FTC chief, French digital minister discuss online platform regulation

The Fair Trade Commission Chairperson Joh Sung-wook discussed how to regulate online platform monopolies with Cedric O, French secretary of state for the digital transition and electronic communications, officials said Thursday. The two representatives found the need to revise the law and regulations to establish order in the digital market in response to tech giants abusing their market power and not allowing new players to enter the market. The FTC Chairperson Joh said the FTC is working on

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

Hyundai to halt local plant in Jan. for EV production

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday it will suspend one of its seven domestic plants next month to prepare for the production of electric vehicles. Hyundai Motor will halt the Asan plant from Jan. 3-28 to upgrade the facilities before beginning production of EVs next year, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company plans to resume operations of the 300,000-unit-a-year Asan plant, which produces the Sonata sedan and the Santa Fe SUV, on Feb. 3. Hyundai has seven domestic plants -- five

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

Hyundai’s Nexo takes up half of global FCEV sales

Global sales of the eco-friendly hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles almost doubled compared to last year, while more than half of them came from Hyundai Motor’s sole fuel cell EV model, Nexo, market data showed Thursday. From January to November, a total of 16,200 fuel cell EVs have been registered, about a 95.1 percent increase compared to a year ago, according to SNE Research data. The firm expected the figure to surpass 18,000 for this year.  Hyundai Motor has topped the list

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

Seoul stocks end lower in final trading session of 2021

The South Korean stock market finished the final session of the year with lackluster trading Thursday as investors took to the sidelines amid a lack of market-moving events. The local currency gained ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 15.64 points, or 0.52 percent, to finish at 2,977.65. Trading volume was a bit slim at about 454.04 million shares worth 8.59 trillion won ($7.23 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 485 to 377. T

MarketDec. 30, 2021

Kospi wraps up best year on strong earnings, retail demand

Upbeat corporate earnings and robust retail demand set the key benchmark Kospi and junior Kosdaq on track for their best year since trading began on the exchange decades ago. The stock market, which will open Monday after a three-day break, saw the Kospi hitting a record high of 3,305 on July 6, while the Kosdaq soared to trading around 1,000, a first in 20 years. The Kospi closed at 2977.65 on its final trading session in 2021, while the Kosdaq ended at 1033.98.　 Kospi-listed companies r

MarketDec. 30, 2021

[MARKET EYE] SK hynix completes 1st phase of Intel deal, but China biz remains thorny issue

South Korean memory chipmaker SK hynix said Thursday it paid Intel an initial $7 billion tranche, completing the first phase to acquire the US tech giant’s NAND and SSD business. By absorbing Intel’s NAND and SSD business, SK hynix will rise as the No. 2 player in the global NAND market from its current fifth place. In the SSD segment, where Intel controls 29.6 percent, SK hynix can surpass Samsung Electronics with a combined market share of nearly 37 percent. NAND flash memory c

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

Hanwha Solutions acquires Samsung Electro-Mechanics' telecom module biz

Hanwha Solutions Corp. a chemical and energy unit of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, said Thursday it is acquiring the telecommunication module business of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. in a bid to diversify its electronics component sector. Under the agreement signed between the two companies earlier in the day, Hanwha Solutions will take over the WiFi module and the high-speed fifth-generation (5G) milimeter wave (mmWave) antenna module divisions from the Samsung unit, it said in a p

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

CPTPP to boost S. Korea’s trade: experts

South Korea’s move to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership next year will work in favor of Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s trade, experts from the US and the UK said. “We believe that South Korea will succeed in joining the CPTPP in the coming years,” Fei Xue, an Asia analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told The Korea Herald in an email interview earlier this month. “Inclusion in that regional trade agr

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

SPC heir promoted as president

Paris Baguette operator SPC Group promoted its third-generation heir Hur Jin-soo as president of Paris Croissant, the group‘s de facto holding company, the firm announced Thursday. The recent promotion is in recognition of Hur’s contribution to raising Paris Baguette’s brand awareness in major foreign markets, explained SPC. He also led the bakery chain’s joint venture project in Indonesia and Cambodia this year. At its global branches, SPC appointed foreign executive

ConsumerDec. 30, 2021

Celltrion's new Humira biosimilar wins approval in Canada

South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Thursday its new biosimilar of the arthritis drug Humira has won approval from Canadian authorities. Yuflyma, an adalimumab biosimilar with a high concentration, is used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory diseases. Yuflyma requires only half the solution administered to patients compared with the existing Humira biosimilar and is also citrate-free, which lessens discomfort during injection. Celltrion re

