2 concrete pipe producers fined W313m over price collusion

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Sunday it has decided to fine two small concrete pipe producers a combined 313 million won ($282,000) for colluding to fix prices of industrial pipes. Buyang Industry Co. and Shinhung Hume Pipe Co. colluded to fix their quotations between  2012 and 2016 for 38 rounds of concrete pipe purchase bidding put forward by government agencies and public firms, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KTFC). The deals were worth an estimated 10.6 billion

EconomyFeb. 21, 2021

Imprisoned Samsung heir likely to be dismissed as welfare foundation chief

Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of Samsung Group, is expected to be dismissed as head of a social welfare foundation established by his late father, as he is imprisoned over a high-profile bribery case, sources said Sunday. Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation is expected to hold a board meeting next month to decide whether to strip him of the chairmanship of the foundation, according to sources at the Seoul city government and the Yongsan Ward office. Last month, Lee was sentenced to two an

IndustryFeb. 21, 2021

Cargo handling at seaports down 1.6% in Jan.

The amount of cargo processed at South Korea's seaports moved down 1.6 percent in January from a year earlier amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Sunday. The volume of cargo handled at local sea ports came to 128.9 million tons last month, compared with 131 million tons posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Handling of export-import cargo also shrank 1 percent on-year to 111.1 million tons last month. The ministry attributed

EconomyFeb. 21, 2021

Retail investors pare down net stock buying in Feb.

South Korean retail investors pared down their net buying of local stocks in February as the country's key stock index traded in a tight range following a bull run, data showed Sunday. Retail investors snapped up a net 5.8 trillion won ($5.24 billion) worth of stocks on the main and secondary markets during 13 trading sessions ending on Feb. 19, compared with a net purchase of 25.8 trillion won in January, according to the bourse operator Korea Exchange. Compared with a month earlier, their ne

MarketFeb. 21, 2021

Homegrown app market draws spotlight as alternative to Google's Play store

South Korea's app market ONE store has drawn attention as a possible alternative to Google's Play store as local app developers worry about increasing costs over the US tech giant's decision to expand its 30 percent commission fee to all in-app digital goods purchases later this year. ONE store, a subsidiary of top wireless carrier SK Telecom Co., launched the app market in 2016 as a smaller rival to the Play store on Google's Android operating system. The app market has since steadily grown,

TechnologyFeb. 21, 2021

Celltrion to supply antibody treatment for COVID-19 without profit margin in Korea: chairman

South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion will supply its antibody treatment for COVID-19 without a profit margin in South Korea, its chairman has said. Celltrion’s CT-P59 won the South Korean drug safety agency’s conditional approval earlier this month, becoming the first locally made treatment for the virus. The drug began to be supplied to local medical institutions Wednesday. CT-P59 is administered to COVID-19 patients at higher risk, referring to people aged 60 and olde

IndustryFeb. 20, 2021

BlackRock emerges as Kakao’s 5th-largest shareholder

US-based international investment manager BlackRock became a blockholder of South Korea’s internet giant Kakao, in an apparent bet on the corporation behind Korea’s most popular messenger app, a filing showed Friday. The US investor’s subsidiary BlackRock Fund Advisors and its 13 affiliates have spent 986.4 billion won ($891.9 million) to obtain 5.18 percent of common shares in Kakao as of Monday, according to the filing. As a result, BlackRock is expected to become the fif

MarketFeb. 19, 2021

BNP Paribas South Korea ramps up efforts for gender equality

  As part of a move to promote gender equality at work, BNP Paribas South Korea has hosted an online event named Gender and Power Talks in partnership with law firm Shin & Kim LCC and the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ahead of International Women’s Day slated for March 8, leaders from the three organizations discussed measures to foster female leadership across industries in the virtual event, which was held on Wednesday.  “(BNP Paribas South Korea)

MarketFeb. 19, 2021

FSC chief reiterates call to salvage cash-strapped SsangYong Motor

South Korea’s top financial regulator Eun Sung-soo said Friday that its earlier call on its creditors to extend additional support to financially pinched commercial vehicle maker SsangYong Motor remains “valid.” Eun, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said that he found common ground “in a broader sense” with SsangYong’s main creditor Korea Development Bank, which has refused to extend an additional funding to the lossmaking Korean arm of India-ba

MarketFeb. 19, 2021

Gold prices drop to 10-month low while bitcoin rally continues

Gold prices have skidded to a 10-month low while bitcoin, which is considered by some as a digital replacement for gold, has been on a bull run. The price for a gram of gold declined for five trading days in a row on Thursday as it closed at 63,900 won ($57.67), down 0.48 percent from a day earlier, according to the Korea Exchange. The closing price is the lowest since April 6 when the gold price came in at 63,780 won. Compared to the record high of 80,100 won on July 28, the price has tum

