S. Korea, US explore ways to expand ties in energy, supply chains

South Korea and the United States discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy and supply chain sectors this week, the industry ministry said Friday. Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu and Jose Fernandez, US under secretary of state, hosted the clean energy business roundtable on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "The Carbon-Free Energy Initiative of Korea and the US Clean Energ

EconomyNov. 17, 2023

S. Korea imposes 72% temporary anti-dumping duties on Egyptian white cement

South Korea has begun imposing temporary anti-dumping duties of 72.23 percent on white Portland cement imported from Egypt, officials said Friday. The finance ministry began levying the duties on white cement from Egypt on Wednesday to be effective for four months after the Korea Trade Commission under the industry ministry announced its preliminary anti-dumping findings against the imports and recommended the imposition in September. The anti-dumping deposit is meant to prevent potential damage

EconomyNov. 17, 2023

Seoul shares open lower on US economic data

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday as investors sat on the sidelines as data cautiously raised speculation that the US economy is cooling. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 17.12 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,471.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.07 percent. Data showed that the unemployment benefit claims in the world's largest economy have reached the highest l

MarketNov. 17, 2023

Global Kimchi Day declared

Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. on Thursday declared "Global Kimchi Day" to raise awareness about the Korean staple food globally, together with Korean food buyers and foreign diplomats during the Buy Korean Food trade fair in Seoul. The state-run food trade agency, known as aT, has already celebrated Nov. 22 as Kimchi Day following a revision to the Kimchi Industry Promotion Act in February 2020. At Thursday’s event, aT vowed to seek the day’s global recognitio

IndustryNov. 16, 2023

Negotiating members of Indo-Pacific trade talks reach consensus on energy, fair economy

South Korea and other negotiating members of the United States-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) have reached a consensus on two additional sectors of the agreement, energy and fair economy, Seoul's trade ministry said Thursday. The IPEF was launched by US President Joe Biden in 2022 in a move to counter China's growing influence in the region, which involves a total of 14 member nations, including South Korea, Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Among th

EconomyNov. 16, 2023

Seoul shares end nearly flat amid signs of cooling US inflation

South Korean shares closed nearly flat Thursday amid signs of cooling US inflation. The local currency gained ground against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 1.51 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,488.18. Trade volume was slim at 401.6 million shares worth 6.61 trillion won ($5.09 billion), with gainers outnumbering loser 546 to 311. Foreigners purchased a net 458 billion won worth of local shares while institutions offloaded a net 6

MarketNov. 16, 2023

Global asset firms flock to Jeonju to woo pension giant

An increasing number of household names in the global capital market scene are setting their sights on Jeonju, a touristic provincial city in the southern part of Korea, opening new offices there in the hopes of strengthening ties with pension giant, the National Pension Service. In 2017, the NPS moved down to Jeonju, a three-hour drive from Seoul in North Jeolla Province, as part of a campaign to ease overconcentration in the country's capital. While the pension giant itself has experience

MarketNov. 16, 2023

LG to debut EV chargers in US next year

LG Electronics will make its official debut in the US electric vehicle charger market with its own slow and rapid charger models, the tech giant said Thursday. The company plans to roll out an 11-kilowatt charger and a 175kW fast-charging model in the US market in the first half of 2024. To meet the increasing needs of the growing EV users, the company also said it will expand its lineup of fast chargers in the second half of next year. "We will respond to the ever-increasing demand for EV

IndustryNov. 16, 2023

iStaging Asia eyes patents for spatial web tech

iStaging Asia, a joint venture between South Korean company I&OK and Taipei-based iStaging, said Thursday it has applied for a total of three patents in the field of three-dimensional spatial web transformation. The patents include: 3D spatial transformation from a 2D model, 3D spatial editing and 3D floor plan rendering. The technologies will enable businesses to transform their products into 3D models by simply recording a video of a product with a smartphone, which also reduces costs and ti

IndustryNov. 16, 2023

Chinese beer imports plunge amid Tsingtao scandal

South Korea’s beer imports from China decreased by over 40 percent last month after a hygiene incident at a Tsingtao brewery was revealed. Imports of Japanese beer products, on the other hand, increased by over 300 percent. According to data from the Korea Customs Service on Thursday, Korea’s imports of Chinese beer reached 228.1 tons in October, down 42.6 percent on-year. The import value of Chinese beer products shipped to Korea during the same period came to $1.9 million, also dow

