SC Bank Korea to host webinar on ESG investment

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said Monday it planned to host a webinar on environmental, social and governance investment on Thursday as such standards become more prominent in the coronavirus pandemic era. The event, co-hosted by a local youth civic group Green Environment Youth Korea, will discuss the subject of climate change along with sustainable financial investment for millennials, among other subjects. Standard Chartered Group CEO Bill Winters, who recently wrapped-up a monthlong tr

MarketOct. 12, 2020

Nongshim Shin Ramyun Black named among world’s best instant noodles

South Korean food maker Nongshim said Monday its flagship instant noodle Shin Ramyun Black has been chosen as one of the world’s best instant noodle brands by The Travel. Nongshim’s Shin Ramyun Black was listed among the four chosen for the best instant ramen of 2020 lest, released Thursday by The Travel, a global tour site based in Canada. Hailing the noodle as “the top competitor” in the instant noodle world, The Travel chose Shin Ramyun Black as “The best in

ConsumerOct. 12, 2020

Businesses oppose class action suits and punitive damages bills

The Federation of Korean Industries said Monday it submitted to the government its opposition to the introduction of punitive damages compensation and class action lawsuit systems. The opposition came as the government had announced an amendment to the Commercial Law last month to more precisely monitor conglomerates in the form of allowing class action suits, something that had not been legally allowed in the country before. The FKI estimated that if the government’s legislative notice

IndustryOct. 12, 2020

Lotte Group chief meets Japanese PM in Tokyo: reports

The chief of South Korea's retail giant Lotte Group met Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo over the weekend, Japanese reports said Monday, in what was the new Japanese leader's first meeting with a South Korean tycoon. Suga held a lunch meeting with Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and other chiefs of major Japanese companies at a hotel in Tokyo on Sunday, according to Japan's Nikkei. Details about their meeting are not known, but industry watchers estimated that Shin and Sug

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Celltrion's COVID-19 antibody pipeline seeks use as vaccine for frontline medical workers

Celltrion’s COVID-19 antibody pipeline CT-P59 will be clinically tested on asymptomatic COVID-19 patients and people who have come in close contact with confirmed patients, such as medical workers, to prevent infection, Celltrion said Monday. The purpose of the test is to verify CT-P59’s preventive effects against COVID-19 infection and early-phase virus eradication. Celltrion hopes this will cut blind spots where vaccines may fail to cover. The test will target a total of 1,000 p

IndustryOct. 12, 2020

Foreigners extend stock sell-off to 2nd month in Sept.

Foreign investors became net sellers of South Korean stocks in September, extending their selling spree to a second month, data showed Monday. Offshore investors sold a net 2.54 trillion won ($2.2 billion) of local stocks last month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Investors from Singapore posted the largest amount of net selling with 4.3 trillion won, followed by those from Switzerland with 300 billion won worth of stocks. In contrast, investors from Luxembourg bought a net 6

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Tax revenue tallied at 37.4tr won in August

SEJONG -- South Korea collected 37.4 trillion won ($32.3 billion) in taxes in August, up 4.8 trillion won from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Monday. Income tax revenue amounted to 9.5 trillion won in August, up 3.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Dues collected from companies, on the other hand, reached 11 trillion won in the month, down 900 billion won from a year earlier due to the lackluster earnings of local firms. Taxes col

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Economy remains subdued as virus resurgence hits demand: KDI

South Korea's economy remained subdued as a recent resurgence of new coronavirus infections hit domestic demand, a state-run think tank said Monday. "The Korean economy remains subdued led by domestic demand due to a resurgence of COVID-19," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its English-language Monthly Economic Trends publication. However, the report said the nation's economy is showing signs of its exports and output declining at a slower pace. Externally, worries ov

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Banks tipped to tighten grip on loans in Q4 amid pandemic: poll

Banks in South Korea are expected to tighten their lending to households and companies in the fourth quarter of the year as credit risks will remain high amid the pandemic-caused economic uncertainty, a central bank poll showed Monday. The Bank of Korea's index measuring the banks' attitude toward fresh loans came to minus 5 for the October-December period, after hitting zero three months earlier. It marks the first time that the index fell into negative terrain since the fourth quarter of las

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

BOK tipped to freeze key rate at record low this week: poll

The Bank of Korea (BOK) is widely expected to keep its policy rate steady at a record low of 0.5 percent this week, as it will likely gauge the impact of the protracted pandemic on the economy, a poll showed Monday. In a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency, all 17 analysts polled predicted the BOK will freeze the base rate at its rate-setting meeting, slated for Wednesday. They also forecast the BOK to stand pat on the rate during the remainder of the year an

