Industry experts urge legal embrace of digital assets

South Korea should create a legal framework to embrace up-and-rising digital assets, protect customers and support the growth of the industry, a group of experts said Friday. Gathering for a seminar on the legalization of digital assets including cryptocurrencies, experts including lawyers, a lawmaker and businessmen voiced concerns over the government’s cautious approach that could hinder the development and soaring activities of digital assets. During the seminar, Park Jong-baek, a l

MarketApril 9, 2021

NPS to widen domestic equity allocation range

South Korea’s National Pension Service has adjusted its rules to raise the strategic asset distribution limit for domestic stock holdings by 1 percentage point, Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol said Friday. “The proportion of strategic asset allocation limit for domestic equities has been increased from the current 2 percent to 3 percent,” said Kwon, who also heads the state pension’s asset management committee. Under the revision, the portion of its inves

EconomyApril 9, 2021

Riiid enters 100 most innovative AI Startups by CB Insights

Riiid, a South Korean artificial intelligence-based education tech startup, was added to a lits of the most innovative AI startups by a global market intelligence platform, the company said on Friday. Riiid, which develops AI technology that analyzes student data and content to help them learn, was included in the CB Insights’ AI 100 list, which is in its fifth year. CB Insights has chosen 100 out of 6,000 companies based on several factors including patent activity, investor quality,

MarketApril 9, 2021

Georgia governor again asks Biden to overturn ITC ruling on SK Innovation

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has called upon President Joe Biden to overturn the US International Trade Commission’s ruling against SK Innovation, marking the third such request since the decision made on Feb. 11. In his statement issued on Thursday, local time, Kemp urged that the impact on the $2.6 billion electric vehicle battery production plant in Jackson County will deliver a heavy blow to the regional economy, unless the president takes immediate action. “The jobs of at least 2,

IndustryApril 9, 2021

Woori chief faces another penalty for misselling

South Korea’s financial watchdog on Friday imposed a penalty on Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung, holding him responsible for its commercial banking unit’s misselling of funds tied to the 1.7 trillion-won ($1.52 billion) Lime Asset Management scandal. The penalty puts further pressure on Sohn, who is already in a legal fight against the Financial Supervisory Service over its sanction slapped on him for another misselling issue. Sohn was reprimanded with the third-str

MarketApril 9, 2021

Kakao to suspend trading due to 5-for-1 stock split next week

Trading in shares of Kakao, South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator, is set to be suspended for three days from Monday, following its decision to carry out its first-ever stock split. By lowering the face value of its stocks by 80 percent, the split makes it easier for small investors to purchase shares. It will increase the number of issued shares to 443,523,100 from 88,704,620 shares -- each shareholder will get five new shares for each one they currently hold. The newly split shar

MarketApril 9, 2021

KAI rolls out KF-21 Boramae, first Korean-made fighter jet

At a commencement ceremony of the Korea Air Force Academy on March 20, 2001, late President Kim Dae-jung made a promise to the cadets, “We’ll let you cadets ride fighter jets developed by Korea.” The seed planted by Kim came to fruition two decades later. KF-21 Boramae, the country’s first prototype of a domestically developed fighter jet, was unveiled Friday at a rollout ceremony at Korea Aerospace Industries’ manufacturing facility in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang

IndustryApril 9, 2021

Hyundai expands plant suspension on chip shortage

Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it will temporarily suspend another domestic plant next week due to an electronic parts shortage. Hyundai will halt the operation of the Asan plant, 100 kilometers south of Seoul, which produces the Grandeur and Sonata sedans, from Monday to Tuesday, a company spokesman said over the phone. Previously, the country's biggest carmaker said it would suspend the No. 1 plant in Ulsan, 414 km southeast of Seoul, which produces the IONIQ 5 all-electric car and the Kona s

MobilityApril 9, 2021

[Herald Interview] Given choice, AstraZeneca vaccine ‘might not be preferable’ for young people

If vaccines other than AstraZeneca’s are available for young people, South Korean health authorities may want to consider an alternative, said Dr. Jean-Louis Excler, a vaccinologist at the International Vaccine Institute, as more countries limit the use of the vaccine to older people over blood clot concerns. Excler, who is also part of the vaccine safety working group within COVAX, a global body that promotes equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, said in an interview with The Korea He

TechnologyApril 9, 2021

Seoul stocks snap weeklong gains on valuation concerns

South Korean stocks snapped their weeklong winning streak Friday as foreigners and institutions took a breather amid increased valuation pressure. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.38 points, or 0.36 percent, to close at 3,131.88 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.8 billion shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($13 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 537 to 305. Foreigners sold a net 325 billion won, whi

