Instagram introduces anti-bullying features

Global photo and video-sharing platform Instagram on Tuesday introduced various new safety features in its latest effort to fight online bullying and other kinds of online harassment. The new features come as the social media platform has been criticized for becoming the center of various bullying acts, especially among young adults and teens, globally. The Facebook Inc.-owned application said it is making it easier to block multiple people at once and offering tools to restrict who can tag u

TechnologySept. 15, 2020

India’s import regulations target Korea after China: report

South Korean exporters need to be on alert as India has been strengthening trade remedies such as anti-dumping measures to protect its industries, a local trade association said Tuesday. According to a report released by the Korea International Trade Association, the number of newly launched investigations on imports by India between 2016 and 2019 was 60.5 on average per year, nearly doubling from 30.3 between 2010 and 2015. As for the countries subject to new investigations since 2016, Chin

IndustrySept. 15, 2020

Hyosung selects STLeaders PE as preferred bidder for capital unit

Hyosung Group has selected a consortium of STLeaders Private Equity and the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives as the preferred bidder for Hyosung Capital, according to the firm Tuesday. Another local financial firm, WWG Asset Management, was selected as the second preferred bidder. Hyosung plans to sell 8.84 million shares of Hyosung Capital (a 97.5 percent stake) and the sale price is estimated to be around 400 billion won ($338 million). “We have selected preferred

IndustrySept. 15, 2020

Financial holding firms' H1 net down 11% on increased provisions

South Korea's 10 financial holding firms saw their combined net profit fall 11 percent on-year in the first half of this year due mainly to increased loan loss provisions, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of KB Financial, Shinhan Financial and eight other financial holding firms stood at 7.6 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the first six months of this year, compared with 8.57 trillion won for the same period last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FS

EconomySept. 15, 2020

Corporate sales dip by most in Q2 amid pandemic

South Korean companies' sales declined at the sharpest clip on record in the second quarter as their business activity was hit by the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Tuesday. Sales of local businesses dropped 10.1 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier, accelerating from a 1.9 percent on-year fall in the first quarter, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the sharpest on-year fall since the first quarter of 2015 when the BOK beg

EconomySept. 15, 2020

SK Telecom to use quantum tech in gas facility safety system

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier, said Tuesday it partnered with the state-run Korea Gas Safety Corp. to develop a gas facility safety system using quantum technology. The two will also work with the gas safety company Korea Plant Maintenance and the local optical sensor company QuantumSensing to incorporate quantum-based technology into safety management systems at gas facilities. The next-generation system detects gas leaks and its concentration at facilities by analyzing li

IndustrySept. 15, 2020

[Monitor] More firms adopting remote work system

Some 88.4 percent of companies (among top 100 companies by revenue) have implemented remote work systems since the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey by the Korea Employers’ Federation showed. Some 8.7 percent said they were not considering a work-from-home system at the moment. But they said they would review it if the social-distancing measures reach level 3. As for office jobs, 46.8 percent of the companies said the productivity level remained similar at 90 percent compared to the employees

IndustrySept. 15, 2020

S. Korean firms need to heed India's import regulations: report

South Korean companies need to keep close tabs on India's anti-dumping rules and other trade remedies to protect its domestic industries, a report said Tuesday. India, Asia's third-largest economy, has been beefing up efforts to shield its domestic industries from foreign competitors by sharply raising import regulation probes in recent years. "India's import regulations have recently been very tough and aggressive," the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) s

EconomySept. 15, 2020

[Graphic News] Korea's tourism income hits 17-year low in Q2 due to coronavirus

　South Korea’s tourism income hit a 17-year low in the second quarter of this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, government data showed. 　For the April-June period, the country posted $1.19 billion in tourism income, down 78.6 percent from $5.57 billion over the same period last year, according to data from the Korea Tourism Organization. 　From three months earlier, it tumbled 65.5 percent from $3.46 billion. 　It is the lowest quarterly amount since 2003, when South Korea's

BusinessSept. 15, 2020

S. Korea's export prices dip for 1st time in 4 months in Aug.

South Korea's export prices fell for the first time in four months in August as the local currency appreciated against the US dollar, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, dropped 0.2 percent in August from the previous month, compared with a 0.1 percent on-month gain in July, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the first drop after the index rose for three straight months since May.

