[Monitor] Involuntary retirees in 40s, 50s reach 500,000

The number of Koreans in their 40s and 50s forced to retire from their jobs last year has reached close to 500,000, the largest figure in five years, data from Statistics Korea released by Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the former Liberty Korea Party showed. The involuntary retirees include those whose workplaces have shut down, those who lost jobs in restructuring and those with seasonal or temporary jobs whose projects have ended. The report noted that the figure for involuntary retirement increase

IndustryFeb. 19, 2020

COVID-19, Lime scandal pump brakes on stock rally

The COVID-19 virus entering a new phase here has put the brakes on local stock markets and the attempt for improved performance this year, along with the snowballing Lime Asset Management fiasco that has been sending shockwaves through the local brokerage industry, according to industry sources Wednesday. The local stock market opened high this year amid heighten sentiment for an improved economic outlook. However, intensifying fears on the deadly virus have begun weighing down on investor sen

MarketFeb. 19, 2020

Prosecutors raid Lime, Shinhan Investment in misselling probe

Prosecutors on Wednesday raided the headquarters of Lime Asset Management and Shinhan Investment, as part of a probe into alleged misselling of hedge funds that could cause losses of more than 1 trillion won ($845 billion). According to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, it dispatched separate teams of investigators to the headquarters located in Seoul’s financial district of Yeouido around 9 a.m. to secure computer drives and documents linked to the case. The searc

MarketFeb. 19, 2020

South Korea’s environment monitoring satellite successfully launched

The world’s first geostationary environment-monitoring satellite Chollian 2B made by South Korea has been successfully launched and reached outer space, the country’s aerospace research institute said Wednesday.  Chollian 2B was launched on the Ariane 5 ECA rocket from the space center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:18 a.m. as scheduled, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The satellite was detached from the Ariane rocket at 7:49 a.m. and made its first comm

TechnologyFeb. 19, 2020

Seoul court rules van-hailing service Tada not illegal

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday found Socar CEO Lee Jae-woong and VCNC CEO Park Jae-wook not guilty of violating transportation laws with their ride service that is strongly opposed by the taxi industry. Socar is the parent of VCNC, which runs Tada, an 11-seat van-hailing mobile app service. The court said in a ruling that Tada is seen as an “innovative mobility business” that cannot be categorized based on the existing transportation business frame.  &ldqu

MobilityFeb. 19, 2020

Hahn & Co. to cash out W27.4b in sale of Ssangyong I&C

Seoul-based private equity house Hahn & Co. on Wednesday agreed to sell its 40 percent stake in IT system integrator Ssangyong Information & Communications for 27.4 billion won ($23 million) by April, in a move to offload noncore businesses of its portfolio firm Ssangyong Cement Industrial. According to regulatory filings Wednesday, the new shareholder group, composed of information technology system integrator Itcen and its affiliate Comtec Systems, will buy the stake for 1,695 won per

MarketFeb. 19, 2020

Coronavirus cuts into Eastar Jet executive pay by 30%

Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet has decided to tighten its belt by reducing executive wages and workweek, amid the continued spread of the novel coronavirus that apparently originated in China, according to the company on Wednesday.  The firm said the executives agreed to reduce 30 percent of their salaries from March for four months. It also will accept applications from all employees -- barring flight and cabin crew -- for three-day and four-day workweeks. Employees can choose one o

IndustryFeb. 19, 2020

S. Korea's IPOs up 22% in 2019

The value of South Korea's initial public offerings rose 22.8 percent in 2019 from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday. IPO proceeds came to 3.21 trillion won ($2.69 billion) last year, compared with 2.61 trillion won in 2018, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Still, the number of companies that made market debuts last year fell to 73 from 77 in 2018, the data showed. Main IPOs included Hanwha Systems Co., the defense industry unit of Hanwha Group, and SNK Corp.,

EconomyFeb. 19, 2020

Hyundai still lacking parts, full operation likely next week

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday its passenger car plants will fully recover next week following two weeks of partial operation as the spreading coronavirus disrupts the parts supply from China. Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said they plan to partially operate their passenger car plants by the end of this week as auto components from their suppliers in China are on their way to South Korea. "For now, (Hyundai and Kia) expect all passenger vehicle assembly lines

IndustryFeb. 19, 2020

Samsung Display announces commercialization of glass cover for foldable devices

Samsung Display Co., an affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co., said Wednesday it has commercialized a glass cover for foldable devices. Samsung Display said its ultra thin glass cover window that is about 30 micrometers thick can be mass-produced for various foldable devices. The flexible glass cover is already used in Samsung Electronics' vertically folding Galaxy Z Flip smartphone that was launched last week. The company said its UTG cover window is more durable and scratch-resistant than p

