K bank sees record inflow of deposits, new customers in Jan.

South Korea’s first internet-only lender, K bank, saw a hike in term deposits in January backed by new customers looking to invest in bitcoins through the online bank. Under the partnership between K bank and crypto exchange Upbit forged in June, retail investors can open a bitcoin trade account via the online lender. A bitcoin frenzy in January appears to have pushed the number of customers subscribing and depositing cash at K bank, according to market watchers. K bank’s sav

MarketFeb. 4, 2021

KB Kookmin Bank adopts global ESG-related risk management framework

South Korea’s KB Kookmin Bank on Thursday said it has adopted a global environmental, social and governance-related risk-management framework, known as the Equator Principles, to better uphold its environmental responsibilities. By complying with the international convention adopted by financial institutions around the world, KB Kookmin hopes to bolster its ESG standards in its decision-making process. Project financing over $10 million and corporate loans of over $50 million are subje

MarketFeb. 4, 2021

Korea Eximbank sells $1.5b worth of bonds

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) said Thursday that it has issued global bonds worth $1.5 billion to overseas investors. The three-tranche debt is comprised of three-year bonds worth $500 million and five-year bonds worth $700 million, with the remainder maturing in 10 years, the lender said. The three-year bonds carry an annual interest rate of the yield on three-year US Treasurys plus 0.23 percent, and the five-year debt has a rate of the return on five-year US Trea

EconomyFeb. 4, 2021

S. Korea to spend more for future cars under New Deal scheme

South Korea's industry ministry said Thursday it plans to raise 200 billion won ($179 million) this year to nurture eco-friendly automobiles and other state-of-the-art technologies, in line with the country's New Deal drive announced last year. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it has clinched a memorandum of understanding with a slew of industrial and financial partners, including Hyundai Motor Group. Of the fund, the government plans to chip in 50 billion won, followed by Hyund

IndustryFeb. 4, 2021

KT&G Q4 net nearly triples on increased exports

KT&G Corp., South Korea's dominant tobacco company, said Thursday its fourth-quarter net profit nearly tripled as exports increased despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Net profit for the three months ended December jumped to 307.71 billion won ($276 million) from 116.83 billion won a year earlier helped by robust overseas sales of tobacco products, the company said in a statement. "The seven-year supply contract signed with a Middle Eastern company early last year and increased exports to

IndustryFeb. 4, 2021

Samsung's Q4 smartphone sales rise in US: report

Samsung Electronics Co.'s smartphone sales in the United States rose in the fourth quarter of 2020 on the back of its budget flagship model, a report showed Thursday, despite overall market decline. Samsung and Apple Inc. were the only smartphone makers to post sales growth in the United States in the last three months of 2020, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. The South Korean tech giant saw 5 percent on-year growth in its US smartphone sales in the fourth quarter, while A

IndustryFeb. 4, 2021

Top court upholds guilty convictions of Samsung executives in union-busting case

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the guilty convictions of dozens of former and current Samsung executives accused of sabotaging labor union activities at a subsidiary company in 2013. The court confirmed a 16-month prison sentence for Kang Kyung-hoon, a vice president at Samsung Electronics Co., on charges of violating labor union laws. It also confirmed the acquittal of Lee Sang-hoon, former chairman of Samsung Electronics' board of directors, citing the illegal means by which evidence w

IndustryFeb. 4, 2021

Amount of grain brought home by S. Korean agricultural firms doubles in 2020

The amount of wheat and other grains brought home by South Korean agricultural firms more than doubled in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, in line with the country's efforts to revamp its national food security. The combined amount of grains excluding rice imported through South Korean agricultural developers reached 110,000 tons in 2020, soaring from just 44,000 tons posted the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Wheat accounted for

EconomyFeb. 4, 2021

Samsung Heavy wins W230b order from Oceania

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday that it has won a 230 billion-won ($206 million) order from an Oceanian company. Under the deal, two 13,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container carriers will be delivered from the first half of 2023, the company said. Samsung Heavy has bagged orders of five ships -- one liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier and four container carriers -- worth a combined $600 million so far this year. The amount of the orders accounted for 8 percent of its orde

IndustryFeb. 4, 2021

Rising DRAM prices bode well for S. Korean chipmakers

Spot market prices for DRAM chips are on a rising course, industry data showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the memory market. The spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, a benchmark price for the category, reached as high as $3.93 as of Wednesday, according to data from DRAMeXchange, a research division of market tracker TrendForce. Its spot price reached $2.54 on Aug. 20, 2020, but rebounded above the $3 mark in mid-December. A spot price is the price quoted in

