Over 50% of Naver employees experienced workplace bullying: labor ministry

More than half of employees at South Korean technology giant Naver Corp. reported having experienced bullying at work, the labor ministry said, calling for an improvement of its work culture. The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Tuesday announced the results of its special supervision of Naver following the suicide of one of its employees in May from apparent bullying at work. In a survey of Naver employees conducted from June 9 to July 23, 52.7 percent of respondents said they had experien

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

[Graphic News] Exports of farm goods hit all-time high in H1

　South Korea's exports of agricultural products shot up to set a new record in the first six months of 2021, data showed, on the back of stronger global demand for healthier foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic. 　Outbound shipments of such goods in the January-June period came to $4.15 billion, up 15.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. 　Exports of fresh products advanced 11.4 percent over the period t

BusinessJuly 28, 2021

Finance chief warns of housing bubble as interest rate hike looms

South Korea's top economic policymaker on Wednesday warned of a housing bubble amid a looming interest rate hike, and vowed to increase the housing supply and tighten lending rules to stabilize the market. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki expressed worries over the continued housing rally in the Seoul metropolitan area driven by ample liquidity and expectations of a further price hike, which could threaten the financial stability amid the snowballing household debt. "Several housing market in

EconomyJuly 28, 2021

Seoul stocks open slightly lower on China uncertainties

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday, tracking the US stock retreat on uncertainties from China's move to regulate tech firms. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 4.61 points, or 0.14 percent, to 3,227.92 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Local investor sentiment weakened as tech stocks plunged more than 4 percent in Hong Kong for a second straight session Tuesday. Hong Kong tech retreated following China's decision to reform its tech industry

MarketJuly 28, 2021

Large firms cut pollutant emissions in half over 5 years

Large companies in South Korea have more than halved their air pollutant emissions over the past five years amid the government's anti-coal policies, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Air pollutant emissions by 166 plants of 77 large businesses came to 139,112 tons in 2020, down 56 percent from 316,013 five years earlier, according to CEO Score. The environment ministry designates seven materials -- nitrogen oxide, dust, sulfur oxide, hydrogen fluoride, ammonia, carbon monoxide and hydrogen

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

Hyundai workers accept company's wage offers amid pandemic

Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. voted to accept the company's wage offerings for the year amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic, the union said Wednesday. In a vote held Tuesday, 56 percent of 42,745 workers who cast a ballot approved this year's wage agreement between the labor union and management, the company said in a statement. Hyundai and its 48,534-member union reached the wage deal without a strike for the third consecutive year. They will sign the wage deal Thursday, it said. Th

IndustryJuly 28, 2021

Consumer sentiment drops in July over spike in COVID-19 infections

South Korea's consumer sentiment dropped in July over a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, marking the first decline since December last year, central bank data showed Wednesday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came in at 103.2 for July, down 7.1 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The latest reading marks the first fall since December last year, when the index stood at 91

EconomyJuly 28, 2021

IMF raises Korea’s growth forecast to 4.3% in 2021

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday projected the South Korean economy to grow 4.3 percent this year, presenting a more sanguine outlook than the government and other major institutions, despite concerns about the impact of the latest surge in coronavirus infections. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the IMF revised its projection on Asia’s fourth-largest economy up by 0.7 percentage point from its April forecast. The latest figure released by the Washington-base

EconomyJuly 27, 2021

Global chip shortage continues, affecting a range of sectors

The prolonged global semiconductor shortage is having a sweeping impact on a wide range of sectors ranging from cars and computers to smartphones and gaming devices. South Korea, home to major chipmakers and tech players, is keen to soften the effect, but the outlook remains mixed, experts said. Last week, German automakers Daimler and BMW were forced to temporarily slow down or halt assembly lines, citing the global semiconductor drought. Automakers elsewhere faced similar disruptions caused

TechnologyJuly 27, 2021

KakaoBank fails to set new record in IPO subscription

South Korea’s mobile-only KakaoBank attracted nearly 58 trillion won ($50.21 billion) from retail investors during the two-day subscription for its much anticipated public listing, falling short of market expectations of setting a new record. The company drew 57.78 trillion won in deposits for the stock offering from some 1.86 million retail investors via the four IPO managers -- KB Securities, Korea Investment and Securities, Hana Financial Investment, Hyundai Motor Securities. The su

