Kimchi could help ease coronavirus symptoms: study

Kimchi, South Korea’s traditional fermented cabbage dish, could help mitigate coronavirus symptoms, a recent study showed. The research was jointly conducted by the government-funded World Institute of Kimchi and Jean Bousquet, an honorary professor of Pulmonary Medicine at Montpellier University, France. The study found that the intake of kimchi could lead to a milder case of the coronavirus due to the bioactive compounds present in the dish. A metabolite result from fermentation, the

TechnologyMarch 31, 2021

LG Innotek’s labor union continues to reach out to society

The labor union of LG Innotek has sent various items to COVID-19 front-line workers as a token of appreciation for their contributions to society, the company said Wednesday. Various branches of the union organized the donations on their own, which in total amount to 33 million won ($29,000). The Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, chapter, for instance, prepared stationery sets for 111 nurses and nursing assistants whose children began school this year, along with letters expressing their grati

IndustryMarch 31, 2021

Former US trade representative urges Korea to join CPTPP

Former acting deputy US trade representative Wendy Cutler said on Wednesday that Korea should consider joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and wait for the US to follow suit. “Korea was one of the major negotiating partners for the TPP, but missed the opportunity because it waited for too long,” Cutler said during the 1st CPTPP Trade Forum organized by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She attended the session via virtual link

IndustryMarch 31, 2021

Samsung SDI joins international push for deep-sea mining ban

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI is among the first four companies in the world to sign on to a World Wildlife Fund call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, according to an announcement by WWF on Wednesday. The battery-making affiliate of Samsung Electronics joined Google, BMW and Volvo in committing not to source any minerals -- such as cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese -- from the seabed or finance deep-sea mining activities, and to exclude minerals obtained this way from their s

TechnologyMarch 31, 2021

NPS returns 2.4%, slightly reduces domestic stock weighting in Jan.

South Korea‘s largest institutional investor the National Pension Service gained 2.35 percent in January from its allocation, its preliminary data showed Wednesday. The monthly disclosure also showed that the NPS, the world’s third-largest pension fund, has slightly cut its stock weighting from December 2020, indicating that the pension fund’s rebalancing effort continued against the backdrop of the record bull run in domestic bourses. Of the total 855.3 trillion won ($756.2

MarketMarch 31, 2021

BlackRock to hive off retail fund business in Korea

US investment firm BlackRock said Wednesday that it aims to sell its onshore retail fund business in South Korea to a local peer, DGB Asset Management, as part of its business restructuring in the country. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in Korea and the terms of the sale were not disclosed, BlackRock added. After the restructuring, BlackRock’s Korean arm will focus on serving Korean institutional investors with offshore investment solutions. The Korean arm, BlackRock

MarketMarch 31, 2021

Education startup Ringle raises W10b

Ringle English Education Service, a South Korean education technology startup that provides 1:1 English tutoring services, said Tuesday that it had raised 10 billion won ($8.8 million) from investors as part of its Series A funding. The latest investment, which was led by returning investor Must Asset Management, puts Ringle at a valuation of 100 billion won. The edtech startup is running Series A funding until the end of April. Founded in 2015, the company has maintained a 300 percent grow

MarketMarch 31, 2021

Kakao Bank CEO’s term extended for another 2 years

Kakao Bank, the banking arm of mobile giant Kakao, on Wednesday said that its board decided to extend CEO Yoon Ho-young’s term for another two years. Yoon has led the country’s second internet-only bank since 2016. On Tuesday, the board also appointed three new members -- Jin Woong-sub, former head of the Financial Services Commission, Oh Pyeong-seob, former vice president of KB Kookmin Bank, and Choi Soo-yeol, a partner at Samdo Accounting Firm.  By Park Ga-young (gypark@h

MarketMarch 31, 2021

[Herald Interview] Local firm aims to turn Korea into hub of hair-transplant tourism

South Korea could become a hub of hair-transplant tourism in Asia, said Han Bio Chairman Kang Da-witt, introducing the technology that his company developed to treat hair loss. Han Bio, a Seoul-based company that develops cell therapies based on natural killer cells and stem cells, last year developed a technology that can be used in the mass culturing of dermal papilla cells, a population of cells that play pivotal roles in hair formation, growth and cycling. During an interview with The Ko

TechnologyMarch 31, 2021

S. Korea to boost eco-friendly energy tech to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050

South Korea said Wednesday it aims to acquire core technologies in eco-friendly energy sectors, such as highly-efficient solar panels and large-scale wind turbines, to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Last year, South Korea unveiled its carbon neutrality goal to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and nurture eco-friendly industries. Under the plan, the country aims to develop new technologies to meet its target, such as improving efficiency in solar panels from the current level of 27 percent to

