Hyundai E&C begins petrochemical project

Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering have officially embarked on a project to build the largest petrochemical facilities to date in the South Korean city of Ulsan. The plan, dubbed “the Shaheen Project,” is the construction of high value-added petrochemical production facilities in which South Korean oil refiner S-Oil has invested a whopping 9.3 trillion won ($7 billion). It is the largest investment made by Aramco -- a Saudi Arabian state-operated oil and g

IndustryMarch 10, 2023

Korean auto, battery sectors brace for EU-first act

South Korean automotive and battery companies are closely monitoring the soon-to-be-unveiled European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act as the new regulation intends to strengthen the availability of critical raw materials and enhance the regional supply chain. For Korean businesses, the EU’s CRMA -- set to be made public on Tuesday -- is widely seen as the European version of the US’ Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA, which was signed into law by the Biden administration in Au

MobilityMarch 10, 2023

Daewoo E&C secures W1tr deal to build power plants in Libya

Daewoo Engineering & Construction announced Friday that the company has secured a deal to build gas-fired power plants in Libya. The construction deal, which Daewoo E&C signed with General Electricity Company of Libya, is worth $790 million (1 trillion won), the company added. Under the deal, Daewoo E&C will build gas-fired power stations in Libya’s Mellitah and Misurata regions. The construction order was made as the Libyan government needed additional power plants to manage i

IndustryMarch 10, 2023

BlackRock emerges as Samsung Securities’ 3rd-largest shareholder

US-based investment management firm BlackRock has become the third-largest shareholder of South Korean brokerage house Samsung Securities, a filing showed Thursday. BlackRock’s 12 affiliated entities hold a total of 5.46 percent stake (4.87 million shares) in Samsung Securities as of Feb. 28, according to a disclosure filed with the Financial Supervisory Service. A minority shareholder with at least 5 percent of shares in a company is subject to filing obligations as a block holder of th

IndustryMarch 10, 2023

SK Geocentric readies world’s 1st plastic recycling complex

SK Geocentric, a chemicals unit under South Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Friday it has completed technological preparations for the Ulsan Advanced Recycling Cluster with its US partner, Purecycle Technologies. The Ulsan Advanced Recycling Cluster is expected to be the world’s first plastic recycling complex, according to SK Geocentric. The companies aim to complete construction of the recycling complex in 2025. Researchers and engineers at the South Korean chemicals firm conducted te

TechnologyMarch 10, 2023

Seoul stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street losses

Seoul stocks opened lower Friday, following overnight Wall Street losses amid growing fears over faster rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 25.35 points, or 1.05 percent, to 2,393.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, Wall Street closed sharply down after jobless claims showed that the US labor market is still resilient, casting uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's rate hike path. The S&P fell 1.85 percent, the Dow Jones

MarketMarch 10, 2023

S. Korea posts record current account deficit in Jan. as exports slump amid recession woes

South Korea posted the largest ever current account deficit in January as exports sharply dwindled amid growing worries over a global economic recession, central bank data showed Friday. The country's current account shortfall came to $4.52 billion in January, swinging from a surplus of $2.68 billion a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the largest monthly current account deficit since relevant data started to be compiled in January 1980

EconomyMarch 10, 2023

TGS Group makes foray into art investment market

South Korean retail and finance company TGS Group said Thursday it has opened a boutique-style community center in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, to introduce young artists and their artworks, and nurture experts in art investment. The new facility comes after TGS launched a new unit, named ArtFin, last month to start an art-related investment business, a burgeoning investment sector. ArtFin comes from the words "art" and "fintech." TGS said it pins high hopes on the recent

IndustryMarch 9, 2023

Seoul stocks down for second day on foreign sell-off, rate hike woes

Seoul stocks closed lower for a second straight session Thursday on heavy sell-offs by foreign investors and renewed fears the Federal Reserve will accelerate its pace of rate increases. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed down 12.82 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,419.09. Trading volume was moderate at 465.3 million shares worth 10.2 trillion ($7.7 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 478 to 396. The market got off to a strong

MarketMarch 9, 2023

JB rejects activist fund’s request for dividend expansion

South Korea’s JB Financial Group said Thursday that it is against activist fund Align Partners’ demand for dividend expansion. Align Partners, which holds a 14 percent stake in JB, is the financial firm's second-largest shareholder. “In order to boost shareholder benefits in a sustainable way, excessive dividend expansion could hurt corporate value as well as shareholder interests,” JB said in a statement. The latest announcement comes after Align Partners submitte

