BTS agency begins IPO demand forecasting for institutions

Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency for K-pop super group BTS, was to start demand forecasting for domestic and overseas institutions Thursday in the runup to its initial public offering (IPO). Big Hit Entertainment will determine the initial offering price following the two-day forecasting session as one of the largest talent agencies is slated to debut on the country's main stock market next month. General subscription for its shares is scheduled for Oct. 5 and 6 amid keen interest

MarketSept. 24, 2020

Seoul stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street plunge

South Korean shares opened sharply lower Thursday, taking a cue from a plunge in tech stocks on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 33.58 points, or 1.44 percent, to 2,299.66 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment worsened as key US stock indexes tumbled, with tech shares leading the market slump. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite plummeted 3.02 percent to 10,632.99 on Wednesday (New York time). The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.

MarketSept. 24, 2020

S. Korea puts spurs to COVID-19 relief fund payment ahead of holiday

The first batch of the emergency relief funds for the socially vulnerable will be handed out starting Thursday, following the National Assembly’s approval of the extra budget bill worth 7.8 trillion won ($6.7 billion), officials said Wednesday. The government’s target timeline is to distribute 80 percent of the total budget, or 6.3 trillion won, ahead of the Chuseok holiday that is to start on Sept. 30. The Ministry of Economy and Finance held an emergency fiscal status meeting

EconomySept. 23, 2020

[News Analysis] Are Musk’s EV battery ambitions too good to be true?

Elon Musk laid out five innovations for his new batteries at Tesla’s Battery Day event Wednesday, but experts and industry officials remain skeptical as the CEO failed to map out the specifics of the technologies. As part of the announcement, Musk said he would remove cobalt and maximize nickel inside the cathodes of the company’s new batteries. Cathodes are one of the four key components of lithium-ion batteries along with anodes, electrolytes and separators. A higher ratio of n

IndustrySept. 23, 2020

Coupang delves into computer parts biz, outcompeting go-betweens

Coupang is inching its way into the computer parts industry by offering lower prices and replacing distributors and retailers. Most recently, on Sept. 17, Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards were released in South Korea via Coupang. Intech & Company had imported the graphics cards through vendor Asus, but this time sold the graphics cards directly to customers by collaborating with Coupang’s Rocket Delivery network. Previously, importers such as Intech & Company, lac

IndustrySept. 23, 2020

Seoul stocks slightly up on bargain-hunting

South Korean shares snapped a two-day losing streak to inch higher Wednesday on the back of retail investors' massive bargain-hunting. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.65 point, or 0.03 percent, to close at 2,333.24. In the previous session, the index fell 2.38 percent. Trading volume was moderate at about 725 million shares worth some 13.4 trillion won ($11.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gaine

MarketSept. 23, 2020

Tesla’s lukewarm Battery Day disappoints Korean market

Electric vehicle maker Tesla’s promises of a $25,000 electric car and affordable batteries were good enough to receive honks from its fans seated in EVs at the annual Battery Day conference and shareholder meeting. They, however, fell short of exciting investors as the company‘s stock price dropped. The disappointment among global investors also dragged down stock prices of Korean companies in the electric vehicle segment. Many Korean firms in the EV battery industry, including LG

MarketSept. 23, 2020

Experts tout Korea’s 5G speed, coverage at SKT seminar

Global experts from around the world and industry officials agreed on supremacy of South Korea’s 5G network technologies at an online seminar hosted by SK Telecom on Wednesday. “Korea’s 5G achievements are special for the world,” said Alex Choi, vice president of Deutsche Telekom, during the seminar. “There are few countries that have 5G speed on 3.5 gigahertz as fast as Korea and coverage as wide as Korea.” Ross O’Brien, editor of MIT Tech Review,

TechnologySept. 23, 2020

Retail giants offer counseling services amid pandemic

Major retail businesses are offering free counseling services in response to a mental health crisis that has emerged in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Online retailer Gmarket announced plans on Wednesday to offer free psychological counseling for front-line medical staff who have helped fight the COVID-19 crisis. A total of 30 applicants will be chosen to get help from nongovernmental health care organizations, as part of the retailer’s crowdfunding project “Touch,

ConsumerSept. 23, 2020

LG reports more virus cases at headquarters building, shifts to remote work

More employees of LG Electronics Inc. working at its headquarters building in Seoul have been infected with the new coronavirus, company officials said Wednesday, prompting the tech firm to expand its remote working system. So far, five employees of LG Electronics have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two days, forcing the company to partially shutter the West Building of LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, western Seoul. LG has closed floors six through nine of the building and ordered all