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

[Herald Interview] Korea-Germany economic ties to be fueled further by post-coronavirus market: KGCCI

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which weighed down most of the world’s economies last year, the bilateral economic relationship between South Korea and Germany gained momentum even in the midst of market turbulence. While the auto and biopharma businesses flourished last year, it is the green growth and hydrogen energy sectors that are likely to pick up speed down the road, according to the chief representative of German businesses here. “Germany and South Korea are already moving

IndustryMarch 31, 2021

Hyundai Mobis vows to evolve into software platform leader in future mobility market

Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Motor Group’s auto parts maker, on Wednesday unveiled its blueprint to shift the focus of its business model from conventional automotive component hardware to future mobility software and to transform itself into a platform-oriented company. It also presented new mobility solutions and urban shared mobility concept cars -- the M.Vision X and M.Vision POP -- to shape up the transformation of mobility in the future market context. “In light of the automotive

IndustryMarch 31, 2021

Seoul stocks fall on valuation pressure, dollar appreciation

South Korean stocks retreated Wednesday on the increase in the value of US currency and the valuation pressure of local stocks. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.58 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 3,061.42 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 14.2 trillion won ($12.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 476 to 378. Foreigners sold a net 297 billion won, while retail investo

MarketMarch 31, 2021

Wall Street's crypto endorsement pushes Bitcoin

The booming adoption of digital coins by institutional players pushed the price of a bitcoin to new heights Wednesday. Bitcoin soared to a record high of 71.6 million won ($63,200) in the morning Wednesday, according to Upbit, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange that trades 184 coins. Wednesday’s rally came after a series of institutional endorsements from big players in various industries that began earlier this year. On Tuesday, PayPal, which has 375 million users, launched a

MarketMarch 31, 2021

S. Korea sees limited chance of inflation exceeding BOK's 2% target

South Korea's consumer prices are not expected to sharply rise to top the central bank's 2 percent target even as the country faces upward inflationary pressure, a senior government official said Wednesday. First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said prices of agricultural and livestock products are expected to stabilize on the back of efforts to increase supply and curb the spread of bird flu. "There is a limited possibility that the growth of consumer inflation will surpass the Bank

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

KT offers first mobile fee discounts for foreign subscribers

KT is rolling out a mobile fee discount program exclusively for non-South Korean nationals, becoming the first mobile carrier here to do so, the firm announced Wednesday. While many local subscribers are eligible for family plans, which entail discounts and benefits such as shared data usage, most foreigners have been left out of such benefits as many are here without their families. KT’s new plan for non-Koreans will group five foreign customers with the same nationality and offer a

TechnologyMarch 31, 2021

Dual-class share system needed for unicorns’ local IPOs: KRX chief

The head of South Korea’s sole stock bourse operator on Wednesday said that allowing a dual-class share system in the country would help more unicorns -- privately held startups valued at 1 trillion won ($884 million) or higher -- to consider listing in the local market. “Both the country’s ruling and the main opposition parties have discussed matters related to adopting dual-class voting rights. If the government allows the system, we believe that it will likely attract (pro

MarketMarch 31, 2021

S. Korea launches committee on carbon neutrality in transport sector

South Korea said Wednesday it has launched a committee on carbon neutrality with automobile firms in line with efforts to effectively reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050. The committee will pave the way for the government to expand cooperation with local carmakers, including Hyundai Motor Group, in rolling out policies related to carbon neutrality, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "In the long term, we plan to beef up our competitiveness in the electric and hyd

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

S. Korean EV battery makers see global market shares dip in Jan.-Feb.

South Korea's three electric vehicle (EV) battery makers saw their global market shares fall in the first two months of the year amid Chinese rivals' big advances, a market tracker said Wednesday. Worldwide consumption of EV batteries stood at 25.2 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the January-February period, up 102.4 percent from a year earlier, according to SNE Research. South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd., which spun off from LG Chem Ltd. in December last year, shipped 4.8 GWh equival

TechnologyMarch 31, 2021

YouTube Music's Android users more than double on-year in Feb: data

YouTube Music ranked as the second-most popular music streaming platform among South Korean Android users last month, with listeners on the platform more than doubling from the previous year, data showed Wednesday. The music streaming service from YouTube had 2.61 million users in February, compared with just 1.22 million the previous year, according to mobile analytics firm WiseApp based on its data on local Android smartphone users aged 10 and older. Local music streaming giant Melon, operat

TechnologyMarch 31, 2021