IndustryMarch 9, 2023

LG sets up automotive R&D unit in Vietnam

LG Electronics said Thursday it has elevated its research and development center in Vietnam into a corporate entity as the tech giant seeks to further bolster its fast-growing automotive solutions business. The new unit, called LG Electronics Development Vietnam, will be in charge of developing and testing software for in-vehicle infotainment systems, one of the key products of LG’s vehicle solutions division. The IVI systems encompass telematics, audio, video and navigation solutions prov

IndustryMarch 9, 2023

[K-Food] Pulmuone targets health-conscious Americans with tofu lineup

This is the second installment of a series of interviews with global business chiefs of South Korean food companies that are expanding aggressively in overseas markets. -- Ed. About 7 out of 10 tofu products sold in the US are made by South Korean food giant Pulmuone. Cho Kil-su, head of Pulmuone USA, said its unrivaled market position is an outcome of years of efforts to creatively localize one of the most highly regarded alternative sources for protein -- Korean tofu -- along with a slew o

ConsumerMarch 9, 2023

SK Networks secures stake in US AI startup

SK Networks said Thursday it has committed a total of $22 million in both direct and indirect investments to secure a 2.6 percent stake in the recent Series C funding round held for Humane, an AI startup founded by ex-Apple employees through the company’s investment subsidiary Hico Capital. This bold investment decision, which SK Networks has disclosed to its stakeholders following the end of the Series C funding round, rides along the tides of the growing industry-wide interest in AI tech

TechnologyMarch 9, 2023

Ex-TSMC engineer joins Samsung’s chip packaging team

Samsung Electronics has hired veteran engineer Lin Jun-cheng, who previously worked at the tech giant’s foundry rival, Taiwan-based TSMC, according to local reports on Thursday. Lin was recently appointed as senior vice president of the advanced packaging team under Samsung’s chip business division, Device Solutions. His key responsibility is expected to be overseeing the development of cutting-edge packaging technology, which plays a key role in enhancing advanced higher-performance

IndustryMarch 9, 2023

Hyundai Motor sets ambitious goals to beef up domestic output

Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday laid out its goals to ramp up domestic production and exports to the highest figures since the COVID-19 pandemic began three years ago, showing the auto giant’s willingness to overcome various economic and geographical uncertainties. The record-high targets were announced as President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the automaker’s Ulsan plant. Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun accompanied Yoon as the president toured the automaker’s plant. Ac

MobilityMarch 9, 2023

OLED TV war looms as Samsung returns after 10-year hiatus

Samsung Electronics on Thursday debuted its first organic light-emitting diode TVs in a decade at home, making official its comeback to the fast-growing premium TV segment, which is currently dominated by its crosstown rival, LG Electronics. The tech giant held a media event at its headquarters in Gangnam, southern Seoul, unveiling its brand new TV lineup this year, which also included its latest high-end LCD TVs, branded as Neo Quantum LED or Neo QLED TVs. The world’s largest TV maker i

TechnologyMarch 9, 2023

Sulwhasoo partners with the Met to promote K-culture

South Korean beauty giant Amorepacific's luxury skin care subsidiary Sulwhasoo said Thursday it signed a partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a bid to conduct various collaborative works with the New York-based art museum, including the preservation of Korean cultural artifacts. Sulwhasoo, which has been promoting traditional Korean art and craftsmen through its exhibition series, will be working with the Met for a year starting this March. Throughout the year, Sulwhasoo will

IndustryMarch 9, 2023

Seoul stocks open higher amid rate hike woes

Seoul stocks opened higher Thursday amid woes over faster rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 7.79 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,439.7 in the first 16 minutes of trading. After his hawkish stance a day before, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that no decision has been made on the pace of the Fed's rate hikes. US stocks wavered, with Wall Street's three main stock indexes closing mixed, as traders tried to assess Powell's c

MarketMarch 9, 2023

[Herald Interview] 'Soft power plays key role in green push'

SK Ecoplant, the green business unit of SK Group, aims to solidify its footing into the US battery recycling market this year by working with partners to make aggressive investments, the company’s investment executive said. The company has made a major transformation from a builder into an environment and energy company though an array of merger and acquisition deals worth over 3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in Korea and abroad. “This year’s biggest goal would be supporting SK

IndustryMarch 8, 2023

Korea has far fewer female managers than OECD peers

South Korea ranked second to last in terms of the percent of women in management positions among 36 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to OECD statistics released Wednesday. The OECD said Korea has reported steady progress in elevating women leaders but still has a long way to go. The percentage of female managers in Korea was 16.3 percent as of 2021, less than half the OECD average of 33.7 percent. Japan with 13.2 percent was the only count

IndustryMarch 8, 2023