Finance minister vows policy efforts to improve fiscal health

South Korea's top economic policymaker has said the government will continue to make policy efforts to strengthen fiscal soundness as the country's national debt has grown at a fast pace during the COVID-19 pandemic, his office said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks during his meeting with Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, sovereign managing director of global credit appraiser S&P Global, in Washington D.C. on Thursday (local time). In the meeting, the two discussed South Korea's

EconomyApril 22, 2022

Growth of land prices slows in Q1 amid tumbling trading

Land prices in South Korea rose at a slower clip in the first quarter of 2022 from three months earlier as transactions tanked, data showed Friday. Land prices in Asia's fourth-largest economy inched up 0.91 percent on-year in the January-March period, down from a 1.03 percent increase in the last quarter of 2021, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Korea Real Estate Board. It was a tad lower than the 0.96 percent on-year hike recorded during the same period

EconomyApril 22, 2022

Seoul shares open steeply lower on hawkish Fed

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Friday as the US Federal Reserve chief signaled interest rates would be aggressively raised. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 29.17 points, or 1.07 percent, to trade at 2,699.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a lackluster start, tracking overnight Wall Street losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite shed more than 2 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped some 1 percent. Fed Chair Jerome

MarketApril 22, 2022

Sales of derivatives-tied securities drop in 2021

Sales of derivatives-linked securities in South Korea decreased in 2021 largely as investors shunned the risky investment tools amid the tightened regulations, data showed Friday. The combined value of equity-linked securities (ELS) and derivatives-linked securities (DLS) came to 84.7 trillion won ($72.1 billion) last year, down 4.3 trillion won from 2020, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The end-2021 figure marks the lowest since 2014, when the comparable numb

EconomyApril 22, 2022

Korean Air chief says Asiana takeover to enhance bilateral partnership with US

The head of South Korea’s largest air carrier said Thursday that the company‘s acquisition of its domestic rival Asiana Airlines will contribute to enhancing the bilateral economic relationship between South Korea and the United States, expressing hope for Washington’s approval of the merger. “We are committed to increasing our activity in the US given the positive environment and we will continue to be a major contributor to the US-Korea economic relationship,” sa

IndustryApril 21, 2022

[Market Eye] Yoon agonizes over tech policy as chip arms race intensifies

The incoming government to be led by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is at a crossroads over how its policy support to nurture the domestic chip industry will take shape, as the global chip arms race and state-led support intensifies. On Thursday, presidential transition committee deputy spokesperson Kim Gi-heung told reporters that the committee was briefed about a proposal to establish a state-run research hub, tentatively named Nano Semiconductor Research Institute. Kim, however, said the co

TechnologyApril 21, 2022

[KH Explains] Like Tesla, Hyundai bets on software updates, but legal issue remains hurdle

Just like smartphones or any other tech devices, vehicles also receive software for new versions from their manufacturers via OTA -- Over The Air -- updates. Software updates are a significant part of the connected car experience because they include the latest feature enhancements, such as autonomous driving, as well as crucial security patches. Tesla has been offering OTA updates to all its cars since 2012. Rivals such as Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have also been quickly penetrating

MobilityApril 21, 2022

[Photo News] Moon's Last Appointment

President Moon Jae-in hands Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong a certificate of appointment as the chief of the nation’s central bank at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Thursday. Rhee, the former director of the Asia and Pacific department at the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, was nominated last month by Moon to succeed former BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol, whose term ended on March 31. The high-profile official nomination was Moon’s last before he leaves office on May 10. Rhee&rsquo

EconomyApril 21, 2022

Posco’s eco-friendly steel brand gets international accreditation

Posco said its eco-friendly steel brand received certification from Norwegian classification society Det Norske Veritas. DNV provides testing, certification and technical advisory services to the energy value chain including renewables, oil and gas and energy management. DNV signed a memorandum of understanding to issue a material type approval on Posco’s Greenable brand of steel materials certifying its performance and quality on March 31 at the steelmaker’s headquarters in Seoul.

