Korean firms in Southeast Asia ask for vaccine help

South Korean companies operating in virus-stricken Southeast Asian countries have asked for the government’s help in procuring COVID-19 vaccines for its workers there, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday. They also called for relaxed quarantine requirements on inbound business travel to Korea at a recent online meeting with ministry officials. The meeting was organized as a number of Southeast Asian countries are reporting explosive surges in infections driven by

TechnologyJuly 28, 2021

[Management in Korea] Breaking the mental health taboo in South Korea

Management in Korea is a regular column written by the members of Egon Zehnder Seoul, touching on various aspects of Korean enterprises and business leaders and offering management tips. -- Ed. The suicide of a Naver employee in May reignited concerns over workplace harassment and bullying in South Korea. In this incident, an employee wrote in his suicide note that he was physically and verbally abused by an executive in the company, and emails and records of the company’s internal messagi

TechnologyJuly 28, 2021

Seoul stocks edge up after choppy trading amid China uncertainties

South Korean stocks edged up Wednesday after a choppy session as hopes of strong corporate earnings pared investors' concerns about China's move to regulate tech firms. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 4.33 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 3,236.86 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 857 million shares worth some 11.7 trillion won (US$10.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 590 to 253. Foreigners sold

MarketJuly 28, 2021

Trade terms fall for 3rd month in June

South Korea's terms of trade fell for the third consecutive month in June due to a rise in prices of imported goods, central bank data showed Wednesday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of trade terms -- declined 3.7 percent last month from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure is calculated by dividing the index for export prices by that for import prices. It shows the amount of imports a country can buy for each unit

EconomyJuly 28, 2021

Population mobility falls for 6th month in June

The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country fell for the sixth straight month in June amid a heated housing market, data showed Wednesday. The number of people who changed their residences fell 10.4 percent on-year to 544,000 last month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the sixth consecutive month of on-year decline after population mobility rose for the seventh month in December last year amid skyrocketing home prices. The populat

EconomyJuly 28, 2021

Korea Gas Corp. working to turn hydrogen economy dream into reality

Hydrogen, the most abundant element on Earth and, as a gas, a dream fuel that emits zero emissions. Almost everyone agrees that a transition to hydrogen economy is a worthy long-term goal -- dramatic reductions of urban air pollution and the buildup of greenhouse gases that aggravate the global climate crisis. But key questions remain unanswered: Who will pump in the billions of dollars of investment needed to mass produce hydrogen, and who will lay the pipelines needed to transport hydroge

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

S. Korea expands open banking ecosystem, invites fintech firms

South Korea's financial authority said Wednesday it plans to expand the ecosystem of the so-called open banking platform by inviting users of fintech services, allowing more people to enjoy simpler financial transactions. South Korea launched the open banking service in 2019, which centers on allowing customers to use any mobile banking application of their choice to access their accounts in different banks. Major South Korean banks already have joined the platform. Starting Friday, users of f

EconomyJuly 28, 2021

E-mart’s profitability to surge after Starbucks Korea acquisition: analysts

Acquiring additional shares in Starbucks Korea could boost E-mart’s operating profit to near 1 trillion won ($864.4 million) within years, analysts said Wednesday. Several analysts praised E-mart’s decision to buy an additional stake in Starbucks Korea, which will become a subsidiary of the supermarket chain once the deal is closed. On Tuesday, E-mart, the supermarket chain under retail giant Shinsegae Group, announced that it bought an additional 17.5 percent stake in Starbu

MarketJuly 28, 2021

Vehicle-to-grid service approved under regulatory sandbox

The South Korean government on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for a pilot project to transfer leftover power from electric car batteries to power grids, under a “regulatory sandbox” scheme. According to the Industry Ministry, local electricity provider Busan-JungKwan Energy submitted the vehicle-to-grid project via the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s sandbox support center. The regulatory sandbox measure, introduced in 2019, seeks to foster new business opportunities

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

Number of young stock investors triples in 18 months: KB Securities

Amid the continuing market frenzy surrounding stocks, the number of young retail investors in South Korea has surged more than three times over the past 18 months, a local brokerage’s recent data showed Wednesday. The number of small domestic investors under 20 years old came to 125,000 as of end-June, up 214 percent from the 39,000 marked at the end of 2019, according to clients’ data released by KB Securities. The brokerage house attributed the rising figures to not only a rece