MarketApril 9, 2021

Semiconductor industry urges for government support amid supply shortage

Local semiconductor companies have called on the government for support, in a bid to expand their production facilities against the backdrop of the prolonged global shortage. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, a group of industry representatives from the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association met with Minister Sung Yun-mo during a conference held Friday at the Westin Chosun in central Seoul. The corresponding event came as policymakers and industry officials sought to

IndustryApril 9, 2021

Kakao in talks to acquire fashion shopping app Zigzag: report

Kakao, the South Korean tech giant behind popular messaging app KakaoTalk, is taking steps to acquire mobile shopping app Zigzag, according to local reports Friday. The reported deal could see Kakao buy a controlling stake in the operator of the shopping app -- estimated to be worth about $1 billion -- and create a new subsidiary for a merger. Kakao, however, has not yet confirmed the move, saying it is taking into account “a range of options.”　 The reports came after Kakao, once

ConsumerApril 9, 2021

Foreigners stay net sellers of S. Korean stocks in March

Foreign investors remained net sellers of South Korean stocks for a fourth month in March on profit-taking and rising US long-term interest rates, central bank data showed Friday. Foreigners' stock investment funds recorded a net outflow of $2.58 billion, the second-largest monthly outflow after February's $2.86 billion, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Offshore investors have remained net sellers of South Korean stocks since December. The central bank said foreign investor

EconomyApril 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] Samsung heir's return to jail postponed due to extended hospital stay

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung Group convicted of bribery, will return to jail later than the scheduled date, industry sources said Friday, after doctors recommended longer hospital care following his appendicitis surgery. Lee was transferred from Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, to Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul on March 19 to receive the surgery after suffering a ruptured appendix. The 52-year-old tycoon was suppos

IndustryApril 9, 2021

S. Korea's bond issuance falls in March

Bond issuance in South Korea shrank in March from the previous month due mainly to a tumble in corporate debt sales, industry data showed Friday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at slightly over 74 trillion won ($66.4 billion) last month, nearly 720 billion won smaller than a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Sales of corporate bonds declined by about 4.1 trillion won, and the issuance of currency stabilization

EconomyApril 9, 2021

KT to develop music streaming service in Vietnam

KT Corp., a South Korean telecom giant, said Friday it has clinched business ties with a Vietnamese cable network to cooperate in developing a music streaming platform in the Southeast Asian country. Under the memorandum of understanding, KT and Vietnam Television Cable, a subsidiary of state broadcaster Vietnam Television, plan to design a music streaming platform and cooperate in K-pop music distribution and the management of intellectual property. KT said it plans to provide key technology

TechnologyApril 9, 2021

State deposit insurer KDIC sells 2% stake in Woori Financial

The state-run Korea Depository Insurance Corp. (KDIC) said Friday it sold a 2 percent stake in Woori Financial Holdings Co. as part of efforts to recoup taxpayer money injected into the company. The stake, or 14.5 million shares, was offloaded through a block sale in pre-market trading for 149.3 billion won ($134 million), the KDIC said. The stake sale comes in line with a government road map to dispose of its interest in the major financial holding company, whose flagship is Woori Bank. It a

MarketApril 9, 2021

Samsung unveils upgraded smart tracking tag with UWB tech

Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday unveiled its upgraded smart tracking tag leveraging advanced wireless communication technologies that can locate people's lost items with better accuracy. The Galaxy SmartTag+ uses both Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra-wideband (UWB) solutions, according to Samsung. The latest product will be available beginning next Friday though its launch schedule will vary by market. Its predecessor, Galaxy SmartTag, which was launched in January, only used BLE techn

TechnologyApril 9, 2021

[Graphic News] Instant noodle makers see 2020 sales jump amid pandemic

　Sales of South Korea‘s top instant noodle makers posted strong sales in 2020 thanks to brisk demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　Nongshim said its sales of instant noodles, or “ramyeon” in Korean, came to 2.09 trillion won ($1.85 billion) last year, up 16.3 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. It marks the first time for Nongshim’s ramyeon sales to top the 2 trillion-won mark and the amount acc

BusinessApril 9, 2021

S. Korea needs preemptive anti-inflation steps: senior official

South Korea needs to take preemptive measures to cope with escalating concerns over inflation, a senior government official said Friday. The remark by First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon comes as Asia's fourth-largest economy faces growing inflationary pressure amid signs of an economic recovery. "It is necessary to take preemptive steps to prevent inflationary pressure from constraining an economic rebound and inflicting burdens on ordinary people," Lee told a government policy

EconomyApril 9, 2021