Kakao inks deal to build data center south of Seoul

South Korean internet giant Kakao Corp. said Monday it will establish a data center in a city south of Seoul in an industrial-educational cooperation project. Under a deal with Hanyang University and the Gyeonggi provincial government, the data center will be built on the university's campus in Ansan, some 30 kilometers south of Seoul, at a cost of 400 billion won ($337 million).    Kakao Corp., which operates the country's most-used mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said ground will

EconomySept. 7, 2020

McDonald’s receives PM commendation for environmental efforts

McDonald’s Korea has received the Prime Minister’s Commendation award for eco-friendly business operation, the company said Monday. The fast food chain received the award for its efforts to reduce the use of plastics and switch to more eco-friendly packaging. In May, the company ditched plastic lids for its ice cream McFlurry and it continues to introduce electric motorcycles for its McDelivery service to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The award was granted on the 12th anniversa

IndustrySept. 7, 2020

Pandemic drives down overseas sales in Q2

South Korea’s top 100 companies by revenue saw overseas sales drop 19.8 percent in the second quarter year-on-year due to the global economic downturn caused by the pandemic, data showed Monday. According to the Federation of Korean Industries, which analyzed the disclosure data of the nation’s 100 largest companies, their overseas sales declined 19.8 percent to 146.3 trillion won ($123 billion) in the April-June period from a year earlier. This is compared with the first quarter

IndustrySept. 7, 2020

[Photo News] New Rolls-Royce Ghost

Models introduce Rolls-Royce’s luxury sedan the new Ghost at the automaker’s Seoul boutique, Monday. The new Ghost adapts a version of the 6.75-liter twin-turbo V12 engine with a maximum power of 571 horsepower and a maximum torque of 86.7 kilogram-meters. The new vehicle can be ordered from Monday and will be delivered to customers sequentially from December this year. (Yonhap)

MobilitySept. 7, 2020

Savings banks' H1 net up on increased interest income

South Korean savings banks reported 14.5 percent growth in their combined net profit for the first half of this year from a year earlier due to a sharp hike in interest income, data showed Monday. The combined net income of the 79 savings banks stood at 684 billion won ($576 million) for the January-June period, compared with a profit of 597.6 billion won a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their interest income rose 9.5 percent on-year to 3.2 tril

EconomySept. 7, 2020

Samsung inks W8tr 5G equipment deal with Verizon

Samsung Electronics will supply 5G network equipment for Verizon, the world’s largest mobile carrier by revenue, through a deal worth 7.9 trillion won ($6.6 billion), according to the company’s regulatory filing Monday. The deal marks the biggest network equipment export for Korea, while officially signaling that Samsung has entered the US 5G market. According to the filing, Samsung will provide an array of 5G solutions including equipment for Verizon for the next five years.

TechnologySept. 7, 2020

Naver webcomic's monthly active users top 67m in Aug.

The webcomic arm of South Korea's top portal operator, Naver Corp., said Monday that the number of its monthly active users, or MAUs, surpassed 67 million globally last month. Line Webtoon, a global service provided by Naver Webtoon Corp., said its MAUs rose 2 million in August from a month earlier. The company said it brought in over 80 billion won ($65 million) in content transactions last month and expected to reap in 1 trillion won for this year. Naver Webtoon, more commonly known as Lin

IndustrySept. 7, 2020

[Monitor] Korea achieves largest current account surplus in 9 months

South Korea‘s current account surplus increased to a nine-month high in July as exports fell at a slower pace than imports as major economies started to resume trades after the pandemic lockdowns, according to data by the Bank of Korea. The current account surplus reached $7.45 billion in July, up from $6.88 billion the previous month. The figure was the largest surplus since October 2019, when the country posted a surplus of $7.83 billion. Korea achieved the surplus for the third stra

IndustrySept. 7, 2020

S. Korea's tourism income hits 17-year low in Q2 due to coronavirus pandemic

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 Monday. 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 by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). 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 t

EconomySept. 7, 2020

Korean firms' interim dividends sink over 21% on coronavirus

South Korean listed companies' half-year dividends tumbled more than 20 percent this year on the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, market data showed Monday. Local listed firms paid out 2.92 trillion won ($2.46 billion) in interim dividends in June, down 21.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from market tracker FnGuide. It marks the first time in three years that listed companies' half-year dividends have fallen below the 3 trillion-won mark. Excluding top-cap Samsung E