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Daewoong begins phase 1 trial of niclosamide as COVID-19 drug in Korea

Daewoong Pharmaceutical gained the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s approval to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial of niclosamide as a potential COVID-19 treatment, the company said Monday. Daewoong is currently testing its niclosamide pipeline DWRX2003 in India and Philippines, where the company says the progress is smooth. Daewoong plans to enter phase 2/3 trial in multiple nations before this year ends, and aims to apply for conditional approval or emergency use of the drug upon phas

IndustryOct. 12, 2020

7 companies to recall nearly 50,000 vehicles

Hyundai Motor Co., BMW, Mercedes-Benz and four other companies will voluntarily recall nearly 50,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Monday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components. The four other companies are Kia Motors Corp., Audi-Volkswagen Korea, Jaguar Land Rover Korea and Daijeon Machinery Co., which imports Kawasaki motorcycles, the Ministry of Land, Infr

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

[Monitor] TV shipments break record with Samsung, LG topping list

Shipments of television sets worldwide broke records in the third quarter this year with the volume reaching around 62.05 million, according to market watcher TrendForce based in Taiwan. Topping the list of manufacturers were South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, with them respectively seeing 81.7 percent and 67.1 percent increases in the shipment compared to the second quarter. Three Chinese firms followed in the list. TrendForce said the rapid increase in the shipment

IndustryOct. 12, 2020

S. Korea's parliament runs hydrogen shuttle bus

South Korea's parliament said Monday it has adopted a hydrogen fuel-cell electric bus as it pushes to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles. The National Assembly became the country's first state organization to adopt a hydrogen bus, and it will use the zero-emission bus to help transport people within the parliament and from neighboring subway stations, the parliament said in a statement. "We will initially operate the hydrogen bus two to four times a day as a shuttle bus for those who visit

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

LG Electronics to launch hair growth helmet this month

LG Electronics Inc., a major home appliance maker, said Monday it will launch a hair loss treatment device in South Korea later this month. LG Pra.L MediHair was recently approved by Seoul's drug safety ministry as a laser apparatus for medical use and was also cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a Class II device for home use. The wearable device combines 146 laser and 104 LED lights to stimulate hair follicle stem cells in the bulge region and support hair growth and sl

IndustryOct. 12, 2020

Seoul's top trade official to visit Europe to drum up support her WTO chief race

South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, who has recently made it to the final round of the selection process for a new leader at the World Trade Organization (WTO), plans to head to Europe later this week to win more support from its members. Yoo will visit Switzerland and other European nations starting Tuesday, to meet representatives from member countries of the WTO, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Last week, the trade official made it onto the shortlist of two f

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on eased virus curbs

South Korean shares opened higher Monday, as the country loosened its antivirus curbs. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.51 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,399.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The local stock market got off to a strong start, as the country lowered the COVID-19 social distancing guidelines to the lowest level Sunday, raising hopes that the eased virus curbs will boost the economic recovery. Large caps traded mixed. Market bellwether Samsung

MarketOct. 12, 2020

Major foreign IBs cut S. Korea's growth outlook on virus resurgence

Major foreign investment banks (IBs) have downgraded their forecasts for South Korea's economic growth following the resurgence of the coronavirus here, a report showed Monday. As of end-September, nine major global IBs, including Barclays and Goldman Sachs, forecast Asia's fourth-largest economy to shrink 1.4 percent this year, compared with their median outlook of a 0.9 percent contraction offered a month earlier, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance. The out

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

S. Korea's coal use for power generation dips 7% in 2019

South Korea's coal consumption for electricity generation decreased 7 percent in 2019 from a year earlier due to its efforts to cut carbon emissions, a report said Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy consumed 94 million tons of coal to generate electricity, compared with 101 million tons a year earlier, according to the report by the Korea Energy Economics Institute. It marks the second consecutive year of decline. South Korea's coal consumption for power generation rose from 101 million ton

EconomyOct. 12, 2020

Exports drop 28.8% in first 10 days of October

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports dropped 28.8 percent on-year in the first 10 days of October amid the fallout from the new coronavirus outbreak, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $9.3 billion in the Oct. 1-10 period, compared with $13 billion a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports, however, rose 2.8 percent on-year in the Oct. 1-10 period, the Korea Customs Service said. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted trad

EconomyOct. 12, 2020