EconomySept. 15, 2020

US sanctions on Huawei feared to hit S. Korean chip exports to China

South Korean chip exports to China are feared to take a hit from US sanctions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. due to their heavy dependence on the neighboring country, sources said Tuesday. The new sanctions, which ban the supply of semiconductors made with US equipment, software and design to Huawei without prior approval from Washington, became effective the same day. The US move forces Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chip maker, and SK hynix Inc. to stop semico

EconomySept. 15, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad higher on brisk M&As, vaccine hopes

South Korean shares open slightly higher Tuesday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains that stemmed from brisk M&A deals and progress in coronavirus vaccine development. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.73 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,430.64 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment was boosted by progress made in large acquisition deals by large firms for tech and bio blue chips, including the video-sharing app TikTok and drugmaker Immunomedics

MarketSept. 15, 2020

LG Wing brings swivel to new level

LG Electronics on Monday unveiled a whole new form factor for its LG Wing smartphone, part of the company’s first Explore project for innovative user experiences. Amid the pandemic, the South Korean tech titan held an online unpacking event for its second flagship model of 2020 through multiple social media channels to global audiences for about 30 minutes. High-profile YouTuber Unbox Therapy presented the Wing, highlighting the new form factor and different user experiences during the

TechnologySept. 14, 2020

Finance minister, ADB chief vow cooperation against COVID-19

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa held a video-linked meeting on Monday and pledged to cooperate against the new coronavirus, the finance ministry said. During the talks, Hong and Asakawa agreed to encourage countries in the Asia Pacific region to cooperate in various sectors to respond to COVID-19, according to the ministry. Hong also proposed opening ADB's Seoul office to boost cooperative ties, the ministry said.  Asakawa said they sho

EconomySept. 14, 2020

S. Korea, China to run temporary air routes

Temporary flights will start to operate this week to allow South Korean residents in China who returned here during COVID-19 outbreak to travel back to China, the government said Monday. Korean Air Lines and Xiamen Airlines will operate a total seven flights from Incheon, west of Seoul, to Qingdao, Zhengzhou and Xiamen, from Thursday until Oct. 15, it said. The number of regular flight routes between South Korea and China has dropped from 84 as of late last year to 16 last month in the face of

MobilitySept. 14, 2020

AmCham endorses Yoo Myung-hee for WTO chief

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea said Monday it endorses Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee for the position of director general of the World Trade Organization. “Minister Yoo has proven herself to be a strong and principled leader as well as a champion of free and fair trade during a time of historic challenges for international trade and the global economy,” the organization said in a released statement. “We have no doubt that she is ideally equipped to realize the v

IndustrySept. 14, 2020

Lotte Aluminium expands cathode foil production capacity for EVs

Lotte Aluminium said Monday it has increased the production capacity of its cathode foil plant in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province in response to growing demand for electric vehicle batteries. According to the South Korean packaging material company, it injected 28 billion won ($23.7 million) into the cathode foil plant to increase the capacity to 12,000 metric tons. Lithium-ion batteries consist of four key components -- cathodes, anodes, electrolytes and separators. Cathode foils cover the cathod

IndustrySept. 14, 2020

Telcos expand digital health care services amid pandemic

South Korean mobile carriers are racing to develop digital health care services, industry officials said Monday, as demand for remote personalized services grows amid the pandemic. The country's three major carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., and LG Uplus Corp. -- have recently joined hands with local health care companies to create new services to capitalize on the recent contactless trend driven by social distancing measures against the pandemic. Telecom giant KT partnered with Green Cros

IndustrySept. 14, 2020

Seoul stocks rally on tech gains, eased virus curbs

South Korean shares jumped more than 1 percent Monday on the back of advances in tech shares and eased social distancing measures against the new coronavirus in the country. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 31.22 points, or 1.3 percent, to close at 2,427.91. Trading volume was moderate at about 953 million shares worth some 11.9 trillion won ($10.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 645 to 218. Foreigners bought a

MarketSept. 14, 2020

PRK launches new ad campaign for Jameson

Pernod Ricard Korea unveiled a series of new ads for its Jameson Irish Whiskey on Monday, featuring artists from various fields enjoying a whiskey highball. Each of the three ads features an artist enjoying whiskey in a different setting -- camping, a house party and a pub -- as part of the company’s “Why Jameson Highball?” campaign. The ads are posted on its social media platforms, including Instagram. The participating artists are Jackson Shim, J Black and Adoy. Pernod Ric

ConsumerSept. 14, 2020