LG Uplus on lookout for automated seaports with 5G tech

BUSAN -- A towering shipyard crane nimbly moves over stacks of cargo crates at a terminal in Busan Port, South Korea's largest seaport 453 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to snatch a container box and gently load it onto a truck. While the scene is business as usual for the bustling port that processed over 410 million tons of cargo last year, the crane is unusual in that its driver's seat -- 25 meters off the ground -- is empty. The over 20-year-old industrial machine runs in semi-autonomous m

TechnologyMay 2, 2021

Exports up for 6th month on upbeat shipments of chips, cars

South Korea's exports jumped 41.1 percent in April from a year earlier, the highest growth in around 10 years, as demand for chips and automobiles stayed strong amid the improving global economy, data showed Saturday. Outbound shipments came to $51.1 billion last month, compared with $36.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marked the sharpest on-year monthly growth since January 2011. Imports rose 33.9 percent to $50.8 bil

EconomyMay 1, 2021

[Weekender] The rise of curated fashion platforms

Having a lot of tabs open while browsing for clothes online? For a growing number of shoppers, those days are over. Similar to how going to a shopping mall with a wide range of brands seems more of a safe bet than having to travel between stores far apart from each other, more people in South Korea are turning to platforms like Musinsa and Zigzag -- algorithm-driven e-commerce fashion platforms where shoppers are presented with items from thousands of brands. Musinsa, which boasts some 6,000

ConsumerMay 1, 2021

NFT to stick around with support from wider population: experts

Nonfungible tokens, widely known as NFTs, will survive a second wave and, even more, thrive as the public increasingly embraces this digital asset that has become more understandable and tangible, advocates said. Gathering for a panel session held by accelerator SparkLabs, industry experts from the US and Korea said Thursday that, unlike in 2017, there are more use cases of NFTs and people adopting their use. First appearing in 2014, an NFT is a blockchain-based nonduplicable digital certi

MarketApril 30, 2021

S. Korea begins reviewing 1st blood plasma therapy for COVID-19

South Korea's drug safety agency said Friday that it has begun reviewing a plasma therapy treatment against the novel coronavirus by local biotech company GC Pharma for conditional approval. The plasma therapy, dubbed GC5131A, is a type of hyperimmune globulin drug that uses blood plasma taken from people who have fully recovered from COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. If approved, the investigative drug will be the country's first blood plasma cure for the deadly d

TechnologyApril 30, 2021

Renault Samsung workers hold strike amid pandemic

Unionized workers at Renault Samsung Motors Corp. held a strike at the company's sole domestic plant on Friday to demand a wage hike for the year of 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, the union said. Renault Samsung's 1,900-strong union staged a general strike at the Busan plant, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, as they are not satisfied with the company's proposals, a union spokesman said. The union demanded an increase of 71,687 won (US$64) in monthly basic pay and a bonus of 7 million wo

IndustryApril 30, 2021

Lee Jae-yong inherits 50% of Samsung Life shares

Lee Jae-yong, the eldest son of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, officially became the leader of the Samsung empire by inheriting 50 percent of his father’s stake in Samsung Life Insurance, the company’s regulatory filing showed Friday. Lee received more than 20 million shares of the life insurer, owning a 10.44 percent stake in the affiliate, according to the filing. Samsung C&T, the construction arm and de facto holding company of Samsung Group, remains the largest sh

IndustryApril 30, 2021

Early-stage investors say not just crypto but also blockchain becoming mainstream

Blockchain technology -- not just the cryptocurrencies that rely on it -- is becoming mainstream, as evidenced in the recent market debut of US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and nonfungible tokens gaining popularity, said advocates of digital assets on Thursday. “There are many promising blockchain companies but they are overshadowed by cryptocurrencies (for now),” said Lee Han-joo, the co-CEO of SparkLabs, a leading South Korean accelerator, at the company‘s demo day that

MarketApril 30, 2021

Hard-line FSS chief to retire as fund fiasco remains unresolved

Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Yoon Suk-heun, known as a hard-line reformist of the financial industry, is set to retire next week without resolving a massive misselling scandal involving Korean hedge funds Lime Asset Management and Optimus Asset Management. Blamed for the watchdog’s lax oversight over the now-defunct hedge fund operators, it is unlikely that Yoon will continue to serve after his term ends on May 7, industry sources said. The alleged fraud cases caused investor los

EconomyApril 30, 2021

S. Korea's 5G users top 14m since commercialization

The number of 5G users in South Korea stood at over 14 million last month, two years after the networks first went live in the country, data showed Friday, as the country pushes to accelerate adoption of the latest generation networks. As of the end of March, 5G subscriptions stood at 14.48 million, accounting for 20 percent of the total 71.1 million mobile subscriptions in the country, according to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. South Korea was the first country in the world to co

