Exports of agro-fisheries products jump 14.6% in H1

South Korea's exports of farm and fisheries products grew 14.6 percent in the first half of this year on solid demand for Korean food, data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments of agricultural and fisheries goods came to $6.21 billion in the January-June period, up from $5.42 billion from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The figure represents the largest-ever tally for the first half of any year. Of the amount, sales of agricultural products ca

EconomyJuly 5, 2022

Samsung's Q2 operating profit likely to rise 15.6% on chip biz: survey

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to report a more than 15 percent rise in operating profit for the second quarter, helped by strong semiconductor business despite slowing demand for smartphones and home appliances, a survey showed Tuesday. The world's largest memory chip maker is forecast to log 14.5 trillion won ($11.1 billion) in operating profit in the April-June period, up 15.6 percent from a year ago, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News

IndustryJuly 5, 2022

S. Korea begins transporting country's 1st lunar orbiter to US for Aug. launch

South Korea on Tuesday started transporting the country's first lunar orbiter to the United States ahead of next month's launch using a SpaceX rocket, officials said. South Korea plans to launch the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, also known as Danuri, aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 8:24 a.m. on Aug. 3 (Korean Time). According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, Danuri was sent from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute in Daeje

TechnologyJuly 5, 2022

Seoul shares open higher on dip buying

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Tuesday after the key index hit a 20-month low the previous session amid global recession woes. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 18.62 points, or 0.81 percent, to 2,318.96 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Large-cap stocks gathered ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics rising 0.7 percent and chip giant SK hynix jumping nearly 3 percent. Internet portal provider Naver also soared 3.8 percent, and major c

MarketJuly 5, 2022

S. Korea's inflation at 24-year high in June; sharp rate hike in offing

South Korea's consumer prices rose at the fastest clip in nearly 24 years in June due mainly to soaring energy costs, data showed Tuesday, fanning expectations of a sharp rate hike this month. Consumer prices soared 6 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 5.4 percent on-year spike in May, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest inflation rate since a 6.8 percent jump in November 1998, when South Korea was in the midst of the 1997-98 Asian fi

EconomyJuly 5, 2022

Hangover drinks: What are the best choices and do they really work?

Whether it’s soju and beer with colleagues or wine with friends, drinking is an important part of socializing in South Korea. South Koreans drank an average of 8.3 liters of alcohol in 2019, according to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, citing OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Health Statistics 2021. Though the average amount of alcohol consumed by South Koreans is below the OECD average, 2014 data from market research firm Euromonitor foun

ConsumerJuly 4, 2022

Winds of change for Samsung’s militant work culture

A 6:30 a.m. commute bus, three nutritious meals a day at the cafeteria and a pride that runs deep for being a part of South Korea‘s largest and richest conglomerate have been among many features that captured the “Samsung man” -- trained to fit into the gigantic and somewhat militant organization. A shared goal of maintaining Samsung’s superiority has united its 270,000-member workforce so far, not to mention its hefty year-end incentives and other financial benefits fr

IndustryJuly 4, 2022

S. Korea hits record high power demand in June

Early sizzling temperatures that hit the country last month led to record-breaking electricity demand for the month of June, data showed Monday. According to Korea Power Exchange, the country’s average maximum power demand stood at 71,805 megawatts last month, up 4.3 percent on-year -- the highest since records began in June 2005. It is also the first year that the average maximum power demand surpassed 70,000 megawatts. The sudden surge of power consumption resulted from many household

IndustryJuly 4, 2022

Seoul shares down for 4th day to hit fresh 20-month low amid recession woes

South Korean stocks dipped for a fourth consecutive day to hit a fresh 20-month low Monday as investors worry the US Federal Reserve's move to curb inflation may trigger a deeper-than-expected economic recession. The local currency inched up against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.08 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 2,300.34, the lowest since 2,300.16 on Nov. 2, 2020. The index dipped to an intraday low of 2,276.63 points. Tradin

MarketJuly 4, 2022

[News Focus] Will Korea have authority of independent financial sanctions?

