Banks still wary of cryptocurrency partnership

The resurgence of cryptocurrency trading as well as upcoming changes in law that mandate investments in bitcoins be made with accounts under real names are likely to provide new opportunities for commercial lenders seeking new income sources. But many are still reluctant to make ties with crypto exchanges, citing risks in the volatile market and lack of confidence over forging partnerships with smaller crypto exchanges here. Currently, three banks -- Shinhan, NH Nonghyup and K bank -- are in p

MarketMarch 3, 2021

Local private equity firm to acquire fledgling hybrid air carrier

An investor group led by a domestic private equity firm JC Partners is looking to take over the South Korean fledgling hybrid airline Air Premia, industry sources said Wednesday. The consortium composed of JC Partners, founded by former head of Orix Private Equity Korea Lee Jong-chul, and Hong Kong-based Korchina is said to close the buyout deal by acquiring at least 65 percent of Air Premia voting rights before the first half of 2021. Their combined price is expected to reach at least 50 bill

MarketMarch 3, 2021

KAIST’s new material could make EV batteries 20% more powerful

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Wednesday it has developed a new material that enhances the energy density of lithium-ion batteries by 20 percent while maintaining their stability. According to a research led by Cho Eun-ae, materials science and engineering safety professor at KAIST, lithium-ion batteries that contain 80 percent nickel inside cathodes demonstrate energy capacity of 200 ampere-hours per gram. However, the newly developed cathode materials can accommodate

IndustryMarch 3, 2021

Moon orders probe of housing officials’ alleged property speculation

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday ordered an expanded, thorough investigation into allegations that staffers at the public housing development agency used internal information to make speculative property investments. “The comprehensive investigation will be conducted by the Prime Minister’s Office and sufficient manpower will be mobilized with the help of the transport ministry to investigate the allegations thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned,” said presidential secretary

IndustryMarch 3, 2021

Hyundai Glovis forges tie with China’s Changjiu Logistics

Hyundai Glovis is forging ties with a Chinese logistics company to expand and strengthen its logistics business from China to Europe, the firm said Wednesday. As part of the partnership deal, China’s Changjiu Logistics has bought from Hyundai Glovis a 30 percent stake in Adampol, a Poland-based company that Hyundai Glovis acquired in 2014. Hyundai said the two companies will join forces to launch a new railroad transport brand, dubbed ECT, or Euro China Train. As shipping costs are sp

MobilityMarch 3, 2021

Leadership challenge intensifies family feud at Kumho Petrochemical

A nephew is challenging the leadership of his uncle, incumbent Chairman Park Chan-koo, at Kumho Petrochemical, launching a campaign to win the support of shareholders Wednesday. Park Chul-whan, the company’s largest shareholder with 10 percent of the shares, opened a website for his shareholder proposal in which he claimed that mismanagement was blocking growth of the company and suggested the direction that the company should go to increase its value.  The younger Park is the son

IndustryMarch 3, 2021

Nearly half of South Korea's startup founders hail from prominent universities: report

A local survey showed around half of local startup founders are from the country’s four most prominent universities, implying that educational background could play an important role in starting a new business here. “Many people easily associate startup founders with their individual talents or abilities rather than their educational backgrounds. (But data underlines) that the startup sector here is skewed towards certain universities,” said Park Ju-gun, industry tracker CEO

TechnologyMarch 3, 2021

KOSPI finishes higher on massive institutional buying

South Korean stocks finished higher Wednesday on strong institutional buying amid mixed prospects of a post-pandemic bond yield hike. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 39.12 points, or 1.29 percent, to close at 3,082.99 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 2.2 billion shares worth some 13.9 trillion won ($12.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 655 to 206. Institutions bought a net 691 billion won, while for

MarketMarch 3, 2021

KT and LG U+ invest in homegrown app store

South Korea’s telecommunications firms KT and LG U+ said Wednesday they have invested a total of 26 billion won ($23.1 million) in the homegrown app market ONE store, a subsidiary of SK Telecom. KT has spent 21 billion won to acquire a 3.1 percent stake in ONE store, while LG U+ has acquired a 0.7 percent stake with 5 billion won, according to a joint statement released Wednesday. SK Telecom currently has a 50.1 percent stake, and local tech giant Naver has a 26.3 percent share in the

TechnologyMarch 3, 2021

USITC embarks on probe into allegation involving Samsung’s LTE devices

The United States International Trade Commission has launched an investigation into an allegation that Samsung Electronics violated a patent related to LTE devices. According to the ITC on Tuesday in the US, the commission voted to institute an investigation of certain LTE-compliant cellular communication devices sold by Samsung and Motorola. The complaint was filed by Austin-based communication device company Evolved Wireless last month. The US firm claimed the importation into the US and