TechnologyApril 30, 2021

[From the Scene] At Drone Show Korea 2021, everyone wants a slice in the sky

BUSAN -- Beneath the clear, open sky, hundreds of drones were on display at Drone Show Korea 2021, held Thursday at Bexco in Busan, where companies big and small gathered to suggest their vision for the future drone industry. In the case of national flag carrier Korean Air, the message was clear -- drone business is all about control. “Korean Air’s main focus is the (drone) air traffic control system because we have more than five decades of experience as an aircraft operator,&rdqu

IndustryApril 30, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 4th day on virus woes, short selling uncertainties

South Korean stocks slumped for the fourth consecutive day Friday as investors remained concerned over coronavirus situation and the upcoming lifting of a ban on short selling. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 26.21 points, or 0.83 percent, to close at 3,147.86 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 18.7 trillion won ($16.8 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 534 to 339. Foreigner

MarketApril 30, 2021

LG Electronics to create W100b fund with Mirae Asset Group

LG Electronics will create a 100 billion won ($90.15 million) fund with Mirae Asset Group, the country’s largest nonbank financial institution, to invest in new businesses including electric vehicles, the companies said Friday. The two business units will contribute 50 billion won each to the fund, which will be operated for 10 years. Chief Strategy Officer Cho Ju-wan of LG Electronics, Chief Executive Officer Lee Man-hee of Mirae Asset Capital and other executives held a ceremony on F

TechnologyApril 30, 2021

Public firms' debt hits record high in 2020

South Korean public firms' liabilities rose for the third straight year last year to hit a record high as they increased investment amid the pandemic, the finance ministry said Friday. Of 350 state-run companies, the combined debt of 347 firms reached 544.8 trillion won ($491.5 billion) at the end of last year, up 17.9 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It marked the highest total for liabilities since 2005 when the government began compiling

EconomyApril 30, 2021

Memory prices up sharply, boding well for S. Korean chipmakers

Memory chip prices are rising sharply amid a global semiconductor shortage, industry data showed Friday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the sector. The contract price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, which is widely used in personal computers, reached $3.80 for this month, up 26.67 percent from the previous month, according to TrendForce. It marks the largest monthly increase since January 2017, when the contract price of the product soared 35.8 percent. The contract price had b

IndustryApril 30, 2021

Lotte E&C wins $110m order from Singapore

Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. said Friday that its joint venture has won a $146.9 million ($110.7 million) deal to build a transport hub in Singapore in the first entry into the city state. Under the deal with the Singapore Land Transport Authority, Lotte E&C and its Singaporean partner Bintai Kindenko Pte Ltd. will be responsible for design and installation of mechanical and electrical works for the Jurong East integrated transport hub. The project comprises community and civic

IndustryApril 30, 2021

S. Korea allowed to catch over 41,000 tons of fish in Russian EEZ this year

South Korea's oceans ministry said Friday it has secured the right to catch 41,260 tons of fish in Russian waters this year, while fixing the fish fee unchanged for the third consecutive year. Under the agreement, South Korea can catch 28,400 tons of pollack and 5,050 tons of cod in the Russian exclusive economic zone (EEZ) this year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The volume also includes 3,000 tons of Pacific saury and 4,000 tons of squid, the ministry said. The combined

EconomyApril 30, 2021

[Exclusive] Posco to launch new entity to recycle LGES batteries

South Korea’s leading steelmaker Posco has set up a new entity in Europe and will launch another one in Korea to recycle LG Energy Solution’s electric vehicle batteries, according to industry officials. “The new entity has been established in Poland recently and we are in the process of forming another one in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, which is currently awaiting approval,” a Posco official said Friday. The new entity in Poland will collect defective batteries f

IndustryApril 30, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding wins W184.5b order for 2 LPG carriers

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Friday that it has signed a 184.5 billion won ($166.5 million) deal to build two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. Under the deal with local shipper Hyundai LNG Shipping Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver the vessels by the fourth quarter of 2023, the shipbuilder said. Hyundai LNG Shipping is a local shipper specialized in liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation. Daewoo Shipbuilding has won orders of 24 ships, including 11 oil

IndustryApril 30, 2021

Samsung ranks 2nd in Q1 smartphone revenue: report

Samsung Electronics Co. was the runner-up in the first-quarter smartphone market in terms of revenue, a report showed Friday, though it was the top vendor by volume. The South Korean tech titan logged a revenue share of 17.5 percent in the January-March period, down from 20.2 percent a year earlier, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research. Samsung was the only brand among the top five to see its revenue share decline as others expanded their presence. Apple Inc. defended its top s

IndustryApril 30, 2021