Pengsoo creates hit for retailers

Pengsoo, a popular costumed penguin character from educational television network EBS, is sweeping the local retail market, with sales rocketing. GS25, a convenience store chain here, said Thursday its collaboration products with Pengsoo is hitting record sales. GS25 rolled out four Pengsoo-themed fresh food items, including tuna sandwich and gimbab (seaweed rice-roll), two umbrellas and four socks on March 27. Over 200,000 orders were made from its convenience stores on the first day of la

ConsumerApril 2, 2020

Pulmuone rolls out sliced kimchi packs for small households

Pulmuone, a fresh food company, said Thursday it has launched two portion packs of Pulmuone Sliced Kimchi for small households, reflecting the increasing number of single and two-person households. The pack comes in two sizes -- 400 and 600 grams. While kimchi products are usually composed of 3 to 10 kilogram packs, Pulmuone said its small portion kimchi will fit the needs of small households. According to Statistics Korea, single and two-person households accounted for 57 percent of the pop

ConsumerApril 2, 2020

NH brokerage unit tops list of average salary

NH Investment and Securities, a local brokerage firm under NH Financial Group, last year paid 123 million won ($99,600) in annual salary on average, higher than any company with assets over 10 trillion won, industry data showed Thursday.  According to Infobigs, a local industry tracker, an employee at NH Investment and Securities received a paycheck higher than the average figure of Samsung Electronics’ employees, which stood at 108 million won.   The average annual salary of

MarketApril 2, 2020

Korean stocks up over 2%, won edges up

South Korean stocks spiked by more than 2 percent Thursday, helped by stimulus measures and a rise in oil prices. The local currency slightly rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased 39.40 points, or 2.34 percent, to close at 1,724.86. Trading volume was moderate at 752 million shares worth some 9.5 trillion won ($7.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 708 to 154. The sharp increase came one day after the index plunged over 4 perce

MarketApril 2, 2020

FTC to give benefits to firms supporting coronavirus-hit suppliers

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Thursday it planned to give benefits to companies that support small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the coronavirus. Since early February, conglomerates have offered support for their suppliers facing disruptions in production and supply. Korean SMEs, which rely mostly on manufacturing and exports, are directly hit by production setbacks and drops in demand caused by the coronavirus. In a recent survey of 407 companies by the Korea Federa

IndustryApril 2, 2020

Tmon pushes the envelope, plans IPO

  South Korea’s Tmon announced Thursday that it posted its first monthly operating profit in 10 years, and plans to get listed next year. The firm recorded 160 million won ($130,000) operating profit last month, becoming the first local e-commerce platform operator to be in the black. The improvement in revenue began to materialize since the fourth quarter of last year, and will hopefully continue, a company official said. Tmon this year has seen a 44 percent increase in the numb

IndustryApril 2, 2020

[Management in Korea] Why all shareholders matter (2)

Management in Korea is a regular column written by the members of Egon Zehnder Seoul, touching on various aspects of Korean enterprises and business leaders and offering management tips. -- Ed. By Eugene Kim and Olivia de Patoul In the first article published in March, we discussed how governance in South Korea has become marginalized, the factors that played into creating an environment where shareholders are often ignored, and how preventive steps investors can take to ensure board members u

IndustryApril 2, 2020

Asiana takeover 'on track' despite virus woes

HDC Hyundai Development Co., a midsized South Korean builder, said Thursday it is "on track" to acquire Asiana Airlines Inc. despite a growing coronavirus impact on the airline industry. On Thursday, HDC Hyundai Development reiterated its plan to complete the overall process to acquire Asiana Airlines by the end of this month, dismissing speculation that it may have difficulties in taking over the company due to fallout from COVID-19. "There is no change in our acquisition pl

EconomyApril 2, 2020

Seoul stocks open lower on deepening virus woes

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 4.18 points, or 0.25 percent, to 1,681.28 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The weak start follows another market crash in New York, apparently caused by fears of the new coronavirus outbreak bringing the US economy to a halt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 973.65 points, or 4.44 percent, to close at 20,943.51 on Wednesday (

MarketApril 2, 2020

Two more Samsung workers contract coronavirus after overseas business trips

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday two more employees have contracted the novel coronavirus following overseas business trips. The company said two employees who work at its factory in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, tested positive for COVID-19 after they went to Brazil. The two, who work for its mobile business unit, departed for Brazil together in early February and arrived back in South Korea on Monday. Samsung said there will be no shutdown of its plants, since the two had been u