EconomyFeb. 4, 2021

GM Korea to cut production from next week

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday it will cut vehicle production by half at one of its three plants from next week due to a lack of semiconductor chips. GM Korea's planned output reduction is in line with US parent GM's decision to cut production at its local and overseas plants. GM Korea said it will take down production at the No. 2 Bupyeong plant, just west of Seoul, to half capacity from Monday. "We are working closely with our supply base to fi

IndustryFeb. 4, 2021

European sales of Samsung Bioepis' 3 biosimilars up 7.8% in 2020

South Korean drugmaker Samsung Bioepis Co. said Thursday sales of its three biosimilar products in Europe climbed nearly 8 percent in 2020 from a year earlier. Combined sales of the three autoimmune biosimilars -- Benepali, Flixabi and Imraldi -- stood at $795.8 million last year, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, the company said. The company cited an earnings report of its US partner Biogen. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung Biologics -- a biopharmaceutical unit of South K

IndustryFeb. 4, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on tech, pharmaceutical losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday largely on tech and pharmaceutical losses. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.48 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,111.2 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks quickly fell to the negative terrain due to strong foreign and institutional selling, after the key index rallied 5.2 percent in the past three sessions. Top cap Samsung Electronics lost 1.42 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shed 1.92 percent. Pharmaceutical giant Sam

MarketFeb. 4, 2021

S. Korea faces record import curbs in 2020 amid protectionism

South Korea faced a record number of import restrictions from trade partners in 2020 amid growing protectionism, a trade body said Thursday. The country was subject to 228 import regulations from 26 countries as of end-December, up 18 from a year earlier, according to a report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). It was also the largest-ever number of import restrictions targeting Asia's fourth-largest economy. Import restrictions cover anti-dumping duties, countervailing

EconomyFeb. 4, 2021

Under pressure, FSC extends short selling ban by May

  South Korea’s top financial regulator said Wednesday that it has decided to extend a temporary ban on short selling until May 2, amid growing pressure from retail investors voicing concerns over possible damages in battles with sophisticated hedge funds. The ban was previously set to end March 15.  The Financial Services Commission will then implement a partial reactivation of short selling from May 3, while establishing a stock loan system in the meantime, which enables ret

MarketFeb. 3, 2021

Coupang offers pre-order promotion on Xiaomi ‘Mi Watch’ series

Coupang said Wednesday it has launched an exclusive pre-order promotion event for its customers ahead of the launch of Xiaomi’s smart watches “Mi Watch” and “Mi Watch Lite” in South Korea. According to the e-commerce giant, the promotion is intended for consumers interested in health and exercise, as the hashtag #WOD, short for “workout of the day,” has been trending lately amid the pandemic. The event will give Coupang customers the chance to get

IndustryFeb. 3, 2021

South Korea approves special import of Pfizer vaccine

South Korea on Wednesday gave special approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine Comirnaty, specifically for the batch to be imported through the global COVAX facility. As per this decision, a total of 117,000 doses of Comirnaty will arrive in Korea after mid-February, the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said. As the vaccine needs to be administered twice, the COVAX batch can cover around 60,000 people. Authorities have made clear that the initial batch of vaccines are

IndustryFeb. 3, 2021

Hanwha Investment to buy 6.15% stake in Dunamu

Hanwha Investment and Securities, the brokerage arm of Hanwha Group, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy a 6.15 percent stake in Dunamu, an operator of global cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, for nearly 58.3 billion won ($52.24 million). The announcement came via DART -- the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board -- that the acquisition of some 2.06 million shares is set to take effect on Feb. 22. The deal is a mid- to long-term investment for the brokerage house to c

MarketFeb. 3, 2021

[Herald Interview] ‘Pandemic shows bridging social inequities is public health issue’

This interview is the final installment in a three-part series of conversations with former directors of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- now the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency -- as the country looks back on a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. -- Ed. The novel coronavirus crisis shows that social inequities are a public health matter, and that bridging the gaps should be among the country’s post-pandemic goals, says former director of the Korea Centers

TechnologyFeb. 3, 2021

Kumho Tire, union tentatively OK wage deal

Kumho Tire Co. and its labor union said Wednesday they have reached a tentative wage deal for the year of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The tentative wage agreement comes after the company's 2,700-strong union threatened to stage a general strike to demand a wage increase and restore the bonus system in a vote held Jan. 28. The company proposed a wage freeze and a cash bonus worth 1 million won ($900) per worker and signed a contract that guarantees job security for current workers. The uni

IndustryFeb. 3, 2021