Some 40,000 retail traders come out empty-handed in Kakao Games IPO preorder

Although mobile game publisher Kakao Games’ initial public offering subscription last week was the talk of the town in South Korea, some retail investors who took part in the preorder session did not even receive a single share due to heated competition, according to news reports on Sunday. The gaming firm attracted a total of some 58.5 trillion won ($49.3 billion) from 417,000 people during its IPO subscription for retail investors, which took place Tuesday and Wednesday. The subscrip

MarketSept. 6, 2020

64% of global enterprises to shake up supply chain: KOTRA

Over 60 percent of international companies have either shaken up their global value chains or have plans to do so amid growing protectionism around the world, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said Sunday. A total of 246 companies in fields such as materials, devices and equipment were analyzed by officials at the state-funded trade organization, who looked at their business decisions over the past five years such as relocation, investments, mergers and acquisitions. Changes to globa

IndustrySept. 6, 2020

Smartphone market set to shrink 11% amid pandemic

The global smartphone market is projected to shrink 11 percent this year compared to last year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report Sunday. Market researcher Strategy Analytics forecast in a recent report that total shipments of smartphones would be 1.26 billion units this year, reducing 11 percent from last year. The researcher, however, raised its forecast from a 15.6 percent decline that was made earlier this year, as the pandemic impact on smartphone sale

TechnologySept. 6, 2020

Idle money in S. Korea surpasses W1,200tr mark

The volume of short-term floating capital in South Korea surpassed the 1,200 trillion won ($900 billion) mark, as the government seeks to funnel the liquidity into a 20 trillion fund tied to the Korean New Deal package, data showed Sunday. The amount of cash and other short-term capital totaled 1,273.6 trillion won as of end-June, data compiled by the Bank of Korea and the Korea Financial Investment Association showed. By asset, the M1 money supply, which is essentially cash, came to 1058.1 t

EconomySept. 6, 2020

Samsung Electronics, Hanssem partner on housing interior

Samsung Electronics said Sunday it has signed a partnership agreement with Hanssem, the country’s leading furniture maker, to seek business opportunities in the home interior remodeling market as consumers pay more atttention to their living spaces amid social distancing efforts. On Friday, the parties inked a memorandum of understanding and agreed to cooperate on expanding their house remodeling business; to explore new business models on retail sales; to develop smart home solutions.

IndustrySept. 6, 2020

FCA unveils PHEV Wrangler 4xe, All-New Grand Wagoneer

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has unveiled a plug-in electric sports utility vehicle, the Wrangler 4xe, and a revamp of a classic SUV, the All-New Grand Wagoneer next year. The automaker on Friday livestreamed the showcase held in Detroit on YouTube, to reveal the two new models. Jeep Wrangler 4xe is equipped with two electric motors and a 400-volt lithium-ion battery that can move up to 40 kilometers solely on electric power, cutting down both engine noise and carbon emissions. The automaker

MobilitySept. 6, 2020

FTC imposes W1b fine on Naver’s real estate service

South Korea‘s Fair Trade Commission on Sunday imposed a fine of over 1 billion won ($842,000) on Naver for predatory real estate practices. According to the antitrust government agency, Naver prevented real estate information businesses that it had ties with from working with Kakao. Naver has violated the Fair Trade Act by progressively extending the scope of its exclusivity contracts with real estate businesses and actively blocking Kakao from entering the market, the FTC said. As a

IndustrySept. 6, 2020

GBC 2020 to discuss COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Biologics experts and industry officials will discuss accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines at the virtual Global Bio Conference 2020 starting Monday. According to the hosting Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, this year’s GBC is the sixth annual event and the first to open online. The Ministry anticipates participation from some 3,000 audience for the live broadcasts to be delivered by 61 speakers from 18 nations over three days. The number of speakers and partaking countries halved from

IndustrySept. 6, 2020

[Weekender] ‘No better time to quit’

If health warnings about smoking tobacco did not hit close to home before, they should now: Smokers are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death from the novel coronavirus, according to top health authorities. “COVID-19 preys on lungs -- while the (the use of) tobacco makes them more vulnerable,” the World Health Organization said in a Facebook post. The international health organization said in a May 11 statement that smoking impaired lung function, making it harder f

TechnologySept. 5, 2020

Finance minister expresses concerns over COVID-19, economic impact in talks with Fitch

South Korea's top economic policymaker expressed concerns over the resurgence of the novel coronavirus in the country hurting growth and said efforts are under way to bolster the economy during an online meeting with a global credit appraiser, the finance ministry here said Saturday. The teleconference between Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki and James McCormack, the general manager at Fitch Ratings, took place late Friday, with a focus on actions being taken by Seoul to stem the s

