Toss Lab’s collaboration tool raises new investment for global expansion

Toss Lab, an operator of Slack-like team collaboration platform JANDI, said Wednesday that it has newly raised 14 billion won ($11.8 million) from a group of investors. The investors include Softbank Ventures, SV Investment, Atinum Investment, Must Investment and Spark Labs. Along with the new investment, the company also named big-name figures in the startup and investment sectors as outside directors, including Shin Hyun-sung, founder of ecommerce firm TMON, Lee Joon-pyo, chief of inves

MarketSept. 2, 2020

S. Korean fintech firm partners with Singaporean lender

Tenspace, a Seoul-based credit scoring services firm, said Wednesday that it has recently joined forces with Singaporean lender Money World to run a joint venture named Aster World, which offers microloans in Southeast Asia. Although demand for credit loans has increased in the region, the infrastructure for credit scoring is not mature enough. The new joint venture will offer lending services based on alternative credit rating measures to make up for the outdated credit rating system in th

MarketSept. 2, 2020

Korea's ICT Ministry to invest W499b to boost big data

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced Wednesday that it would inject 499 billion won ($420.6 million) of supplementary budget this year to support artificial intelligence big data-powered businesses as part of the Korean New Deal. The budget will be provided to 2,103 local businesses, developers and institutions, according to the ICT Ministry. The ministry added the investment is expected to create around 28,000 jobs. Of the total, 292.5 billion won will be spent on constructing data set

TechnologySept. 2, 2020

S. Korea needs to adopt Germany’s debt limit rules: think tank

In light of growing concerns about the nation’s fiscal soundness amid the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea should take a leaf from Germany’s debt-brake law to stabilize its debt ratio, a think tank here said Wednesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s debt-to-gross domestic product ratio has so far shown moderate growth, but it could surge rapidly under the current circumstances, a report released by the Korea Economic Research Institute said. The debt-to-GDP ratio wa

EconomySept. 2, 2020

Seoul stocks up for 2nd day on retail buying

South Korean stocks extended their winning streak to a second consecutive session Wednesday as retail investors scooped up stocks amid a letup in spiking virus cases. The Korean currency fell against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.82 points, or 0.63 percent, to finish at 2,364.37. Trading volume was heavy at 1.4 billion shares worth 15.5 trillion won ($13.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 590 to 245. "South

MarketSept. 2, 2020

WeMakePrice to allow full refund on perishable goods

E-commerce firm WeMakePrice said Wednesday that grocery shoppers can now receive a full refund for perishable goods if the products are not up to their standards. The new initiative comes after the online retailer trialed a similar service last month for meat products and nuts, which the company says was met with a warm reception. Dissatisfied shoppers can now order meat, vegetables, fruits and seafood products that are quality assurance approved and request a full refund until the following

ConsumerSept. 2, 2020

PEI to hold Infrastructure Investor Seoul Summit virtually

Financial intelligence firm PEI is poised to host this year‘s Infrastructure Investor Seoul Summit virtually on Sept. 8, the company said Wednesday. The event comes as the London-based company looks to provide a virtual place for the global infrastructure investing community to connect with South Korean institutional investors looking for chances to allocate their capital to alternative assets across the world. The event will mark the third of its kind in Seoul. Due to travel restrictio

MarketSept. 2, 2020

Kakao Games IPO pre-orders set new record

Kakao Games, the gaming arm of local mobile messenger giant Kakao, set a record in South Korea on Wednesday by drawing the greatest value of preorder deposits for public subscription of its initial public offering. Retail investors had submitted some 58.55 trillion won ($49.34 billion) in deposits during the two-day preorder session for stocks of Kakao Games, nearly double the record of 30.99 trillion won set by SK Biopharmaceuticals in June. The amount of deposits surged more rapidly as time

MarketSept. 2, 2020

Stocks rise to attractive destination as dovish Fed continues: Barings

Top officials of US investment firm Barings said Wednesday that stocks appear to be an attractive destination for investors, propelled by the US central bank’s dovish stance to support monetary expansions coupled with signs of recovery in the economy. Foreign investors can take advantage of a currency hedging premium thanks to the dovish US Federal Reserve and following weaker US dollar when investing in emerging market stocks including ones in Korea, the officials noted. During a teleco

MarketSept. 2, 2020

Credit loans soar in August amid ultra-low interest rates, stricter mortgage rules