TechnologyMarch 3, 2021

Hyundai Heavy joins hands with Saudi Aramco in hydrogen project

Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) said Wednesday that it has signed a deal with Saudi Arabia's state-run oil firm Saudi Aramco to cooperate on a hydrogen project. Under the deal, Hyundai Oilbank Co., HHIH's refining unit, will import liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Saudi Aramco to produce blue hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuel resources such as natural gas, the holding company said. Carbon captured and stored during the production process will also be provided to Saudi

IndustryMarch 3, 2021

Major banks shed over 1,500 jobs, 200 branches amid COVID-19

South Korea’s five major banks cut over 1,570 jobs and shut down 238 brick-and-mortar branches last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed them toward digitalization, industry data showed Wednesday. According to data compiled by the Korea Federation of Banks, KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup shed a combined 238 offline branches and offices on-year to 3,546 as of end-December. While local lenders have been steadily shutting down their brick-and-mortar operations, the figur

MarketMarch 3, 2021

Coupang ready to go public

E-commerce giant Coupang’s initial public offering plan has been picking up momentum as the offering price of the company’s shares will be determined next week. The New York Stock Exchange announced Tuesday (local time) that the expected pricing date for the e-commerce firm’s IPO will be set on March 10. When the offering price is decided as scheduled, Coupang will likely start being traded publicly on the US stock market from March 11. Hours before the NYSE announcement, Th

MarketMarch 3, 2021

KDB commits $126m financing to satellite project

South Korea’s state-run lender Korea Development Bank said Wednesday that it had agreed on a $126 million commitment to finance an artificial satellite project in Indonesia. KDB is the first Korean lender to finance a space satellite project. The bank’s funding is part of the latest batch of a $431 million project financing to the digital infrastructure project called Satellite of Republic of Indonesia (Satria). KDB joins lenders HSBC, Banco Santander and Asia Infrastructure Inve

MarketMarch 3, 2021

S. Korea seeks to sell more farm goods overseas amid pandemic

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to keep up brisk overseas sales of agricultural products in 2021, as demand for ready-to-eat products has been growing around the globe with more people dining at home amid the virus pandemic. Outbound shipments of agricultural products expanded 7.7 percent on-year in 2020 to a record high of $7.57 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The country plans to maintain the growth to post exports of $8.1 billion this year as

EconomyMarch 3, 2021

Exports of fishery goods down 7.4% in 2020 amid pandemic

South Korea's exports of fishery goods moved down 7.4 percent on-year in 2020 amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of fishery goods reached $2.32 billion in 2020, compared with $2.5 billion tallied the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. By segment, exports of ready-to-eat products, such as seaweed and processed fish products, advanced 3.8 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively, over the cited period. Th

EconomyMarch 3, 2021

S. Korea unveils additional support to virus-hit airlines

South Korea on Wednesday unveiled another set of measures to support airlines hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in the latest move to help airlines stay afloat during the crisis. The government will continue to reduce the airport usage fee for the airlines until June, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement, adding the fee will be lowered by 45.7 billion won ($40.6 million). The ministry said it will later consider whether to extend the fee reduction again by tak

MobilityMarch 3, 2021

Corporate loan growth decelerates in Q4 amid pandemic

Loans extended to companies in South Korea grew at a slow pace in the fourth quarter of last year, as manufacturing firms got fewer loans amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. The outstanding amount of corporate loans came to 1,393.6 trillion won ($1.23 trillion) at the end of December last year, up 27.7 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It compared with a 37.8 trillion-won rise tallied in the third quarter

MarketMarch 3, 2021

Internet use jumps in 2020 amid pandemic

The average amount of time South Koreans spent using the internet reached over 20 hours per week last year, 2.7 hours more than the time spent the previous year amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. South Koreans used the internet 20.1 hours a week on average last year, compared with 17.4 hours the previous year and 16.5 hours in 2018, according to the report from the Ministry of Science and ICT that surveyed 60,000 people over the age of 3. The report

TechnologyMarch 3, 2021

S. Korea to extend online religious activity support amid pandemic

South Korea's ICT ministry said Wednesday it will extend support for online religious activities until next month due to continued COVID-19 infections across the country. The Ministry of Science and ICT first introduced support for such activities in April last year, such as providing network data and technical assistance to religious organizations, to discourage in-person meetings to prevent COVID-19 infections. Under the support measures, the ministry also plans to provide 100 gigabytes of d

TechnologyMarch 3, 2021