SK to develop next-gen battery with Nobel Prize winner

SK Innovation said Thursday it has partnered with professor John B. Goodenough, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year, to develop a next-generation battery. The South Korean battery maker and the 98-year-old professor at the University of Texas at Austin will co-develop all-solid lithium-metal batteries, which are potentially more powerful and safer than current lithium-ion batteries. “I hope to open a new era of a next-generation battery with SK Innovation,” t

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

Seoul stocks hit 6-month high on tech firms, automakers

South Korean shares closed at the highest point in six months Thursday on the back of foreign buying that centered on major tech firms and automakers. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 3.85 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 2,267.01, extending a winning streak to a fourth session after touching this year's high of 2,281.33 points. The closing marks the highest level since 2,267.25 on Jan. 22. Trading volume was high at

MarketJuly 30, 2020

VCs mull exit plans as market recovers from pandemic impact

South Korea’s venture capital houses are actively seeking exit plans from their startup investments as promising firms are gearing up for initial public offerings following the stock market recovery, according to market watchers Thursday. One of the VCs that already did so was Company K Partners, which cashed out part of its investment in Wipam, the nation’s only power amplifier module manufacturer for smartphones, through a July IPO before making its market debut Friday. The value

MarketJuly 30, 2020

Korea allows large firms to hold venture capital units

South Korea will allow holding companies of conglomerates to run corporate venture capital units in order to boost investment in startups and invigorate the economy, officials said Thursday. The government said it will also prepare tools to quell concerns of side effects, such as the excessive influence of conglomerates in the financial sector. “We will allow general holding companies to own affiliates for corporate VCs,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

Naver posts all-time high sales in Q2

South Korea’s top internet firm Naver announced Thursday that its sales in the second quarter reached an all-time high of 1.9 trillion won ($1.6 billion), up 16.7 percent on-year. The company’s operating profit increased by 79.7 percent to 230 billion won, while net profit increased twofold logging 90 billion won. Naver said online shopping transactions helped revenue to grow by 8.6 percent to 772.2 billion won. The number of small vendors on Naver Smart Store marked a monthly

TechnologyJuly 30, 2020

Mastern cheers health care workers

Mastern Investment Management said Thursday it has sent a message of support from its staff to health care professionals, health authorities and citizens in the battle against the novel coronavirus. Employees of the South Korean real estate investment house, including CEO Kim Dae-hyeong, took part in a campaign at its headquarters to express gratitude to those at the forefront of the strenuous battle. “I was delighted to participate in such a meaningful campaign and contribute to overco

MarketJuly 30, 2020

Celltrion’s COVID-19 therapy to begin phase 1 trial in UK

Celltrion’s COVID-19 antibody therapy candidate CT-P59 was given the approval to carry out clinical phase 1 trial in the UK, the company said Thursday. A clinical phase 1 trial is conducted on a small group of relatively healthy people, to test the drug candidate’s preliminary indications in human body, including its effectiveness, toxicity and any possible side effects. Celltrion said it is now recruiting eligible people for the trial. After this trial will follow Clinical pha

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

FSC to tighten regulation on ELS issuance

In an effort to lower consumer risks caused by the overheated equity-linked securities market, South Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday it will impose tighter regulations on leverage ratio of brokerages, which would lead to a decline in overall issuance here. ELS refers to hybrid debt instruments structured to track the performance of underlying equities, including the Kospi 200 Index. Total ELS issuances here surpassed 100 trillion won ($83.7 billion) as of this year, attracting

MarketJuly 30, 2020

LabGenomics to supply advanced COVID-19 test kits to India

South Korea’s LabGenomics, which focuses on molecular diagnostics, said Thursday it has bagged a deal to supply advanced COVID-19 test kits to Siemens Healthineers in India. According to the company, it has signed a 5.8 billion won ($4.8 million) contract with the Indian medical technology firm to supply real-time polymerase chain reaction test kits for COVID-19 that can detect SARS CoV-2 virus infection in 35 minutes. This deal is worth 17.5 percent of LabGenomics’ yearly revenue

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

S. Korea holds hearing on potential FTA with Uzbekistan

South Korea said Thursday it will hold a public hearing on the envisioned free trade pact with Uzbekistan, as the country aims to boost exports in the face of the new coronavirus pandemic. The meeting will be held Friday by inviting representatives from business, energy and agricultural groups, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea and Uzbekistan have already completed a feasibility study on the proposed free trade agreement. Earlier this month, Finance Minist