South Korea’s major banks saw their credit loan balance rise by more than 4 trillion won ($3.37 billion) on-month in August, data showed Wednesday, due to persisting ultra-low interest rates, as well as side effects from new loan regulations.  Outstanding personal loans extended to individuals by the nation’s five major lenders -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana and NH NongHyup -- stood at nearly 124.27 trillion won last month, up 4.76 trillion won from a month earlier. This

MarketSept. 2, 2020

BOK seeks to use deep learning for growth forecast

South Korea’s central bank said Wednesday it has launched research into adopting artificial intelligence deep learning to extract economic growth forecasts, amid growing uncertainties stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. The Bank of Korea expressed anticipations of predicting the nation’s gross domestic product readings and other key economic indexes by utilizing deep learning, which is a subset of AI technology, in its regular economic report. The research is still in its early

EconomySept. 2, 2020

[Photo News] OB launches anti-drunk driving campaign

DRINK RESPONSIBLY -- Oriental Brewery CEO Ben Verhaert, who also goes by the Korean name Bae Ha-jun, attends an event to launch a campaign against drunk driving at a driver’s test site in southern Seoul, Wednesday.  OB has teamed up with the Road Traffic Authority for the campaign.

ConsumerSept. 2, 2020

Corporate loans rise by record amount in Q2 amid pandemic

Loans extended to companies in South Korea jumped by the largest amount on record in the second quarter, as financial firms sharply increased lending to the service sector hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Wednesday. The outstanding amount of corporate loans came to 1,328.2 trillion won ($1.12 trillion) at the end of June, up 69.1 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It compared with a 51.4 trillion won ri

EconomySept. 2, 2020

Booyoung provides scholarships for international students

Woojung Education & Culture Foundation established by Booyoung Group is set to provide scholarships for international students for the second semester of this year, the group said Wednesday. The foundation decided to grant about 380 million won ($320,215) in scholarships to 96 foreign students studying in Korea. They are from 38 countries, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Cambodia. The scholarships will be provided without holding any ceremonies to prevent the spread of coro

IndustrySept. 2, 2020

LG to unveil new dual screen smartphone project Explore

LG Electronics said Wednesday the company will hold a virtual show to unveil its new smartphone project dubbed “Explore” involving a whole new form factor on Sept. 14. The company sent a 30-second invitation video to global media and industry officials, hinting at a new dual screen form whose main display rotates clockwise to make a T shape. At the end of the video, LG says, “Life gets better in unexpected ways when you discover the unexpected.” Last week, an excl

TechnologySept. 2, 2020

S. Korea's exports of eco-friendly cars up 23% in H1

South Korea's exports of eco-friendly automobiles rose nearly 23 percent in the first half of 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of eco-friendly cars, including electric vehicles, reached $3.16 billion in the January-June period, taking up 20 percent of the country's total automobile exports, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Over the cited period, however, South Korea's overall exports of cars dipped 27.3 perc

EconomySept. 2, 2020

[Monitor] Corporate hiring dives to 11-year low

The number of new employment planned by companies in South Korea during the second and third quarters this year dropped to the lowest in 11 years, according to the Employment and Labor Ministry. The planned size of hiring is the smallest since the first quarter of 2009, when the figure had dropped to 208,000 due to the global financial crisis. The crunch in the job market has been largely anticipated with the on-going COVID-19 pandemic that has led to delayed school openings, closings of p

IndustrySept. 2, 2020

Banks' credit loans spike in Aug.

South Korean banks' credit loans to individuals shot up by more than 4 trillion won in August from a month earlier, the largest-ever monthly gain, industry data showed Wednesday. Outstanding unsecured loans to individuals by five major lenders -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH Nonghyup -- totaled 124.3 trillion won ($105 billion) last month, up 4.1 trillion won from July. KB Kookmin registered the largest monthly hike of 1.06 trillion won, followed by Shinhan with 1.05 trillion won.

EconomySept. 2, 2020

S. Korea's inflation increases 0.7% in August

SEJONG -- South Korea's consumer prices rose 0.7 percent on-year in August due to a rise in prices of agricultural goods, marking the second consecutive month of increase amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The August tally accelerates from a 0.3 percent on-year gain in July, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. The nation's inflation also climbed 0.6 percent on-month in August, the data showed. Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and petroleum pro

EconomySept. 2, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, taking a cue from overnight gains in US markets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 10.1 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,359.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Seoul shares closed up 1.01 percent Tuesday on investors' bargain hunting and the government's record budget proposal for next year. Wall Street ended higher Tuesday on the back of a tech rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 percent, and the tec

MarketSept. 2, 2020