US, Homeplus said. E&J Gallo currently has 75 affiliate companies and runs 120 brands, expor

ConsumerOct. 16, 2020

Car sharing startup Socar becomes 12th unicorn in S. Korea

Car sharing firm Socar said Friday that it has newly attracted 60 billion won of funding from investors, achieving unicorn status with a corporate value of 1 trillion won ($872.6 million). With Socar’s latest addition to the unicorn list, South Korea now has 12 unicorn companies, including ecommerce firm Coupang, fintech company Viva Republica and accommodation booking services operator Yanolja. Socar is Korea’s first mobility unicorn. “As Socar has received a combined 6

MarketOct. 16, 2020

Bit Hit shares slide after stellar IPO

Share price of Big Hit Entertainment, an entertainment agency behind K-pop boy band BTS, slid for two straight days right after the high profile initial public offering Thursday. The company’s stock price traded 19.77 percent lower at 207,000 won ($180.6) in intraday trading Friday. After soaring by 30 percent to 351,000 won on its Thursday debut on the main bourse Kospi, the stock closed at 258,000 won, down 4.4 percent from the opening price of 270,000 won. BTS’ offering price s

MarketOct. 16, 2020

Gyeonggi confirms case of Japanese encephalitis

South Korea on Thursday reported one confirmed case and two suspected cases of the Japanese encephalitis, all three of them in Gyeonggi Province.  According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, a woman in her 60s was diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease on Wednesday. The two suspected patients are a woman in her 70s and a man in his 50s. All three started exhibiting symptoms such as fever and disorientation last month, the agency said. Among patients infected with t

TechnologyOct. 16, 2020

Seoul stocks down for 4th consecutive day on virus concerns

South Korean shares retreated for a fourth consecutive session Friday, largely on concerns that the COVID-19 resurgence in major economies may hurt exports. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 19.68 points, or 0.83 percent, to close at 2,341.53. Trading volume was moderate at about 908 million shares worth some 11 trillion won ($9.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 622 to 240. Foreigners sold a net 173 billion wo

MarketOct. 16, 2020

Resurgence of COVID-19 drives unemployment to new high

South Korea shed nearly 400,000 jobs last month as a resurgence of coronavirus cases weighed on the labor market recovery, data showed Friday.  The number of employed people in Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood at 27.01 million as of end-September, down 392,000 from a year earlier, according to the monthly employment data compiled by Statistics Korea. This latest on-year decline was the sharpest in four months, continuing the downward trend for a seventh consecutive month since Ma

EconomyOct. 16, 2020

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering clinches W140b of orders

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the shipbuilding holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, announced Friday that the company has secured 140 billion won of new deals from overseas companies. The Korean shipbuilder plans to deliver a 40,000 cubic-meter liquid petroleum gas carrier to a Singaporean firm and two product carriers to its Liberian contractor, starting in March, 2022. The new ships by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering are able to control emissio

IndustryOct. 16, 2020

IMM PE looks to exit from Taihan Electric Wire

South Korea’s buyout firm IMM Private Equity is looking for a buyer for Taihan Electric Wire starting November, five years after it invested 300 billion won ($261.7 million) in the then-debt-saddled company for a controlling stake, according to sources Friday. Shares of Taihan, the nation’s No. 2 power transmission wire maker, rose sharply on the Korea Exchange’s main bourse Kospi on Friday. At 12:30 p.m., Taihan shares were trading 9.8 percent higher than the previous day&rs

MarketOct. 16, 2020

S. Korea's power sales hit 4-year low in Aug.

South Korea's electricity consumption fell to a four-year low in August in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and a long rainy season, data showed Friday. Power sales in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 44,599 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in August, down 6.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO). The figure is the lowest industrial power consumption for August since the 44,412 GWh registered in the same month of 2016. It also r

EconomyOct. 16, 2020

KT collaborates for remote analysis of clinical images

KT announced Friday that the company has partnered with a Korean firm to develop AI-powered remote health care services. HealthHub, KT‘s new partner company, specializes in facilitating remote analysis of clinical images and videos. HealthHub has partnerships with some 1,200 medical institutions, and currently holds a market share of about 60 percent. KT and HealthHub have agreed to combine their technologies to develop enhanced remote medical solutions, KT said. The telecommunication

TechnologyOct. 16, 2020

Samsung tops Forbes list of world's best employers

Samsung Electronics Co. topped the world's best employer rankings released by US business magazine Forbes, industry officials said Friday. The South Korean tech giant ranked No. 1 on the Forbes list of the world's best employers for 2020 followed by US tech juggernauts Amazon, IBM and Microsoft. Samsung made a big leap in the rankings, jumping from 106th last year. In 2018, the company was ranked 76th on the Forbes' best employer list. Industry officials said Samsung's achievement is meani

IndustryOct. 16, 2020

SKT to spin off mobility business, build joint venture with Uber

SK Telecom announced Friday that the company would spin off its mobility platform and start a new joint venture with US ride-hailing company Uber Technologies. SKT plans to spin off the unit by Dec. 29, according to the regulatory filing. The company’s shareholders would vote on the plan at a general meeting scheduled on Nov. 26. In the spinoff, tentatively named T map Mobility, Uber will invest around $50 million, according to the telecommunications firm. The South Korean telecommunic

TechnologyOct. 16, 2020

S. Korea to introduce multiple voting rights for non-listed venture startups

SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Friday that the government plans to introduce multiple voting rights for non-listed venture startups to help shareholders strengthen their control over companies. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the scheme is aimed at encouraging venture startups to get major investment deals, while defending companies against hostile takeovers. The scheme could allow one stock to give 10 votes if a non-listed venture startup faces a hostile takeover. However

EconomyOct. 16, 2020

Woori Bank sells AU$400m in bonds in Australia

Major South Korean lender Woori Bank said Friday it has issued AU$400 million ($283 million) in bonds in Australia as part of efforts to help coronavirus-hit South Korean firms and finance eco-friendly projects. The three-year "Kangaroo" bonds come in two tranches -- floating-rate bonds worth AU$250 million and fixed-rate debt worth AU$150 million, the lender said. The floating-rate bonds carry an interest rate of 0.72 percentage point above the Australian bank bill swap rate, with t

EconomyOct. 16, 2020

BOK chief vows soft monetary policy to bolster virus-hit economy

The Bank of Korea (BOK) will maintain a soft monetary policy to bolster the recovery of the South Korean economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the top central banker said Friday. "The BOK will keep its monetary policy accommodative to help the domestic economy bounce back," BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said at the start of an annual parliamentary audit of the central bank. In the process, the BOK will keep close tabs on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economies and financial

EconomyOct. 16, 2020

Economic recovery shows signs of delay over virus resurgence: finance ministry

SEJONG -- Economic recovery has shown signs of delay due to a resurgence in new coronavirus infections in mid-August, but the pace of decline in exports eased, the finance ministry said Friday. In a monthly economic report, called the "Green Book," the Ministry of Economy and Finance also flagged the economy's continuing uncertainty stemming from the virus resurgence. "Indicators of domestic consumption and employment took a turn for the worse because of a resurgence in COVID-1

EconomyOct. 16, 2020

[Graphic News] S. Koreans spent record on Netflix in September

　South Koreans’ card payments to Netflix reached a fresh high of 46.2 billion won ($40.2 million) last month, data showed, nearly double from a year earlier. 　An estimated 3.36 million people here spent the record amount in September on the popular video streaming platform, according to app tracker WiseApp’s data based on local payments made through credit and debit cards on Netflix. 　Last month’s figure marks a jump from the 24.1 billion won spent in September last year

BusinessOct. 16, 2020