Samsung Biologics sign deal with Incheon to build Biocampus 2

Samsung Biologics, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization, signed a land sales contract worth 426 billion won ($323 million) with Incheon metropolitan city to acquire space for its second Biocampus, the company said Monday. The contract mainly focuses on building research and manufacturing facilities in the 11th district of Songdo International City, which is located within the Incheon Free Economic Zone. With the second campus, the company plans to increase its manufa

IndustryJuly 18, 2022

Seoul shares spike almost 2% to 2-week high on eased rate hike woes

South Korean stocks soared nearly 2 percent higher Monday, as the US Federal Reserve will unlikely deliver a full-percentage point interest rate hike amid deepening concerns over an economic slowdown. The Korean won gained ground against the US dollar. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 44.27 points, or 1.90 percent, to close at 2,375.25. Trading volume was moderate at 318.99 million shares worth 6.99 trillion won ($5.31 billion), with gainers outstripping decliners 778 to 116. F

MarketJuly 18, 2022

Damage claims surge over frequent flight cancellations

The number of damage claims over canceled or delayed flights has increased as airlines struggle with manpower shortages, according to the Korea Consumer Agency on Monday. A total of 213 air service-related cases requesting compensation were submitted from January to May this year. In April, when South Korea dropped the bulk of its COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, the number of filed claims doubled on-month to 60, the agency said. The number of overseas travelers in Incheon Airport alon

MobilityJuly 18, 2022

CJ CheilJedang to expand plant-based sales to W200b by 2025

South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang will boost its overseas and domestic sales of plant-based meat products to 200 billion won ($151.9 million) by 2025, the company said on Monday. “The US and European countries including the UK and Germany, and Japan, which show increasing demand for Korean food and culture, will be our key target markets. We also plan to make forays into China, Singapore and other southeast Asian countries, expanding global business to account for 70 percent of tota

ConsumerJuly 18, 2022

Chip makers face China dilemma as Seoul mulls joining US-led chip alliance

South Korean chip makers are under increasing pressure as Seoul mulls joining a US-led semiconductor alliance, so-called the “Chip 4,” which appears to be aimed at countering Beijing’s growing influence in global supply chains as well as boosting Washington’s manufacturing prowess in high-tech. According to diplomatic sources on Monday, the US government has recently asked Seoul officials to respond to its invitation to join the chip alliance by the end of August, sayin

IndustryJuly 18, 2022

Kyobo, Affinity on blame game over IPO rejection

South Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance and its second-largest shareholder -- a consortium led by Affinity Equity Partners -- are blaming each other for its recent failure to carry out an initial public offering. The blame game follows the nation’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange’s decision on July 8 to reject an initial public offering by Kyobo, without citing a reason. Market watchers, however, cited Kyobo’s yearslong legal dispute with the consortium led by the Hong K

MarketJuly 18, 2022

[Newsmaker] [Reporter’s Notebook] The dark side of Nuri rocket’s success

While the entire country was still relishing the launch of South Korea’s first domestically developed rocket last month, unionized workers and engineers at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute came out with a rather surprising statement. “The satisfaction and joy of the second launch are passing by as we despair in the unimproved reality,” a statement by the union read. Citing government data, the union pointed out that the annual salary of the national space agency&rsquo

TechnologyJuly 18, 2022

Tally for economically inactive seniors surges 96% since 2002

SEJONG -- The number of Koreans who are not engaged in any economic activities after being classified as seniors has surged almost 100 percent in two decades, state data showed Monday. According to Statistics Korea, the tally for economically inactive people due to old age reached a record-high of 2.48 million as of June. “Old age” refers to those aged 65 and over, according to stipulations from the United Nations. The figure was a surge by 96.8 percent, compared to 1.26 million po

EconomyJuly 18, 2022

Earnings surprise expected for Hyundai, Kia: reports

South Korea’s largest and second-largest carmakers Hyundai Motor and Kia are expected to deliver earnings surprises with record-high profits in the second quarter on improved product mixes and a weakening Korean won. According to the securities industry Monday, Hyundai Motor is expected to record 2.3 trillion won ($1.7 billion) in operating profit in the April-June period, surpassing 2 trillion won mark for the first time in eight years. In the 2014 Q2, Hyundai Motor recorded 2.87 trilli

MobilityJuly 18, 2022

Overseas stock dealings dip in H1 on weak equity markets

South Koreans' transactions of foreign stocks fell sharply in the first half of the year from six months earlier on bearish overseas equity markets, with their bond trading edging up, data showed Monday. Local investors' transactions of overseas shares were valued at $167.99 billion in the January-June period, down 12 percent from the second half of 2021, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The figure covers overseas stock purchases and sales made through

