Korean Air, Asiana to merge under one brand in 2024: Korean Air president

Korean Air aims to launch a single integrated entity with Asiana Airlines, its biggest acquisition to date, in 2024, its chief executive president said Wednesday. Explaining to reporters the post-merger integration plan, which it reported to Asiana’s main creditor earlier this month, Woo Kee-hong said Asiana Airlines would operate as a subsidiary of Korean Air for two years before being integrated into one brand. “Once Asiana Airlines become a subsidiary of Korean Air, the proces

MobilityMarch 31, 2021

Bourse operator to look into measures to improve short-selling scheme before May enforcement

The South Korean bourse operator said Wednesday that it will check on its regulations on stock short selling, a trading technique that has been temporarily banned here since March last year, before its resumption in May. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) banned short selling of stocks from March 16 for a six-month period, in a move to ease a market rout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The temporary ban was extended twice until May 2, and short selling is set to resume on May 3. "W

MarketMarch 31, 2021

Korean multistrategy hedge fund is APAC's top performer of 2020: Preqin

A multistrategy hedge fund by a South Korean manager logged the highest annual net return for 2020 in the Asia-Pacific region, data showed Wednesday. The hedge fund, Gudo TAO Fund 1, net returned 124.99 percent, topping the list of Asia-Pacific-based multistrategy hedge funds through 2020, according to data from international market data tracker Preqin. The fund outperformed peers managed by Singapore’s Caygan Capital as well as Hong Kong‘s Factorial Management and BRIC Neutron A

MarketMarch 31, 2021

BOK's green efforts rank 13th among G20 peers: report

Despite advocacy work on climate action, the Bank of Korea turned out to have lagged behind major economies in terms of concrete policy actions to limit financing for businesses with climage-related risks, a report showed Wednesday. According to a list of the Group of 20 nations ranked by green initiatives -- published by the non-profit Positive Money, the Bank of Korea took 13th place with the aggregate score of 11 out of 130, giving it a rating of D- on a scale of F to A+.  China top

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

Trade terms up for 11th straight month in February

South Korea's terms of trade rose for the 11th consecutive month in February, as exports have shown signs of a gradual recovery, central bank data showed Wednesday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of trade terms -- increased 6.4 percent last month from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the 11th straight month of an on-year rise since April last year, when the trade terms logged the first on-year hike in over two yea

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

Loss rate for auto insurance drops in 2020 amid pandemic

Non-life insurers' loss rate for their car insurance businesses dropped last year, thanks to fewer car accidents amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The nation's 12 non-life insurers posted an average loss rate of 85.7 percent last year, compared with 92.9 percent a year ago, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The loss rate refers to the proportion of coverage a non-life insurer pays to its policyholders from insurance premiums. The higher the loss

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

BOK's US dollar assets decline in 2020

South Korea's central bank said Wednesday the portion of its US dollar-denominated assets in its overall foreign assets declined last year due to the weakness of the greenback. At the end of last year, dollar-denominated holdings accounted for 67.7 percent of overall foreign assets held by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the central bank said in its annual report. The reading marks a 1.4 percentage-point drop from a year earlier. The portion of US dollar-denominated assets slightly fell due to a wea

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

Regulator to refer Apple Korea to prosecution for hampering probe

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to refer the local unit of US tech giant Apple Inc. and one of its executives to the prosecution for allegedly impeding the regulator's probe into unfair business practices. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) also said it plans to fine Apple Korea 300 million won ($265,000) for hampering its investigation. Apple Korea was probed by the KFTC over allegations that it required the country's three mobile operators to pay the cost

IndustryMarch 31, 2021

KB Asset fetches W3tr for ESG-themed funds

The combined value of KB Asset Management’s environmental, social and corporate governance funds exceeded 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion), the South Korean company said Wednesday. Its ESG-themed funds pooled investments worth some 600 billion won during the first quarter alone, added the Seoul-based asset management firm. In terms of the assets under its management, funds targeting alternative assets came to 2.1 trillion won, while those dedicated to equities and exchange-traded funds at

MarketMarch 31, 2021

Genesis showcases luxury EV concept coupe

Genesis, the independent luxury brand of Hyundai Motor Co., on Wednesday unveiled a premium electric concept car ahead of the launch of the brand's first electric vehicle later this year. The Genesis X, showcased in a digital event and an offline debut in Los Angeles, is an EV-based high-performance Gran Turismo coupe and the brand's fifth concept car, Hyundai Motor said. The two-line lighting motif, applied throughout the interior and exterior, embodies the design language of future Genesis E

MobilityMarch 31, 2021

SK Telecom tipped to morph into holding company in groupwide shake up

In a groupwide governance shakeup, SK Telecom Co., the telecom unit of SK Group, may morph into an intermediary holding company this year, analysts said Wednesday, as South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate seeks to strengthen its grip on chipmaking affiliate SK hynix Inc. The telecom operator's CEO Park Jung-ho told shareholders last Thursday that the company would soon unveil plans to reshape its governance structure in a signal that the conglomerate would revamp its governance structure this year.