TechnologyDec. 30, 2021

KCCI chief urges to redefine private-public partnerships

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who doubles as head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, suggested redefining private-public partnerships in his New Year’s message released Thursday, calling for a more mutually beneficial mechanism that helps spur innovations across industries. Chey urged businesses to first change their mindsets, saying that gone are the days where making profits, creating jobs and paying more taxes were considered their key responsibilities. “Things h

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

Shinsegae buys stake in Seoul Auction to explore art, NFTs

Shinsegae and Seoul Auction are teaming up to expand operations in arts, NFTs and metaverse fields, South Korea’s largest art auction house said Thursday. The department store operator will purchase 28 billion-won ($23.6 million) of new shares issued by Seoul Auction, according to a DART announcement posted by the two firms on Wednesday.  When the acquisition is finalized on Jan. 6, Shinsegae will own a 4.82 percent stake in Seoul Auction. The firm is currently the largest art auc

ConsumerDec. 30, 2021

Samsung's foldable phone sales up 4 times from last year

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it sold four times as many foldable Galaxy Z series phones this year as last year, further solidifying its lead in the fast-growing new smartphone segment. While the South Korean tech giant did not disclose the exact tally, the total sales of the Galaxy Z series is believed to be around 8-9 nine million units this year, led by the popularity of the Galaxy Z Fold3, which folds in half like a book, and the clamshell-type Galaxy Z Flip3, among young tech-savv

TechnologyDec. 30, 2021

Bank mortgage rates hit highest mark in over 7 years in Nov.

South Korean banks' mortgage rates hit the highest level in more than 7 years in November amid rising borrowing costs, central bank data showed Thursday, Banks' mortgage loan rate averaged 3.51 percent in November, up 0.25 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK) This marked the highest since July 2014, when the corresponding rate was 3.54 percent.   Banks' unsecured loan rate also rose 0.54 percentage point to 5.16 percent last month,

EconomyDec. 30, 2021

S. Korean builder sentiment improves for 2nd month in Dec.

South Korea's construction business sentiment gained for a second month in December thanks to increased year-end orders, a poll showed Thursday. The construction business survey index (CBSI) came to 92.5 this month, up 4.1 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea. Yet the December figure remains below par. A reading below 100 indicates builders are pessimistic about the current state of the construction industry and out

EconomyDec. 30, 2021

S. Korea's e-commerce imports hit new high in 2021 amid pandemic

South Korea's imports via e-commerce reached a new all-time high in 2021 as more people purchased foreign goods online, government data showed Thursday. The country's e-commerce imports stood at $4.15 billion in the first 11 months of this year, up 25.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The amount for the 11-month period surpasses the full-year figure for 2020. The number of e-commerce transactions came to 79 million during the period, up 40.6

EconomyDec. 30, 2021

40 biz groups fined for failure to adhere to public filing requirement

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Thursday it has imposed a combined fine of 912 million won ($769,500) on 107 affiliates of 40 conglomerates for their failure to properly make public filings on major business information. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it has looked into whether 2,612 affiliates of 71 large business groups subject to public filing obligations have fully made public disclosures of key details about business operations. Large business groups with assets of 5 trillion

EconomyDec. 30, 2021

Samsung denies report on Biogen buyout deal

Samsung Group on Thursday denied a local media report that it was in talks with Biogen to acquire the US biotech company in a deal worth 50 trillion won ($42.2 billion). Calling the report “groundless,” a Samsung spokesperson said no such talks were underway and declined to comment further. Samsung’s pharmaceutical manufacturing unit, Samsung Biologics, also denied the report in a regulatory filing released later in the day. Earlier in the day, the Korea Economic Daily re

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

Air Busan to open Vladivostok route in Feb.

Air Busan Co., a budget carrier unit of Asiana Airlines Inc., said Thursday it will open the Incheon-Vladivostok route in February to meet business travel demand.   Air Busan will offer flights to the Russian far eastern port city every two weeks from Feb. 5, the company said in a statement. "There is a growing outbound travel demand to Vladivostok for business purposes. Passenger travel demand is also expected to rise once the COVID-19 pandemic slows down," the statement

IndustryDec. 30, 2021

SK hynix closes 1st phase of Intel's NAND business acquisition, names new entity Solidigm

SK hynix Inc, South Korea's key memory chip maker, said Thursday it has closed the first phase of the transaction to acquire Intel's NAND and solid-state drive (SSD) business, and will name the newly established subsidiary Solidigm. The announcement came eight days after it received the merger clearance from China's State Administration for Market Regulation, the last remaining major regulatory hurdle for its $9 billion acquisition of Intel's SSD business and the Dalian NAND flash manufacturin

IndustryDec. 30, 2021