IndustryFeb. 19, 2020

Samsung signs partnership with BTS to boost marketing

Samsung Electronics Co. signed a partnership with K-pop super band BTS for marketing of its new smartphones, company officials said Wednesday. Samsung will first work with BTS for the boy band's global contemporary art initiative, "CONNECT, BTS," and will expand their collaboration to other areas, according to the officials. "CONNECT, BTS" is a global initiative spearheaded in collaboration with curators from five major cities -- London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul and N

IndustryFeb. 19, 2020

Korean-made geostationary environment-monitoring satellite successfully launched

The world's first geostationary environment-monitoring satellite built by South Korea has been successfully launched, the country's state-run aerospace research institute said Wednesday. The Ariane-5 rocket carrying the 3.4-ton Chollian-2B, tasked with monitoring the movement of fine dust and other air pollutants in the East Asian region, as well as tides, is on course to reach its transfer orbit some 36,000 kilometers above the Earth's equator after lifting off from French Guiana at 07:18 p.m

TechnologyFeb. 19, 2020

Samsung maintains dominant status in Q4 DRAM market despite sales drop: data

Samsung Electronics Co. maintained its dominant status in the global DRAM market in the fourth quarter of 2019 despite a decline in revenue, industry data showed Tuesday.     Samsung's market share in the global DRAM market stood at 43.5 percent in the October-December period, down 1.6 percentage points from three months earlier, while its revenue declined 5 percent to $6.7 billion over the cited period, according to data from market researcher TrendForce.    &

TechnologyFeb. 18, 2020

Samsung C&T wins W1.15tr power plant deal from UAE

Samsung C&T Corp., the construction unit of Samsung Group, said Tuesday that it has won a 1.15 trillion-won ($970 million) deal to build a power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Under the deal with F3 Holding Company B.V., Samsung C&T will build a 2,400-MW combined cycle power plant in Qidfa in the Emirate of Fujairah by the end of April 2023. Shares in Samsung C&T Corp fell 2.09 percent to 117,000 won, underperforming the broader KOSPI's 1.48 percent decline. (Yonhap)

IndustryFeb. 18, 2020

[Photo News] LG leader visits design center

LG Group Chairman and Chief Executive Koo Kwang-mo on Tuesday visited LG Electronics’ research and development campus in Seoul, the firm said. During the visit Koo was quoted as saying, “It is design that gives the first impression of our products and delivers this sense of feeling that this product is worth buying.”  At the campus, Koo also checked the company’s consumer electronic products, including a smart door and a wall-mounted OLED TV, as wel

TechnologyFeb. 18, 2020

[Graphic News] Foreign ownership of Jeju land falls 1.4%

　The amount of land owned by foreigners on the South Korean island of Jeju decreased slightly last year, official data showed. 　According to the data released by Jeju’s provincial government, foreigners owned 22.6 square kilometers in 14,644 plots on Jeju Island as of the end of last year. 　The volume marked a reduction of 1.4 percent from 22.9 square kilometers at the end of 2018. 　By region, foreign land ownership in the city of Jeju amounted to 11.1 square kilometers, compared wi

BusinessFeb. 18, 2020

All of Asiana Airlines executives offer to resign amid low profit on coronavirus spread

Korean full-service carrier Asiana Airlines said Tuesday that all executives, including the CEO, have offered to resign to improve the company’s financial health, which has been severely hurt by the latest outbreak of the coronavirus that has cut into aviation services.  In a letter sent to Asiana employees, the air carrier’s CEO Han Chang-soo said that the company has activated an emergency business management due to the crisis following the epidemic outbreak.  Han said

MobilityFeb. 18, 2020

Watchdog to probe investment firms, banks, brokerages over Lime scandal

Looking into a major hedge fund misselling fiasco involving Lime Asset Management, South Korea’s financial watchdog is likely to narrow its focus on three major vendors -- Shinhan Investment, Woori Bank and KEB Hana Bank -- officials said Tuesday. Shinhan Investment is facing additional allegations that it sold the disputed financial products with full awareness of their flaws. The Financial Supervisory Service is slated to kick off its first on-site investigation of the country&rsquo

MarketFeb. 18, 2020

[News Focus] Why did UK-based Nanoco sue Samsung?

Questions are emerging about the UK nanotechnology company Nanoco and its past relationship with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics since the British company filed a patent infringement suit against Samsung on Friday. The UK firm filed suit against Samsung with the Texas Eastern District Court, alleging that the Korean tech giant infringed patents for five technologies related to nanoparticles and quantum dot technology that Nanoco claims to have developed. Founded in 2001, Nanoco was s

TechnologyFeb. 18, 2020

[News Focus] Korea’s household debt surges 100% in a decade

SEJONG -- In 2013, South Korea saw its collective outstanding loans plus credit-based payment services extended to the household sector top 1,000 trillion won ($842 billion) for the first time in history. The mounting household debt was somewhat attributable to eased lending regulations on the debt-to-income ratio in 2012 during the Lee Myung-bak administration. The Park Geun-hye administration further pushed for double-track deregulation, under which the loan-to-value ratio as well as the de

EconomyFeb. 18, 2020