Daewoo E&C eyes bigger presence in US

Daewoo Engineering & Construction has teamed up with its parent company Jungheung Group to accelerate its business expansion in the all-important US market. According to Daewoo E&C on Monday, Jungheung Group Vice Chairman Jung Won-ju and its business delegation signed a memorandum of understanding with the city of Carrollton, Texas last Thursday to carry out development projects in the US city. Carrollton, located near Dallas, has one of the most developed Korean American communities

IndustryMay 9, 2022

Calls grow for revival of Korea-US currency swap deal

Ahead of the scheduled South Korea-US summit next week, some lawmakers and experts have been calling for a revival of the bilateral currency swap as a countermeasure to the growing signs of a weakening won, reports said Monday. South Korean market was rattled on Friday when its local currency hit its lowest point in over two years, trading at 1,272.7 won against the US greenback at around 3:30 p.m. It eclipsed the previous low of 1,285.7 won against the US dollar reached in March 19, 2020 when

EconomyMay 9, 2022

[Photo News] Diesel price spike

A board shows diesel retail price surpassing gasoline price at a gas station in Daejeon on Monday amid growing concerns over rising diesel prices due to an inventory shortage and a lower tax cut than for gasoline.

IndustryMay 9, 2022

One Store out to challenge Google, Apple app store monopolies with IPO

South Korea’s homegrown app marketplace One Store aims to challenge Google and Apple, two US tech giants that enjoy a near-monopoly in the whopping 300 trillion won ($235 billion) app store market globally, with its forthcoming stock market debut here. One Store, the nation’s sole operator of an app store of the same name, is a merged entity of the nation’s four app stores that was previously operated separately by SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus and Naver. Now it is an affiliate of

TechnologyMay 9, 2022

Hyundai Motor to build LNG plant for power supply, emissions goals

Hyundai Motor Group will construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cogeneration facility inside its automotive manufacturing plant in Ulsan to secure a stable power supply while reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the carmaker on Monday, it plans to digest over 70 percent of annual electricity used at the country’s largest automotive plant through the new LNG power facility. The new facility, comprising two gas turbines and one steam turbine, will have th

MobilityMay 9, 2022

Hanbok, soju and kimbab added to global trademark list

The Korean Intellectual Property Office said Monday that six Korean product names will be added to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Nice classification in June.　 The Nice Classification, established in the French port city of Nice in 1957, is a classification system that lists trademarks of products and services used internationally. It is updated every five years and has been ratified by 91 countries. KIPO proposed to add 10 names of Korean products at the WIPO committee

IndustryMay 9, 2022

LG Chem, KIST develop tech for efficient carbon dioxide conversion

LG Chem and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have developed a technology that efficiently turns carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which is used to produce alternative fuels and plastic. The two parties have developed an electrochemical reactor for converting carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide at the highest level of efficiency through joint research, the company said. Carbon monoxide is needed to produce alternative fuel sources such as synthesis gas and methanol, as we

TechnologyMay 9, 2022

Jeju Air to resume Busan-Singapore route next month

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Monday it will resume the Busan-Singapore route next month as eased virus restrictions unleash pent-up demand. Jeju Air will offer two flights a week on the Singapore route from June 24 after it suspended the route 28 months ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement. Singapore currently allows fully vaccinated travelers to visit the country without a quarantine period. Jeju Air also plans to resume two flights a week on th

IndustryMay 9, 2022

Asiana to expand flights to Europe amid eased virus curbs

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest carrier, said Monday it will expand flights on its European routes later this month as eased virus restrictions unleash pent-up demand. Asiana Airlines will increase flights on the routes from Incheon to Frankfurt and London beginning May 28 and May 30, respectively, the company said in a statement. The carrier will resume the routes from Incheon to Paris and Rome on June 18 and June 22, respectively, while planning to resume flights on routes f

IndustryMay 9, 2022

Seoul shares open lower on recession woes

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday on concerns over a global economic downturn amid high inflation and the prolonged shutdown of major Chinese cities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 5.32 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,639.19 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, US shares fell as investors were worried about the Federal Reserve's belt-tightening to curb inflation and the subsequent impact on the economic growth. The Dow Jones Industri

MarketMay 9, 2022

Extra budget for small businesses to be Yoon’s first economic move

The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government is set to reveal an extra budget later this week as the president-elect had promised to support the self-employed and small businesses that COVID-19 hit the hardest. Yoon takes office Tuesday. “The budget will be rolled out at the earliest day possible once the new government takes over,” said Choo Kyung-ho, Yoon’s finance minister nominee who will double as deputy prime minister. The Yoon government is expected to use at least 33 trilli

