[Herald Review] Hanmac: OB comes up with a fairly good rice-based lager

Oriental Brewery unveiled its new beer “Hanmac” late last month, boasting it as “Korea’s representative lager project.” As the label suggests, the company, famous for its pale lager Cass, set the bar high for itself. ”Some lagers are more than just beers and represent their regions as they do in Germany, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. We hope that ‘Hanmac’ will captivate consumers with its refreshing flavor of Korean rice and become a true &ls

ConsumerFeb. 25, 2021

Seoul stocks open steeply higher on US Fed Chairman's soothing comments

South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Thursday as the US Federal Reserve chairman's comments soothed inflation worries. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 47.82 points, or 1.6 percent, to 3,042.8 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks lifted largely on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's overnight reiteration that the world's largest economy still has a long way to go to recover from the pandemic's fallout. The rebound came a day after the key

MarketFeb. 25, 2021

GS launches environmental council to strengthen its ESG approach

South Korean conglomerate GS Group said Wednesday it had launched an environmental council consisting of its chief governance officers in an effort to strengthen the group’s ESG approach. The council will serve as the group’s top decision maker on matters such as pursuing new environmentally friendly business projects and anything ESG -- investments that prioritize environmental, social and governance issues. The decision to form the council comes as taking an ESG approach is being

IndustryFeb. 24, 2021

Hyundai Motor to recall Kona electric cars over fire risk

Hyundai Motor will replace the battery systems in about 82,000 electric vehicles sold here and abroad due to fire risks, the company announced Wednesday. The voluntary recall, which affects three electric vehicle models -- Kona, Ioniq and Elec City -- comes after South Korea’s Transport Ministry said a series of fires involving Kona vehicles had most likely been caused by short circuits in defective high-voltage battery cells. The automaker will be recalling a total of 81,701 units of

MobilityFeb. 24, 2021

NPS gains W72tr for 2020

South Korea’s public pension fund, the National Pension Service, has logged a 9.7 percent return last year to gain 72.1 trillion won ($65 billion) in its preliminary estimate, the government said Wednesday. Health Minister Kwon Deok-chul, who chairs NPS’ Fund Management Committee, added that the world’s third-largest pension fund was managing 833.7 trillion won worth of assets as of end-2020, in a committee meeting held in Seoul. The estimate will be finalized in June, accordi

MarketFeb. 24, 2021

Coupang’s early morning delivery service tops customer satisfaction index

Coupang boasted the highest customer satisfaction rate among e-commerce platforms providing early morning delivery, according to a new survey by the Korea Consumer Agency. The e-commerce giant, famous for its subscription-based Rocket Delivery service, had a score of 3.81 and was followed by SSG.com, another online marketplace owned by Shinsegae Group, and grocery delivery firm Market Kurly, whose scores were 3.76 and 3.72, respectively, the agency said Wednesday. The online survey asked a sam

ConsumerFeb. 24, 2021

KIPO to strengthen IP protection for digital innovation drive

South Korea’s patent protection agency is seeking to sharpen the nation’s industrial edge by overhauling intellectual property policies amid the rapid digital transformation brought on by the COVID-19 era. Artificial intelligence and data have emerged as essential means of generating intellectual property, but uncertainties surrounding related laws and a lack of institutional support are hindering the use of such technologies. The acceleration of the transition to a digital econo

EconomyFeb. 24, 2021

Incheon Airport cautiously expects ‘reverse L-shaped recovery’ as soon as later this year

Incheon International Airport Corp. said Wednesday that air travel could see a “reverse L-shaped recovery” as early as the second half of this year as the vaccine rollout speeds up in South Korea. In the most ideal scenario, IIAC said, the annual number of passengers could reach some 16.5 million, a 76.5 percent drop from 2019, but the overall pace of the recovery would remain slow and the number of passengers could be as low as 5 million by its most conservative estimate. That woul

MobilityFeb. 24, 2021

Korea launches ‘carbon agency’ to spur flying car development

South Korea on Wednesday launched a new regulatory agency dedicated to accelerating the utilization of carbon materials in five core industries, including future mobility. The Korea Carbon Industry Promotion Agency, which will be overseen by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, aims to provide regulatory support for the carbon industry and spearhead economic feasibility tests of carbon materials to accelerate their commercialization in the market. The government appointed Bang Yun-hyuk

IndustryFeb. 24, 2021

Samsung's foundry biz market share to increase in Q1: report

Samsung Electronics Co.'s market share in the global foundry industry is expected to increase in the first quarter of the year from the previous three months, a report showed Wednesday, though its growth was projected to be lower than the industry average amid high demand for chips. Samsung's foundry business was estimated to log a market share of 18 percent with revenue of $4.05 billion in the January-March period, up 11 percent from a year earlier, according to a report from industry tracker

