Seoul stocks open nearly flat amid virus woes

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Monday amid concerns over rising new coronavirus cases around the world. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.69 points, or 0.02 percent, to 3,040.32 points in the first 15 minutes of trading amid foreign and institutional selling. Investor concerns grew as US COVID-19 cases moved back up, with the third wave of the virus spreading in Europe. New COVID-19 infections topped 126 million over the weekend around the world, with the death tol

MarketMarch 29, 2021

Samsung reclaims No. 1 spot in Feb. smartphone sales: report

Samsung Electronics Co. reclaimed the top spot in global smartphone sales in February, a report showed Monday, after it narrowly beat Apple Inc. on the back of the early release of the Galaxy S21 series. Samsung shipped 24 million units of smartphones for a 23.1 percent market share last month, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics, outpacing Apple which sold 23 million units for a 22.2 percent share. China's Xioami came in third with an 11.5 percent share, followed by Vivo with 10

TechnologyMarch 29, 2021

S. Korea's exports predicted to rise 18.3% in March: poll

South Korea's exports are expected to rise 18.3 percent in March from a year earlier to extend the gains for the fifth consecutive month, led by strong demand for chips and automobiles, a poll showed Monday. Outbound shipments are expected to reach $54.6 billion this month, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was conducted on eight brokerage houses. Imports are estimated to rise 17.8 percent over the period to reach $49.2 billion wo

EconomyMarch 29, 2021

Number of top 10 groups' units soars 17.5% over 5 years

The number of subsidiaries belonging to South Korea's top 10 conglomerates has jumped nearly 18 percent over the past five years to nearly 700, data showed Monday. No. 1 conglomerate Samsung and nine leading business groups had a combined 699 listed and unlisted companies under their wings as of end-December 2020, up 17.5 percent, or 104, from five years earlier, according to the data based on their business reports filed with the Financial Supervisory Service. SK Group and six other conglomer

IndustryMarch 29, 2021

[Herald Interview] IBK Securities eyes bigger opportunity, market trust as SME-specialized investor

IBK Securities, the brokerage arm of the state-run Industrial Bank of Korea, aims to cement its position as a leading medium-sized company by securing 1 trillion won ($886 million) of its own capital and expanding financial flow between SMEs in Korea and investors. CEO Suh Byung-ki, entering his second year this month, said in an interview that its goal of securing 1 trillion won of capital may lead the way for the company to raise its credit rating and its reputation as a trusted company in th

MarketMarch 29, 2021

Corporate direct financing jumps 29% in February

South Korea's corporate direct financing jumped 29 percent in February from the previous month due to a modest rise in bond sales, data showed Monday. Local companies raised a combined 19.9 trillion won (US$17.6 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 4.4 trillion won from a month ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Corporate stock sales plunged 64.2 percent on-month to 684.6 billion won, with the value of initial public offerings dipping 43.9 p

EconomyMarch 29, 2021

[News Focus] Seoul mayoral by-election campaign revolves around real estate plans

Real estate development schemes have taken center stage in the ongoing Seoul mayoral race, with candidates churning out a series of plans to woo voters angry about the central government’s strict regulations that have failed to curb soaring housing prices in the capital. Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party said last week that he would lift restructuring and redevelopment regulations within a week if he is elected as Seoul mayor. He also pledged to supply 360,000 housing u

MarketMarch 28, 2021

Hankook Tire builds excellence in high performance tires

Hankook Tire & Technology, the world‘s sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, has spent time and resources in research and development of high performance tires in order to sharpen its competitive edge over global rivals. That investment seems to have paid off, as the firm has landed a series of original equipment tire supply deals for some of the finest cars in the world. According to the Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province-based firm, Hankook’s tires have been chosen for the most advan

MobilityMarch 28, 2021

Are LFP batteries really safer than high-nickel batteries?

Public distrust is running high over the safety of high-nickel lithium-ion batteries after a series of electric vehicle recalls by renowned automakers including Volkswagen, BMW, Renault, General Motors, Ford and Hyundai Motor. Amid growing concerns, lithium iron phosphate batteries -- LFP batteries, which use iron instead of nickel -- have emerged as a safer alternative, though they are less powerful than high-nickel batteries. But despite the widespread belief that high-nickel batteries a

IndustryMarch 28, 2021

Family, business community mourn late Nongshim Group chairman

Local business leaders and mourners paid tribute on Sunday to the founder of Nongshim Group, Shin Choon-ho, who died of chronic illness on Saturday at the age of 92. Shin led the country’s major food conglomerate and leading instant noodle producer for 56 years. The late chairman was born in Ulsan in 1930 and was the younger brother of the late Shin Kyuk-ho, who founded South Korean retail conglomerate Lotte Group. At the funeral altar at Seoul National University Hospital on Sunday

