Seoul stocks down for 2nd day over inflation woes

South Korean stocks closed lower Thursday after a choppy session, as the hopes for economic recovery is balanced against concerns about fast inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 5.8 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 3,007.33 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 871 million shares worth some 10.3 trillion won ($8.7 billion), with loser outnumbering gainers 563 to 297. Foreigners bought a net 42 billion won

MarketOct. 21, 2021

7 out of 10 Korean restaurants serve imported kimchi : report

Seven out of 10 restaurants in South Korea serve kimchi made in another country, said a local research institute in a report released Thursday. According to the Korea Foodservice Research Institute, which looked into the country of origin of food ingredients used at 976 restaurants across the country, 40 percent of the surveyed use kimchi made outside of Korea. Another 28 percent use both locally made and imported kimchi while 31.2 percent stick to Korean made kimchi. Most of the imported

ConsumerOct. 21, 2021

8 in 10 young Koreans invest in stocks, crypto to buy home: data

Eight out of 10 young Koreans are currently investing in stocks, funds, cryptocurrencies and other assets, and their main purpose behind making such investments is to buy a home, a survey showed Thursday. According to the survey conducted by insurance agency Rich Planner Consulting Co. on 1,000 Koreans in their 20s and 30s, 88.2 percent of them answered they are investing in stocks. Nearly 35 percent said they are trading cryptocurrency. For the purpose of investment, 42.2 percent of young in

MarketOct. 21, 2021

SK Plasma to supply blood products to Singapore

SK Plasma, a subsidiary of SK Discovery, said on Thursday it has been selected as the provider of blood products to Singapore for six years from 2023. As the first South Korean pharmaceutical company to win an order in Singapore’s state-run blood product project, SK Plasma will sign a contract with the Southeast Asian country this year, and produce albumin and human immunoglobulin using blood plasma from Singapore. Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority is known for having high qual

IndustryOct. 21, 2021

Shinhan Bank opens Hungary office

Shinhan Bank said Thursday it has opened an office in Hungary, becoming the first South Korean commercial lender to enter the central European country. The flagship lender under the nation’s No. 1 banking group by assets said it was granted the license to operate by the Hungarian National Bank in September and opened the office Tuesday. It also marked Shinhan’s latest overseas market entry since the launch of its subsidiary in Mexico in 2018. The new office is expected to bolste

MarketOct. 21, 2021

New law to foster Koreans’ private credit deals

South Korean private fund managers are poised to take advantage of revised rules and dedicate themselves to the domestic nonbank lending business with legal clarity. Starting Thursday, when amendments to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act went into effect, private funds comprising no more than 100 backers are entitled to carry on private credit strategies in Korea. Under the new rules, any Korea-domiciled private fund may extend nonbank loans to corporations. Direct loan

MarketOct. 21, 2021

Samsung Heavy wins approval for storage tank, carrier for hydrogen transport

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday it has won an approval in principle (AIP) for the conceptual design of a storage tank and carrier to transport liquefied hydrogen, from Lloyd's Register, a British ship quality assurance and risk management company. AIP for the conceptual design means a certification agency has reviewed it and confirmed it meets the agency's technical requirements and standards for safety. The conceptual design of a membrane-type storage tank and 160,000-cubic meter

IndustryOct. 21, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding grabs W232b order for 1 LNG carrier

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Thursday that it has bagged a 232.2 billion won ($197.6 million) deal to build a LNG carrier. The deal, signed with an Oceanian company, calls for DSME to deliver the vessel by September 2024, the shipbuilder said in a regulatory filing. Not including the latest deal, DSME has won $8.58 billion worth of orders so far this year for 46 ships, one wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV), one submarine and two offshore facilities, alrea

IndustryOct. 21, 2021

Number of chickens dips 4.2% in Q3 due to bird flu

SEJONG -- The number of layer chickens raised in South Korea dropped 4.2 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier due to the impact of the bird flu outbreak, data showed Thursday. The number of layer chickens came to 70.7 million as of end-September, compared with 73.8 million a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Yet it was up from 65.9 million three months earlier and 62.1 million as of end-March, which was the lowest in more than three years. The on-year decr

EconomyOct. 21, 2021

Doosan Heavy signs maintenance deal for UAE nuclear plant

South Korean power plant builder Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. said Thursday it has signed a maintenance service deal for a reactor at the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Under the deal with Nawah Energy Co., the operator of the nuclear power plant, Doosan Heavy will conduct maintenance services for turbines, generators and parts related to the nuclear reactor of the nuclear power plant for three months beginning in April 2022, it said in an emai

