Finance Minister warns against cartels in food prices

SEJONG -- The Finance Ministry will look into food prices in the market later this month to uncover whether there were irregular hikes in price tags via cartels, the nation’s top policymaker said Thursday. The action comes amid continuous growth, over 3 percent on-year, in consumer prices for several months. Sharp price increases in agricultural and livestock products, alongside rising fuel prices, are putting a heavier burden on households. In a meeting for economic policies in Seoul, D

EconomyFeb. 10, 2022

Korean Air, Airbus, Air Liquide, Incheon Airport join hands for carbon-neutral aviation

Key stakeholders in the nation’s aviation industry -– Korean Air, Airbus, Air Liquide and Incheon International Airport Corp. -– have joined hands to prepare for a roadmap for carbon-neutral aviation. The four parties on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding, under which they agreed to speed up plans to introduce hydrogen fuel and build related infrastructure at airports. The event was attended by Korean Air’s Executive Vice President and Chief Safety & Op

MobilityFeb. 10, 2022

US solar tariff: Boon for South Korea, blow for China

South Korean solar companies may face a bright future this year as the US recently extended a tariff for four more years to keep cheap Chinese products in check. According to industry sources Friday, the US last week decided to impose a 15 percent tax on imported solar cells and panels for another four years as part of an apparent effort to block the inflow of Chinese-made products. The US first introduced the tariff to safeguard its domestic solar industry from China, which manufactures rou

IndustryFeb. 10, 2022

Smilegate launches CrossfireX for next-generation consoles

Smilegate has launched first-person shooting game CrossfireX for next-generation consoles, the company said Thursday. Smilegate said the launch signals the beginning of the company’s plan to target the global console market and solidify its position as South Korea’s representative powerhouse for intellectual property. CrossfireX became available on Xbox One as well as Xbox Series S and X as of 9 a.m. Korea time on Thursday. The video game is provided in nine languages for the tex

IndustryFeb. 10, 2022

Meet Omnipod, LG's self-driving concept car

LG’s future mobility concept car the LG Omnipod on Thursday made its offline debut at a technology conference organized by Kakao Mobility in Seoul. LG Omnipod, which was first presented in a video at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, is a concept model of futuristic vehicles that can reconstruct the passengers’ space for various purposes. With the modular in-vehicle appliances and adaptive interior, LG Omnipod can be an office or personal space where users can

IndustryFeb. 10, 2022

KB chairman calls for public-private cooperation to make ESG headway

The chief of South Korea’s KB Financial Group said Thursday that the adoption of environmental, social and governance values is gaining traction, and asked for cooperation between the Korean public and the private sector to make headway in the global race. “ESG values are growing around the world with irreversible speed,” KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo said in a special luncheon talk hosted by the National Assembly. “The manufacturing sector accounts for a

MarketFeb. 10, 2022

Banks' household loans down for 2nd month in Jan. amid rate hikes, tighter rules

Loans extended by banks to households declined for the second straight month in January due to a hike in lending rates and tightened rules, central bank data showed Thursday. Outstanding bank loans to households came to 1,060.2 trillion won ($887.6 billion) as of the end of January, down 400 billion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korean (BOK). This marked the second straight month that the banks' household loans have declined following a 200 billion won fall

EconomyFeb. 10, 2022

Q4 service output in all 16 provinces, cities rises for 3rd straight quarter

Service output rose in all 16 provinces and major cities for the third straight quarter in the fourth quarter of last year amid the vaccine rollout and the economic recovery, data showed Thursday. Service output grew 5.4 percent in the October-December period from a year earlier, accelerating from a 3.9 percent on-year gain in the third quarter, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the third consecutive quarter of gains since the second quarter of 2021, when service output incr

EconomyFeb. 10, 2022

Foreigners continue net stock purchases in S. Korea for 3rd month in January

Foreign investors continued to purchase more shares than they sold in South Korea's stock markets for the third straight month in January, central bank data showed Thursday. Foreigners picked up a net $1.81 billion worth of local stocks last month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea. The amount, however, was halved from their net purchases in December of $3.69 billion, the data showed. Foreigners' net stock purchases here came despite the increased risk-averse tendency amid expe

EconomyFeb. 10, 2022

Built-in stylus for S22 Ultra signals end of Note era

The release of Samsung Electronics‘ Galaxy S22 Ultra showed that its Note era might have just ended, with the S series phones inheriting features that had defined the Note series. Since August 2020, the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer has yet to announce a new Note lineup, with Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra being the last to be released in the decade-long history of the Note series. The virtual Unpacked event held on Thursday (Seoul time) showed that the S22 Ultra -- the highe

TechnologyFeb. 10, 2022

Bond issuance in S. Korea jumps in Jan.