MarketJuly 27, 2021

Samsung Biologics posts all-time high earnings in Q2

Samsung Biologics, a biopharmaceutical unit of South Korea‘s top conglomerate Samsung Group, posted all-time high earnings for the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday. The company’s sales in the April-June period reached 412.2 billion won ($357.1 million), up 34 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit soared 106 percent on-year to reach 166.8 billion won during the same period. Samsung Biologics said the improved earnings were backed by new contra

TechnologyJuly 27, 2021

'High-tech training behind S. Korean archery powerhouse’

South Korea’s archery team won three golds at the Tokyo Olympic games. It’s an astonishing result of the blood, sweat and tears of the athletes but also a huge feat for Hyundai Motor Group which has been supporting the team with state of the art technologies. The conglomerate said Tuesday it has applied five fields of technology -- including artificial intelligence, biometric information, big data and 3D printing -- to enhance accuracy and provide customized strategies for the nat

IndustryJuly 27, 2021

Loan rejection, broken dream: foreigners in South Korea struggle to buy house

For Aaron, a 45-year old Canadian working as a university professor in Seoul, buying his own house in the city has been near the top of his bucket list. But his plan for a dream house has been let down by local banks rejecting his applications for a credit loan. Despite his status as a full-time instructor at the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies for more than eight years, the banks have not been accommodating. “For the first time i

MarketJuly 27, 2021

Vaccine rollouts for major factories begin

Factory workers at Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK hynix and other major manufacturers in South Korea began getting their vaccine shots on Tuesday, the health authorities said. They are part of the 303,159 workers from 43 large companies that operate large production facilities here and have in-house clinics, covered by the country’s first factory vaccine rollout program, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The shots to be injected have changed from Mod

TechnologyJuly 27, 2021

Battery swapping: Stupid idea or next trend?

Plucking batteries from electric vehicles and popping in fresh ones. This idea has existed since at least the late 2000s, but has apparently not been taken seriously by leading players in the sector. In the lens of pessimists, the whiz-bang tech is nothing more than a relic of the early era of electric cars, when it used to take hours to recharge. Now, rapid chargers can juice batteries in less than 30 minutes and evolving technologies will make those times only shorter. Critics dismiss ba

IndustryJuly 27, 2021

Hyundai Motor’s hydrogen trucks to start rolling in California from 2023

Hydrogen fuel-cell trucks from Hyundai Motor will hit the roads in California by 2023, said the South Korean automaker Tuesday, after it won a bid to provide clean-fuel vehicles for two clean-air projects in California. This will be Hyundai’s largest deployment of hydrogen vehicles in the United States. A consortium led by Hyundai and California’s Center for Transport and Environment, a government organization that promotes eco-friendly transportation projects, will roll out 30

MobilityJuly 27, 2021

Seoul stocks rebound on strong corporate earnings

South Korean stocks rebounded Tuesday as investor sentiment improved on optimism for strong corporate earnings despite the spreading new coronavirus pandemic. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.58 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 3,232.53 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 978 million shares worth some 12.1 trillion won ($10.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 534 to 287. Foreigners bought a net 44 b

MarketJuly 27, 2021

S. Korea’s tax chief in Russia, Uzbekistan for talks

South Korea’s tax agency chief visited Russia and Uzbekistan to discuss ways to strengthen ties with their respective agencies for offshore tax evasion and pave the way to resolve tax-related difficulties for local companies doing business operations there, the tax authority said Tuesday. NTS Commissioner Kim Dae-ji met his Uzbek counterpart Sherzod Kudbiev for a bilateral meeting in the country’s capital Tashkent after meeting with the Federal Tax Service of Russia Commissioner Dan

EconomyJuly 27, 2021

Korean equity market safe from emerging market trap: AllianceBernstein

Despite a gloomy outlook on emerging countries’ equity market due to the pandemic impact and corporate regulations hindering growth, prospects for South Korea remain positive, driven by quality companies’ exceeding performance on long-term growing industries, an analyst at global asset management firm AllianceBernstein said Tuesday. “Korea is quite sensitive to global growth. Since global growth especially in developed markets remain quite strong, we also have a fairly constr

MarketJuly 27, 2021

Kumho Tire renews sponsorship with Tottenham Hotspur

South Korean tire maker Kumho Tire said on Tuesday it has renewed its sponsorship contract with English football club Tottenham Hotspur. The long-term extension to a deal that was first signed in 2016 marks the third time the company has continued its support for the team as their official tire partner. The move comes after South Korean player Son Heung-min recently signed a new four-year contract with the team until 2025. Son’s presence means his team also has many fans in his home cou

MobilityJuly 27, 2021