IndustryNov. 16, 2023

SK Telecom CEO shows confidence in AI-centered growth strategy

SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang, who also leads SK Group's ICT committee, said Thursday he is confident about seizing new business opportunities as the rise of generative artificial intelligence reshapes industries. “Even before the black swan event of the emergence of (Chat)GPT last year, SK Group has been accumulating its capabilities in AI and new technologies as we (feel sure) about the growth of (such) innovation,” Ryu said in his opening speech at this year’s SK Tech S

TechnologyNov. 16, 2023

K-water unveils new vision to tackle climate change

Korean Water Resources Corp., or K-water, on Thursday declared its new vision to be that of a “global water corporation leading solutions for climate change,” with the aim of promoting the nation’s green industry and providing people with clean water resources. On Thursday, CEO Yun Seog-dae announced the corporation’s new management principles for a “new age of water,” in response to rapid climate change, at K-water headquarters in Daejeon. As a corporation th

IndustryNov. 16, 2023

[Photo News] Hana chief joins 'zero waste' campaign

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo (center) poses for a photo as he joins a relay "zero-waste" campaign that aims to reduce the use of single-use items, such as plastic cups, at the financial giant's headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Hana Financial Group)

IndustryNov. 16, 2023

Ex-Shinhan chief tapped to lead Korea Federation of Banks

Shinhan Financial Group's former Chairman Cho Yong-byoung has emerged as the final nominee for the chairman position of the Korea Federation of Banks to head the association for the next three years. In a meeting held on Thursday, the KFB's Chairman Candidate Recommendation Committee chose Cho as the final candidate from a pool of six contenders for the position. The KFB is slated to hold a meeting on Nov. 27, bringing together representatives from 23 member companies to formally appoi

IndustryNov. 16, 2023

[Herald Interview] Lotus bets big on Korea’s luxury car market

Group Lotus, the British luxury carmaker, on Thursday unveiled its first flagship store in the posh district of Gangnam in southern Seoul, renewing its commitment to South Korea, a market it left a decade ago after years of lukewarm sales. With its “second debut” in the Korean market, Lotus’ Asian chief showed high expectations about its growth here. “Next year, Korea will become the biggest market for us in Asia outside of mainland China and will overtake Japan, which cu

MobilityNov. 16, 2023

Samyang post record sales on China's Singles Day

South Korean food manufacturer Samyang Foods said Thursday it posted new record sales of 13 billion won ($10 million) on this year’s Singles Day, a Chinese shopping festival celebrated every year on Nov. 11. The figure is a jump of 39 percent from a year ago, beating the previous record high of 11 billion won in 2021. Of the total earnings, 8 billion won came through e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD, while short-video platforms Douyin -- China’s version of TikTok -- and Kuaishou as w

IndustryNov. 16, 2023

Seoul shares open nearly flat despite US gains

South Korean stocks opened almost flat Thursday following overnight gains on Wall Street buoyed by cooler-than-expected inflation data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 0.8 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,487.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The local market opened an hour later, along with the government and all major institutions, including private businesses, to make room for the once-a-year national college entrance exam. US stocks closed higher overnight following r

MarketNov. 16, 2023

Food trade agency launches global low-carbon diet campaign

The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. said Wednesday it has launched a consultative body to promote low-carbon diets, against the backdrop of escalating calls to combat climate change. According to the food trade agency, the newly launched Low-carbon Diet Campaign Forum aims for the voluntary cooperation of officials from some 600 institutions -- such as major K-food buyers and international Korean organizations -- to spread low-carbon diet practices. A low-carbon diet refers to the co

IndustryNov. 15, 2023

SK to create world's first advanced plastic recycling cluster, breaks ground in Ulsan

South Korean chemical company SK Geocentric has started the construction of a new advanced plastic recycling cluster -- the first of its kind in the world -- in the southeastern city of Ulsan. With the new cluster, named the Ulsan Advanced Recycling Cluster, or ARC, the company aims to expand its presence in the eco-friendly plastic solution market as well as bolstering its response to escalating regulatory pressure and corporate demand for recycled plastics. The company held the ground-breaking

IndustryNov. 15, 2023

Posco International to build modular factory in Ukraine

Posco International announced Wednesday that the company would join Ukraine’s reconstruction, starting with setting up a factory to manufacture modules for new buildings in war-torn regions of the country. Posco International Vice Chairman Jeong Tak on Tuesday met with Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv, in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to sign a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a modular factory in Mykolaiv, the city on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. Modular constructi

IndustryNov. 15, 2023