Bond issuance in South Korea rose sharply in January from the previous month in the wake of rising interest rates, industry data showed Thursday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 66.6 trillion won ($55.7 billion) last month, up 21.6 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Sales of government bonds jumped by 10.8 trillion won, and corporate bond sales expanded by 8.8 trillion won. The issuance of fi

EconomyFeb. 10, 2022

S. Korean ad market soars 20.4% in 2021 amid pandemic

South Korea's advertising market grew at the fastest-ever pace in 2021 on a surge in digital advertisements amid the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Thursday. Advertising expenses in Asia's fourth-largest economy amounted to 13.99 trillion won ($11.7 billion) last year, up 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the report from Cheil Worldwide Inc. It represented the largest on-year increase rate since data tracking began in 1973. The country's top advertising agency said last year'

EconomyFeb. 10, 2022

Artificial intelligence powers Samsung Galaxy S22 series

Cameras that take lens flare-free photos at night, sunlight-readable displays and enhanced durability with tougher and lighter frames: all are included with the newest flagship 5G smartphones unveiled by Samsung Electronics at a virtual Galaxy Unpacked event held late Wednesday, at midnight Seoul time. 　 The world‘s largest smartphone maker by shipments said its premium Galaxy smartphones S22, S22+ and S22 Ultra, as well as the Galaxy Tab S8 tablets, will be available worldwide starting F

TechnologyFeb. 10, 2022

KT adds Amazon's Alexa voice service on its AI speakers

South Korean telecom giant KT Corp. said Thursday it rolled out a new service that allows customers to enjoy Amazon's voice assistant on its artificial intelligence speakers to better meet demand for English education. KT said it has joined hands with US retail giant Amazon.com Inc. to launch the Dual Brain AI service, which integrates Amazon's Alexa virtual voice service into its GiGA Genie speakers to support both Korean and English languages. The service is available immediately on all 3.1

TechnologyFeb. 10, 2022

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 10.23 points, or 0.37 percent, to trade at 2,779.08 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite jumped 2.08 percent on tech gains, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.86 percent. In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.67 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.98 percent. I

MarketFeb. 10, 2022

Policymakers to meet over economic risk factors, market volatility

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday he will meet with the central bank chief and the top financial regulator this week to discuss policy coordination, volatility in the financial market and economic risk factors. Hong plans to hold a meeting Friday with Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol; Koh Seung-beom, chairman of the Financial Services Commission; and Jeong Eun-bo, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service. The finance minister said the main agenda will include how to coordinate fis

EconomyFeb. 10, 2022

S. Korea's current account surplus halved on-year in December amid soaring imports

South Korea's current account surplus was halved in December from a year earlier as imports grew at a much faster pace than exports amid higher energy and raw material prices, central bank data showed Thursday. The current account surplus amounted to $6.06 billion in December, compared with a surplus of $12.06 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. The December figure was also smal

EconomyFeb. 10, 2022

SKT CEO vows stronger metaverse push with M&As

SK Telecom will push for mergers and acquisitions in the field of metaverse, the telecom firm’s CEO Ryu Young-sang said in an earnings call Wednesday. The remark comes as SK Telecom, which spun off investment affiliate SK Square, is undergoing a period of transition with new growth drivers, with artificial intelligence and metaverse spearheading the trend under a newly established “Aiverse” division. “I’d like to make it very clear that SK Telecom will pursue st

TechnologyFeb. 9, 2022

SK Inc. pays highest-ever dividend to shareholders

SK Inc., the holdings firm of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, will give out the largest-ever dividends to shareholders: 8,000 won ($6.6) per share. The total dividend amount is 447.6 billion won, a 114 percent increase from 208.7 billion won in 2016. The figure is 21 percent up from the last year’s 370.1 billion won. “The profit SK Inc. secured from the partial divestment of SK Biopharmaceuticals shares last year was reflected in the finances, leading t

IndustryFeb. 9, 2022

‘Excessive’ LED decorations hurt trees: study

“Excessive” use of artificial lights on trees during nighttime could harm trees and affect their growth, the National Institute of Forest Science said Wednesday, recommending LED decorations to be turned on for no more than six hours daily. In a study, the state-run institute installed LED lights on three types of trees -- pine, king cherry and ginkgo -- and observed if it had effects on their nighttime breathing. Researchers exposed each tree to LED lights for six hours -- 6 p.m. t

TechnologyFeb. 9, 2022