MarketJuly 28, 2021

Hankook Tire expands portfolio with global automakers

Hankook Tire & Technology, the world‘s sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, is further expanding its portfolio of Original Equipment tires by working with global automakers and ramping up efforts to secure core technology in the field. It has so far struck a partnership with 46 car brands for some 320 models across the world, according to the company on Wednesday, including premium brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. Hankook Technodome, its flagship research and development faci

MobilityJuly 28, 2021

Minister warns housing market may face sharper-than-expected price correction

South Korea’s fiscal policy chief said Wednesday that the nation’s heated housing market may see a sharper-than-expected drop in prices in the near-future, with the possibility of an interest rate hike by the end of the year growing. “With the early subscriptions for houses scheduled in the second-half of the year, experts’ remarks indicating a price peak, a looming interest rate hike and liquidity control, there is a possibility of a partial housing price correction,&r

EconomyJuly 28, 2021

LG Display swings to black in Q2 on rising panel prices, OLED biz

LG Display Co., a major display panel maker in South Korea, on Wednesday said it has swung to the black in the second quarter of the year on the back of rising LCD panel prices and improvements in the OLED display business. The world's leading large-size OLED display maker reported a net profit of 423.8 billion won ($368.5 million), shifting from a loss of 503.8 billion won a year earlier. Operating income for the April-June period was 701.1 billion, compared with a loss of 517 billion won a y

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

iPhones likely to be sold at LG stores

iPhones could be made available for purchase at LG Best Shops across South Korea as early as next month, after LG Electronics cleared a key hurdle – opposition from small phone distributors. The Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership, a private consensus-based body promoting shared growth between big and small businesses, said Wednesday that LG Electronics has reached a new agreement with the Korea Mobile Distribution Association, representing the phone distributors, regarding its i

TechnologyJuly 28, 2021

Posco plans to produce high-purity nickel for secondary battery

Posco will build a nickel refinery plant to produce high-purity nickel for high-volume secondary batteries, the company said Wednesday. The Korean steelmaker will be plowing about 230 billion won ($199 million) into building the plant, to be built on the premises of its main steel mill in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, near where its affiliate company SNNC is located. 　 SNNC is a nickel supplier, jointly operated by Posco and SMSP, the largest nickel ore exporter on the French Pacific isl

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

[Feature] Retailers go for self-produced shows, dramas as promotional outlet

Once, getting a 60-second spot on prime-time TV was seen as the key to success for retailers. Now in the era of social media, companies don’t need TV for exposure. They can even create 10-minute videos and drama series and air them on YouTube and other platforms. At the forefront of this new trend is CU, a leading convenience store chain here. Its self-produced entertainment show, “CUperman” has garnered an accumulated 2 million views via its YouTube channel, Facebook an

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

Samsung launches new multifunctional cooking appliance in S. Korea

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday unveiled a new multifunctional cooking appliance to target consumers who enjoy meal kits and home meal replacement (HMR) products amid the stay-at-home trend. The BESPOKE Qooker was launched in South Korea with a price tag of 590,000 won ($510). An overseas launch of the product has not yet been confirmed, according to Samsung. "Qooker" comes from the word "cooker," with the letter Q representing "quality" and "quick,"

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

S. Korea to allow test-run of self-driving robots on sidewalks

South Korea's industry ministry said Wednesday it has given the go-ahead to a set of regulated projects, including allowing businesses to test self-driving robots equipped with cameras on sidewalks, in line with its efforts to lift excessive barriers and foster new growth engines. Previously, self-driving robots were banned from running alongside pedestrians because they were considered automobiles under local rules. Currently, self-driving robots cannot be equipped with cameras on privacy con

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

S. Korea maintaining stable supply of livestock products amid summer heat

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday the recent scorching summer heat has had a limited impact on the supply of livestock products, although local farms may suffer more damage down the road if the heat wave continues. As of Monday, a total of 219,000 chickens died due to the sweltering summer heat in July, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Around 5,000 pigs were also reported dead. The ministry, however, said the figures are far below those reporte

EconomyJuly 28, 2021

IMM in final stage of W1.1tr deal to buy stake in SK Lubricants

IMM Credit Solution, a wholly owned arm of South Korean private equity firm IMM Private Equity, is in the final stage of deal to buy a 40 percent stake in SK Lubricants for 1.1 trillion won ($953 million) in cash this week, a filing showed Wednesday. 　 According to the filing, the deal will reach a final close on Friday as planned to make IMM Credit Solution a minority shareholder of the lube base oil maker that is currently fully owned by refiner SK Innovation. The filing, submitted by SK Inno

MarketJuly 28, 2021