SK likely to launch battery JV with Ford, build plant in US

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who is currently visiting the US as part of the unofficial business delegation of President Moon Jae-in’s first summit with President Joe Biden, is likely to announce joint investment with Ford to build a new battery factory in the country. According to a Reuters report Thursday, SK Innovation -- a battery-to-petrochemical unit of SK Group -- is set to sign an agreement with the US automaker to form a joint venture for the production of electric vehicle ba

IndustryMay 20, 2021

AMCHAM joins calls for pardon of imprisoned Samsung heir ahead of summit

The American business lobby group here has submitted a petition for the pardon of Lee Jae-yong, the imprisoned de facto leader of Samsung Group, to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae ahead of a bilateral summit between South Korea and the United States, its officials said Thursday. The American Chamber of Commerce in South Korea (AMCHAM) last week sent a letter to President Moon Jae-in asking him to consider pardoning Lee ahead of his visit to Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden

IndustryMay 20, 2021

Global IBs raise Kospi target on solid earnings forecast

Despite adjustments in South Korea’s stock market since the nation’s main bourse crossed the 3,200-point mark this year, global investment banks JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley have painted a rosy outlook for the Kospi amid a solid corporate earnings forecast, reports showed Thursday. JP Morgan raised its yearly Kospi target to 3,500 from the previous estimate of 3,200, saying all sectors had recorded an earnings turnaround this year except for utilities. Especially considering the st

MarketMay 20, 2021

Posco buys stakes in Ravensthorpe Nickel in Australia for $240m

POSCO, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker by output, said Thursday it has signed a deal to buy a 30 percent stake in the Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation in Australia for $240 million in the latest move to boost its electric vehicle battery business. Under the deal with Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd., POSCO will be provided with a long-term offtake agreement for 7,500 tons of nickel in mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide precipitate (MHP) per year produced at Ravensthorpe, beginning in 202

IndustryMay 20, 2021

Household income up 0.4% in Q1 on COVID-19 relief subsidies

South Korea's household income edged up in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, but the gain was mostly attributable to the government's emergency handouts aimed at tackling economic fallout of the new coronavirus pandemic. The average household earned 4.38 million won (US$3,860) per month in the first quarter, up 0.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Household income earned through wages, on the other hand, slipped 1.3 percent

EconomyMay 20, 2021

Hy to launch plant-based protein brand Protein Code

Food and beverage company Hy, previously known as Korea Yakult, said on Thursday it will enter the plant-based protein market with its new brand Protein Code. Though the company previously released protein-focused products, it marks the first time it has launched a brand dedicated to protein-heavy products. “Protein Code products are 100 percent plant-based, keeping in line with consumer trends such as going vegan and value-based consumption,” the company said in a statement. The

ConsumerMay 20, 2021

Hyundai, Kia see EU sales boom in April

Hyundai Motor and Kia, which together form the world’s fifth-largest carmaker in sales, saw their sales in Europe more than quadruple from a year earlier, reflecting a bounce back from the low-base effect from the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday. The two automobile affiliates of South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group, sold a combined 78,495 units in the European market in April, up 317.3 percent from the same period last year, officials said, citing

IndustryMay 20, 2021

UBS names new country head for S. Korea

Swiss banking giant UBS said Thursday it has appointed Chang Sei-yoon, the incumbent head of the global markets division at UBS Securities Seoul, as its new country head for the group’s operations in South Korea.  “(Chang) has contributed greatly to UBS‘s growth in Korea and has a deep understanding of the Korean market and clients,” said Edmund Koh, president of UBS Asia Pacific, citing Chang’s more than 25 years of expertise in Korean financial markets. 

MarketMay 20, 2021

32 conglomerates under tight scrutiny due to heavy debts

South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday it has placed 32 highly indebted conglomerates under closer watch for debt reductions in order to prevent defaults. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the conglomerates that owe more than 1.91 trillion won ($1.68 billion) to local banks have been designated heavy corporate debtors this year. This compares with 28 such business groups last year. Shipping firm HMM and builder HDC were among the firms that were newly included on t

IndustryMay 20, 2021

S. Korea compiles more anti-dumping cases from local steelmakers

South Korea's trade dispute agency on Thursday held a public hearing on anti-dumping cases of flat-rolled stainless steel imported from three countries, prior to its final ruling slated in July. The move came after South Korea decided to launch an investigation against Chinese, Taiwanese and Indonesian flat-rolled stainless steel products in September last year, according to the Korea Trade Commission. South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO filed the complaint with the commission over anti-dumping

EconomyMay 20, 2021

S. Korea to ship W59b worth of dried laver to Japan

South Korea's oceans ministry said Thursday it has won a deal worth 58.7 billion won ($51.8 million) to export dried laver products to Japan. Dried laver, called "gim" in Korean, is usually roasted with sesame oil and fine salt and served as a side dish with Korean meals. Exports of dried laver products reached $600 million in 2020, up 3.6 percent on-year, amid growing popularity of Korean food in the Asian market. Of the volume, Japan accounted for the largest share of 22.2 percent.