IndustrySept. 7, 2020

Samsung bags 8 tr-won equipment supply deal from Verizon

Samsung has been especially trying to expand its 5G equipment customer pool in recent years. In addition to the United States, the company has so far inked 5G equipment contracts in countries like Canada, New Zealand and Japan. Industry insiders said the deal with the top US telecom operator will serve as a reference for Samsung to secure more network solutions orders in other major markets. The US is the world's largest mobile telecommunications market, with its infrastructure spending accoun

IndustrySept. 7, 2020

[Graphic News] Korea imports 5% more coffee from January through July

　South Korea’s coffee imports expanded more than 5 percent in the first seven months of the year despite the coronavirus outbreak, data showed Tuesday. 　Imports of coffee stood at 90,355 metric tons in the January-July period, up 5.37 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　It marks the first time that Korea’s coffee imports exceeded the 90,000-ton level in the first seven months of any year. (Yonhap)

BusinessSept. 7, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad lower over new coronavirus concerns

South Korean shares opened slightly lower Monday on weak investor sentiment as the country's new coronavirus cases continue to stay at a three-digit figure. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.36 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,366.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index got off to a weak start, as investors take a wait-and-see mode over COVID-19 cases in the country. Late last week, South Korean authorities extended the enhanced social distancing scheme

MarketSept. 7, 2020

Three-fourths of big firms have no or indefinitive hiring plans in H2: poll

Three-fourths of large companies in South Korea have no hiring plan or have not confirmed their recruiting scheme for the second half of the year amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed Sunday. Half of the companies that responded to the Korea Economic Research Institute's (KERI) survey answered that they have not set their hiring plans yet, while 24.2 percent of the firms said they will not offer jobs in the second half. The survey, conducted by Research & Research, asked Sou

IndustrySept. 6, 2020

LG Chem, SK Innovation spar again over battery patent suit

South Korean battery makers LG Chem and SK Innovation are sparring again over an ongoing case regarding a violation of an electric battery patent. On Sunday, the companies each released statements on the status of their EV battery patent case being investigated by the US International Trade Commission. The case was filed by SK Innovation last September, following LG Chem’s filing of a trade secret misappropriation case against the company in April 2019. It was reported that LG Chem

TechnologySept. 6, 2020

S. Korea to draw more than W7tr in 4th extra budget amid prolonged COVID-19 measures

The government, ruling party and presidential office vowed Sunday to draft an additional budget worth more than 7 trillion won ($5.88 billion), mostly to fund another set of disaster relief subsidies to deal with the economic fallout from COVID-19. The decision, which rekindled concerns about the country’s fiscal soundness, came as the densely populated greater Seoul area faced an extended week of social distancing to contain the second wave of the pandemic. Representatives of the go

EconomySept. 6, 2020

Localization, dividends to remain hurdles for Standard Chartered Korea CEO’s 3rd term

Standard Chartered Bank Korea’s incumbent CEO Park Jong-bok was recently reappointed for a third term, but the weight on his shoulders is likely to remain heavy over the lender’s localization and dividends. For Park, who will begin his third term Jan. 8, one major task is to find a balance between the lender’s identity as a foreign bank operating in South Korea amid rivalry with local banking groups. Though it is still officially called Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Park ch

MarketSept. 6, 2020

[Herald Interview] From organizing portfolios to educating heirs: Total wealth management for the superrich

Private banking and wealth management functions have long been deemed exclusive services for a limited range of customers, such as the owners of big corporations. But responding to the increasing population of high-net-worth asset holders -- such as entertainers, startup founders and people who inherit substantial sums -- local banks and brokerages have diversified their premium asset management functions. Samsung Securities, the brokerage arm of the Samsung conglomerate, was one of the leadi

MarketSept. 6, 2020

[News Focus] Will bond between Starbucks and Shinsegae last?

Since the launch of its first store in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks Coffee has grown into an empire, making forays into more than 80 countries to operate some 30,000 stores across the globe. In South Korea, the coffee giant introduced its first store in front of Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 1999 in partnership with Shinsegae Group, a Korean retail conglomerate. Shinsegae initially acquired the operation license from Starbucks, and Shinsegae’s hypermart affiliate Emart and the coffe

ConsumerSept. 6, 2020

[Newsmaker] Big Hit CEO Bang Si-hyuk likely to hit jack pot with IPO

The scheduled initial offering of Big Hit Entertainment, the label behind K-pop boy band BTS, is likely to make its CEO Bang Si-hyuk one of the wealthiest people in South Korea The Big Hit CEO is currently holding 12,377,337 shares, or 43.44 percent, of the company, according to the recent regulatory filing for the IPO. The entertainment agency plans to offer 7.13 million shares at a price between 105,000 won ($88) and 135,000 won. Should the offering price be set at 135,000 won, Bang&rsq

MarketSept. 6, 2020