[Photo News] Sharing warmth

S-Oil CEO Hussain A. Al-Qahtani (second from left) hands out meals to the homeless on Monday, as part of the company’s annual Lunar New Year’s volunteer activity. The company said some 100 employees have participated to offer meals and food products to the homeless and some 500 households, including senior citizens and the disabled. S-Oil has been conducting Lunar New Year’s volunteer activity for 14 consecutive years, dating to 2007.

IndustryJan. 20, 2020

Cadillac to launch five new models targeting young drivers

Cadillac said Monday that it planned to launch four new models and one face-lifted model in Korea this year -- mostly sports utility vehicles -- to position itself as a young, dynamic brand for young generation.The American automotive brand owned by General Motors said in a press release that it would introduce three new models and one face-lifted model in the first half of this year, including a large-size sports utility vehicle XT6 and its bestselling SUV model XT5’s facelift version. Th

MobilityJan. 20, 2020

Myeong-dong rent costs drop amid fast shift to e-commerce

Myeong-dong, one of the largest retail districts in Korea, was the only area among the world’s top 10 global shopping streets that saw an average rent drop on-year in 2019, according to global real estate consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield. According to a recent report published by the consulting firm, the annual average rent in the Myeong-dong district came in at $862 per square foot, down 1.5 percent on-year. In order to rent a store area of 30 pyeong, or 99 square meters, for insta

MarketJan. 20, 2020

S. Korea vows to bolster economic cooperation with Russia, Mongolia

South Korea plans to bolster economic ties with Russia, Mongolia and other Central Asian nations and use the momentum to buttress recovery of the export-driven economy, the top fiscal policy chief said Monday.“We will strengthen economic cooperation with our neighboring nations in line with the New Northern Policy,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in a meeting with economy-related ministers. A cooperative scheme with Russia in nine key sectors including ra

EconomyJan. 20, 2020

SKT plans to offer 5G stand-alone service in H1

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier, said Monday it plans to launch a 5G stand-alone service in the first half of the year after a test on its commercial 5G network was successful. Its stand-alone 5G data call using the company's multi-vendor commercial 5G network in Busan last week ended successfully, according to SKT. The result means the company can provide a 5G standalone service through a software upgrade without replacing its base stations.For its standalone 5G network, SKT sa

IndustryJan. 20, 2020

Insurance industry looks forward to more active investments, M&A deals

Amid growing concerns over worsening profits, insurance companies in South Korea said Monday they plan to roll out new services, incorporating new technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence. They also pledged more investments for the emerging technologies and startups.“Korean insurance firms will utilize new technologies, including AI, in different areas from risk assessment, to have a competitive edge in the face of the looming ‘fourth industrial revolution,’&rd

MarketJan. 20, 2020

34 Kospi 200 firms lack whistleblowing policy: report

More than 30 Kospi 200 firms still have no whistleblowing policy for transparent management of their accounting control system, according to the latest report released by Samjong KPMG on Monday. The accountancy firm’s report shows that 34 of the top 200 Kospi firms, have no whistleblowing policy within their account rule books, while three others did not publicly disclose their policies through the regulatory filing. The Kospi 200 is the index tracking a basket of 200 blue chip firms liste

MarketJan. 20, 2020

DRAM prices up for 11 consecutive days, boding well for chipmakers

Spot market prices for DRAM chips are surely on a rising course as they went up for 11 straight days, industry data showed Monday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers. The spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, a benchmark price for the category, reached $3.34 as of last Friday, according to data from market tracker DRAMeXchange, marking the 11th consecutive day of a rise. This is the first time since October 2017 that the spot price of DRAM went up for 11 consecutive days.  The latest DRAM

MarketJan. 20, 2020

Late Lotte founder’s asset inheritance unlikely to affect group

The demise of Lotte Group founder and Honorary Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho on Sunday has put the spotlight on the distribution of his assets amongst his kin, reportedly worth over 1 trillion won ($864 million).However, market watchers are of the opinion that it will not affect the current leadership structure of Lotte Group, led by his second son and Chairman Shin Dong-bin. The inheritance is expected to be finalized through family counseling under the guidance of a legal representative. The late Shin

IndustryJan. 20, 2020

S. Korea changes subsidy scheme for eco-friendly autos

South Korea's finance and environment ministries said Monday that they have changed a state subsidy scheme for eco-friendly vehicles to allow buyers of efficient cars to get larger subsidies from this year.  Currently, the state subsidy is calculated on an electric car's battery capability.  Under the revised subsidy program, buyers of an electric vehicle with a longer driving range per charge will get more in subsidies, the finance ministry said in a statement.  Effective from th

