3 carmakers yet to seal 2020 wage deal amid pandemic

Kia Motors Corp. and two other South Korean carmakers have yet to reach wage deals with their unions for this year, with the new coronavirus outbreak still a major concern for the automotive industry. Of the country's five carmakers, Hyundai Motor Co. and SsangYong Motor Co. and their unions already signed wage deals for the year in September and April, respectively. Kia Motors, which is 34 percent owned by Hyundai, plans to enter the seventh negotiations with its union Thursday. Kia workers

IndustryOct. 13, 2020

KT's webcomic unit to spend W10b on content creation

Storywiz Co., a webcomic unit of South Korean telecom giant KT Corp., said Tuesday it will spend 10 billion won ($8.7 million) on content creation, heating up competition in the growing local web fiction market. Storywiz, established in February this year after KT spun off its web fiction business, specializes in publishing online serial novels and comics. Its web novel platform Blice competes with larger local rivals, such as KakaoPage of the country's top messenger operator, Kakao Corp. KT's

TechnologyOct. 13, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on soaring US stock

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on overnight Wall Street rallies, led by strong advances by tech and e-commerce heavyweights. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 5.93 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,409.66 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI opened with a mild gain after an eight-day winning streak. Investor sentiment remained high, following gains by US tech and e-commerce heavyweights, ahead of Apple's upcoming presentation of a new smartphone

MarketOct. 13, 2020

Eastar to cut half of workforce to woo new investor

Eastar Jet Co. said Tuesday it will lay off more than half of its workforce this week as it strives to find a new investor after Jeju Air Co. scrapped its plan to acquire the smaller budget carrier amid the coronavirus pandemic. Eastar plans to deliver pink slips to 605 of its 1,200 employees Wednesday before it begins the process of finding a new investor, Eastar Senior Vice President Kim You-sang said over the phone. "Our lead managers and two private equity funds (that have an interest

IndustryOct. 13, 2020

Incheon Int'l Airport's duty-free auctions set to fail again amid pandemic

The operator of Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, failed again Tuesday to attract enough bidders for its duty-free concessions in the latest sign of the industrywide slump amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Incheon International Airport Corp. has been seeking to award licenses for its six duty-free concessions in Terminal 1, after its two previous attempts fell through earlier this year due to lack of bidders. Only one duty-free operator run by a conglomerate and anoth

IndustryOct. 13, 2020

BNP Paribas moves to defend partnership with Shinhan Financial Group

Shinhan Financial Group said Monday that minority shareholder BNP Paribas has bought a stake worth an undisclosed amount in the South Korean banking group by securing the minimum threshold to keep the strategic partnership intact after a scheduled equity increase. According to Shinhan, BNP Paribas is set to defend the partnership even after the 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) equity increase by inviting new shareholders -- Affinity Equity Partners and Baring Private Equity Asia -- on Oct. 20.

MarketOct. 12, 2020

Lawmakers call for stricter taxation rules on foreign firms, rich asset holders

Among foreign-based companies operating in South Korea, almost half defaulted on their corporate tax payments last year, with two of them logging more than 5 trillion won ($4.36 billion) in annual sales, a ruling party lawmaker said Monday. According to data submitted by the National Tax Service to Rep. Kim Soo-heung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, 46.6 percent or 4,956 out of the 10,630 registered foreign companies here did not pay corporate taxes at all in 2019. The figure was up

MarketOct. 12, 2020

Sale prices of upscale Seoul apartments surge amid tightened rules

Despite the South Korean government’s all-out efforts to curb the heated property market, apartment prices in Seoul have been soaring recently, with some in upscale residential areas even hitting a record sales prices last month. According to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a Hannam The Hill apartment unit in Hannam-dong, Yonsan-gu, was recently sold for 7.75 billion won ($6.8 million). The housing unit with a usable floor area of 243.642 square meter

MarketOct. 12, 2020

S. Korea vows to maintain exports recovery in Q4: finance minister

SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Monday the government will spare no efforts to maintain momentum of recovery in exports in the fourth quarter of this year. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks at a meeting with senior ministry officials earlier in the day, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a statement. On Monday, South Korea eased social distancing rules as daily infections of the new coronavirus appeared to come under control, following a resurgence in mid-A

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Foreign investment banks slash growth forecasts for S. Korea

Major foreign investment banks have revised down their economic growth forecasts for South Korea with the resurgence of the coronavirus slowing the country’s economic recovery, data showed Monday. Nine forecast published by foreign investment banks as of end-September offered that Asia’s fourth-largest economy will contract at an average rate of 1.4 percent this year, down from an earlier average of 0.9 percent a month earlier, according to the Korea Center for International Financ

