Kia joins Dutch campaign on plastic wastes from sea

Kia has partnered up with The Ocean Cleanup, a Netherlands-based nonprofit engineering environmental organization, to remove plastic wastes from the sea for a sustainable Earth, according to Kia on Thursday. The Ocean Cleanup develops cleanup systems to remove floating pieces of plastic caught in what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean -- and also scalable solutions to efficiently intercept plastic in rivers before it reaches

IndustryApril 28, 2022

Hanwha chief, Heritage Foundation chairman discuss geopolitics, bilateral ties

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn on Wednesday met with Edwin Feulner, the founder of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based policy think tank, in Seoul and exchanged views on ongoing geopolitical issues affecting the global economy. 　 The latest meeting between Kim and Feulner took place as the American scholar visited Seoul for a conference. The two have maintained their friendship for over 40 years, according to officials. The two discussed a wide range of issues from price hikes o

IndustryApril 28, 2022

Amorepacific Q1 profit drops on weak duty-free, overseas sales

South Korea’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific Group said Thursday its first-quarter net profit plummeted on-year by 13.4 percent to 171.2 billion won ($134.6 million), as sales dropped in duty-free business and in the Asian market due to the coronavirus pandemic. The group’s sales revenue decreased to 1.3 trillion won, down 9 percent in the cited period. Amorepacific Group’s domestic sales, accounting for approximately 60 percent of the total sales, decreased by 9.9 percent to

ConsumerApril 28, 2022

Samsung SDI posts earnings surprise in Q1

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI on Thursday reported its best-ever quarterly earnings for the January-March period, with sales exceeding 4 trillion won ($3.1 billion) for the first time. In the first three months of this year, revenue surged 36.7 percent from a year prior to 4.04 trillion won, while operating profits more than doubled to 322.3 billion won. Despite supply chain disruptions and rising materials costs, the company said it could offset the impact by selling more value-add

IndustryApril 28, 2022

Outgoing fiscal chief hints at FX intervention over weakening won

SEJONG -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday sent a signal that the financial authority would move to intervene in the foreign exchange market as the Korean currency sharply lost value against the US dollar recently. During a meeting to map out countermeasures against the current economic situation in Seoul, Hong said the won lost ground against the dollar at a fast pace this week. The rising dollar prices were attributed to the possibility of faster-than-expect

EconomyApril 28, 2022

Kumho Tire to participate in global tire exhibitions

South Korean tire maker Kumho Tire said Thursday that it will participate in two international tire exhibitions that will kick off in Europe. Kumho Tire will showcase its products at the Tire Cologne 2022 set to be held in Cologne, Germany between May 24 and 26, and at the Autopromotec 2022, slated to take place in Bologna, Italy, between May 25 and 28. Kumho Tire will display its high-performing, summer, winter, all season, truck and bus, electric vehicle and future concept tires, according t

MobilityApril 28, 2022

Retail sales up 7% in March amid worst COVID-19 wave

Retail sales in South Korea rose 7.1 percent in March from a year earlier on the back of growing demand for foodstuff, daily items and luxury goods amid the worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry ministry said Thursday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 13.69 trillion won ($10.81 billion) last month, up from 12.8 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Sales from offline stores rose 6.

EconomyApril 28, 2022

S. Korea's auto exports edge down in Q1

South Korea's exports of autos declined for the first time in seven quarters in the January-March period amid global supply chain disruptions and Russia's war with Ukraine, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments of cars came to $10.93 billion in the first quarter, down 0.6 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Autos accounted for some 7 percent of South Korea's exports. It marked the first on-year fall since the second qu

EconomyApril 28, 2022

Samsung Electronics profit jumps 51% on strong server chip demand, S22 Ultra sales

South Korean chip-to-consumer electronics giant Samsung Electronics posted a record quarterly revenue for three quarters in a row and logged a 51 percent increase in operating profit in the first quarter, its earnings guidance showed Thursday. Samsung Electronics said the solid chip demand for servers and high-end applications, as well as strong sales of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which started replacing its Note lineup this year, dwarfed macroeconomic uncertainties and supply chain issues due to Ru

TechnologyApril 28, 2022

[Graphic News] Incheon Airport becomes world’s No. 2 in cargo handling

　Incheon Airport, the main gateway to South Korea, became the world’s second-busiest cargo airport in 2021, up one notch from the previous year, a trade body said. 　Incheon International Airport handled 3.23 million tons of international cargo, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Airports Council International. 　The airport, some 40 kilometers west of Seoul, ranked third in the world in terms of international cargo handling in 2019 and 2020. 　Hong Kong International A

