[Newsmaker] McDonald’s seeks to sell Korean branch again

McDonald’s, the world’s largest burger chain by revenue, is seeking a buyer to take over the Korean business it wholly owns, six years after its first attempt, which fell apart after a local dairy company backed out. “We’re looking for a strategic partner who could help our business here grow. We’re looking at several options with outside advisers,” a McDonald’s Korea official said Friday, declining to elaborate on details. Mirae Asset Securities will

IndustryJune 10, 2022

Police decline to refer Samsung chief to prosecution for alleged employment violation

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has steered clear of a legal risk involving his alleged violation of a restriction on his employment that is effective until 2026. The Seoul Metropolitan Police decided not to refer the case involving the 53-year-old de facto leader of the South Korea-based tech giant to the prosecution, considering he was not paid for his casual work as an unregistered director, according to activist groups on Friday. Seven civil activist groups, including the C

TechnologyJune 10, 2022

Gas prices likely to hit record-high in weeks

SEJONG -- Gasoline prices in South Korea are likely to hit an all-time high in the coming weeks in the wake of another spike in international crude prices, with prices climbing for more than 30 consecutive days. According to the Korea National Oil Corp., the nation’s benchmark gasoline price reached 2,055.11 won ($1.62) per liter on Friday. After posting 1,931.86 won on May 6, its price tag rose for the 35th consecutive day. Some market insiders are issuing the possibility that the price

EconomyJune 10, 2022

Lotte taps former Samsung Biologics exec to lead bio business

Lotte Biologics has picked Lee Won-jik, a former Samsung Biologics executive, to lead its bio business as the company’s CEO. Born in 1977, Lee has over two decades of experience in global biologics and the pharmaceuticals industry, including working at the US Department of Health and Human Services and Bristol Myers Squibb. Before he joined Lotte in August, Lee was the head of Samsung Biologics’ drug product business unit. Lotte Biologics and its new CEO will officially debut at

IndustryJune 10, 2022

KB chief, Danish envoy discuss finance industry’s role in carbon neutrality

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo and Tomas Anker Christensen, Denmark’s ambassador for climate change, discussed the role of the financial sector in achieving carbon neutrality, officials said Friday. In the meeting held Thursday, Yoon explained KB’s efforts in promoting awareness of a low-carbon economy and shifting the group’s strategy in line with carbon neutrality. KB is currently pursuing its net-zero goals with a strategy called “KB Net Zero S.T.A.R,&rdq

MarketJune 10, 2022

DataStreams to join state-led big data project on infectious diseases

South Korean data processing solution developer DataStreams said Wednesday that it has been chosen as a preferred bidder by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency, or NIA, to participate in a project to create a big data platform for infectious diseases. DataStreams is currently in negotiations with the NIA and is set to officially sign the deal later this month. The project worth 7 billion won ($5.5 million) will create a database to integrate informatio

TechnologyJune 10, 2022

Kyobo Life Insurance to issue $500m in hybrids

Kyobo Life Insurance Co., a major life insurer in South Korea, said Friday it will issue $500 million worth of hybrid bonds next week in a bid to further bolster its financial health. The 30-year bonds will all be sold to offshore investors Wednesday and will carry an annual interest rate of 5.9 percent and a call option after five years, said the country's third-largest life insurance company. Hybrid bonds, which combine both debt and equity features, help financial institutions raise thei

IndustryJune 10, 2022

Jin Air to bring back B777 to Jeju route amid surging travel demand

Jin Air Co., the budget carrier unit of Korean Air Lines Co., said Friday it is resuming the operation of its mid-to-large B777-200ER airplane starting this weekend to meet growing travel demand amid eased COVID-19 restrictions. The aircraft will be added to the Gimpo-Jeju route Sunday, about 16 months after its suspension over the outbreak of the pandemic, the company said in a release. The same plane will also be put into service for international routes in July to meet surging travel demand e

IndustryJune 10, 2022

BOK chief emphasizes timely action to tame inflation, hints at more rate hikes

South Korea's top central banker on Friday emphasized the importance of timely action to fight rising inflation in the latest hint at further rate hikes amid worries that prices could fast rise amid high energy and commodity prices. Gov. Rhee Chang-yong of the Bank of Korea (BOK) made the case for the role of central banks as inflation fighters at a time when global upward inflation pressure has been mounting for a significant period of time. "In the short term, rate hikes could increa

EconomyJune 10, 2022

Seoul shares open steeply lower on inflation woes

Seoul shares opened steeply lower Friday, taking a cue from an overnight US stock plunge amid concerns about inflation and a slowdown in the global economy. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 27.48 points, or 1.05 percent, to 2,597.96 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investors are bracing themselves for the release of US inflation data later on Friday (US time). The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite retreated 2.75 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.94 per