MobilityJan. 20, 2020

Korea Eximbank to extend W69tr in loans to firms in 2020

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Monday that it will extend 69 trillion won ($59.5 billion) in loans to South Korean companies this year to help boost the economy.The figures represent a 16 percent hike from 2019, according to the South Korean state-run policy lender.Under the plan, the Export-Import Bank of Korea set aside 20 trillion won for companies that make industrial materials, parts and equipment in 2020, compared with 19 trillion won in 2019.The move is the latest in a series of Sou

EconomyJan. 20, 2020

ULikeKorea signs MOU with Denmark’s TDC to enter European market

ULike Korea, a smart livestock health care management company, announced Monday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Denmark’s largest telecommunication company, TDC, to launch the world’s first NB-IoT (Narrow Band IoT) bio-capsule in Denmark.ULikeKorea has recently developed the world’s first NB-IoT bio-capsule and will start a pilot project in the first half of this year at a dairy farm. NB-IoT technology enables the transmission of data using minimal power a

TechnologyJan. 20, 2020

CJ ENM's W25.3b K-pop investment fund to launch

CJ ENM, the operator of K-pop-oriented cable channel Mnet, said Monday it will launch a 25.3 billion-won ($21.8 million) investment fund dedicated to the K-pop industry.The establishment of the fund, KC Vivace Investment Association, is in line with the entertainment giant's pledge three weeks earlier to set up a 30 billion-won investment fund to apologize for vote manipulation in a fan-voted Mnet K-pop audition show. Chief producers of the popular audition show, "Produce 101," are sta

IndustryJan. 20, 2020

Samsung taps new smartphone biz head, seeks stability

Samsung Electronics on Monday decided to retain its current chief executive officers for stability, while creating a new leadership position for the smartphone business to be held by a relatively young executive in his 50s.As part of its 2020 personnel reshuffle and organizational restructuring, Samsung announced appointments of four new presidents and adjustments in the positions of five current leaders. The announcement comes about a month and a half later than usual due to the lingering legal

TechnologyJan. 20, 2020

S. Korea to jack up spending on energy R&D in 2020

South Korea said Monday it will spend more on research and development  in the energy segment this year as the country targets clean and sustainable economic growth.South Korea will spend 916.3 billion won ($789 million), a 19-percent rise from last year, on such projects, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Most of the money will be allocated to projects related to South Korea's green energy drive.Last year, Seoul unveiled its initiative to create a hydrogen economy, s

IndustryJan. 20, 2020

Korea's exports to Canada surge since launch of FTA

South Korea's exports to Canada have shot up 14 percent since the implementation of their free trade deal, data showed Monday, despite increased protectionism and the slowing economy around the globe.Outbound shipments to Canada stood at $5.6 billion in 2019, compared to $4.9 billion posted in 2014, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two countries implemented the bilateral FTA in January 2015 after decadelong negotiations.The combined trade between South K

EconomyJan. 20, 2020

S. Korea aims to boost agricultural exports by 6.7% in 2020

South Korea said Monday it seeks to expand its outbound shipments of agricultural goods by 6.7 percent to hit $7.5 billion in 2020 by diversifying its product portfolio and penetrating deeper into emerging markets including Southeast Asia.In 2019, exports of agricultural goods reached $7 billion, compared to $6.9 billion posted a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Last year, South Korea's overall exports slipped 10.3 percent amid growing protectionism

EconomyJan. 20, 2020

ICT exports sink 20% in 2019 on trade row, chip slump

South Korea's exports of information and communications technology products nosedived nearly 20 percent on-year in 2019, data showed Monday, due mainly to a lengthy trade row between the United States and China and a drop in chip prices.Outbound ICT shipments totaled $176.9 billion last year, falling sharply from $220.4 billion in 2018, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The decrease was also caused by a base effect, as the country posted record-high exports in 2018.ICT exp

EconomyJan. 20, 2020

S. Korea considering imposing 20% tax on cryptocurrencies

South Korea's finance ministry has been considering imposing a 20 percent tax on income from cryptocurrency transactions, officials said Monday. The Ministry of Economy and Finance has recently ordered its office of income tax to review a taxation plan for cryptocurrencies, according to officials. Previously, the ministry's office of property tax had reviewed the plan. The move raised speculation that the government may categorize gains from cryptocurrency trading as other income, not capital ga

EconomyJan. 20, 2020

Korean economy grows 1.89% in 2019, shy of estimate: poll

The South Korean economy is expected to have fallen far short of its growth target last year, marking the slowest growth in a decade, a poll showed Monday.In a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency, seven local experts polled estimated Asia's fourth-largest economy to have expanded 1.89 percent from a year earlier in 2019.The Bank of Korea earlier predicted a 2 percent on-year expansion in Asia's fourth-largest economy, which would have still marked the

EconomyJan. 20, 2020