EconomyMay 8, 2022

[From the Scene] Recycling used EV batteries for Jeju carbon neutrality

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- For Jeju, the goal of achieving carbon neutrality will not be achieved only through promoting electric vehicles, solar and wind energy, but also from recycling used batteries. The EV Battery Industrialization Center of Jeju Technopark is on a mission to extend the resort island‘s green efforts by collecting used EV batteries and reusing them. The agency is the only public entity, funded by both the local and central government, in South Korea seeking ways to make t

IndustryMay 8, 2022

Number of ‘supercars’ worth W300m quadruples over 6 years

Over 5,000 “supercars,” those worth around 300 million won ($230,000), have been registered as corporate cars in South Korea, according to the National Assembly Budget Office on Sunday. The data showed that the number of super expensive imported cars bought by corporations have quadrupled over the past six years from 1,172 to 5,075 units. Since 2016, the number of corporate supercars have shown an average increase of 32.2 percent. Imported cars worth between 200 and 300 million wo

MobilityMay 8, 2022

[Market Eye] Will Lee Jae-yong’s return revitalize Samsung?

 Even as it reported record revenue over the last three quarters, shares in Samsung Electronics have fallen over the past year, indicating weak market confidence in the tech giant’s prospects as inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threaten the general economy. Not all is well at the company, despite the strong bottom line. The memory chip business is suffering from weak pricing, and its chip foundry investments are lagging behind rivals TSMC and Intel. Meanwhile it is s

TechnologyMay 8, 2022

Single-person households spend more on alcohol: report

South Korea’s single-person households proportionally spent more on alcohol than households with two or more people last year, a report showed Sunday. According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute’s report that analyzed the Statistics Korea’s data from 2021, single-person households spent 10.6 percent of their processed food spending on buying alcoholic beverages, whereas households with two or more people allocated 7.3 percent. The report showed that younger people living

ConsumerMay 8, 2022

SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom forge metaverse alliance

South Korea’s No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom said Sunday it has inked a strategic alliance with German counterpart Deutsche Telekom to bring its metaverse platform to European market. SK Telecom said in a statement the two companies will carry out a field test for metaverse operation in Europe before the end of 2022, create contents that work on the virtual world and implement a marketing for metaverse migration in Europe. SK Telecom premiered an international version of its own ifland m

TechnologyMay 8, 2022

Shinhan chief, UK minister discuss climate efforts in financial sector

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byeong met with the UK Environment Minister Zac Goldsmith and British Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks to discuss the role of the finance sector in combating climate change and biodiversity loss, the firm said Sunday. In the meeting held Friday, Goldsmith was briefed on Shinhan’s Zero-Carbon Drive, which includes the banking group’s goal to reduce carbon emissions by 46 percent in 2030 and 88 percent in 2040 in line with the landmark 2016 P

MarketMay 8, 2022

Hyundai Motor opens future mobility studio in Montana

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday its future mobility unit, called Hyundai New Horizons Studio, has opened a new research center in Bozeman, Montana.  With about 25 billion won ($20 million) being invested, the center will serve as the unit’s headquarters and oversee the development of “Ultimate Mobility Vehicles” or UMV for the South Korean auto giant’s futuristic push.  Hyundai New Horizons Studio, established in September 2020, aims to redefine transportatio

IndustryMay 6, 2022

US Fed’s rate hikes pose dilemma for S. Korea

The US Federal Reserve’s biggest rate hike in 22 years poses a dilemma for South Korea’s central bank in adjusting the pace of its monetary tightening and for local businesses seeking to go public, experts said Friday. The Fed’s decision to raise its base rate by half a percentage point on Wednesday (Eastern Standard Time) that set its target federal funds rate to a range between 0.75 percent and 1 percent has presented new hurdles for the Bank of Korea, which is wary of the g

EconomyMay 6, 2022

SK Shieldus withdraws IPO on jittery market sentiment

SK Shieldus, the South Korean security service subsidiary of SK Group’s ICT arm SK Square, said on Friday that it has scrapped its plans for market debut, citing dampened investor sentiment. “We have submitted a delisting notice to the Financial Supervisory Service because the recent demand forecasting, which decides initial public offering prices, showed that our corporate value may not be well received,” the company said. Stressing that market sentiment has turned sour fol

TechnologyMay 6, 2022