[Newsmaker] Starbucks Korea to hire 1,600 new staff this year

Stung by its employees‘ first collective action, Starbucks Korea said Sunday that it will hire 1,600 more baristas and store staff by the end of this year and improve working conditions. The hiring plan is part of the firm’s package of measures announced in response to recent complaints from in-store staff that they were overworked and underpaid. “We plan to hire in order to secure more staff and enhance work efficiency at stores nationwide. The company is also reviewing p

ConsumerOct. 17, 2021

Porsche Korea builds playground in Seoul

Porsche Korea just built an indoor playground in Seoul as part of its Porsche Dream Playground program. The carmaker said Thursday that it has completed construction of the playground on the premises of Seokgwan Elementary School in Seongbuk-gu, northern Seoul. Holger Gerrmann, CEO of Porsche Korea, and officials from the school and ChildFund Korea attended a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the project’s completion. Through its community outreach program, Porsche Dream Playground, the c

MobilityOct. 15, 2021

Samsung Electronics shares reenter 70,000 won range

South Korea’s market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 1 percent to 70,100 won ($59.28) on Friday, after remaining below the sensitive threshold for four consecutive days. The benchmark Kospi climbed 0.88 percent to 3,015.16 points in the same day. Samsung Electronics, Korea’s largest company by market cap, has the biggest group of retail investors -- some 4.54 million -- as of the end of June. Samsung’s stock prices soared to as high as 91,000 won on Jan. 11 but li

MarketOct. 15, 2021

KDB’s W10tr investment in fossil fuels contradicts green pledge: lawmaker

The state-run Korea Development Bank extended or guaranteed loans worth a combined 10.3 trillion won ($8.7 billion) for fossil fuel projects in the last decade, data showed Friday, reflecting growing concerns about greenwashing in the nation’s financial sector. From 2011 to 2020, the KDB extended loans worth a total of 6.9 trillion won and guaranteed a further 3.3 trillion won worth of loans for natural gas or oil projects, data submitted by the state-run bank to ruling Democratic Party

MarketOct. 15, 2021

LG Electronics launches tiiun, a smart plant growing device for home gardeners

LG Electronics has added a plant germinator to its smart home appliance portfolio, targeting people with black thumbs wishing to grow plants and flowers indoors.   "While many South Koreans attempt to grow plants at home these days, more than 60 percent have expressed difficulty in keeping them alive. LG tiiun was launched to resolve this pain point prevalent among consumers,” said Sprout Company CEO Shin Sang-yoon at the media event held Thursday.  Sprout Company is part

TechnologyOct. 15, 2021

[Newsmaker] Plane ticket sales to Europe spike

Sales of air tickets to Madrid increased 625 percent on-month in September amid growing hopes for a resumption of overseas tourism, as vaccination speeds up in South Korea. According to Interpark Tour, a leading travel agency here, demand for flights to European destinations sharply increased last month, compared with a month earlier. Sales of plane tickets to Zurich soared 275 percent, while those for Amsterdam grew 250 percent. Paris saw a jump of 76.3 percent, followed by Istanbul at 68 p

ConsumerOct. 15, 2021

Fiscal chief voices concerns over US request to share chip info

South Korea’s Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki voiced concerns about the US’ request that Korean chipmakers share information about their supply chains, during his meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Washington on Thursday, Eastern time. Hong said, “We do admire the US government’s attempt to resolve global competition to secure a foothold for supply chains,” but at the same time relayed Korean chipmakers’ concerns about sharing private information

EconomyOct. 15, 2021

Hanwha Energy launches ESG committee to beef up sustainable management

Hanwha Energy Corp., a South Korean renewable energy company, said Friday it has launched a committee to beef up sustainable management in light of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles. The ESG committee, established within its board, will serve as the company's key division tasked with devising and reviewing mid- to long-term objectives and strategies in line with the ESG factors, which refer to business behaviors and practices that determine a company's future sustainabi

IndustryOct. 15, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding wins W640.8b order for 4 container carriers

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Friday that it has signed a 640.8 billion won ($542 million) deal to build four container carriers. Under the deal with a European country, DSME will deliver the vessels by November 2024, it said in a regulatory filing. In the first nine months, DSME posted $8.04 billion in new orders, surpassing its annual order target of $7.7 billion won. It is the first time for the company to achieve its annual order target since 2014, when the

IndustryOct. 15, 2021

Nonghyup chairman urges embrace of metaverse

Nonghyup Financial Group Chairman Son Byung-hwan on Friday highlighted the group’s efforts to incorporate the metaverse into its businesses. “Many experts predict that the era of the metaverse is what will come next after this smartphone era,” Son said, urging the company’s executives to “study the possibility of commercialization with interest in the metaverse.” In accordance with Son’s vision, the group said it plans to set up a metaverse task force