BusinessApril 28, 2022

Seoul shares open slightly higher amid Fed rate hike woes

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday as worries about an economic slowdown from the US Federal Reserve's widely expected interest rate hikes sapped investor appetite despite reports of sound corporate earnings this week. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 9.57 points, or 0.36 percent to trade at 2,648.63 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares traded mixed across the board. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics was up 0.15 percent to 65,100 won, after reportin

MarketApril 28, 2022

S. Korea to stabilize FX market amid won's sharp weakness: minister

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday the government plans to take measures to stabilize the foreign exchange market, if needed, as the Korean currency has fallen against the US dollar at a fast pace. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the verbal intervention as the Korean currency hit an over two-year low against the greenback Wednesday amid heightened external economic uncertainty. "The government is closely monitoring the FX market in a bid to curb (the won's) excessive o

MarketApril 28, 2022

Hyundai Mobis taps ex-Mitsubishi exec to head Japan unit

Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts making unit of Hyundai Motor Group, said Wednesday it had tapped Yukihiro Hattori and Ryoichi Adachi as president and vice president of Hyundai Mobis Japan to strengthen sales and the intake of orders there. Hattori, who most recently served as director of purchases at Mitsubishi Motors, and Adachi, who had supervised purchases at Mazda Motor, will respectively oversee sales and orders, the Korean firm said.  “They have over 40 years of experience at J

MobilityApril 27, 2022

Kia unveils its first purpose built vehicle Niro Plus

Kia unveiled the design and the functions of its first purpose built vehicle Niro Plus, which has been developed based on its flagship electric vehicle Niro EV. The carmaker said Niro Plus, the spinoff version of Niro EV which has been launched in 2018 also as hybrid and plug-in hybrid models, has been invented to satisfy customers’ various needs. The vehicle comes in two variations: A model dedicated for taxi drivers and another one designed for individual purposes or corporate use. I

MobilityApril 27, 2022

DataStreams CEO speaks about big data cooperation in Kazakhstan

Data Streams CEO Lee Young-sang attended a conference in Kazakhstan on April 15 to discuss the country’s information and communication technology and share the company’s big data technology. About 80 people, including Kazakhstan’s IT minister and vice ministers, attended the forum, titled “Appraisal of the Needs-Assessment Survey Results on Digitalization,” to discuss digital transformation, according to the company on Tuesday. At the event, the CEO shared the c

TechnologyApril 27, 2022

Former Citibank Korea CEO to head Blackstone’s Korea office

Ha Yung-ku, a former CEO of Citibank Korea who later led an association of local banks, was named chairman of the Korean office for Blackstone, the asset manager said Wednesday. Ha joined Blackstone in August last year as an executive adviser. “South Korea is one of the most innovative economies in Asia with a highly sophisticated workforce and domestic corporations that are influencing trends around the world,” Blackstone said, adding that it expects to build stronger ties in the p

IndustryApril 27, 2022

KRX lifts trading halt on Osstem Implant after monthslong break

The Korea Exchange said Wednesday that Osstem Implant would begin trading Thursday, lifting a trading suspension put on Jan. 3, when the dental implant maker reported insider theft amounting to 221 billion won ($175 million). “The decision is based on the fact that the company has improved its corporate governance and internal oversight and had it checked up by outside experts,” the KRX said in a statement. The bourse operator said such improvement was necessary for the implant ma

MarketApril 27, 2022

Outpacing Hyundai, SK becomes 2nd-largest conglomerate in South Korea

South Korean chip-and-telecom giant SK has become the nation’s second-largest conglomerate, replacing Hyundai Motor for the first time in 12 years, a local antitrust regulator said Wednesday. Having accumulated over 291 trillion won ($230 billion) in total assets, SK took the number two spot, largely due to increased assets and sales in its chipmaking arm SK hynix. The semiconductor unit’s acquisition of Intel NAND memory business along with expanding income boosted SK’s overa

IndustryApril 27, 2022

NH Investment & Securities launches London corporation

NH Investment & Securities said Wednesday that it has incorporated its office in London to oversee the brokerage’s entire operations in Europe, seven years after it first opened a branch there to expand alternative investments like private equity and real estate. “This new office in London will be the bridge connecting markets in South Korea, the UK and Europe,” said Jeong Young-chae, the company’s president and chief executive officer. NH Investment and Securities

MarketApril 27, 2022

Steel, textile to see benefits under CPTPP: biz lobbies

SEJONG -- South Korea is projected to see export growth in the steel and textile sectors if the nation becomes a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. But sectors like machinery, fine chemistry and auto parts could suffer handicaps in the wake of the technology gap with Japan, according to forecasts from a variety of business lobbies. The associations delivered their outlook of each industry if the country were to be a member of the CPTPP to the M

EconomyApril 27, 2022