S. Korea to offer info on 'virus-safe' restaurants via Kakao platform

South Korea said Tuesday it has teamed up with the mobile giant Kakao Corp. to provide local consumers with information on restaurants that have strictly followed sanitary guidelines to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The service offers locations of restaurants that have employees wear protective masks at all times and provide separate utensils for communal dishes and pots, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Kakao operates South Korea's most popular mo

TechnologyFeb. 2, 2021

OTT use jumps in S. Korea amid pandemic

Over 66 percent of South Koreans used over-the-top (OTT) media, or video streaming services, last year amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic, a survey showed Tuesday. South Korea's OTT usage rate stood at 66.3 percent in 2020, compared with 52 percent the previous year, according to a survey of 6,029 people over the age of 13 by the country's media regulator, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC). YouTube was the most popular OTT service here, with its usage rate at 62.3 perce

TechnologyFeb. 2, 2021

S. Korea's sovereign wealth fund earns $21.8b in 2020

South Korea's sovereign wealth fund said Tuesday it earned $21.8 billion from investment, boosted by stock rallies, as the coronavirus pandemic prompted central banks to cut rates and pump liquidity into markets. Choi Hee-nam, chief executive of Korea Investment Corp. (KIC), told reporters that its return on investment was 13.7 percent last year, compared with 15.39 percent in 2019. It marked the second straight year that the KIC posted a double-digit return on investment. Over the past two y

EconomyFeb. 2, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street rallies

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, taking a cue from US stock rallies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 18.12 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,074.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.55 percent, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.76 percent, and the S&P 500 gaining 1.61 percent. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics rose 0.33 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix hiked 2.4 percent. Intern

MarketFeb. 2, 2021

S. Korea's whisky imports hit 21-year low in 2020

South Korea's imports of whisky plunged to a 21-year low in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and a change in alcohol consumption here, government data showed Tuesday. The value of whisky imports amounted to $132.5 million last year, down 13.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It was the lowest level since the $115.9 million recorded in 1999 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. An industry official said whisky consumption fell furth

EconomyFeb. 2, 2021

Public sector's hiring dips nearly 18% in 2020

South Korea's public sector employment tumbled nearly 18 percent in 2020 from a year ago due to a one-off factor, government data showed Tuesday. Public institutions in Asia's fourth-largest economy hired 27,490 new employees last year, down 17.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the state portal All Public Information in One (ALIO). State-run companies cut their employment by about 32 percent, and hiring by quasi-governmental institutions sank about 20 percent. Yet last year's tally

EconomyFeb. 2, 2021

Consumer prices grow at less than 1% for 4th month in Jan.

South Korea's consumer prices grew by less than 1 percent for the fourth straight month in January, data showed Tuesday, indicating that the country's inflationary pressure remains low amid the pandemic. The consumer price index rose 0.6 percent on-year in January, compared with a 0.5 percent on-year gain the previous month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the fourth consecutive month that the on-year growth rate of the consumer inflation stayed in the 1 percent r

EconomyFeb. 2, 2021

Samsung’s M&A target list draws market attention

All eyes are on what companies would be on the shopping list of Samsung Electronics, after the tech giant’s announcement last week captured the attention among industry officials and market watchers.　 Multiple chip-related companies have emerged as potential acquisition targets for the South Korean tech giant, according to market watchers. Dominant speculation suggests that Samsung is likely to be looking for a company that is related to the automotive chip business, or one that is corr

TechnologyFeb. 1, 2021

POBA to allocate W300b to Koramco for real estate investment

South Korea‘s institutional investor, the Public Officials Benefit Association, is poised to commit 300 billion won ($268.6 million) to alternative asset manager Koramco Asset Management for its investment in commercial real estate, Koramco said Monday. Using the fresh fund, Koramco will mainly target prime office buildings in Seoul and the neighboring Bundang business district in Gyeonggi Province. The fund will be managed under the POBA guideline where 60 percent of the cash will be de

MarketFeb. 1, 2021

Posco International expands motor core business in full swing

Posco International aims to take 20 percent of the world market for automotive motor cores, kicking off its auto parts business in earnest this year, the company said Monday. In its investor relations presentation Thursday, the general trading company unveiled new plans and targets for its motor core products, produced by its subsidiary Posco SPS (Steel Processing & Service). Motor cores are used in generating electricity within a motor, and have a wide range of applications, from autom

