NFTs: Korean companies' latest marketing tool

Non-fungible tokens have become the latest marketing tool by South Korean companies, as many of them are issuing the digital asset to garner attention from young customers. Hyundai Motor said Tuesday it will launch a new collection of 10,000 Shooting Star NFTs on May 9 through its NFT marketplace. The collection is a sequel to a short film released last month by the carmaker and Meta Kongz, a local blockchain technology platform company and the creator of an NFT brand of the same name. The la

TechnologyMay 3, 2022

Korea to tighten measures for ESS safety as batteries catch fire

The Energy Ministry on Tuesday proposed a new set of tightened measures to prevent lithium-ion batteries mounted on energy storage systems in South Korea from catching fire. The government will seek to revise the law to force battery vendors in Korea to make sure that the ESS field has ground-fault detectors to prevent current flow from running on the ground, a fire extinguishing system and devices to mitigate the internal pressure of a battery cell, in the event of a thermal runaway where the

TechnologyMay 3, 2022

Kakao Games Q1 net profit up 54% thanks to 'Odin,' better cost management

Kakao Games Corp., the gaming unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp., reported Tuesday its first-quarter net profit rose 54.2 percent on-year to 28.3 billion won ($22.3 million) thanks to the popularity of its mobile title "Odin Valhalla Rising" and improved cost management. Operating profit spiked 169.7 percent on-year to 42.1 billion won in the January-March period, while sales rose 104.7 percent to 266.3 billion won, according to a regulatory filing. A Kakao Games official sa

IndustryMay 3, 2022

Seoul shares edge higher amid market uncertainty ahead of Fed meeting

South Korean shares edged higher Tuesday, tracking a cue from overnight Wall Street gains, amid market uncertainty ahead of this week's US Federal Reserve meeting. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.20 points, or 0.01 percent, to trade at 2,687.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by half a percentage point this week, kicking off a series of aggressive rate hikes to tackle the highest inflation in decades. Overnig

MarketMay 3, 2022

KakaoBank's Q1 earnings jump 43.2% on increased customers

KakaoBank Corp., a South Korean internet-only bank, Tuesday reported a 43.2 percent jump in its first-quarter earnings as its customer base continued to expand amid the coronavirus pandemic. Net income came to 66.80 billion won (US$52.8 million) in the January-March period, compared with 46.66 billon won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit also surged 63.8 percent on-year to a record quarterly high of 88.41 billion won, with sales advancing 50.5 perc

IndustryMay 3, 2022

IT service provider LG CNS begins IPO process

South Korean information technology service provider LG CNS has kicked off the process of its initial public offering (IPO) that could take place as early as in the second half of this year, industry sources said Tuesday. LG CNS, a unit of South Korea's No. 4 conglomerate LG Group, sent a request for proposal to major domestic and overseas securities companies the previous day to choose the lead manager of the envisioned IPO. The company is known to have launched an in-house task force to prepar

IndustryMay 3, 2022

Inflation growth hits over 13-year high in April amid soaring fuel prices

South Korea's consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than 13 years in April amid soaring energy costs caused by Russia's war with Ukraine and a rebound in demand from the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Consumer prices spiked 4.8 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 4.1 percent on-year gain in March, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the fastest on-year rise since the same 4.8 percent increase in October 2008, when the country was in the midst

EconomyMay 3, 2022

Experts, businesses discuss building new reality, opportunity in metaverse

Experts and entrepreneurs got together in Seoul Monday to discuss the ways industries in South Korea and the US are enthusiastically embracing emerging technologies required for the metaverse, and the legal framework that is adapting to the new ecosystem in Korea. Taglined “The Rise of Metaverse and What It Holds for the Future,” the Metaverse Forum 2022, co-hosted by The Korea Herald, the nation’s largest English-language newspaper, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ko

TechnologyMay 2, 2022

Toss Bank becomes first Korean digital lender to allow foreigners to open accounts

Toss Bank is now the first South Korean internet-only bank to allow foreign residents here to open an online bank account, the lender said Monday. “Starting Monday, all foreigners here are able to open an account as long as they have their registration card,” Toss Bank said in a statement. Foreigners are offered the same service as locals, according to the bank, which was set up last year, four years after rivals Kbank and KakaoBank were launched in 2017. “For example, the d

IndustryMay 2, 2022

AMAXG begins DAO project to foster musical talents, pursue shared values

An affiliate of blockchain company AMAXG has begun a project to protect music copyrights, and find and foster musical talent through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). A DAO is a member-owned community without centralized leadership and represented by transparent rules fixed in computer code. DAO’s financial transaction records and program rules are maintained on a blockchain. AMAXG IX, AMAXG Group’s affiliate specializing in DAOs, said it has begun the BIZA M DAO proje

TechnologyMay 2, 2022

[Photo News] K-Noodle expansion

Shin Dong-won, chairman of South Korea’s largest instant noodle maker Nongshim, looks around the company‘s second factory in US in this photo released Monday. According to Nongshim, the new factory located in Rancho Cucamonga, California can produce up to 350 million instant noodles per year. The Korean noodle maker said it aims to reach annual sales of $800 million (1.01 trillion won) in the US by 2025 after it garnered $395 million in sales last year.

