Exports up 3% in first 10 days of April

South Korea's exports rose 3 percent in the first 10 days of April from a year earlier on the back of demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $15.3 billion in the April 1-10 period, compared with $14.9 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports gained 12.8 percent on-year to $18.9 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $3.52 billion during the cited period, the data showed. By s

EconomyApril 11, 2022

Retail, manufacturing giants turn to bio, health care as strategy for future growth

More South Korean conglomerates relying heavily on manufacturing and retail networks for growth are turning to the bio and health care industries to secure future growth engines and expand areas of business. Retail and confectionary giant Lotte Group officially announced that bio and health care businesses will be its new growth engine at the shareholders’ meeting last month. Lee Dong-woo, CEO of Lotte Holdings, said the firm plans to directly invest in the bio and healthcare businesse

IndustryApril 10, 2022

Yoon’s pick for fiscal chief vows to back extra budget despite runaway inflation

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s finance minister nominee said Sunday that he will seek parliamentary approval of an extra budget to support the self-employed and small businesses hit hardest by COVID-19, despite runaway inflation eating into many household budgets. Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, currently a two-term lawmaker of Yoon’s People Power Party, said inflation cannot be the reason to avoid increasing spending. “How we can manage to benefit from the extra budget while shielding

EconomyApril 10, 2022

Trade minister nominee vows regulatory reform

Lee Chang-yang, a professor of economics and public policy at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, vowed regulatory reforms to boost the corporate sector as he was introduced by President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol as the trade minister nominee on Sunday. The 60-year-old bureaucrat-turned-professor is likely to be tasked with discontinuing the Moon Jae-in administration’s nuclear power phase-out policy and handling the rise of protectionism in the global trade landscape, as well

IndustryApril 10, 2022

Ex-Jeju governor tapped to spearhead Yoon’s supply-centered real estate policy

Won Hee-ryong, the former governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province who coordinated President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign, was named as the nominee for minister of land, infrastructure and transport Sunday. “The nominee has a high understanding of land policies which is one of the key sectors the new administration would have to work on to stabilize the real estate market, promote balanced regional growth, and come up with a systematic public transportation in metropolitan

IndustryApril 10, 2022

[Newsmaker] Eating out more expensive due to rising costs, demand

Eating-out costs in South Korea saw the sharpest on-year surge in 23 years in March with a 6.6 percent on-year increase, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service on Sunday. Of the 39 types of foods that people normally eat while dining out, including hamburgers, jajangmyeon (noodle with black soybean sauce), and gimbap, all saw a price increase. Galbitang (beef soup) showed the highest spike in price last month compared to the same month last year with an 11.7 percent increase,

IndustryApril 10, 2022

Renowned chip expert nominated as science minister

Science Minister Nominee Lee Jong-ho is a chip engineering scholar who supported, as an adviser, South Korea’s policy endeavor in building its strength in semiconductor industry for years. “I have experienced the semiconductor industry for a long time and I believe it has a great importance. I will try to advance it,” said Lee at the nominee selection announcement Sunday. “But our country has more than just semiconductors. I will look at all industries and listen to va

TechnologyApril 10, 2022

Eland Retail, its parent firm fined over unfair biz practice

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Sunday it has decided to impose a combined 4.08 billion won ($3.33 million) in fines on Eland Retail Ltd., an operator of outlet malls, and its parent company Eland World for unfair business activity. Fashion company Eland World, the de facto holding company of Eland Group, unduly received financial support from its affiliate Eland Retail between 2013 and 2017, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). At that time, Eland World suffered from a liquidity

IndustryApril 10, 2022

Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomes opening of new store in Myeong-dong

Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomed the opening of a new Apple Store in the shopping district of Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Saturday, “Apple Myeongdong opened its doors as our newest store in the heart of Korea. We‘re thrilled to further support our Korean customers in a space as unique and vibrant as the community it serves,” Cook tweeted Saturday. In another tweet Sunday, he congratulated K-pop group Seventeen’s appearance on Today at Apple -- a creative initiative offere

TechnologyApril 10, 2022

Samsung Electronics remains favorite pick among retail stock investors

Despite the recent bearish price movement, South Korean tech titan Samsung Electronics remained a favorite pick among retail stock investors in hopes of a price rebound of the market bellwether. From January until Friday, retail investors purchased 20.9 trillion won ($17 billion) worth of Samsung Electronics common shares on the stock market, meaning nearly one in four retail stock investment went to the single company, the Korea Exchange data showed Sunday. The volume of Samsung stock purcha

IndustryApril 10, 2022

Eco-friendly cars make up over 20% of Hyundai, Kia domestic sales this year: data