IndustryFeb. 24, 2021

Bitcoin moves with extreme volatility amid warnings

Bitcoin prices continued to fluctuate on Wednesday as authorities in and out of the country expressed concerns over the digital coin’s volatility. After plunging 22 percent from Sunday’s record high of 65.84 million won ($59,294) to 50.9 million won on Tuesday, bitcoin prices stabilized at about 56 million won in the afternoon on Wednesday, Upbit data showed. The recent surge was driven by endorsements from Silicon Valley and Wall Street. Tesla, a US electric vehicle maker, said

MarketFeb. 24, 2021

Seoul stocks dip more than 2% to nearly 1-month low on foreign selling binge

South Korean stocks tumbled by more than 2 percent to dip below the 3,000-point threshold Wednesday on massive foreign selling, largely due to concerns over a US bond yield hike that drove the key stock index down for the past few sessions. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dipped 75.11 points, or 2.45 percent, to close at 2,994.98 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.5 billion shares worth some 16.7 trillion won ($17.7

MarketFeb. 24, 2021

Apple seeks greater presence in Korea with 2nd Apple Store

Apple will open its second Apple Store in South Korea this Friday in a move to expand its presence in the main turf of archrival Samsung Electronics. Called Apple Yeouido, the second Apple Store is located on the L1 floor of IFC Mall in Yeouido, western Seoul, which is the epicenter of finance, politics and broadcasting. It is about the same size as the company’s first store, in Garosugil in southern Seoul, which opened in January 2018 and has become a must-visit spot for Apple fans

TechnologyFeb. 24, 2021

Commercial real estate investment to reach W17tr

The entire volume of commercial real estate investments in the South Korean market is forecast to reach 17 trillion won ($15.3 billion), similar to last year’s level, analysts predicted. “Foreign investors are paying keen attention to the local market due to the country’s relatively successful containment of the pandemic, and Seoul was named in the top three most attractive markets, according to CBRE’s 2021 Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey,” said Don Lim,

MarketFeb. 24, 2021

Christopher Ko shares visions as Bio association representative

South Korean biosimilar maker Samsung Bioepis’ CEO Christopher Ko on Wednesday carried out his first public event as the new chairperson of the Korea Bio Association. Korea Bio is an association representing more than 300 biologics companies in Korea. Ko was made its seventh chief on Jan. 28. He succeeded Macrogen Chairman Seo Jung-sun, who retired from the post after serving five terms. Speaking to reporters online, Ko said that Korea Bio will actively seek to raise homegrown bio compa

IndustryFeb. 24, 2021

Elekta’s next-gen MRI device offers new hope for cancer patients

Swedish medical device company Elekta wants to give renewed hopes to cancer patients through its next-generation radiotherapy device Unity. Elekta on Wednesday launched Unity in Korea, making it the country’s first 1.5 tesla MRI machine that allows real-time, high-definition monitoring of tumors. Korean cancer patients will be able to access Unity at Yonsei University Gangnam Severance Hospital, starting July 26. “If patients had undergone 20 radiotherapies before, with Unity, the

IndustryFeb. 24, 2021

Ssangyong Cement to change name to Ssangyong C&E

Ssangyong Cement, a South Korean cement producer, will change its company name to SsangYong C&E, the company said Wednesday. The new name, in which SsangYong C&E takes the first letters of cement and environment, reflects the company’s desire to promote environment friendly values, the company said. The change will be finalized at a regular shareholders meeting slated for March 25. “For the past 60 years, we have led Korea’s cement industry and contributed to coun

IndustryFeb. 24, 2021

Koo hopes to open new chapter for Korean trade body

The Korea International Trade Association on Wednesday confirmed LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, 68, as chairman, welcoming the first chief in 15 years who is not a former high-profile government official. Also, with Koo’s rise to the post, South Korea’s top five business advocacy groups are now all represented by incumbent corporate leaders The trade organization held its general meeting at the Trade Tower in Seoul’s eastern Samseong-dong on Wednesday morning and officially

IndustryFeb. 24, 2021

Hyundai Motor hires US aerospace expert for UAM business drive

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday that it has hired a high-profile aerospace professional from the United States in line with its continued effort to promote urban air mobility, or UAM, as a future growth engine. The South Korean auto group has appointed Ben Diachun, former CEO of the California-based aerospace startup Opener, as the chief technology officer for the UAM division. “His years of experience in developing innovative aerospace vehicles will greatly contribute to our business

IndustryFeb. 24, 2021

[Herald Interview] S. Korea to ramp up rights protection of digital technology: IP office chief

The chief of the nation’s intellectual property office vowed Wednesday to reinforce intellectual property rights protection of digital inventions to contribute to South Korea‘s efforts to become a pacesetting nation in the digital era.  “In the era of digital economy, business realms driven by digital intellectual property are forecast to expand rapidly. A transition to digital economy depends on active creation of patents for innovative digital technologies across indus

EconomyFeb. 24, 2021