IndustrySept. 23, 2020

Gifts to Korean children subject to taxes double in 4 years

Korean children have received a combined 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) worth of assets through some 9,700 gifts that are subject to taxation, data showed Wednesday. The value of the combined assets as of 2018 -- comprising of financial assets, properties and securities -- surged over twofold from that of 2014 at 588.4 billion won, according to data from the National Tax Service compiled by ruling Democratic Party Rep. Yang Hyang-ja. In the same period, the number of taxable gifts rose 92 per

EconomySept. 23, 2020

Service exports make highest contribution to economic growth since 2014: report

Service exports contributed more to South Korea’s economic growth than exports of goods for the first time since 2015, data showed Wednesday. According to the latest report from the Korea International Trade Association, service exports accounted for 0.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product growth in 2019, the highest percentage since 2014. Korea’s GDP growth stood at 2 percent, and exports of goods accounted for 0.2 percent of that growth. Service exports have i

IndustrySept. 23, 2020

Hyundai reveals exterior design of 2021 Sonata N Line

Hyundai Motor revealed Wednesday the exterior design of its 2021 Sonata N Line. The new Sonata N Line expands Hyundai’s midsize sedan lineup following the launch of the Sonata and Sonata Hybrid in 2019. “The 2021 Sonata N Line will attract more customers to both the rock-solid Sonata lineup and our increasingly popular N Line subbrand. Sonata N Line will appeal to customers who desire sporty styling in a sedan package,” said Lee Sang-yup, head of the Hyundai Global Desi

MobilitySept. 23, 2020

Population mobility up in August

SEJONG -- The number of South Koreans who moved to different parts of the country grew in August, as more people were forced to change their residences due to rising housing prices, government data showed Wednesday. The number of people who changed their residences rose 8.7 percent last month from a year earlier to 615,000, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The population mobility rate -- the number of those relocating per 100 people -- remained at 14.1 percent in August, up

EconomySept. 23, 2020

Childbirths in S. Korea drop 8.5% in July

SEJONG -- The number of babies born in South Korea dropped 8.5 percent in July from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign underscoring the low birthrate that has plagued the nation for more than a decade. The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that 23,067 babies were born in July, compared with 25,222 tallied in the same month of 2019. It marks the lowest number of newborns for any July since the statistics agency started compiling monthly data on newborns in 1981. In

EconomySept. 23, 2020

Nonfinancial firms' credit ratings vulnerable amid pandemic: Moody's

Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday that South Korean nonfinancial firms' credit ratings will remain vulnerable to shocks caused by the prolonged coronavirus crisis. More than half of the rated Korean nonfinancial companies posted weak results in the January-June period compared to a year earlier. With the wide spread of the COVID-19 pandemic weakening business activity, negative rating actions will likely outnumber positive ones over the next 12 months, Moody's said in a statement. &quo

EconomySept. 23, 2020

Samsung, KDDI vet 5G networking slicing tech

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has successfully verified an advanced 5G technology with Japanese telecom operator KDDI Corp. as the South Korean tech titan tries to expand its presence in next-generation wireless solutions. Samsung and KDDI joined hands to demonstrate 5G network slicing technology in Tokyo with the Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC) platform that efficiently controls network resources. Network slicing is considered a key technology for the 5G network

IndustrySept. 23, 2020

Global TV sales tipped to rise in Q3 amid pandemic

The global TV market is expected to expand in the third quarter of the year due to pent-up demand amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a report said Tuesday, boding well for South Korean electronics firms. Global TV shipments in the July-September period were estimated to reach 56.88 million units, up 2.08 million units, or 3.8 percent from a year ago, according to market researcher Omdia. With the rising stay-at-home trend, countries' stimulus measures and TV makers' aggressive promotions a

EconomySept. 23, 2020

[Monitor] Trying to cope with COVID-19 changes

Four out of 10 residents in Seoul said their mental health suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed. The survey was conducted online and analyzed by IBM‘s artificial intelligence chatbot. As for reasons behind their mental health suffering, respondents cited economic hardship, lack of leisure and outdoor activities, sparse interaction with people, inconvenience in wearing masks and not being able to meet with family and friends.

IndustrySept. 23, 2020

Samsung releases new consumer SSD for gaming, high-end PC applications

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday unveiled a new consumer solid state drive (SSD) product that boasts enhanced performance for gaming and high-performance PC applications. Samsung introduced the 980 PRO, the company's first consumer SSD based on the fourth generation of the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) motherboard interface with Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) storage protocol. "Optimized for handling data-intensive applications, the 980 PRO is ideal for consume

IndustrySept. 23, 2020