IndustryOct. 21, 2021

Posco Chemical Q3 net income up 496.6% to W40.9b

POSCO Chemical Co. on Thursday reported its third-quarter net income of 40.9 billion won ($34.8 million), up 496.6 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 31.5 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 19.4 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 29.9 percent to 505 billion won. The operating profit was 9.4 percent lower than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency

IndustryOct. 21, 2021

Investors hope for jackpots from crypto exchanges' official market entry

With four crypto exchanges having nearly passed market authorities’ high bar for official registrations, investors are turning their eyes to the four entities already enjoying soaring profits and making steps for their respective market debuts. The four -- Upbit, Korbit, Coinone and Bithumb -- were able to apply for registration by undertaking the long list of anti-money laundering and security measures required by financial authorities. As of Tuesday, Upbit and Korbit have received appr

MarketOct. 21, 2021

Seoul stocks open slightly higher on tech, auto gains

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday, led by advances in techs and autos. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.82 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,017.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.43 percent to 35,609 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 0.05 percent to 15,121 points. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 0.14 percent to 70,400 won, while LG Chem shed 2.62 percent to

MarketOct. 21, 2021

Exports rise 36% in first 20 days of Oct.

South Korea's exports rose 36.1 percent on-year in the first 20 days of October on the back of robust demand for chips, petroleum products and autos, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $34.2 billion in the Oct. 1-20 period, compared with $25.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports increased 48 percent on-year to $36.7 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.49 billion during the cited period, the data show

EconomyOct. 21, 2021

Naver's Q3 net up nearly 40% on pandemic-driven biz

Naver Corp. said Thursday its net profit jumped 37.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier largely due to a stellar performance of its content businesses amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Net profit reached 322.7 billion won ($274.8 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 235.3 billion won a year earlier, South Korea's top internet portal operator said in a press release. Operating income reached a quarterly high of 349.8 billion won during the cited period

IndustryOct. 21, 2021

5 companies to recall over 19,000 vehicles over faulty parts

Ford Sales & Service Korea, Hyundai Motor Co. and three other companies will voluntarily recall more than 19,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Thursday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components. The three other companies are Porsche, Honda Motor Korea and Tera Motors which sells electric two-wheelers, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a state

IndustryOct. 21, 2021

Producer prices up for 11th month in September

South Korea's producer prices gained 0.2 percent on-month in September due to a rise in prices of energy-related products, extending their monthly gains for the 11th straight month, central bank data showed Thursday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 111.13 in September, compared with 110.86 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The September reading was up 7.5 percent from the same month a year earlier, the BOK data showed. The rise

BusinessOct. 21, 2021

49 new color combinations available for Galaxy Z Flip3

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled the Bespoke edition of its Galaxy Z Flip3, offering as many as 49 new color choices for the clamshell-type foldable smartphone. Samsung presented the new edition on its YouTube channel at 11 p.m. at an event called Galaxy Unpacked, Part 2. The frames come in two colors, black and silver, and customers can choose from five Bespoke colors for the front and rear of the device: blue, yellow, pink, white and black. A total of 49 new combinations are a

TechnologyOct. 20, 2021

Finance minister says crypto tax plan still on for next year

South Korea’s finance minister once again downplayed the possibility of delaying taxation on cryptocurrency earnings, while emphasizing that his ministry is gearing up to carry out its plan as scheduled. Hong Nam-ki, the minister of Finance and Economy, made such remarks during an Assembly hearing on Wednesday when asked about the preparedness of taxation infrastructure on crypto assets. Hong’s remarks came one day after a lawmaker revealed a survey result in which three crypto e

EconomyOct. 20, 2021

[Newsmaker] Edison Motors likely preferred bidder for troubled SsangYong Motor

Edison Motors, a little-known electric bus manufacturer, seems likely to emerge as the preferred bidder for SsangYong Motor, South Korea’s longest-running car brand, which has experienced debt troubles in recent years. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court said a consortium led by Edison Motors is the only remaining bidder, effectively making it the preferred buyer. Its competitor, another consortium led by EV firm Electrical Life Business and Technology, was excluded from the list as it failed

IndustryOct. 20, 2021