NPS to begin process to pick new chairman

The state-run National Pension Service said Friday that it will form a committee next week to take charge of recommending a new chief. The post of NPS chairperson has been vacant since Jan. 7, when Kim Sung-ju stepped down to run in the April 15 general elections. The world’s third-largest pension operator, with some $600 billion in assets, is currently headed by acting Chairman Park Jung-bae. It is expected that the committee will pick three to five candidates, and the minister of he

MarketMay 8, 2020

Grocery delivery firm Market Kurly attracts W200b investment

Market Kurly, a fast-growing grocery delivery startup, announced on Friday that it has attracted 200 billion won ($164.3 million) in Series E funding. Led by investment firm DST Global, a group of global investors, including Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Fuse Venture Partners, SK Networks and Translink Capital and Aspex Management participated in the new round of funding. The Series E brings the South Korean startup’s total funding to 420 billion won. The new funding round

MarketMay 8, 2020

Chamisul Fresh’s alcohol content lowered to 16.9%

South Korean liquor maker HiteJinro said Friday it will renew its flagship soju product Chamisul Fresh, lowering the alcoholic content by 0.1 percent to 16.9 percent to match with rival soju brands. Chamisul Fresh is the No. 1 soju brand by sales here. According to the company, the renewed Chamisul Fresh is produced by applying different manufacturing techniques and it will also change part of the package design, to add Environmental Product Declaration mark issued by Korea Environmental Ind

ConsumerMay 8, 2020

S. Korea to tighten expenses to finance COVID-19 countermeasures

South Korea will save more than 300 billion won ($246 million) in 2021-2024 by aborting or merging state-subsidized projects, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday. “We have made a rigorous assessment this year as an effective fiscal operation has become more crucial than ever in order to overcome the fallout of COVID-19,” said Vice Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol in a state subsidy management committee meeting at Seoul Government Complex. Later in the day, Koo was name

EconomyMay 8, 2020

LG Uplus’ operating profit jumps 11.5% in Q1

LG Uplus, the third-largest mobile carrier in South Korea, said Friday it has clocked a 11.5 percent on-year growth in operating profit in the first quarter, despite adverse market conditions due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The telecom affiliate of LG Group posted 3.28 trillion won ($2.69 billion) in revenue and 219.8 billion won operating profit during the January-March period, up 11.9 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Its net profit stood at 148.8

TechnologyMay 8, 2020

Seoul stocks close higher on hopes for eased economic concerns

South Korean stocks closed higher Friday as investor sentiment got a boost from less-than-pessimistic economic indicators from the United States and China, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 17.21 points, or 0.89 percent, to finish at 1,945.82. Trading volume was moderate at 775 million shares worth 7.82 trillion won ($6.4 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 588 to 227. Seoul stocks got off to a solid st

MarketMay 8, 2020

Air carriers ease international flight routes

South Korean air carriers, hit by unprecedented reduction in passenger traffic and suspension of routes over COVID-19, are slowly resuming international operations, according to industry sources Friday. Korean Air plans to open 32 out of 110 international routes from June 1. It will also resume operation of flights to Washington, Seattle, Vancouver and Toronto in 50 days after the routes have been halted since March.  The number of routes to San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta will be als

MobilityMay 8, 2020

‘Korean New Deal’ to attract foreigners to stock market

South Korea’s latest economic stimulus measures -- known as the “Korean New Deal” -- will likely attract foreign investors to the local stock market, local brokerages said Friday. “Offshore investors have been posting a net sell-off in the local stock market since March. However, they have recently begun purchasing stocks in the software sector,” said Ha In-hwan, an analyst at Meritz Securities. By focusing on accelerating the digitalization of the nation’s

MarketMay 8, 2020

Hyundai signs deal for open source software management

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National IT Industry Promotion Agency for strategic development and management for open source software.  Under the MOU, they will support each other to make use of open source softwares in the automotive manufacturing business to increase global competitiveness, as well as to establish a system for supply network of open source software, the carmaker said.  Open source software is based on publicly

MobilityMay 8, 2020

COVID-19 boosts NHN’s Q1 performance

The COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be a boon for online service providers. Korea’s NHN, for one, posted a 59 percent increase in year-on-year net profit in the first quarter on the back of a strong performance by its online payment solution, Payco, and its online games. According to its regulatory filing on Friday, NHN posted revenue of 394.6 billion won ($323 million), up 6.5 percent on-year; operating profit of 28.3 billion won, up 30.2 percent on-year; and net profit of 17.6 billio

