LG Group chief highlights risk management amid virus spread

LG Corp. CEO Koo Kwang-mo, leader of South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, said Friday he will focus on risk management amid the global coronavirus pandemic. At the company’s annual shareholders meeting held at its headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, Koo highlighted that LG Group will need to be unshaken by the current risks and rather focus on prioritizing customer value. “Amid the persisting uncertainties triggered by the global coronavirus spread in the busine

IndustryMarch 27, 2020

Hyundai Motor, Aptiv complete deal for autonomous driving

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday that it has completed the establishment of a 50:50 joint venture with the US software developer of autonomous vehicles Aptiv. The headquarters of the joint venture will be set up in Boston, Massachusetts, and it will run research centers in both the US and Asia, the company said, adding that the company mission will be announced in the near future. In September last year, Hyundai Motor Group clinched a deal with Aptiv, formerly known as Delphi, for a $4 billion

MobilityMarch 27, 2020

Hyundai to suspend plants in Russia and Turkey amid virus woes

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, said Friday it will halt its plants in Russia and Turkey, the latest in a series of suspensions due to the new coronavirus outbreak.   Hyundai's plant in Turkey is set to be closed Friday, and no date has been set for its resumption.   Meanwhile, the Hyundai plant in St. Petersburg is set to be shut down from Sunday through April 3, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a nationwide paid holiday next week in a move

IndustryMarch 27, 2020

Samsung to shutter another Brazil plant over new coronavirus

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it will temporarily close another manufacturing plant in Brazil due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Samsung will suspend operation of its manufacturing plant in Campinas, Sao Paulo, in southeastern Brazil for two weeks from Monday to April 12. The world's largest smartphone maker already shut down its plant in Manaus, Amazonas, in northern Brazil due to the virus crisis. Samsung originally planned to close the Manaus factory from Tuesday to Sunday t

IndustryMarch 27, 2020

Duty-free sales halve in Feb. on COVID-19

Sales at South Korean duty-free stores nearly halved in February from a month earlier, hit hard by the spread of the new coronavirus, industry data showed Friday. Combined sales of local duty-free shops came to 1.1 trillion won ($910 million) last month, down 45.5 percent from January, according to the data from the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. The number of visitors plunged 54 percent on-month to 1.75 million in February, with foreigners accounting for 40 percent of the total. Sales of

ConsumerMarch 27, 2020

Coronavirus to hit tourism in Asia-Pacific: report

South Korea is feared to be one of the hardest-hit countries in the Asia-Pacific area, given the fact that China, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, accounts for 20 percent of international tourism expenditures. Other vulnerable countries are Thailand, Japan and Vietnam as they depend heavily on Chinese visitors for tourism revenue. The fast spread of the novel coronavirus is also feared to cause the global aviation industry to suffer big losses in passenger numbers and revenue. Should the

EconomyMarch 27, 2020

LG Electronics to shutter US washing machine plant over COVID-19

LG Electronics Inc., a major South Korean home appliance maker, said Friday it will temporarily shut down its washing machine plant in the United States for two weeks due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. LG said its plant in Clarksville, Tennessee, will suspend operations from Monday to April 12. The plant produces 100,000 washing machines a month and employs some 600 workers. Like other companies around the globe, LG has been dealing with production disruptions caused by the coronav

IndustryMarch 27, 2020

Seoul stocks open sharply higher tracking Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street boosted by historic stimulus measures amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 62.47 points, or 3.7 percent, to 1,748.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US stocks rallied for a third straight day Thursday (local time) after the Senate passed a $2 trillion relief package to tackle the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis. The Dow Jones Industria

MarketMarch 27, 2020

Moody's reviews ratings of Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors for downgrade

Moody's Investors Service said Thursday that it has placed the ratings of Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors on review for downgrade due to the coronavirus outbreak.    The global credit rater said the two South Korean carmakers remain vulnerable to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and predicted demand for new vehicles will reduce meaningfully over the coming months, especially in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and North American markets.    "

MarketMarch 26, 2020

Incheon airport goes into 'emergency mode' as COVID-19 causes drop in users

Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main air hub, went into "emergency mode" as the number of users nosedived amid the novel coronavirus outbreak that has spread around the world, the operator said Thursday.    The operator of the airport located in Incheon, 60 kilometers west of Seoul, said it is currently handling some 10,000 passengers per day, down from the normal 200,000 it processed before the pandemic paralyzed travel.    "An emergency situat