IndustryMarch 31, 2021

EXEM posts record-high fiscal year 2020 results

EXEM, a South Korean IT company, reported its best performance ever in the fiscal year 2020 that ended on Dec. 31. EXEM recently announced that consolidated sales reached 39.2 billion won ($34.8 million) last year, up by 14 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit and net profit rose 53 percent and 79 percent to 9.6 billion won and 8.7 billion won, respectively. “We have been able to achieve a record-high performance based on our accumulated DBPM, APM core technology plus a solid b

TechnologyMarch 31, 2021

Finance minister sees improvement in domestic demand, job market

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has forecast domestic demand and the job market will gradually improve as the country is on a recovery track amid the pandemic, the finance ministry said Wednesday. Hong made the assessment during his online meeting Tuesday with Alastair Wilson, managing director and head of the sovereign risk group of global rating agency Moody's Investors Service. The country held its annual consultation meetings with Moody's between March 25 and 30 over its economic conditions a

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

LG Energy, Samsung SDI among top 3 in 2020 smartphone battery market: report

South Korea's two major battery makers -- LG Energy Solution Ltd. and Samsung SDI Co. -- were ranked in the top three in the global smartphone battery market last year, a report showed Wednesday. LG Energy Solution, a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Chem Ltd., had a revenue share of 26 percent to rank second in the worldwide smartphone battery market in 2020, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. Samsung SDI, an affiliate of the world's largest smartphone maker Samsung Electronics C

TechnologyMarch 31, 2021

NPS, other state funds stay big net sellers of stocks in Q1

South Korea's national pension and other state funds sold more than 15 trillion won ($13.2 billion) worth of shares in the first quarter of the year due to their portfolio rules, data showed Wednesday. Net selling of shares listed on the main bourse by the National Pension Service and other state funds came to 15.7 trillion won in the January-March period, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. It accounted for 56 percent of institutional investors' total net selling worth 27.9 trillio

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

Manufacturers' biz sentiment rises for 3rd month for April

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment rose for the third straight month for April, but concerns about sluggish consumption remained amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. The business sentiment index (BSI) for local manufacturers came to 91 for April, up from 85 for March, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers' outlook on business conditions in the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber op

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

Seoul stocks open tad higher on recovery hopes

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Wednesday on market optimism for a quick global economic recovery from the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 3.36 points, or 0.11 percent, to 3,073.36 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top cap Samsung Electronics traded flat, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shed 0.37 percent. Giant internet portal operator Naver increased 0.93 percent, with its rival Kakao moving up 0.41 percent. Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biol

MarketMarch 31, 2021

Economic recovery gathers steam as industrial output growth at 8-month high in Feb.

South Korea's industrial output grew at the fastest pace in eight months in February to recover to pre-pandemic levels, data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that the economy is on a recovery track supported by exports. The industrial output increased 2.1 percent in February from the previous month, sharply turning around from a 0.6 percent on-month decline in January, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a year earlier, it rose 0.4 percent. It marked the fastest on-mo

EconomyMarch 31, 2021

SK hynix appoints Park Jung-ho as co-CEO

SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho, who is also the chief of SK Telecom, has been appointed as the chipmaker’s co-CEO at its board meeting Tuesday, the firm said. As co-CEO, Park will assume the role of building the corporate culture and leading establishment of long-term strategies for the chipmaker to strengthen global competitiveness and find new growth opportunities. Current CEO Lee Seok-hee will be responsible for development, investment and operation to strengthen technology and

TechnologyMarch 30, 2021

Korean investors consider buying more real estate in 2021

South Korean investors are willing to acquire more real estate assets this year than last year, as the market shows signs of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic with the expansion of vaccination programs, according to a report released by global commercial real estate services firm CBRE on Tuesday. A survey of 492 investors in the Asia-Pacific region, including 40 from Korea, showed that 53 percent of Korean investors said they would purchase more real estate this year than in 2020. The figu

MarketMarch 30, 2021