EconomySept. 5, 2020

Doosan Group to repay debt by selling new shares of Doosan Heavy, other assets

    SEOUL (Yonhap) --Cash-squeezed Doosan Group said Friday that it will repay 3 trillion won (US$2.5 billion) in debt to its main creditors by selling new shares of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. and other affiliates' assets.    Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is to float new shares worth 1.3 trillion won and sell them first to its shareholders and then to the public, the group said in an emailed statement.    Earlier, the power plan

IndustrySept. 4, 2020

Hypermarkets sell, shut stores amid COVID-19 fallout

South Korea‘s hypermarket chain operators are working quickly to sell their discount stores to improve their balance sheet, as fallout from the coronavirus deepens and the domestic retail industry’s makes a shift to online. As of Friday, Homeplus has agreed to sell three discount stores to undisclosed real estate developers since July, with the proceeds of the sales also under wraps. One is located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province and the other two are in Daejeon. At least one more dis

MarketSept. 4, 2020

Seoul stocks dip more than 1% on Wall Street plunge

The South Korean stock market dipped by more than 1 percent to snap a three-day winning streak on Friday as market heavyweights came under heavy selling pressure in line with a plunge on Wall Street. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 27.65 points, or 1.15 percent, to close at 2,368.25, after falling by 2.6 percent at one point. Trading volume was high at about 1.33 billion shares worth some 19.4 trillion won ($16.3 billion

MarketSept. 4, 2020

Sign of an exit? Hahn & Co. moves to reduce Ssangyong Cement capital

Ssangyong Cement Industry has proposed reducing its equity capital to pursue higher dividend and enhance shareholder value. Market watchers say the move makes the case for a possible exit of South Korea‘s second-largest private equity house Hahn & Co. from the nation’s No. 1 cement maker by market share. Ssangyong Cement on Tuesday proposed to reduce equity capital to one-tenth to 50.4 billion won ($42.4 million) by November. As a result, the remainder, 455 billion won, will t

MarketSept. 4, 2020

[Photo News] Amorepacific Group celebrates 75th anniversary online

IndustrySept. 4, 2020

LG Wing chosen as name for new dual-display smartphone

LG Electronics has finalized the name of its new dual-display smartphone to be released on Sept. 14 as “LG Wing,” the company confirmed Friday. When choosing the name, LG Electronics reportedly narrowed down its options to LG Wing and LG Swing, but picked the former as consumers have become familiar with the name after months of exposure to the new phone’s codename “Wing.” The price of LG Wing is expected to be approximately 1.5 million won ($1,260), as the ph

IndustrySept. 4, 2020

NCSoft’s new rhythm game ‘Fuser’ set for release on Nov. 10

NCSoft said Friday its North American subsidiary NC West will release a new rhythm game “Fuser” for both PC and console in North America and Europe on Nov. 10. Fuser is an interactive DJ music game developed by Harmonix -- a US-based video game development company -- and will be published by NC West. Fuser will be available on PC and three major console platforms -- PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. In Fuser, players will become music festival DJs, mixing vocals, bas

IndustrySept. 4, 2020

Diageo Korea appoints Dan Hamilton as new CEO

Diageo Korea said Friday it has appointed Dan Hamilton as a new CEO. According to the world‘s largest distiller and producer of major whisky brands including Johnny Walker and Windsor, Dan Hamilton has become the new CEO starting Friday as his predecessor Robert Rhee, who had led the company since 2018, will leave the business on Oct. 31. After joining Diageo in 2011, Hamilton served several senior leadership and general management roles in India, China, Japan and Europe. As the CEO

IndustrySept. 4, 2020

S. Korea sets aside W170b for COVID-19 vaccine development next year

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday it has assigned a budget of 170 billion won ($142.8 million) for 2021 to develop a homegrown vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Designed to support local companies’ research and development of the COVID-19 vaccine, the government will inject 31.9 billion won into clinical trials of candidate materials for the drug and 7.4 billion won for non-human clinical trials, the ministry said.  Also,131.4 billion won will be spent on a seri

EconomySept. 4, 2020

KakaoPage to enter US, China and Southeast Asia markets by 2022

KakaoPage, an entertainment company specializing in online cartoons, web novels, film, and TV series, will expand its business overseas, according to the company’s announcement on Friday. KakaoPage will expand its investments in mergers and acquisitions to enter the market in the US, China and nations in Southeast Asia by 2022, KakaoPage CEO Lee Jin-soo said Thursday during a talk with Vivek Couto, an APOS organizer at Media Partners Asia. Lee‘s session was held as part of APOS

TechnologySept. 4, 2020