EconomyJuly 18, 2022

Seoul shares open higher on US gains

Seoul shares opened higher Monday tracking strong gains on Wall Street last week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 20.48 points, or 0.88 percent, to trade at 2,315.46 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, US shares closed sharply higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 2.15 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1.79 percent. In Seoul, most big-cap shares gathered ground, with carmakers and tech firms leading the upturn. Market bellwether Samsung

MarketJuly 18, 2022

Weak won set to persist with US intent on more rate hikes

The South Korean won could further depreciate against the US dollar in months to come as long as the US backs aggressive monetary tightening to fight raging inflation, analysts said, as the Korean currency weakened to a 13-year low of 1,326.1 won per US dollar Friday. The breach of the 1,300 won psychological threshold -- prompted by rising US rates luring investors and soaring demand for the safe-haven asset amid global economic uncertainty -- is the latest indication that policymakers in Seou

MarketJuly 17, 2022

Hyundai takes lead in EV efficiency with Ioniq 6

Hyundai Motor is expected to renew energy efficiency competition among electric vehicles, with its upcoming Ioniq 6 boasting the world’s best energy efficiency. The Ioniq 6, Hyundai’s second all-electric vehicle that made its global debut at the Busan Motor Show on Thursday, has an energy efficiency of 6 kilometers per kilowatt-hour, the highest rate among EVs around the world. The carmaker pointed to its EV-dedicated platform E-GMP with optimal heat, battery and power control sy

MobilityJuly 17, 2022

SKT aims to become first to debut air taxi by 2025

BUSAN – SK Telecom, the nation’s leading telecom carrier, said Friday it aims to debut air taxi service by 2025, calling UAM or urban air mobility a “game changer” for future mobility innovations. “Our rivals also plan to launch air taxi services in the coming years, but we are confident that we will be the first to bring UAM aircrafts to the market,” said SK Telecom’s Chief Development Officer Ha Min-yong during a press conference held at the 2022 Bus

MobilityJuly 17, 2022

Coway wins appeal against patent infringement ruling

Coway, one of the nation’s leading water purifier makers, said Friday it has won an appeal against a 2015 patent infringement ruling, which ordered the company to pay its smaller rival Chungho 10 billion won ($7.53 million) in compensation. Chungho had filed a lawsuit against Coway for infringing its patented ice water purifying technology back in 2014. A year later, the Seoul High Court ruled in favor of Chungho’s claim. Coway immediately appealed. On Thursday, the court overtur

IndustryJuly 17, 2022

S. Korea to push to exempt taxes on foreigners' investment in govt. bonds

South Korea will push to exempt taxes on interest income and capital gains from foreigners' investment in government bonds and monetary stabilization bonds in a bid to help stabilize the debt market, the finance minister has said. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho made the remarks on the details of the government's planned tax code revision at a meeting with reporters Saturday (local time) in Bali on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G-20) gathering of finance chiefs. "The government p

EconomyJuly 17, 2022

HanAll's myasthenia gravis drug enters phase 3 trial

HanAll Biopharma’s antibody therapy candidate for myasthenia gravis -- HL161, also known as batoclimab, a subcutaneous anti-FcRn antibody designed to treat autoimmune diseases -- has entered phase 3 clinical trials in the United States, the South Korean biotech said Sunday. Myasthenia gravis, or MG, is a rare autoimmune disease that happens when the nerve impulses are not properly transmitted to the muscles, eventually leading to weakness in the skeletal muscles. According to a research

TechnologyJuly 17, 2022

Over half of Korean exporters concerned by lack of ESG preparedness

Over half of Korean exporters believed that their contracts with customers could be scrapped due to the lack of preparedness for environment, social and governance management, a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed Sunday. According to the KCCI’s survey, 52.5 percent of the 300 participating companies said they felt that there is a high chance for their contractors to back out from deals with inadequate ESG management levels in their supply chains. Aske

IndustryJuly 17, 2022

Samsung beats TSMC in advanced smartphone chipset foundry market

Samsung Electronics’ contract-based chip manufacturing operations have surpassed Taiwan-based foundry rival TSMC in terms of smartphone chipset shipments on advanced nodes in the first quarter, data showed Sunday. Samsung captured some 60 percent of market share in the leading nodes of 5-nanometer or more sophisticated manufacturing process for chipsets going to smartphones from application processors to system-on-chips in the first quarter, according to data by market intelligence Count

TechnologyJuly 17, 2022

‘Myeongdong to recover from pandemic woes’

The empty, desolate streets of Seoul’s Myeong-dong shopping district have become a real estate nightmare for its landlords and inhabitants since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. But hope is not lost, according to Robert Wilkinson, managing director of Colliers’ Korea, the local branch of the Canadian commercial real estate firm. He said the area -- which had once been a tourist hotspot -- is slowly coming back to life and its recovery will gain speed once China eases trave

MarketJuly 17, 2022