S. Korea, Singapore begin talks on digital trade deal

South Korea and Singapore on Monday kicked off negotiations toward a digital trade deal, Seoul's trade ministry said. South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and her Singaporean counterpart, Chan Chun Sing, announced the start of negotiations during their videoconference earlier in the day, the ministry said. A digital trade deal includes provisions for non-discriminatory treatment for electronic transactions, easing of barriers on cross-border data flow and consumer protection. If Sout

EconomyJune 22, 2020

Hyundai Rotem bags W119.2b train order for GTX Line A

Hyundai Rotem, a locomotive and rolling stock unit of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group, said Monday it has won an order worth 119.2 billion won ($98.2 million) from the Korea Rail Network Authority to deliver 40 train cars for Great Train Express Line A. GTX Line A is one of the three high-speed train lines designed to shorten the time for commuting from the outskirts of the capital area to central Seoul. With the deal, Hyundai Rotem will be supplying all 160 train cars for the servic

IndustryJune 22, 2020

Kakao to introduce new AI speaker

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger, is expected to roll out a new artificial intelligence-based speaker brand in the second half of this year, according to industry sources Monday. The company’s AI subsidiary Kakao Enterprise has trademarked a new product called Mini Hexa. However, further details have not yet been revealed. It is reportedly reviewing details, including when it would officially showcase the voice-enabled speaker. The new model is likely t

IndustryJune 22, 2020

[Banks of Future] With online banks rising, financial giants gear up for digital transformation

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on domestic banks this year, with lower interest rate margins and enhanced loan regulations. The key challenge, however, is not the tangible loss so far, but rather the forthcoming competition in the digital arena -- where conventional financial firms find themselves overrun by big tech rivals. Racing against the clock, the conventional financial industry is now scrambling to grab the digital initiative, in line with the ongoing deregulatory

MarketJune 22, 2020

China’s surging market an opportunity for Korean exporters: report

South Korean exporters are likely to benefit from rising opportunities in China due to diverse government policies this year, a report suggested Monday. According to the report on China’s six major policy directions and implications released by the Korea International Trade Association’s Institute for International Trade, China’s economic growth rate in the first quarter was minus 6.8 percent, down 12.8 percent from the previous quarter. To revive the economy, the Chinese go

IndustryJune 22, 2020

Seoul stocks fall on concerns over virus resurgence

South Korean shares closed lower Monday amid fears of a second wave of new coronavirus cases at home and abroad, reducing investors' appetite for risks. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 14.59 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 2,126.73. Trading volume was moderate at about 779 million shares worth some 9.9 trillion won ($8.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 610 to 252. Foreigners sold a net 251 billion won, whi

MarketJune 22, 2020

Swedish pension fund blacklists Korean firm for alleged human rights abuses in Peru

Swedish public pension fund AP7 has added SK Holdings, a South Korean company at the apex of SK conglomerate’s governance structure, to its blacklist of companies to be excluded from its investment universe, its recent report showed Monday. SK Holdings was one of three firms added in the latest move, along with Canadian cannabinoid firm Cronos Group and Egyptian electrical company Elsewedy Electric, according to the blacklist updated as of June 15. According to the report by the institu

MarketJune 22, 2020

Korea to allow conglomerates to own startup VCs

South Korea is working on relaxing financial regulations to boost the startup ecosystem by allowing conglomerates to own venture capital firms, according to news reports Monday. The government is also preparing measures to prevent any adverse effects that could arise if deep-pocketed businesses were to own such investment firms. A working group that will be formed by different ministries and government agencies, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Fair Trade Commission and th

MarketJune 22, 2020

[Herald Interview] Spinning cord blood into stem cell therapies

　Cord blood-originated stem cell therapeutics firm Medipost’s CEO Yang Yoon-sun recounts 20 years of her entrepreneurship as being dotted with incessant challenges. 　Her journey as a professor of pathology at Samsung Medical Center to head of a cord blood stem cell research company at the age of 37 came with prejudices, challenges and pitfalls, but also with encouragement, conviction and immense potential. 　Cord blood is that inside the umbilical cord that connects the baby and mother

IndustryJune 22, 2020

Hyundai Motor, LG Group chiefs discuss future battery biz

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo met Monday and discussed further partnerships over future battery business, the firms said. Chung visited LG Chem’s EV battery production site located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province on Monday morning. It was the first official meeting between the two tycoons. Chung was accompanied by Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D President Albert Biermann, President Seo Bo-shin, who is in charge of