IndustryApril 21, 2022

Seoul shares end higher on chip advance

South Korean shares closed higher on Thursday as institutional investors picked up large-cap chipmakers. The Korean won weakened against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) went up 9.52 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,728.21 points. Around 988 million shares worth some 9.87 trillion won ($8 billion) changed hands, with gainers slightly outnumbering losers 443 to 400. Institutions scooped up a net 637.2 billion won worth of stocks, while fo

MarketApril 21, 2022

3 French luxury houses log whopping W3tr sales in Korea

The combined sales of luxury houses Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel in South Korea marked a record high of 3 trillion won ($2.4 billion) last year, amid the frenzy over high-end goods sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. According to Chanel Korea, the company’s sales revenue surged by 31.6 percent to 1.2 trillion won last year. Net profit skyrocketed by 67 percent to 249 billion won in the citied period. Louis Vuitton Korea’s sales rose 40 percent to 1.4 trillion won, while its n

ConsumerApril 21, 2022

[Newsmaker] YouTube threatens to cut down investments in Korea over ‘network usage fee’ bill

For the first time, YouTube has openly expressed concerns over the South Korean parliament’s push for global content providers to foot the bill for creating excessive network traffic. Gautam Anand, Vice President and Managing Director at Google’s YouTube Asia Pacific, wrote on Wednesday on the official YouTube Korea blog that if the revisions are enacted, it could “undermine YouTube’s opportunity to make continuous investments for Korean creators to be successful.&rdquo

IndustryApril 21, 2022

At G-20 meeting, Korea’s fiscal chief stays out of protest against Russia

SEJONG -- South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki kept his seat while other fiscal chiefs or central bank governors walked out of a G-20 meeting in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the ministry on Thursday.　 According to overseas news reports and remarks from British officials, top officials from the US, Canada and the UK left the G-20 finance ministerial meeting, held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday,&n

EconomyApril 21, 2022

Pengsoo featured in AFoCO campaign

South Korea’s beloved penguin character, Pengsoo, has been featured in a campaign promoted by Asian Forest Cooperation Organization to raise public awareness of sustainable forest management in Asia. AFoCO is an intergovernmental organization which launched in 2018 to combat climate change and foster sustainable management of Asia’s forests. The organization has been hosting the #REForest2022 challenge, which stands for Rescue Earth’s Forests, since March 21 to promote publi

IndustryApril 21, 2022

Samsung Electronics’ market presence hits 34-month low

South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics saw its presence on the main bourse drop to the lowest in 34 months in terms of market capitalization, data showed Thursday, with analysts pointing to volatilities caused by the global supply bottleneck and foreigners’ selling spree. Samsung’s value stood at some 402.9 trillion won ($325.7 billion) as of April 14, accounting for 18.91 percent of the Kospi’s total market value of 2,131 trillion won, according to data provided by t

MarketApril 21, 2022

Drug developer GI Innovation eyes IPO in 2nd half of year

Local drug developer GI Innovation has submitted a preliminary application for listing on the country’s secondary tech-heavy bourse Kosdaq with its eyes set on going public in the second half of the year, the company said Thursday. GI Innovation’s initial public offering will be carried out under Kosdaq’s special listing track, known as the “unicorn special listing.” The Korea Exchange established the unicorn special listing process in April last year to simplify

MarketApril 21, 2022

Exports surge 17% in first 20 days of April

South Korea's exports rose 16.9 percent in the first 20 days of April from a year earlier on the back of demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $36.3 billion in the April 1-20 period, compared with $31 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports increased 25.5 percent on-year to $41.5 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $5.2 billion during the cited period, the data showed. By

EconomyApril 21, 2022

Naver Q1 net plummets 99% on-year on base effect

Naver Corp., South Korea's top internet portal operator, said Thursday its net profit plummeted 99 percent on-year in the first quarter due to a low base effect. Net profit reached 151.4 billion won ($122.5 million) during the January-March period, compared with 15.31 trillion won in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. The record high net profits for last year's first quarter was due to accounting profits reflected from the business integration of its messaging firm Line

IndustryApril 21, 2022

Producer prices up for 3rd month in March as energy prices rise

South Korea's producer prices rose for the third straight month in March as high energy and raw material prices pushed up the costs of churning out factory goods, central bank data showed Thursday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, stood at 116.46 in March, up 1.3 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, the index also jumped 8.8 percent, which was faster than the previous month's 8.5 perce

EconomyApril 21, 2022

Seoul stocks open higher amid rate hike concerns

South Korean shares opened higher Thursday as investors picked up large-cap shares amid woes over high-flying inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 12.78 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,731.47 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, the US stock markets ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.71 percent, while the S&P500 fell 0.06 percent and the Nasdaq was down 1.22 percent. On the Seoul bourse, shares mostly traded higher. Market bellwether Samsung Electro

MarketApril 21, 2022