MobilityMarch 26, 2020

[Graphic News] Secondhand smoke kills 880,000 people per year worldwide

　More than 880,000 people worldwide died from exposure to secondhand smoke in 2016, compared with nearly 950,000 in 1990, an analysis published by JAMA Network Open concluded. 　This despite the fact that there were more smokers globally in 2016 - nearly 1 billion, thanks in large part to the increasing popularity of the habit in Asia and Africa - than in 1990, when roughly 850 million people smoked worldwide. 　The figures suggest that one nonsmoker died from exposure to secondhand smoke for

TechnologyMarch 26, 2020

Hyundai Motor heir gains W18b through stock buyback

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun, who recently purchased treasury shares, has seen gains from the stock market recovery as well as the strengthening of his control. The market capitalization of Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Mobis shares totaled 100 billion won ($81 million) as of Thursday, with 49.4 billion won for the automaker and 50.7 billion won for the parts unit. From Thursday last week to Wednesday, Chung bought shares of Hyundai Motor at a price between 68,435 won

IndustryMarch 26, 2020

Crisis-hit Doosan Heavy to get W1tr in loans from 2 policy lenders

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. said Thursday that it has opened a 1 trillion-won ($812 million) credit line from two state lenders, a move that could help prevent a possible liquidity crunch caused by the spread of the new coronavirus. The country's largest power equipment maker has signed an agreement with Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Korea Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) for the loans. Doosan Group, the parent of Doosan Heavy, is said to have offered its share holdings and

IndustryMarch 26, 2020

Financial watchdog warns Woori, Hana over board infractions

The Financial Supervisory Service on Thursday issued warnings to two major banking groups here -- Woori and Hana -- directing them to improve their overall transparency and corporate governance. The financial watchdog noted that Woori Financial Group’s board meeting minutes -- which serve as official legal records -- between January and September 2019 lacked transparency. The minutes were treated “as mere formalities” and contained few details such as the substance of

MarketMarch 26, 2020

[Weekender] How to raise W100m by 30: Millennial investment strategies

  It’s not a fancy car or a Louis Vuitton bag that Joung Hye-dan, a 27-year-old former nurse in Seoul, is interested in.  Once called a big spender by college friends, she transferred nearly 80 percent of her monthly income from her former job into 10 separate bank and investment accounts. She has now diversified her personal financial portfolio from regular deposits to peer-to-peer investing, profiting by 1.2 million won ($980) so far.  “I started my nursing career

MarketMarch 26, 2020

Hankook Tire aims larger clout in original equipment tires

Hankook Tire, South Korea’s largest tire manufacturer by sales, said Thursday it will ramp up research in the original equipment tire sector. OE tires refer to tires that are equipped with new vehicles coming fresh off production lines. When designing new vehicle models, automakers go through several steps with tire manufacturers to choose or develop tires that best complement their own vehicle models. Hankook Tire is currently offering OE tires and replacement tires for around 320 car

IndustryMarch 26, 2020

KB Card to lease Apple products

   Local credit card issuer KB Kookmin Card said Thursday it will launch a new leasing service of Apple devices -- from iPhones to iPads -- starting April. The company will purchase products on behalf of customers and charge them regular payments for an agreed upon period, according to the officials. The company has signed a contract with six Apple premium resellers to start the service.  “In response to the latest consumer trend of using different smart devices rather th

MarketMarch 26, 2020

Seoul stocks down after strong 2-day rebound, Korean won falls

South Korean stocks finished lower Thursday after two straight days of robust gains, as investors cashed in part of recent gains. The Korean won lost ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 18.52 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 1,686.24, ending its two-day winning streak. The index spiked nearly 14.5 percent over the last two days on stimulus hopes.  Trading volume was high at 982 million shares worth 12.2 trillion won ($9.9 billi

MarketMarch 26, 2020

[Photo News] Duty-free hit by coronavirus

The duty-free zone of Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 1 appears quiet Wednesday afternoon. As the industry was hit hard by the sharp drop in outbound travelers due to the spread of the new coronavirus, some of the airport’s duty-free shops couldn’t pay the rent in February. SM Duty Free pays about 3 billion won ($2.4 million) a month in rent and incurs interest of nearly 16 percent per year if it can’t pay on time. (Yonhap)

IndustryMarch 26, 2020

Hyundai Mobis' roof air bag gains US attention

Hyundai Mobis said Thursday that its air bag that ejects out from the sunroof has been evaluated and shared by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The first kind to be invented in the world, according to the firm, the roof air bag is unfolded when a vehicle is flipped over during an accident. It can cover the entire roof in 0.08 seconds, aimed at protecting passengers inside the car from being ejected out of the sunroof. The new system involves 24 patented technologies and h

MobilityMarch 26, 2020