ConsumerMarch 28, 2021

BMW Korea to introduce new cars, service centers to improve customer satisfaction

BMW Group Korea will introduce 10 new cars to local customers this year, including electric vehicles and new Mini models, and will expand its facilities here, adding new service centers, showrooms and expanding its existing logistic center to improve customer satisfaction, the automaker said Sunday. In its first launch this year, the automaker in February rolled out the second-generation BMW 4 Series, to which the brand’s new “design language” has been applied. The renewed

MobilityMarch 28, 2021

[#WeFACE] For Posco, ESG is all part of ‘corporate citizenship’

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews with executives of South Korea’s leading corporations on their response to environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, issues, which have become central factors globally in measuring the sustainability of an investment or business decision. -- Ed.  Handling with the uncertainties and anxiety rising from the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses here and abroad have found themselves swept away by burgeoning ESG calls over th

IndustryMarch 28, 2021

More Koreans inclined to invest in stocks in wake of COVID-19: survey

More South Koreans are becoming inclined to stock investing as they seek to take advantage of a turnaround from the COVID-19 financial market crisis, a survey showed Sunday. Of 1,000 respondents aged between 19 and 59, 67.8 percent said they were interested in investing via stocks, according to a survey conducted in February by Seoul-based market research firm Macromill Embrain Trend Monitor. Among them, 52.7 percent said they had begun to take an interest in stock investing since January 2020

MarketMarch 28, 2021

Mirae Asset Global reaps record annual profit as diversification bears fruit

Mirae Asset Global Investments, an asset management arm of investment banking group Mirae Asset, reaped a record annual profit for 2020 as its efforts to diversify its product pipeline and beef up its global profile paid off. The latest filing by the second-largest asset management firm in South Korea, overseeing 112.1 trillion won ($99 billion) in assets as of end-2020, showed that its net profit throughout last year came to 256.4 billion won, up 66.2 percent from a year prior. The figure m

MarketMarch 28, 2021

[Feature] Korean banks’ Myanmar ambition dashed by rising political unrest

The worsening turmoil in Myanmar is casting a shadow over South Korean banks’ rosy vision of gaining a foothold in the Southeast Asian region as the ongoing political unrest has either entirely or partially suspended their operations. South Korean banks have been gearing up to start business in the Myanmar market since 2012, as the quasi-civilian government undertook economic and political reforms. The administration that took power in 2011 institutionalized a new foreign investment law t

MarketMarch 28, 2021

LIG Nex1 CEO calls for need of Korea’s own GPS

Korea will need its own global positioning system, dubbed KPS, for the sake of the country’s national security as well as space industry development, said Kim Ji-chan, chief executive officer of LIG Nex1. “Without the country’s own satellite navigation system, Korea relies heavily on the GPS developed by the United States,” Kim told a meeting on Korea’s space development plan attended by President Moon Jae-in Thursday. LIG Nex1 is a leading defense technology

TechnologyMarch 28, 2021

SK Innovation considers all options including withdrawal from US

Calling the punishment by the United States’ trade watchdog “catastrophic and a harm to public interest,” South Korean battery maker SK Innovation said it was considering all options, including abandonment of its $2.7 billion manufacturing facilities in the US state of Georgia. In its latest appeal to the US International Trade Commission, SK Innovation alluded to halting the ongoing construction of its second battery manufacturing plant in Commerce City, Georgia, as well as

TechnologyMarch 28, 2021

5 window producers fined for exaggerated advertising

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Sunday it has decided to fine five manufacturers of windows a combined 1.28 billion won ($1.13 million) for exaggerated advertising. LG Hausys and its four rivals ran advertisements that misled consumers to believe that installing their products can sharply reduce energy costs, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The companies did not specify in ads that such results on energy efficiency could be generated in a strictly controlled environ

EconomyMarch 28, 2021

Doosan Infracore releases 100-ton excavators in global market

The South Korean construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. said Sunday it has launched its 100-ton excavators, the biggest in its lineup in the global market, and won orders for them from Mongolia and Chile. Doosan Infracore bagged an order for one 100-ton excavator from a Chilean company, with a 100-ton excavator and a 80-ton excavator ordered by a Mongolian company, the company said in an emailed statement. Global demand for the large excavator market is estimated at about 1,000 unit

IndustryMarch 28, 2021

LG Uplus to supply 5G content to Thailand's top telco

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Sunday it signed a deal to export $11.14 million worth of 5G solutions and content to Thailand's top mobile carrier, Advanced Info Service (AIS). Under the deal, LG Uplus will provide AIS with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) 5G content and also oversee the rollout of the service from its testing to launch. LG Uplus said it expects its immersive 5G content, which includes Korean music shows, to gain popularity in Thaila

IndustryMarch 28, 2021