ConsumerMay 2, 2022

Trade balance worsens from China, Russia factors

SEJONG -- South Korea’s trade-related officials are striving to overcome the worsening trade balance in the wake of declining exports to major destinations, including China and Russia, from a variety of incidents. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo on Monday presided over a meeting to map out countermeasures against external negative factors which involve China’s possible lockdown of more major cities aside from Shanghai against variants of COVID-19 and the war between Ukraine and Russia.

EconomyMay 2, 2022

Authorities, Woori Bank missed W61b swindle despite 11 audits

South Korea’s financial authorities failed to notice a mammoth embezzlement scheme at a top bank here, in which an employee withdrew a combined 61.4 billion won ($48.84 million) from 2012 to 2018, despite carrying out 11 audits during the period, sources said Monday. 　 Police arrested the employee surnamed Jeon, who is in his 40s, last Wednesday mere hours after Woori Bank had reported the theft. Jeon -- who had worked at Woori Bank for almost a decade -- turned himself in. The employee

MarketMay 2, 2022

[LIVE] The Korea Herald, AmCham Korea hold Metaverse Forum 2022

With the growing buzz around the metaverse driven by every sector of industry around the world, The Korea Herald and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Korea are co-hosting a forum to discuss what the hyper-interactive virtual world holds for the future.The two-hour forum invites a number of business leaders and experts, who are leading the rise of the metaverse to share their insights on the recent frenzy and how it will shape the next generation digital era.Steve Park, Faceboo

BusinessMay 2, 2022

Meritz Securities Q1 net jumps 33% on IBs, investment gains

Major South Korean securities firm Meritz Securities Co. said Monday its first-quarter net profit rose 33.4 percent from a year ago on the back of good performance at its investment banking unit (IB) and solid returns from its investment. Net profit stood at a quarterly record of 282.4 billion won ($224.9 million) in the January-March period, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its operating income rose 32.4 percent on-year to a record high of 376.9 billion won in the quarter, and revenue s

IndustryMay 2, 2022

Seoul shares open sharply lower on Wall Street plunge

South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Monday, as investors here are concerned about a sharp dip on Wall Street last week that stemmed from weaker-than-expected earnings reports from market heavyweights and persistent woes over the Fed's aggressive tightening. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 21.35 points, or 0.79 percent, to trade at 2,673.7 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 4.17 percent on investors' fears about the tightening US m

MarketMay 2, 2022

GS Caltex, Posco International team up for biofuel push

South Korean refiner GS Caltex said Sunday it has teamed up with Posco International, the trading unit of steel giant Posco, to make a big push into the burgeoning biofuel market amid growing calls for emissions cuts globally. Under the deal, the two firms seek to build an extensive biofuel value chain combining GS Caltex’s manufacturing technology and Posco International’s refinery infrastructure. As the first step, the two firms agreed to build a biodiesel plant along with refi

IndustryMay 1, 2022

How will Hyundai’s entry reshape used car market?

South Korea’s used car market, which has long been dominated by brick-and-mortar dealers, is bracing for a major change after large companies, especially carmakers with extensive sales networks and quality control systems, have gotten the green light to enter the market starting next year.  Industry watchers are pinning high hopes on the fresh entry of large companies -- the outcome of a 10-year tug of war -- to drastically improve transparency in the whole transaction process to be

IndustryMay 1, 2022

The Korea Herald, AmCham Korea to hold Metaverse Forum 2022

With the growing buzz around the metaverse driven by every sector of industry around the world, The Korea Herald and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Korea are co-hosting a forum on Monday to discuss what the hyper-interactive virtual world holds for the future. The two-hour forum, held from 1 p.m. at Four Seasons Seoul, has invited a number of business leaders and experts, who are leading the rise of the metaverse to share their insights on the recent frenzy and how it will shape

TechnologyMay 1, 2022

Seegene eyes US facility for molecular diagnostics

South Korea biotech firm Seegene is expected to build production facilities for molecular diagnostics in West Coast of the US in a bid to expand its presence in the all-important market, its US chief hinted in a recent media interview. “Seegene Technologies will move beyond serving as a distribution channel of Seegene-made products and self-produce bio products tailored to the needs of the US market,” Richard S. Creager, CEO of the US affiliate Seegene Technologies, said in an int

IndustryMay 1, 2022