Tmon collects W29.1m donations to support rare skin disease patient

Tmon, an e-commerce platform here, said Monday it would deliver 29.1 million won ($23,625) raised from donations to a teenager suffering from a rare skin disease. To mark this year’s Children’s Day – on May 5 -- Tmon said it partnered with Miral Welfare Foundation, a local nongovernmental organization, to start a social donation campaign on its platform for a teenage patient named Park Jun-seo. The 15-year-old patient has been suffering from an unidentified skin disease, in w

ConsumerMay 18, 2020

SK E&C wins $7.5m deal to construct PDH plant in Saudi Arabia

SK Engineering and Construction said Monday it has won a construction deal worth $7.55 million for a mega-sized Propane Dehydrogenation plant in Saudi Arabia. According to the South Korean construction company, the project is ordered by the joint venture of its energy arm SK gas and Saudi Arabian Advanced Global Investment Company. SK E&C will be in charge of Front End Engineering Design for the PDH plant and utility and off-site facilities, the company said. PDH is a process to produce

IndustryMay 18, 2020

Posco expands support for young adults leaving child shelter

Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker said Monday it will expand support for young adults who leave child shelters when they turn 18, to stand on their own feet. Posco’s charity group Posco 1% Foundation has been running “Do Dream” program since 2018, which provides financial aid to the young adults to assist them to build a foundation for self-support. In the past two years, the company said 40 people have benefited from the program. Starting from this year, Posco

IndustryMay 18, 2020

Warren Buffett’s stock unload dampens outlook for S. Korean banks

South Korea’s major financial groups and their flagship lenders are projected to exhibit weaker performances this year, analysts said Monday, as they were rattled by Warren Buffett’s recent offloading of big bank stocks coupled with new circumstances under the COVID-19 crisis. Following reports of the Berkshire Hathaway CEO’s unloading of airlines and big bank stocks such as Goldman Sachs and US Bancorp last week, share prices of four major banking groups here -- Shinhan, KB

MarketMay 18, 2020

Gold prices hit record high on escalating US-China tension

Gold prices rose to a record high on Monday as investors sought to park their money in safer destinations amid the COVID-19 pandemic and renewed tensions between the US and China, data showed. According to the Korea Exchange Gold Market, the price stood at 69,840 won ($56.66) per gram at Monday’s close, jumping 1,190 won, or 1.73 percent, from the previous session’s close. The price had surged to 70,000 won the same day, the highest since April 27, when the figure reached 68,890 w

MarketMay 18, 2020

Banking groups add momentum to digital financing amid coronavirus fallout

Reacting to the untact market trend triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak, South Korea’s financial groups are scrambling to gain an upper hand in digital financing. Untact, or non-face-to-face, has become a new standard in the local financial industry as consumers are increasingly turning to contactless financial services via smartphones amid fears of the ongoing COVID-19 or other plausible contagious diseases in the future. While the number of visitors to local bank branches decreased by

MarketMay 18, 2020

Seoul stocks close higher on hopes of global stimulus

South Korean stocks closed higher Monday on hopes of global stimulus measures and rising oil prices. The local currency fell against the US dollar amid a renewed trade dispute between the United States and China. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 9.83 points, or 0.51 percent, to close at 1,937.11. Trading volume was moderate at about 752.7 million shares worth some 9.24 trillion won ($7.49 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 424 to 423. The index got off t

MarketMay 18, 2020

S. Korea to provide $53m to Latin America in coronavirus-related ODA

South Korea will deliver a combined $53 million to Central and South American countries to help them deal with COVID-19, as part of efforts to promote the country’s esteemed quarantine model globally, officials said Monday. The Ministry of Economy and Finance has decided to deliver $50 million to Paraguay in the form of joint financing between the Inter-American Development Bank and the Economic Development Cooperation Fund. Established in 1959, the IDB is the largest source of develo

EconomyMay 18, 2020

Conglomerates foster growth of internal startup units

South Korean conglomerates are increasing their support for startups created and spun off by their own employees, the companies said Monday. The move is part of an effort to strengthen the country’s startup ecosystem by encouraging creative business ideas and technological innovation, they said. Samsung Electronics said it had selected five outstanding projects pitched by its employees this year, with the goal of spinning them out as independent units. The tech titan’s in-house

TechnologyMay 18, 2020

NH Investment joins consortium to acquire stake in UAE’s natural gas pipeline

NH Investment & Securities, the brokerage unit of South Korea’s NongHyup Financial Group, has joined a consortium to acquire a stake in the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s natural gas pipelines, according to investment banking sources Monday. It is part of the $8 billion project financing from the oil firm, composed of the American private equity fund firm Canadian Brookfield Asset Management, Italian infrastructure operator Snam, Ontari

MarketMay 18, 2020

[Photo News] Frigate departs with masks

FRIGATE DEPARTS WITH MASKS -- The Philippine Navy’s latest 2,600-ton frigate, the Jose Rizal, recently built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, set sail for the Philippines on Monday carrying masks and other quarantine supplies. Hyundai Heavy shipped 20,000 masks, 180 bottles of disinfectant, 2,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and 300 packs of sanitizing wipes to the Philippines out of gratitude for its participation in the Korean War.