Over 1 in 5 vehicles sold by Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Corp. so far this year have been eco-friendly cars, backed by their growing popularity, industry data showed Sunday. The two South Korean automakers sold a combined 64,417 hybrid and electric vehicles in the January-March period, accounting for 23.5 percent of the entire domestic sales of 273,762 vehicles, according to the companies' earnings reports. It marks the first time the proportion of eco-friendly car sales has

IndustryApril 10, 2022

[Interactive] S. Korea’s coffee imports hit new high in 2021

　South Korea’s imports of coffee surged more than 24 percent to hit a new all-time high in 2021 on its growing popularity here, data showed. 　The value of the country's coffee imports stood at $916.5 million last year, up 24.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and industry sources. 　It marks the first time that South Korea’s coffee imports have exceeded the 1 trillion-won ($823 million) level in terms of the local currency. 　Last

BusinessApril 9, 2022

Ssangbangwool submits letter of intent to buy debt-ridden SsangYong Motor

　Ssangbangwool Group, a South Korean underwear company, said Friday it has submitted a letter of intent (LOI) to buy the debt-ridden automaker SsangYong Motor. 　 　Ssangbangwool‘s bid came as a deal to buy SsangYong Motor by local electric bus and truck maker Edison Motors Co. collapsed late last month after its failure to meet the deadline to make the full payment for the proposed takeover. 　 　Ssangbangwool said it has submitted the LOI for the SsangYong takeover and selected accounting f

MarketApril 8, 2022

Transition team chief meets with Hyundai Motor chairman

Ahn Cheol-soo, the chief of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition team, and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun met on Friday to discuss the country’s future mobility outlook as well as measures for nurturing and expanding the industry’s workforce. Ahn and other committee member lawmakers visited Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D center in Namyang, Gyeonggi Province.  “A future mobility industry is the next focus of the country’s strategic busin

MobilityApril 8, 2022

Financial watchdog steps up scrutiny over SsangYong Motor deal

South Korea’s financial watchdog warned potential bidders for the debt-ridden SsangYong Motor on Thursday that authorities would pay close attention to possible signs of stock manipulation along the way. The warning follows after Mirae Corp. -- a local semiconductor equipment manufacturer and affiliate of the nation’s leading underwear maker Ssangbangwool -- sold over 6.47 million of its shares in entertainment company IOK, a SBW subsidiary, for 1.24 billion won ($10.1 million) on M

MarketApril 8, 2022

Online luxury sellers strengthen counterfeit inspection amid Musinsa scandal

Korea’s online luxury sellers who have enjoyed the recent resell market boom are strengthening the counterfeit inspection process amid a scandal involving fashion commercial platform Musinsa, industry sources said Friday. On April 1, Naver’s online reselling platform Kream announced that the Essentials T-shirts sold through Musinsa by the brand operator Fear of God were proven to be fake. Musinsa, which has strongly objected to the counterfeit claims raised by Kream and has warned

ConsumerApril 8, 2022

S. Korea "positively" mulling joining US-proposed economic framework: minister

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Friday the government is "positively" considering joining a new US-proposed economic framework in the Indo-Pacific region. The United States is seeking to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) to seek deeper cooperation with partner nations on a wide range of economic and trade issues, including digital trade and supply chains. The move is widely seen as aimed at countering China amid an intensifying Sino-US rivalry. "Discuss

EconomyApril 8, 2022

Seoul stocks open higher as investors digest Fed's tightening plan

South Korean shares opened higher Friday, as investors digested the US central bank's hawkish comments on monetary tightening. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 12.84 points, or 0.48 percent, to reach 2,708.70 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, the US stock market mostly rebounded as investors assessed the Federal Reserve's minutes of its March meeting, which hinted at more aggressive monetary tightening than had been originally expected. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Av

MarketApril 8, 2022

S. Korea to release 7.23m more barrels of oil reserves over Ukraine crisis

South Korea has decided to release 7.23 million barrels of strategic crude reserves, in addition to its recent commitment of 4.42 million barrels, to help bring down high energy prices amid the ongoing Ukraine crisis, the industry ministry said Friday. Last week, 31 member nations of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 120 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves, following their similar decision last month to release 60 million barrels of oil, in response to the

IndustryApril 8, 2022

Current account surplus narrows in Feb. amid surging energy costs

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the 22nd straight month in February, but the surplus narrowed from a year earlier as soaring oil prices boosted import bills, central bank data showed Friday. The current account surplus reached $6.42 billion in February, down from $8.06 billion the previous year, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account has remained in the black since May 2020 on the back of robust exports. But the surplus fell on-year

EconomyApril 8, 2022