MarketOct. 15, 2021

Battle for smartwatch market likely to intensify with release of new Apple product

Apple Inc. on Friday released its new smartwatch -- Apple Watch Series 7 -- in South Korea in the latest move to further boost its presence in the growing smartwatch market. The release came as the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend and rising health concerns have fueled the popularity of smartwatches fitted with health care and fitness features. The latest Apple smartwatch comes with a 20 percent bigger screen and a 40 percent thinner body than the Apple Watch Series 6. Its battery runs for

IndustryOct. 15, 2021

Central bank chief refutes rumors of government intervention in rate hike

South Korea’s monetary policy chief on Friday denied that the central bank’s latest rate hike was aimed at boosting the government’s real estate measures, which have failed to cool down the nation’s heated property market. In a parliamentary audit held Friday, Lee refuted rumors that the Bank of Korea’s first pandemic-era rate hike carried out in August, was a move pressured by the government. The latest rate hike by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent ended more th

EconomyOct. 15, 2021

Samsung Electronics shares reenter 70,000 won range

South Korea’s market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 1.3 percent to 70,300 won ($59.46) during Friday morning trade, ending a price slide that lasted four consecutive days. The benchmark Kospi climbed 0.89 percent to 3,015.14 points. Samsung Electronics, the largest company in the nation by market cap, has the biggest group of retail investors, who amassed 2.78 trillion won worth of its shares in the 10 trading days ending Wednesday. Friday’s increase followed an indust

MarketOct. 15, 2021

Samsung Electronics breaks record for 5G upload speed

Samsung Electronics said Friday that it has set a world record for 5G upload speed: 711 megabits per second. According to the South Korean IT giant, the feat was achieved in a recent trial conducted together with Verizon and Qualcomm in Texas. “For comparison, 700 Mbps is fast enough to download a 1 gigabit movie in 10 seconds. Multi-gigabit speeds have been recorded on downloads before, but this is the fastest speed the companies have been able to reach while uploading data to the net

IndustryOct. 15, 2021

Mamamoo’s agency to go public in November

Rainbow Bridge World, the South Korean entertainment agency behind all-female band Mamamoo, said Friday that it has filed a registration statement with the country’s financial watchdog and will go public on the nation’s secondary bourse, Kosdaq, in November. According to the statement, the agency aims to issue 1.25 million shares. It plans to offer new stocks for public subscription at a price between 18,700 won ($15.80) and 21,400 won a share. The book-building process, where an u

MarketOct. 15, 2021

Posco Chemical recognized as ‘rising star’ at S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards

Posco Chemical was chosen as the “Rising Star Company” at the 2021 Global Metals Awards, hosted by S&P Global Platts, the company said Friday. It is Posco Chemical’s first overseas award. “Posco Chemical has built a large, successful business in the lithium-ion battery market and forms a crucial part of Posco Group’s value chain integration for green mobility solutions. The company has a significant presence in the secondary battery materials business, which it

IndustryOct. 15, 2021

NH All One REIT pushing for stock market listing in Nov.

The real estate investment trust (REIT) unit of major bank holding firm NH Financial Group Inc. said Friday it is seeking to get listed on the South Korean main stock market in November. NH All One REIT said it began its initial public offering (IPO) process as its registration statement, which was filed with the country's financial watchdog late last month, came into effect. The company said it is planning to sell 28.1 million shares and raise 140.5 billion won ($119 million), with its IPO pr

EconomyOct. 15, 2021

S. Korea's finance chief voices concerns over US info-sharing request for chipmakers

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's finance minister on Thursday voiced concerns about the US's request for Korean chipmakers to share information on their supply chains. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki relayed Korean chipmakers' concerns about Washington's request during his meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Washington D.C., according to his ministry. The meeting was held to discuss bilateral and global economic issues, including global supply chain disruptions. It marked their first ga

EconomyOct. 15, 2021

Auto exports dip by more than 20% in Sept. amid chip shortage

South Korea's exports of automobiles fell more than 20 percent last month, ending eight months of on-year growth, amid the extended global supply shortage of automotive chips and fewer working days, data showed Friday. Outbound shipments of automobiles reached 151,689 units in September, down 20.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, exports also marked a 6.1 percent on-year decrease to $3.56 billion, the

EconomyOct. 15, 2021

BOK continues to normalize monetary policy to ease 'financial imbalances'

The Bank of Korea will continue adjusting its accommodative monetary policy and determine the timing of another rate hike in a way that could ease "financial imbalances" caused in part by rising household debt, Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Friday. Lee made the remarks days after the central bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.75 percent for October but hinted at the possibility of an additional rate increase before the end of this year to rein in inflation and household debt. "Fin

EconomyOct. 15, 2021