IndustryApril 1, 2020

Listed firms' net profits more than halve in 2019: data

The net profits of South Korean firms listed on the country's main stock exchange more than halved last year, the bourse operator said Wednesday. The combined net profit of 583 Kospi-listed companies, excluding financial firms, came to 52.42 trillion won ($42.5 billion) in 2019 on a consolidated basis, down 52.82 percent from a year ago, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX). The combined annual sales rose 0.47 percent on-year to stand at 2,006.45 trillion won in 2019, but operating profits p

MarketApril 1, 2020

S. Korean sees record-low air passenger number in March amid coronavirus pandemic

South Korea saw a record-low number of air passengers last month due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday, as countries around the globe impose lockdowns and restrict travel. The number of air passengers stood at 1.74 million in March, according to data from the Korea Civil Aviation Association (KCA). This is the first time that the figure has fallen below 2 million since the country started to record such statistics from 1997. "The figure is based on real-time sta

IndustryApril 1, 2020

WeMade wins IP suit against Chinese game company

South Korean game developer WeMade said Wednesday it has won a lawsuit against a Chinese game company for violating a license contract and dodging royalties. According to WeMade, the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration on March 27 ordered Hangzhou Jiuling Network Technology to pay WeMade 85.2 billion won ($69.1 million) for violating the intellectual property license agreement it had signed with the Korean company. In September 2017, Jiuling -- a subs

IndustryApril 1, 2020

S. Korea cuts rental fees for virus-hit airport business operators

South Korea will further cut rental fees for businesses operating at airports and duty-free shops, as part of continued efforts to support industries amid the fallout of COVID-19. It also vowed to soon finalize detailed guidelines concerning the emergency disaster relief fund, aiming to pay out the cash to distressed households by May. “The rental fee reduction rate for small businesses and owner-operators at airports will be raised to 50 percent from 25 percent,” said Deputy P

EconomyApril 1, 2020

Posco Chemical inks EV battery material deal with Huayou Cobalt

Posco Chemical said Wednesday it has signed a long-term supply deal with China’s Huayou Cobalt for cathode materials, a key material for electric vehicle batteries. According to the company, Huayou Cobalt -- the world’s biggest cobalt supplier -- will supply 76,300 metric tons of precursors until December 2022. The exact size of the deal is unknown. Precursor is an immediate product used in producing cathode materials, and cathode is a one of the four key components of a lithium

IndustryApril 1, 2020

[Market Close-up] Doosan Heavy looks to sell affiliates

Debt-saddled Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction was once considered South Korea’s leading power equipment maker for coal fire, nuclear and gas energy. But over the past few years, it has been losing investors’ interest, as it won fewer bids amid the global attempt to shift reliance on fossil fuel and nuclear energy, leaving its businesses dependent on debt to continue its faltering operations. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Doosan Heavy is facing a liquidity cris

MarketApril 1, 2020

High-end restaurants opt for drive-thru service

With social distancing becoming daily routine for people here in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, fancy restaurants are turning to drive-thru services, according to industry sources Tuesday. Samwon Garden, a decades-old local Korean food restaurant established in 1976, said it started a “driving pickup” service from Friday, in which customers can pick up meals ordered in advance from their cars. The restaurant offers discounts for all customers, selling short ribs menu items at

ConsumerApril 1, 2020

[Monitor] Korean EV batteries capture 40% global market share

According to market tracker SNE Research on Tuesday, the global market share of Korea’s three major EV battery manufacturers -- LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation -- doubled to 42 percent in February up 20.9 percent on-year, surpassing the 40 percent mark for the first time. In the same period, the global market share of Chinese EV batteries shrank from 32.8 percent to 11.1 percent, while that of Japanese firms surged to 45.8 percent from 33.2 percent. Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldco

IndustryApril 1, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘With fried chicken, water beats beer’

No one can deny that water is essential for life, but until recently, it has typically been considered indistinctive -- without color, taste or smell. But as water sommelier Ko Jae-youn explains, the common idea that water is tasteless is wrong. Aside from its beneficial mineral content, water also has enough taste to be paired with food, like wine is, he said. “Try light carbonated water with fried chicken, just as a quick way to find out how water can be paired with food. It will ta

IndustryApril 1, 2020

[Photo News] Ediya opens Dream Factory

Ediya Coffee Chairman Moon Chang-ki (far right) turns on a roasting machine at Ediya Dream Factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday. The factory that spans 12,982 square meters, with 40 billion won investment, is equipped with new coffee roasting technologies.  Ediya, which has 3,000 franchisees nationwide, said with the opening of the roasting factory and a logistics facility, it has automated all four processes of selecting, roasting and packaging coffee products. (herim@he

ConsumerApril 1, 2020