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Harman named best in class car audio in JD Power survey

Harman Korea said Monday it was named the best car audio supplier by JD Power, a US market research firm, for the highest quality and customer satisfaction. According to Harman, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, its Revel and Lexicon branded speaker systems have been awarded top honors in the JD Power 2020 US Multimedia Quality and Satisfaction Study, released Saturday. Revel speakers are in the Lincoln Navigator, and Lexicon speakers are in the Genesis G70. The J

MobilityOct. 12, 2020

Kakao launches live commerce service on its messenger app

  South Korean mobile messenger giant Kakao has officially launched live commerce service “Kakao Shopping Live“ on its messenger application, the company announced Monday. The new service embedded in KakaoTalk allows sellers to promote their products via live streaming on the messenger application. Customers could directly engage with vendors through the livestream and make purchases on the messenger, the company explained. Kakao said the company plans to air at least one li

TechnologyOct. 12, 2020

SKT launches AI-powered voice call application

SK Telecom, South Korea‘s top mobile carrier, has launched an artificial intelligence-powered voice call application, the company announced Monday. The company’s new voice call application has integrated the company‘s existing voice-activated assistant Nugu, which was previously used in its AI speaker of the same name. SKT’s new application will allows its 1.2 monthly active users to use a wide range of features powered by the telecommunications firm’s AI engine

TechnologyOct. 12, 2020

LG Chem announces Q3 earnings surprise with best-ever revenue, operating profit

LG Chem on Monday announced an earnings surprise for the third quarter of this year, posting the greatest quarterly revenue and operating profit in its history, as it prepares to break off its globally-leading battery unit later in the year. The South Korean battery giant said in its preliminary earnings report that it would register 7.5 trillion won ($6.5 billion) in revenue and 902.1 billion won in operating profit in the July-September period. If confirmed, the LG Chem will see an 8.8 perc

IndustryOct. 12, 2020

eBay Korea’s Smart Delivery launches charity campaign

eBay Korea’s next-day delivery service Smart Delivery on Monday launched a charity campaign to fund daily necessities for elderly single households. Part of the proceeds made through the company’s express delivery service will be donated to Miral Welfare Foundation and provide daily necessities kits for some 300 elderly people around the country who are living alone by early November, the firm said Monday. The campaign, which is funded in part through social contribution funds set

ConsumerOct. 12, 2020

Com2us acquires German sports game company

South Korean mobile game developer Com2us said Monday it had acquired a 100 percent stake in German sports game company Out of the Park Developments, the company’s first foreign takeover. Com2us, which already offers sports games officially licensed by Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and Korea Baseball Organization, will expand its footprint into sports management games by utilizing OOTP’s expertise in the genre. Established in 1999, OOTP is best known

IndustryOct. 12, 2020

Hanssem Q3 operating earnings up 236.4% to 24b won

Hanssem Co. on Monday estimated its third-quarter operating profit at 24 billion won ($20.9 million), up 236.4 percent from a year earlier. Sales increased 25.4 percent to 514.9 billion won. The data for net earnings was not available. The operating profit was 9.1 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. The company will release its final earnings report later. (Yonhap)

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Daewoo Shipbuilding wins 2tr won worth of orders for 6 ships

South Korea's No. 2 shipbuilder, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., said Monday that it has signed deals worth 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) to build six liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers for two European companies. Under the two separate deals, Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver the vessels to the European companies by July and December 2023, respectively, the shipbuilder said in regulatory filings, without providing the names of the clients. With the deals, Daewoo Shipbuildin

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Seoul stocks up for 8th day on eased virus curbs, tech gains

South Korean shares extended gains for an eighth consecutive session Monday on the back of strong advances by chipmakers and the government's decision to loosen quarantine measures against the new coronavirus pandemic. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 11.77 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 2,403.73. Trading volume was moderate at about 832 million shares worth some 10.5 trillion won ($9.2 billion), with gainers outnumbe

MarketOct. 12, 2020

FSC chief hints at tightening loan measures

The nation’s top financial regulator hinted Monday at the possibility of tightening loan regulations to curb snowballing household debts induced by the pandemic.  The country’s household debts surged to a record 1.63 quadrillion won in the second quarter.  “The government’s financial stimulus programs targeting small merchants as well as loan repayment moratoriums to counter the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak partly drove up household debts,”

EconomyOct. 12, 2020