EconomyMay 20, 2021

SK Innovation, Ford to announce EV battery joint venture in US: sources

South Korean battery maker SK Innovation Co. and American automaker Ford Motor Co. are set to announce a battery joint venture in the United States to ensure a stable supply of batteries for electric vehicles, industry sources said Thursday. The two companies plan to announce a memorandum of understanding on the joint venture later in the day, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in meets with US President Joe Biden in Washington this week to discuss bilateral issues, including EV industry coope

MobilityMay 20, 2021

Netflix users dip in S. Korea amid growing competition

Monthly active users of the US video streaming service Netflix Inc. in South Korea recorded a decline in the past three months, data showed Thursday, as the platform faces a slowdown in global subscriber growth and increasing competition from local players. Netflix's monthly active users in the country last month stood at 8.08 million, down 1.9 percent from 8.24 million in March, according to the data from market researcher Nielsen Koreanclick. The latest figure marks a dip since the platform

TechnologyMay 20, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on early US tapering worries

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as investor sentiment turned risk-averse over the US tapering jitters that stemmed from the latest Federal Reserve minutes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 11.99 points, or 0.38 percent, to 3,161.06 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a weak start amid foreign and institutional selling. Stocks fell tracking the US stock decline that was largely caused by the Federal Reserve's minutes suggesting

MarketMay 20, 2021

Samsung confirms smartwatch OS partnership with Google

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday that it will team up with Google LLC to deliver a new smartwatch operating system (OS), as they seek to better compete with Apple Inc. in the wearables market. Yoon Jang-hyun, who heads Samsung's software development team, said in an editorial that the South Korean tech giant will develop a unified smartwatch platform with Google. Samsung currently uses Tizen OS for its Galaxy smartwatches, while Google offers Wear OS. Their OS partnership was first unve

TechnologyMay 20, 2021

Philippine investment agency eyes South Korean EV parts, semiconductor firms

The Philippine Board of Investments, the lead industry and investment promotion agency in the country, said it is eyeing South Korean electric vehicle parts and semiconductor firms to further grow their businesses and make it happen in the Philippines. Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo made this statement during an online briefing with South Korean companies in April on the recently-enacted Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act and the Strategic In

May 19, 2021

NPS, KIC bet on US bank, semiconductor stocks

South Korean institutional investors were seen betting big on the banking sector and semiconductor firms in the United States during the first quarter, filings showed Wednesday. The National Pension Service, the world’s third-largest pension fund, has amassed holdings in US financial services firms such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, according to a filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The NPS, which bought 113,080 additional shares of JPMor

MarketMay 19, 2021

Korean institutional investors eye more foreign infrastructure assets

South Korean institutional investors are looking to increase their exposure to foreign alternative assets and diversify in terms of asset classes and destinations. This comes as more institutional investors here are venturing into asset classes that could stimulate post-pandemic recovery and a sustainable future, in their bid to achieve medium-risk, long-term investing through illiquid assets, according to a note to investors by KTB Investment & Securities on Wednesday. For example, the N

MarketMay 19, 2021

[News Focus] Action plan to make Korea a global COVID-19 vaccine factory takes shape

In the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea could step up as a global vaccine factory, if players unite to ramp up the country’s total production capacity, already the world’s second-largest, officials and industry insiders said Wednesday. Talks have already begun among local biopharmaceuticals to forge a consortium for co-production of the doses -- in particular the entirely new type of mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the sources said.

TechnologyMay 19, 2021

[CRYPTO FEVER] Amid mix of concern and hope, retail investors back on crypto rollercoaster

This is a part of a series of reports, analyses and interviews on the cryptocurrency market and its future. This is the first installment. -- Ed. After the crypto market crashed in 2018, Lee Ji-hoon, a 35-year-old office worker, kept his distance. But amid the recent market frenzy surrounding cryptocurrencies, Lee felt the urge to reopen an account he had nearly forgotten about for three years. As soon as the account was reopened at Bithumb’s offline customer center last week, he was i

MarketMay 19, 2021