MobilityJune 22, 2020

SK Biopharm likely to join Kospi 200 in September: analysts

South Korean drug developer SK Biopharmaceuticals is likely to get an early admission to join the Kospi 200 -- a basket of top 200 blue-chip stocks of the nation’s benchmark index Kospi -- possibly only two months after its planned market debut in July, according to local analysts Monday. If a newly listed stock’s market cap reaches the top 50 in the market, the firm’s stock is qualified to join the league of 200 blue-chip stocks even before the bourse operator announces regu

MarketJune 22, 2020

Illegal meat imports down amid stepped-up screening

South Korea's drug safety agency said Monday that illegal meat imports have fallen off sharply since October last year on the back of stepped-up screening efforts to stem the inflow of African swine fever (ASF). The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it has inspected a total of 1,417 offline food import businesses in the country since October 2019 and found no breaches of the law over meat imports. Prior to the inspections, there were a total of 43 violations between August 2018 and Septem

EconomyJune 22, 2020

KT unveils Wi-Fi service for wide coverage at home amid pandemic

KT Corp., South Korea's telecommunications giant, on Monday released a new Wi-Fi service that reaches the corners of homes as telework has increased during the pandemic. The new service, named the GiGA Wi, incorporates two Wi-Fi routers. An extra wireless router allows the Wi-Fi signal to reach remote corners of homes where the main router cannot cover, while sharing a single Wi-Fi network name, according to KT. The carrier said it developed the new service due to increasing demand for better

TechnologyJune 22, 2020

Chong Kun Dang’s bispecific antibody effective in TKI-resistant animal models

South Korea’s Chong Kun Dang presented its latest study results of the bispecific antibody pipeline CKD-702 that simultaneously inhibits c-Met and epidermal growth factor (EGFR) in animals who have grown resistant to existing tyrosine kinase inhibitors, at the online American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2020 that kicked off Monday. The CKD-702, currently being developed to treat non-small cell lung cancer in Korea, was tested on animals in single administrations to test

IndustryJune 22, 2020

Questions grow about Jeju Air's bid to take over Eastar Jet

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's leading low-cost carrier, has been at odds with Eastar Jet Co. over Eastar's demand for the shouldering of some of its overdue wage payments, industry officials said Monday, a move that could act as a possible deal breaker. The dispute comes seven days before the two sides are scheduled to close their deal. In March, Jeju Air signed a deal to acquire a controlling 51.17 percent stake in Eastar Jet from its parent Eastar Holdings Inc. for 54.5 billion won ($45 milli

MobilityJune 22, 2020

Firms' debt dependency surges in Q1 amid coronavirus-triggered slump

South Korean businesses struggled to stay afloat amid new coronavirus-caused slump in the first quarter, either by borrowing more money or selling their assets to secure much-needed liquidity, a report showed Monday. According to the report from the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), the outstanding debt owed by 623 listed firms here came to 386.7 trillion won ($318.6 billion) as of end-March, up 20 trillion won from three months earlier. The report is based on the analysis of financia

EconomyJune 22, 2020

[Monitor] Mobile shopping in Korea reaches all-time high

According to Digieco, an economic research institute affiliated with KT, the size of mobile shopping in South Korea in the first quarter this year reached an all-time high at nearly 25 trillion won. The report was based on DMC Media’s data. Online transactions for food delivery services, in particular, showed a large growth reaching 3.5 trillion won as of the first quarter, compared to around 500 billion won in the first quarter of 2017. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

TechnologyJune 22, 2020

Seoul stocks open lower on increasing COVID-19 cases

South Korean shares opened lower Monday amid fears of a resurgence in the new coronavirus at home and abroad. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 11.6 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,129.72 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The drop was mainly attributed to worsening investor sentiments, prompted by a steep rise in the number of new COVID-19 infections over the weekend. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported Sunday (Geneva time) that there were 183,020 new in

MarketJune 22, 2020

Korea's exports dip 7.5% in first 20 days of June

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports fell 7.5 percent on year in the first 20 days of June amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $25 billion in the June 1-20 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 20-day period also slipped 16.2 percent on-year. The data came amid growing concerns that the coronavirus pandemic is denting exports by South Korea's economy. The

EconomyJune 22, 2020

SK launches all-in-one car management platform Muffin

SK Energy said Sunday it has launched an integrated car management app called Muffin that offers services including non-face-to-face refueling, car wash, valet parking, insurance and maintenance on a single platform. According to the subsidiary of SK Innovation, the app will be available at some 200 gas stations directly to begin with and will be expanded to all franchise locations in the country by the year-end. “With Muffin, drivers can just type in their license plate numbers at ga

IndustryJune 21, 2020