Vice finance minister pledges preemptive response to market volatility

SEJONG -- Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon on Friday reiterated policymakers’ willingness to intervene promptly to stabilize the capital and currency markets.　 During a meeting to take countermeasures against the US Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening, Lee said that “there is a high possibility that Korea’s financial and foreign exchange market will react sensitively to external factors for the time being.” His remarks came after the Fed raised the US base rat

EconomyMay 6, 2022

SKT, SK Square invest W50b in metaverse game maker

SK Group’s telecom carrier SK Telecom and investment unit SK Square are investing 50 billion won ($39 million) in game maker Haegin to strengthen its competitiveness in the AI and metaverse service, companies said Friday.  With each contributing 25 billion won, the two ICT subsidiaries of SK Group will step up as the third largest shareholder of Haegin.  Haegin, a games company established in 2017 by Lee Young-il, has launched four games globally such as Play Together, a Korea

IndustryMay 6, 2022

Seoul city to invest W612b to beef up public medical services

The Seoul city government said Friday it will invest a total of 612 billion won ($479.7 million) over the next four years to beef up the city's public medical services, including the construction of three new city-run hospitals. The project was launched amid growing calls for an expansion of the public health system to deal with health crisis situations, such the COVID-19 pandemic, and meet the needs of the less privileged, city officials said. Under the plan, a 600-bed capacity general hospital

EconomyMay 6, 2022

SK shieldus scraps IPO plans on poor market sentiment

South Korean cybersecurity service provider SK shieldus Co. withdrew its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) Friday, citing lackluster investor confidence. SK shieldus, the cybersecurity arm of South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom Co., said it had submitted a delisting notice to the Financial Supervisory Service the same day, about a month after reporting an IPO plan in late March. The decision came as the company received lackluster response from domestic and foreign institutional inv

IndustryMay 6, 2022

S. Korea vows 'preemptive' steps against market volatility after Fed's rate hike

South Korea's finance ministry vowed Friday to seek preemptive measures, if needed, to tackle market volatility "in an aggressive and swift manner" following the US central bank's half-point rate hike. On Wednesday (US time), the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rates by a half-percentage point to curb the country's worst inflation in about four decades. The increase was the sharpest in 22 years. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said 50-basis point rate hikes &quo

EconomyMay 6, 2022

Seoul shares open sharply lower after Fed's rate hike

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Friday, as investors fret over an economic downturn after the US Federal Reserve raised the interest rate to tame high inflation. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 34.89 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,642.68 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Fed hiked the short-term rate by the widely expected 0.5 percentage point in its policy meeting Wednesday (US time). Shares in Seoul declined across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electro

MarketMay 6, 2022

[Newsmaker] US Fed makes biggest rate increase since 2000 to fight inflation

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its biggest rate hike since 2000, with a half percentage point increase as it works to crush soaring US inflation. With inflation at the highest rate in four decades, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sent a message directly to the American people, expressing concern for the pain caused by rising prices, and pledging to use all available tools to bring them down. But he told reporters he remains confident the economy is strong enough to

EconomyMay 5, 2022

Legoland opens after decade of delays

A Legoland theme park opened to the public on Children’s Day, Thursday, in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, 11 years after the deal was signed between the local government and Merlin Entertainments. Merlin, the world’s second-largest operator of visitor attractions behind Walt Disney, had faced opening delays several times because the joint project attracted little capital from local investors and hit a snag over what to do with ancient artifacts found on the site where the park was be

IndustryMay 5, 2022

AmCham Korea chairman offers tips for expanding business in US

James Kim, chairman and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, shared his insight into doing business in the US at the Global Business Forum, highlighting the need to understand the two countries’ different dynamics. The forum was hosted by The Korea Herald on Wednesday in Seoul. In his special lecture, titled “Act to Win: How to Connect Korea and the US,” he said Korean companies should understand their selling points to expand business opportunities in the US, es

IndustryMay 5, 2022

Lotte trademarks Lotte Biologics in new bio push

South Korea’s retail giant Lotte Group has registered the trademark of “Lotte Biologics” with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, signaling the conglomerate’s official enter the bio industry. According to the KIPO, Lotte Holdings applied for Lotte Biologics’ patent last week with business areas including customized manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, drug processing and medical diagnostic devices for virus testing. “Registering the trademark of Lotte

ConsumerMay 5, 2022

Hyundai’s first all-electric Ioniq 5 marks first year of success

Hyundai Motor’s first all-electric vehicle Ioniq 5 is set to hit some 90,000 unit sales globally since its launch a year ago. According to the carmaker on Thursday, the electric midsize crossover utility vehicle sold 88,871 units – 33,212 units at home and 55,658 units abroad – as of March this year. The Ioniq 5 made its debut in April last year, becoming the first car to be running on Hyundai’s own EV platform, called the Electric-Global Modular Platform, or E-GMP.