EconomyJuly 30, 2020

[Monitor] Older generation wishes to work longer: survey

Two out of three workers aged between 55 and 79 in South Korea said they wish to continue working, according to a survey conducted by Statistics Korea earlier this week. The survey as of May this year showed that the respondents wished to work until 73 on average, although the job market for the age group has deteriorated since the 2008 financial crisis. Of the respondents, 47.1 percent received pension in the past year. Among the 14,271,000 people in the age group, 55.3 percent had jobs. It

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on tech gains, weak dollar

South Korean shares opened higher Thursday, led by the estimate-beating earnings of top-cap Samsung Electronics and the weak US dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.05 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,277.21 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Samsung Electronics' better-than-expected quarterly earnings led the KOSPI's gain. The world's largest memory chipmaker's operating profit in April-June grew 23.5 percent on-year, beating the market consen

MarketJuly 30, 2020

S. Korea, US extend $60b currency swap deal by 6 months amid pandemic

South Korea and the United States have agreed to extend a $60 billion bilateral currency swap agreement by six months in an effort to help ease lingering market uncertainties amid the new coronavirus outbreak, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday. In late March, the BOK and the US Federal Reserve signed the bilateral currency swap facility to help ease financial market jitters caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The swap agreement, initially set to end on Sept. 30, will be extended until March 3

EconomyJuly 30, 2020

Samsung soars on pandemic-boosted demand for chips

Sustained by the sturdy demand for chips during the pandemic, Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported a consolidated second-quarter operating profit of 8.15 trillion won ($6.8 billion), up 23.5 percent on-year, while revenue slipped 6 percent to 52.97 trillion won. 　In its second quarter report, Samsung cited lackluster demand for smartphones and other devices for the slight revenue fall, and credited strong demand for memory chips, seasonal home appliance sales and a one-off gain of display b

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

WTO establishes panel for Korea’s complaint over Japan’s trade restrictions

The World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body has decided to set up a panel to look into South Korea’s complaint over Japan’s trade restrictions, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday. The DSB makes decisions on trade disputes between governments that are adjudicated by the WTO. Panels are limited to making recommendations. Members of the multilateral trade agency have agreed to set up a panel following South Korea’s request last month.

IndustryJuly 29, 2020

KAIDA chairman suspended on sexual harassment allegations

Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association on Wednesday suspended its Chairman Pablo Rosso after he was accused of sexual harassment and assault. Earlier on Friday, the president of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Korea was suspended from his company after the allegations were brought up on the presidential petition site on July 22. The association, which represents importers and distributors of automobiles, said it held an emergency board meeting Tuesday to vote on suspending Rosso,

MobilityJuly 29, 2020

Woori, KT join hands to upgrade ‘untact’ financial services

Woori Financial Group said Wednesday that it plans to collaborate with telecom giant KT to upgrade its contactless retail services. The partnership followed an agreement signed last month by Woori Financial Group CEO Sohn Tae-seung and KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo, who pledged to strategically deal with market changes triggered by COVID-19. The companies will develop artificial intelligence-powered chatbots for untact -- non-face-to-face contact -- services. With the advanced customer service technol

MarketJuly 29, 2020

Seoul’s old, small-sized apartment prices spike amid market bubble

Notwithstanding the Moon Jae-in administration’s efforts to cool down the real estate market, ordinary homeseekers are feeling overwhelmed by escalating prices in Seoul, industry data showed Wednesday. The consumer sentiment for housing prices this month hit the second-highest level, prolonging an uptrend for two months straight. According to the monthly housing price trend report compiled by KB Kookmin Bank, the average price of small-sized apartments in Seoul came to 413.8 million wo

MarketJuly 29, 2020

[Photo News] Super 'Lego' Mario

Children hold up Lego figures of Super Mario at Lego Korea’s promotional event held at Four Seasons Hotel in Jung-gu, central Seoul, Wednesday.  Users can connect the Super Mario figures to an app via Bluetooth and play a game with them. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

IndustryJuly 29, 2020

LG Chem launches digital transformation center with SNU

LG Chem said Wednesday it has partnered with Seoul National University to accelerate digital transformation by applying artificial intelligence in real life. According to the Korean chemical company, it established an industrial-academic cooperation center for digital transformation with SNU on Wednesday to adopt state-of-the-art technologies including AI, deep learning and data mining into key areas such as production, quality management, marketing and research and development. “LG Ch

IndustryJuly 29, 2020