IndustryMay 8, 2020

LG Chem says there was no second leak, still investigating cause

LG Chem is still investigating the gas leak in Visakhapatnam, India, that killed at least 11 and sent about 1,000 people to hospitals. “There was no second leak, but we have requested the police to evacuate the local residents in case the temperature within the tanks goes up,” said an LG Chem official, denying media reports suggesting more leaks were happening at the plant and that the number of casualties could grow. “We are currently undertaking necessary measures to cool

IndustryMay 8, 2020

[Monitor] Online shopping jumps 11.8% amid staying home trend

The total volume of online and mobile shopping transactions jumped 11.8 percent in March compared to a year earlier amid the staying home trend, data by Statistics Korea showed. The total online shopping transactions stood at 12.58 trillion won ($10.2 billion), and it accounted for 28.2 percent of the entire retail sales including offline sales. Mobile shopping accounted for 67.3 percent of the total non-face-to-face shopping transactions, recording 8.47 trillion won in March. The figure is

IndustryMay 8, 2020

COVID-19 test kit exports jump 835% in April

Korean exports of novel coronavirus test kits jumped a whopping 835 percent in April from the previous month, as a result of growing global demand, customs data showed Thursday. According to the Korea Customs Service, test kits valued at $201.23 million were exported last month, as compared to $24.1 million worth of shipments a month earlier. Demand for made-in-Korea test kits is growing due to their accuracy and speed. The number of export destinations has increased rapidly, reaching 33 in F

EconomyMay 8, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher tracking Wall Street gains

Seoul stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street boosted by a decrease in the number of jobless claims in the world's top economy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 21.9 points, or 1.14 percent, to 1,950.51 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 0.89 percent on data that 3.16 million Americans had applied for unemployment benefits last week, down 677,000 from a week earlier. The figure, how

MarketMay 8, 2020

Samsung’s compliance watchdog demands more details from heir

Samsung Electronics’ compliance monitoring committee on Thursday demanded heir Lee Jae-yong and group affiliates come up with more details of plans to root out illegal practices. The committee led by former Chief Justice Kim Ji-hyung held a meeting to discuss the televised public apology delivered by Vice Chairman Lee on Wednesday.  In response to the committee’s recommendation in March, Lee made the apology about unlawful actions taken to smooth the power transfer from his

IndustryMay 7, 2020

‘Korean New Deal’ aims to revive economy through digitalization

South Korea is seeking to reshape its economy in the post COVID-19 era by invigorating the convergence of new and old industries and creating more jobs, through its latest economic stimulus measures dubbed the “Korean New Deal,” the government said Thursday. Borrowing the policy concept from the New Deal -- a Great Depression-era set of government projects in the US in the 1930s -- Korea’s Finance Ministry pledged large-scale investments and a systemic overhaul for the packag

EconomyMay 7, 2020

S. Korea’s current account surplus widens in March

South Korea’s current account surplus reached an 11-month high in March, despite falling exports due to the novel coronavirus pandemic as the service account deficit sharply declined, data showed Thursday.  According to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea, the nation’s current account surplus hit a record high of $6.23 billion in March, up $1.19 billion from a year earlier.  The current account refers to the difference between the value of exports and imports. Compos

EconomyMay 7, 2020

S. Korea to pay out W1.5tr subsidy to workers hit by COVID-19

South Korea will provide 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in special subsidies to irregular workers who lost their income or suffered crucial blows amid the COVID-19 quarantines, the finance minister said Thursday. The move came in line with the government’s struggles to sustain the nation’s job market amid an economy that is set to contract this year. “Seeking to enhance the employment safety net for neglected underprivileged workers, (the government) will execute a 1.5 tril

EconomyMay 7, 2020

[News Focus] Will Mercedes-Benz’s emissions penalty alter car market?

After Mercedes-Benz Korea was slapped with the largest-ever fine of 77.6 billion won ($63.4 million) by the Environment Ministry for rigging emissions data on diesel cars, the market paid attention to whether it would alter the imported car market here. The ministry on Wednesday said some 4,400 diesel cars of 14 models sold by Mercedes-Benz Korea, Nissan Korea and Porsche Korea between 2012 and 2018 passed pollution standards by illicitly manipulating software to reduce the amount of nitrogen

MobilityMay 7, 2020

LG Chem unveils vision to leap into science realm

LG Chem announced Thursday its new vision to transform the company from providing materials and solutions to one connecting science to life. The company held a ceremony marking its first vision change in 14 years with LG Chem Vice Chairman Shin Hak-cheol presiding in the presence of some 20 staff and executives from each department. “So far, LG Chem has turned dreams into reality with the science around us and has accumulated, making unbreakable lids for cosmetic products and the wor

IndustryMay 7, 2020