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is considering revising the law on foreign exchange transactions for the first time since it was legislated 23 years ago, officials said Monday, drawing market eyes to whether the government would be granted the authority to impose financial sanctions on overseas traders “independently.” Under the current law, the Korean government is only entitled to apply sanctions in accordance with the international community’s joint moves toward

EconomyJuly 4, 2022

Kospi tumbles to new low for the year

South Korea’s key stock index plummeted to a fresh low for the year in morning trade on Monday as recession fears grew ahead of the Bank of Korea’s rate-setting meeting scheduled next week. The benchmark Kospi opened 0.23 percent higher from the previous closing at 2,310.73, but soon fell below the 2,300-mark to hit a new low of 2,288.92 in morning trade. Kospi has plummeted some 22 percent since end-2021 -- when the index stood at 2,977.65 – as of end-June, weighed down by

MarketJuly 4, 2022

[Photo News] Frozen Assets

A worker moves a large block of ice at an ice making company in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. There is growing demand for ice as the nation suffers from a heat wave that came early this year.

IndustryJuly 4, 2022

[Newsmaker] 'Monkeypox test kits may not reap big rewards'

South Korean companies are dashing to develop diagnostic kits for monkeypox as the country confirmed the first case of the rare infectious disease last month. A number of firms that had success with the development of COVID-19 diagnostic kits in the earlier days of the pandemic, including Bioneer, Boditech Med, Genes Laboratories, Seasun Biomaterials, Seegene and Wells Bio, have already developed testing kits for monkeypox. According to companies, most Korean-made diagnostic kits can show th

TechnologyJuly 4, 2022

Korea, Japan business leaders echo urgent need for summit

The Federation of Korean Industries held a meeting with its Japanese counterpart Keidanren, or the Japan Business Federation, in Seoul on Monday after a three-year hiatus spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. The two business lobbies have held an annual meeting, known as the Korea-Japan Business Council, since 1982. However, the last two gatherings were postponed due to the protracted pandemic. Monday’s meeting saw more than 20 business leaders from the two countries coming together to dis

IndustryJuly 4, 2022

Policymakers to check for signs of recession ahead of rate hike

The Finance Ministry said Monday that the government would respond to any signs of economic weakness before it turns into a crisis by closely tracking indicators pointing to a worsening outlook, like inflation or recession, ahead of the Bank of Korea’s rate hike next week. The country’s five economic chiefs -- the finance minister, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s economic adviser and three separate chiefs from the central bank, top financial policymaker and financial watchdog -

EconomyJuly 4, 2022

Korean Police prepare for dystopian future with plans for power armor, robot dogs

South Korea’s National Police Agency appears to be preparing for the worst, as recent plans indicate the deployment of robot patrol dogs and body strengthening power armor within 30 years. The plans were part of a police policy outline obtained by Yonhap News Agency on police use of robotics, artificial intelligence and advanced mobility technologies, and extending operations to the metaverse. According to the policy outline, the national police force plans to deploy self-piloting robots

TechnologyJuly 4, 2022

Hyundai’s hydrogen drive faces dilemma

Despite Hyundai Motor Group’s aggressive push for green cars, there has been no clear sign of a breakthrough in its hydrogen drive in the past four years, with seemingly indefinite delays in new model launches.  According to industry sources, the carmaker has suspended plans to produce the next-generation Nexo, a hydrogen fuel cell SUV, which had been planned to be launched in the second quarter next year.  Nexo, succeeding the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell model Hyun

MobilityJuly 4, 2022

S. Korean icebreaker begins 13th Arctic mission

South Korea's sole icebreaker kicked off its 13th Arctic mission Monday to conduct research on clues about climate change in the North Pole, a local polar research institute said. The Araon left the western port of Incheon for a 92-day mission to study the causes of abnormal weather conditions there and the impact of global warming on its ecosystem, the Korea Polar Research Institute said. It is the Araon's first Arctic mission in three years, which had been delayed in the wake of the

EconomyJuly 4, 2022

‘SK Innovation’s green transformation has high potential for success’

SK Innovation’s green transformation strategy, announced a year ago, has “a very high potential for eventual success,” said one US scholar who cited its “clarity of purpose of vision,” “well-reasoned plan of execution” and an “intangible advantage of culture and management systems.” In a column published in SK Innovation’s SKinno News on Friday, Kannan Ramaswamy, chair professor of global strategy at Arizona State University’s Th

IndustryJuly 4, 2022

S. Korea's power demand hits new high in June amid hot weather

South Korea's electricity demand touched a fresh all-time high in June as the country was struck by an early heat wave, data showed Monday. The country's maximum power demand averaged 71,805 megawatts (MW) last month, up 4.3 percent from a year earlier and marking the highest tally for any June, according to the data from the Korea Power Exchange. June also represented the first time the figure has surpassed the 70,000-MW level for the month. The power exchange said unusually hot weath

EconomyJuly 4, 2022