MarketFeb. 19, 2021

SK hynix to see 70% surge in Q1 profit: report

SK hynix’s operating profit for the first quarter this year is expected to hit 1.36 trillion won ($1.2 billion), up 70.6 percent on-year, Shinhan Investment said Friday. The brokerage also forecast in its report that the company’s revenue during the three month period could go up 14.2 percent on-year to reach 8.2 trillion won. The on-year growth was mostly attributed to the increasing price in dynamic random-access memory products, or DRAM products, and the recent turnaround in ma

TechnologyFeb. 19, 2021

S. Korea to introduce contact-free boarding at airports

Contactless, airport check-in systems will be set up across the country by next year, South Korea’s Vice Finance Minister said on Friday, in a bit to digitalize the nation’s social infrastructure. “By 2022, (the government) will implement a contactless check-in system at 15 airports across the nation, which automatically confirms identification of passengers via biometric data, in order to increase convenience of residents using local airports,” Vice Finance Minister K

EconomyFeb. 19, 2021

Moody's upgrades LG Electronics' credit ratings by one notch

Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Friday upgraded credit ratings of LG Electronics Inc. for the first time in seven years after the South Korean tech giant reported record earnings last year. Moody's raised the ratings of LG Electronics to Baa2 from Baa3, with its ratings outlook remaining "stable." This is the first time since February 2014 that Moody's has revised up its ratings on the major South Korean tech firm. "The upgrade reflects our expectation that, fo

IndustryFeb. 19, 2021

LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol named as next KITA chief

The Korea International Trade Association on Friday nominated LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, 68, as its 31st chairman. The leadership board of the trade organization, which represents over 70,000 member companies, met at the Trade Tower in Seoul’s eastern Samseong-dong and unanimously named Koo as the sole candidate for the post, officials said in a statement. Koo is slated to take office for a three-year term once his nomination is approved at KITA’s general meeting next Wednesday

IndustryFeb. 19, 2021

Seoul stocks rebound amid virus woes, US Treasury yields climb

South Korean stocks rebounded Friday after swerving in and out of negative terrain amid woes over a virus resurgence and rising US Treasury yields. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 20.96 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 3,107.63 points. Trading volume was high at about 3.4 billion shares worth around 19.4 trillion won ($17.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 555 to 306. Foreigners sold

MarketFeb. 19, 2021

Kepco shifts to black in 2020 on low fuel costs

Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) on Friday reported a net income of 2.09 trillion won ($1.9 billion) in 2020, turning from a loss of 2.26 trillion won a year earlier on the back of the low fuel costs. Operating profit for the year was 4.08 trillion won, compared with a loss of 1.27 trillion won from the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Annual sales fell 1 percent to 58.56 trillion won. During the fourth quarter, net profit reached 586 billion won, also shifting to the

IndustryFeb. 19, 2021

Kakao Mobility receives $200 million investment

Kakao Mobility, South Korea’s largest mobility-as-a-service platform operator, is expected to accelerate its business expansion with a recent investment from Carlyle Group. International investment firm Carlyle Group Thursday agreed to invest $200 million in Kakao Mobility, valuing the South Korean mobility platform operator at 3.42 trillion won ($3.09 billion). Kakao Mobility currently operates Kakao T, the country’s most popular taxi-hailing platform used by around 28 million u

TechnologyFeb. 19, 2021

SK chief underscores cooperation in battery ecosystem

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Friday underscored the importance of cooperation among players in the lithium-ion battery industry during a webinar hosted by the group’s foundation. During the online seminar hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, the chairman attributed the recent success of the battery industry to “the longtime cooperation among researchers from the academia and industry.” “Such cooperation is crucial to expand the battery ecosystem i

TechnologyFeb. 19, 2021

S. Korea's overseas financial assets touch new high in 2020

South Korea's overseas financial assets hit a new high in 2020, mainly due to increased stock investments, central bank data showed Friday. The nation's external financial assets came to $1.93 trillion at the end of December last year, up $236.3 billion from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The net international investment position came to $441.4 billion as of the end of December, down $59.5 billion from a year earlier, the data showed. The position

EconomyFeb. 19, 2021

NPS commits $150m to global timberland in push for diversification

The National Pension Service said Friday it has committed $150 million to global timberland investment for the first time, in its push for portfolio diversification. The investment by the world’s third-largest pension fund, overseeing 807.3 trillion won ($729 billion) in assets as of November, will go to Stafford International Timberland IX, a ninth flagship timberland fund managed by London-based Stafford Capital Partners. Through the partnership, the NPS will be able to get exposure t

MarketFeb. 19, 2021