MobilityMay 5, 2022

Gimpo Airport to resume international flights in June

Gimpo International Airport in Seoul is resuming the long-stalled operation of international flights from June, starting with popular routes between South Korea and Japan. According to the Transport Ministry on Thursday, several South Korean and Japanese air carriers such as Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have filed applications to resume international flights at the airport. Gimpo Airport in western Seoul, one of the nation’s main gateways along with

MobilityMay 5, 2022

Korea to pour W877b into pharma industry

SEJONG -- The Korean government has decided to inject 877.7 billion won ($693 million) into the pharmaceutical industry which will be used for the development of new drugs, especially medicines and vaccines for variants of COVID-19, and fostering the nation’s bio-related manpower. The government also plans to support businesses which have been developing innovative vaccines or other medicines by raising the so-called “K-global vaccine fund” worth 500 billion won, officials sai

IndustryMay 5, 2022

[UP IN THE AIR] Korean startup aims to boost UAM battery capacity with hybrid technology

Flying is a common mode of transport when it comes to domestic travel. Whether it’s for business or pleasure, people need to travel to the nearest provincial airport to visit other cities. That’s an extra one or two hours of traveling, in addition to the flight time. But according to Plana, a South Korean startup dedicated to building vertical takeoff and landing aircraft powered by hybrid e-powertrains, UAM can dramatically reduce travel time, as they can easily take off inside t

MobilityMay 5, 2022

Creditors of Edison EV file for company's bankruptcy amid failed SsangYong acquisition

Edison EV, an affiliate South Korean electric vehicle maker Edison Motors Co., said Wednesday its creditors have filed for the company's bankruptcy with a local court, amid the parent company's recent failure in completing a deal to acquire SsangYong Motors Co. Edison EV said in a regulatory filing that eight creditors of the company have filed for the company's bankruptcy with Suwon District Court. The company said its outstanding corporate bonds amounted to 3.6 billon won ($2.84 million). Th

IndustryMay 4, 2022

11st CEO pledges to enhance corporate value before IPO

Aiming to become a next Coupang, e-commerce platform 11st said Wednesday that it would work on raising its corporate value before its market debut slated for next year. “Based on our premium e-commerce service and joint membership service with SK Telecom, we will expand our business, boost sales and garner traction within the market this year,” said Ha Hyung-il, CEO of 11st. Ha said the company will strengthen its cross-border online shopping segment, Amazon Global Store, which wa

ConsumerMay 4, 2022

S. Koreans think ideal ‘workcation’ should last 12.8 days: survey

If given a chance to work remotely while on holiday, South Koreans said about 13 days a year may be enough for the so-called “workcation,” according to a survey on Wednesday. The findings of the survey, conducted by online accommodation bookings platform Good Choice among 350 respondents, showed pollsters picked an average of 12.8 days as ideal for a workcation. Most of them said they have yet to experience the new work trend, but over 90 percent said they would give it a go if they

IndustryMay 4, 2022

HDC to rebuild collapsed Gwangju apartment to restore public trust

HDC Group Chairman Chung Mong-gyu said Wednesday that HDC Hyundai Development Co. would demolish and rebuild an apartment complex in Gwangju that claimed nine lives in January from a fatal collapse caused by loose safety.  “Following the request of residents who were expected to move in to the apartment complex in Gwangju, HDC Hyundai Development Co. decided to entirely demolish all of eight buildings of the complex and rebuild I-Park from scratch,” said Chung during a press c

IndustryMay 4, 2022

Number of teens holding Samsung Electronics shares hits record high

The number of South Koreans who are 19 and below and hold shares in Samsung Electronics reached 358,257 in December last year, a record high, according to the Korea Securities Depository. That number accounts for 7.07 percent of all shareholders and 0.25 percent of the total shares the tech giant has issued. The shares the teenagers held at the time amounted to 1.1 trillion won ($891 million), which is equal to 971 billion at Tuesday’s closing share price. The rise in the number of teen

MarketMay 4, 2022

Korea far outstrips G20 average in growth of collective debt

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the ratio of collective debt -- held by the government, household and corporate sector -- to its gross domestic product climb sharply over the past few years since 2017, and even during the pandemic. Further, the nation’s collective debt-to-GDP ratio was found to have continued to rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while the G20 countries on average saw a decline in the figure, a local research institute said Wednesday, citing the Bank for International Settlements

EconomyMay 4, 2022