Hana Bank picks actor Kim Soo-hyun as new model

Hana Bank said Wednesday that it has selected Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun as its new model for TV commercials. “Kim Soo-hyun embodies the bank’s global image,” said an official. “His strong public impression will boost our public relations move for overseas branches in Southeast Asian countries.” Kim previously modeled for Hana Financial Group in 2014. He will star in the bank’s new TV commercial for Hana 1Q Bank, a mobile banking application.  The b

MarketApril 1, 2020

Korea urges G20 for more currency swap deals

South Korea’s top fiscal chief proposed more currency swap deals at a key G-20 meeting to help tackle the impending global economic recession, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki’s remarks were made during a virtual meeting of the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors on Tuesday. According to the ministry, Hong also stressed the need for reforms of the International Monetary Fund framework to

EconomyApril 1, 2020

Hyundai Capital’s global assets surpass W50tr

Hyundai Capital said Wednesday that assets of its global offices surpassed 50 trillion won ($40.9 billion) in value for the first time since it launched its first overseas branch in the US in 1989. The Seoul-headquartered auto financier said its global branches owned 50.8 trillion won of financial assets last year, double that of the domestic market. Hyundai Capital’s global branches also posted a record pretax income of 766.3 billion won. “The company’s standardized busin

MarketApril 1, 2020

Korean stocks dip 4% on extended foreign selling, won sharply drops

South Korean stocks sank 4 percent Wednesday as foreign investors continued to sell local shares on fears of the economic fallout from the new coronavirus outbreak. The local currency dropped sharply against the US greenback. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 69.18 points, or 3.94 percent, to close at 1,685.46. Trading volume was high at 123 million shares worth some 11.9 trillion won ($9.67 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 574 t

MarketApril 1, 2020

Korea’s exports hold up despite virus, for now

South Korea’s exports in March managed to stabilize, although the fall in export prices and lowering overall sentiment portend a drop amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Trade Ministry on Wednesday. The nation’s exports reached $46.9 billion, down 0.2 percent from a year ago. Export prices went down by 11.7 percent on-year, while the amount of outbound shipments went up by 13.1 percent, the largest leap in the last 17 months. Export prices of oil products, for i

IndustryApril 1, 2020

Binggrae takes over Haitai Icecream

Korean food and beverage giant Binggrae said Wednesday it has acquired Haitai Icecream, a subsidiary of Haitai Confectionery & Food, for 140 billion won ($115 million). The exact date of the acquisition will be fixed after details are sorted out. Haitai Confectionery & Food began its ice cream business in 1970 by rolling out Bravo Cone. In January, it was spun off as a separate entity. Following the acquisition, Binggrae is likely to become No. 1 in the confectionery industry, with

ConsumerApril 1, 2020

5G subscribers in S. Korea top 5m

The number of subscribers to the 5G mobile network in South Korea passed the 5 million mark in February, 10 months after its commercialization, government data showed Wednesday. Nearly 5.37 million South Koreans subscribed to the top-of-the-line wireless network as of end-February, up 8.1 percent from the previous month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The nation's three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- have been aggressively

EconomyApril 1, 2020

Coupang spins off fintech business

South Korea’s leading e-commerece platform Coupang announced Tuesday that it has decided to spin off its fintech business currently operating its payment service. It has established a fintech subsidiary named Coupang Pay on Wednesday, and will start offering payment services within the first half of this year. The move is aimed to offer the services to a broader base of customers with renewed focus on enhancing user experience, the company said. The spinoff is led by Kyung In-tae, Cou

ConsumerApril 1, 2020

Individuals shun private equity funds over misselling scandal

South Korean individuals' investments into private equity funds declined for an eighth straight month in February following two major investment fiascos last year that undermined consumer trust, data showed Wednesday. Retail investors' monthly cash inflow into private equity funds came to 22.7 trillion won ($18.6 billion) in February, down 2.1 percent from a month ago, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association. After peaking at 27.3 trillion won in late June, the investment siz

EconomyApril 1, 2020

Korean Air to suspend flights to Washington amid virus fallout

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's national flag carrier, said Wednesday it will suspend flights on the Incheon-Washington route from mid-April due to the impact of the coronavirus. Korean Air plans to stop serving flights from Incheon to Washington, D.C., starting April 13, with the suspension scheduled to last through the end of this month, a company spokeswoman said over the phone. The company currently flies from Incheon to US cities such as Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago

EconomyApril 1, 2020

Global TV market tipped to shrink 9% in 2020 on virus impact

The global TV market is expected to contract for the first time in three years in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a report said Wednesday. In its latest market report, Omdia, formerly IHS Markit, predicted global TV shipments to decline 8.7 percent on-year to 203.5 million units this year. The projection is down from 9.7 percent from an estimate of 225 million units made at the start of the year. Global TV shipments fell to 217 million units in 2017 from 222 million a yea

EconomyApril 1, 2020

Korean Air pilots to take 3 months of unpaid leave

Korean Air Lines Co. is set to put all of its non-Korean pilots on a three-month unpaid leave starting next month in a self-rescue effort amid worsening business conditions caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Under the measure, 387 pilots are expected to go on mandatory unpaid leave from April 1 to June 30, an industry source said Tuesday. Around 60 of them have already been off without pay, the source added. "(The measure) is aimed at adjusting workforce following a sharp reduction i

MobilityMarch 31, 2020

[Graphic News] S. Korean exports to China perk up in March

　South Korean exports to China are picking up in March as the new coronavirus retreats in the neighboring country, data showed. 　Daily exports to the world’s second-largest economy averaged $436 million during the first 10 days of this month, up 20.8 percent from the same period in February, according to the data from government and industry sources. 　Yet the daily average was down 8.2 percent from the same period a year earlier. 　Daily exports to China soared to $530 million in the

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

[Video] When will social distancing end? Messages from around the world

When will social distancing end? Is there light at the end of this tunnel of “stay-at-home and postpone-your-weddings” while listening to news about rising mortality? As this prolonged period of COVID-19 outbreak chips away at our morale, global neighbors from hard-hit regions of Iran, Italy, Germany, the UK, the US and Mexico came together to share how they are getting through this time. (Yoga and Animal Crossing, anyone?) Meet in this video Hamed Soleimanzadeh (@hamedsoleimanzade

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

[Market Close-up] ‘Ant warriors’ amass W45tr war chest, eyeing stock jackpot

As financial markets tank and investors rush to dump their tradeable assets amid the coronavirus crisis, some individual investors in South Korea are hoping to hit the jackpot. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, retail investor deposits on Thursday marked some 45.17 trillion won ($36.85 billion), up nearly 14 trillion won in March. Investor deposits refer to funds that are parked with brokerage accounts -- either before making stock purchases or profits earned after trans

MarketMarch 31, 2020

GemVax & Kael expands GV1001 patent to cover COVID-19

South Korean biologics company GemVax & Kael said Tuesday it will expand its antiviral pipeline’s treatment scope to cover COVID-19. GemVax’s GV1001 is a telomerase-derived peptide that helps maintain the length of telomere, which is located at the end of human chromosome. Telomere acts as anti-inflammation, antioxidant, anti-aging and stem cell activation agent, effectively preventing cytokine storm. A cytokine storm is increasingly being recognized as the leading cause of COV

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

Samsung Display pulls plug on LCD production

Samsung Display is planning to pull the plug on its liquid-crystal display business, which has been reeling from Chinese manufacturers’ low-priced large-volume cargo, according to industry sources Tuesday. The display unit of Samsung Group will reportedly close its seventh-generation and eighth-generation LCD manufacturing lines in South Korea and Xuzhou, China, in the first half of 2021. Currently, it manufactures 165,000 seventh-generation and 363,000 eighth-generation displays per mo

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

S. Korea’s industrial output marks steepest drop in 9 years

South Korea’s industrial output, consumption and investment contracted in February, as the economic fallout of the new coronavirus spread has started unleashing its impact, government data showed Tuesday. The country’s industrial output shed 3.5 percent in February from a month earlier, according to the monthly industrial indexes compiled by Statistics Korea. This marked the sharpest drop since the 3.7 percent on-month fall observed in February 2011, when the foot-and-mouth dise

EconomyMarch 31, 2020

Kyobo Life charge against Deloitte Anjin over put option

Kyobo Life Insurance said Tuesday it has filed a complaint with the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board against accounting firm Deloitte Anjin for faulty appraisal of corporate value. It has alleged that that Deloitte Anjin, the local subsidiary of global accounting and consulting group Deloitte, wrongly assessed the fair market value of financial investors’ put options -- which could affect the management rights of current Kyobo Chairman Shin Chang-jae. “Deloitte Anjin

MarketMarch 31, 2020

BOK minutes hint at additional rate cut

The Bank of Korea (BOK) may further cut its policy rate to help minimize the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic, BOK minutes showed Tuesday. The central bank delivered a surprise rate cut in an emergency meeting of its monetary policy board held March 16, slashing the policy rate by a half percentage point to a new record low of 0.75 percent. "A rate cut itself may not be expected to promote consumption and investment by easing travel restrictions, but it is expected to he

EconomyMarch 31, 2020