MarketJune 10, 2022

Yoon’s economic policy direction to be unveiled next week

SEJONG -- The nation’s fiscal chief said Thursday that the Ministry of Economy and Finance will unveil the economic policy direction of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration next week, which highlights a full-fledged deregulation scheme for businesses as well as measures to tame inflation. At a ministerial meeting at the government complex, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho commented on the external uncertainty, which involves a slowdown in global economic recovery and p

EconomyJune 9, 2022

Seoul shares down for 3rd day ahead of US inflation data

Seoul shares fell for a third straight session Thursday, largely as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the release of US inflation data later this week and amid woes over an economic slowdown. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 0.71 points, or 0.03 percent, to close at 2,625.44 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 806 million shares worth some 10.6 trillion won (US$8.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering lose

MarketJune 9, 2022

Hyundai Steel develops high-quality alloy steel for EVs

Hyundai Steel said Thursday it has developed high-quality alloy steel that reduces noise emitted by electric vehicles. The steelmaking technology was jointly developed with Hyundai Motor Group and its affiliate, Kia, and was certified as a New Excellent Technology (NET) by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The company said reducers made of the alloy steel enhances thermal management of car batteries by 48 percent compared to other steels and reduces the sound of shifting gears. It a

IndustryJune 9, 2022

Businesses cornered as cargo truckers’ strike disrupts supply

Manufacturers in the fields of auto, steel and construction that rely heavily on supply deliveries via freight trucks expressed concerns over intensifying logistics disruptions caused by a unionized cargo drivers’ strike on Thursday.  According to the industry on Thursday, the country’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Group has suspended operations of four factories inside its Ulsan plant due to delay in auto parts supply. Some 6,000 units of vehicles, including flagship model

IndustryJune 9, 2022

[Photo News] Minister in self-driving car

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong gives a thumbs-up during a test operation of Hyundai Motor’s level 4 autonomous car-hailing service RoboRide, delivered by Ioniq 5 in Gangnam, Seoul, Thursday. The carmaker said it will run the service via car-hailing service application i.M. between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to minimize inconvenience of commuters. Up to three passengers can use the service, including one person able to drive the vehicle in case of an emergency. Level

MobilityJune 9, 2022

Behind the success story of K-beauty brand Barenbliss in Southeast Asia

Budding cosmetics brand Barenbliss is garnering success in the Southeast Asian market, seeing rapid growth in online sales and receiving rave reviews from local media less than a year into its debut. In an interview with The Korea Herald, Barenbliss co-founder Jina Kim attributed her brand’s success to its “unique philosophy and insightful observations.” “Every product was produced on the basis of Bare Essential Plus, No Harm Plus, and Bliss Moment, the philosophies

ConsumerJune 9, 2022

LG Uplus to launch AI voicebot, recommendation tools

South Korean telecommunications carrier LG Uplus is poised to discover more commercial use cases of artificial intelligence, as it looks to launch a voicebot for mom-and-pop stores and a personalized recommendation system for its TV viewers and online shoppers, its data head told a news conference on Thursday. LG Uplus aims to launch a new conversational voicebot service that understands the natural speech of human customers and interacts with them by as early as August this year. This differe

TechnologyJune 9, 2022

High school students invited to Korea Economics Olympiad

High school students are invited to compete in the 2022 Korea Economics Olympiad, which is held to select entrants for the International Economics Olympiad (IEO). The IEO is an annual competition for high school students in economics. Held since 2018, the IEO’s activities are designed to stimulate creative problem-solving skills among students interested in economics, business and finance. It is supported by Nobel laureate Eric Maskin and Higher School of Economics. The KEO, hosted by th

IndustryJune 9, 2022

KT vows to spend W27tr on network, AI, cloud over 5 years

South Korean telecommunications giant KT said Thursday it plans to spend a combined 27 trillion won ($21.5 billion) in the field of network infrastructure, artificial intelligence and cloud computing over the next five years until 2026. KT, Korea‘s largest telecommunications firm by revenue as of 2021, also pledged to hire 28,000 employees during the same period. The 12 trillion won package will be used for AI, cloud computing and media contents. KT will hone AI-powered products such a

TechnologyJune 9, 2022

Merck completes expansion of OLED facilities in Pyeongtaek

Merck Korea, the local subsidiary of the German science and technology giant, said Thursday that it has completed expansion work of its local production plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. In October 2020, the company announced plans to invest 20 million euros ($21 million) into expanding facilities at the plant to produce key materials for organic light-emitting diode displays that had been imported from Germany. “We can now quickly respond to customer requests and demands in Asia

TechnologyJune 9, 2022