MobilityMay 18, 2020

KCCI wins 2020 Van Fleet Award

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry was selected as the winner of the 2020 James A. Van Fleet Award in recognition of its contribution to strengthening Korea-US relations, the KCCI said Monday. It is the first time that a business organization has received the award. The Van Fleet Award is an award given by the Korea Society, a Korea-US nonprofit foundation for friendship, to individuals or organizations that have worked to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two cou

IndustryMay 18, 2020

GC Pharma will give COVID-19 plasma treatment away for free

GC Pharma said Monday that it would give out its blood plasma-derived COVID-19 treatment for free to domestic patients. The company’s pipeline, GC5131A, is currently under development and mass distribution is due in the second half of 2020. Huh Eun-chul, the CEO of GC Pharma, wrote to shareholders requesting their understanding over the company’s decision to put long-term health care stability over short-term profit. Many firms have previously offered potential COVID-19 treatmen

IndustryMay 18, 2020

Genexine consortium develops COVID-19 vaccine for human testing

Korean biotech firm Genexine’s COVID-19 deoxyribonucleic acid vaccine pipeline GX-19 is ready for clinical testing, as soon as it applies to the Drug Ministry for human testing. Binex, which is part of the consortium that developed the drug, said Monday that it has completed manufacturing the supply enough for a clinical phase 1 trials of the drug. GX-19 is a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed based on Genexine’s DNA vaccine know-how. It is being collectively pursued by a consor

IndustryMay 18, 2020

SsangYong Motors’ business survival doubtful: auditor

SsangYong Motors, one of South Korea’s five major automakers, has been refused by its financial auditor to deliver an opinion on its ability to survive, after posting swelling losses for the 13th consecutive quarter last week. But an official from the carmaker told The Korea Herald that it does not plan to appeal the decision, given that it was based on its latest quarterly report, not an annual report, and does not require appealing to prevent delisting. According to the automaker&rsqu

MobilityMay 18, 2020

BMW 5 and 6 series’ new models to be unveiled in Korea

BMW Korea said Monday that its new models of 5 and 6 series sedans will be unveiled at the world premiere taking place in South Korea on May 27, the first time an imported carmaker here is hosting the world premiere here. The carmaker said, it will also be the first time for a foreign automaker to reveal the new model series -- not just a specific trim of the new models -- in the country, apart showcasing two world premiere models at once. BMW Korea said it has decided to hold the world premi

MobilityMay 18, 2020

Samsung heir 1st foreign biz tycoon to visit China after COVID-19 outbreak

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday paid a visit to the company’s memory chip plant in Xian, China -- the first foreign business mogul to enter the country after the coronavirus outbreak. The South Korean tech giant’s heir apparent checked on the memory business in China during the visit accompanied by Memory Business President Jin Gyo-young and Samsung’s China operations chief Hwang Deuk-kyu. “There will be no future if we are caught in the past

TechnologyMay 18, 2020

Gates Foundation gives $3.6m to SK Bioscience’s COVID-19 research

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is doling out a series of funding for epidemic countermeasure research in Korea. SK Bioscience, a vaccine researcher and developer firm, said Monday that it has nabbed $3.6 million financial backing from the US foundation for to research the biologic structure of an optimal antigen for epidemics. This comes a day after the announcement of some $9.7 million funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Korean telecom company KT’s research fo

IndustryMay 18, 2020

Offline applications begin for virus relief fund

The application process for the government's emergency fund to ease economic pain from the novel coronavirus became available offline Monday morning. Applicants can now visit community service centers or banks to apply for the money regardless of the forms of the state aid, be it credit or debit card points, regional gift certificates or prepaid cards. For the last week, only online applications were allowed. Those who apply for the last two forms of the payment can get them immediately on-si

EconomyMay 18, 2020

White chicken meat enjoys heyday on wellness boom in Korea

There is no doubt that chicken is one of the most-favored meats around the world, but the favorite parts of the meat may vary across cultures. In South Korea, white chicken breast is often less in demand the softer and juicier dark meat of thighs and wings. But in recent years, chicken breast has been experiencing a heyday here, as more people are looking for a healthier protein choice with less fat. Along with increased attention on wellness, the growing dumbbell economy here has also shed

ConsumerMay 18, 2020