IndustryFeb. 1, 2021

Korean experts say AstraZeneca vaccine 62% effective

AstraZeneca’s viral vector vaccine had 62 percent efficacy against some 8,900 clinical candidates aged 42.2 on average, according to Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Monday. The ministry is running a three-leg review of each COVID-19 therapy or vaccine that has applied for emergency use in Korea. So far, Celltrion’s antibody therapy, AstraZeneca’s viral vector vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA vaccines have made the applications, in that order. The Dr

IndustryFeb. 1, 2021

S. Korea to add 3,000 electric car charging stations this year

South Korea plans to set up 3,000 rapid charging stations for electric vehicles by the end of this year to expand the use of eco-friendly cars, the Finance Ministry said Monday. “Creating convenient charging infrastructure is a very important task to keep pace with the expansion of electric vehicle supply,” said Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki while presiding over a meeting to promote “Big 3” industries. Big 3 industries refer to green cars, biohealth, and non-memory chips

EconomyFeb. 1, 2021

Nexon raises staff pay to draw talent

New and existing employees at South Korean gaming giant Nexon have been given a generous pay boost as part of a drive to attract talent amid the coronavirus outbreak, the company said Monday. Nexon said it raised the annual starting salary of new developers and other staffers who joined the company starting this year to 50 million won ($44,722) and 45 million won, respectively. The average starting salary of university graduates at a company with 500 or more employees is 344.7 million won,

IndustryFeb. 1, 2021

KB Kookmin Card completes stake acquisition of Thai lender

Credit card issuer KB Kookmin Card said Monday that it has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake of J Fintech, a Bangkok-based loan provider, speeding up the pace to infiltrate the Southeast Asian market. With the latest takeover, the credit card business becomes the first South Korean company to make an official entry to the Thai lending industry. The card company invested 24 billion won ($21.4 million) to acquire the 50-pecent stake in the Thai lender, while the remaining 50 pe

MarketFeb. 1, 2021

Yanolja names new CIO to speed up IPO

Accommodation booking platform operator Yanolja announced Monday that it has appointed a new chief investment officer to lead the discovery of new growth engines. The newly named CIO, Choi Chan-seok, is a seasoned expert in mergers and acquisitions and investor relations. While leading investment and M&A deals at mobile gaming firm Netmarble, he played a key role in acquiring water purifier rental firm Coway and US mobile game developer Kabam, and helped the game company to invest in both

MarketFeb. 1, 2021

Carmakers' Jan. sales rise 4.8% on SUVs

South Korean carmakers' sales rose 4.8 percent last month from a year earlier helped by strong demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, industry data showed Monday. The five carmakers in South Korea -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a combined 597,213 vehicles in January, up from 569,929 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Their domestic sales jumped 17 percent to 116,270 u

MobilityFeb. 1, 2021

SK chief named to lead country’s top commerce chamber

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, 60, was chosen Monday as the new chief of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and will succeed incumbent Chairman Park Yong-maan. For the first time, the KCCI is to be led by a figure at the helm of one of the so-called Big Four chaebol -- Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG. SK Group is South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate in terms of assets, as of 2020.　 Chey’s appointment was also seen as a signal that the country’s industries are

IndustryFeb. 1, 2021

Innocean Worldwide recruits brand strategy expert to empower digital growth, M&A

Innocean Worldwide, the advertising subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, has appointed a new global chief strategy officer, in a move to add fuel to its global growth and digital transformation, officials said Monday. This marked the first time that the company has created a top post to supervise its global strategy and appointed an outside expert for the role. The company named Nicholas Kim, 50, a Korean American who formerly served as chief strategy officer at Publicis Groupe in New York, for

IndustryFeb. 1, 2021

LG Energy Solution No.1, Samsung SDI No.2 in global EV battery patent

LG Energy Solution has the most patents for electric vehicle batteries that are officially registered with the patent offices of five major countries, industry data showed Monday. According to the global patent information service WIPS ON, LG Energy Solution’s EV battery patents -- excluding utility patents -- registered with patent offices in Korea, Japan, China, Europe and the US amounted to 23,610, the largest among battery companies in the world. LG Energy Solution was followed by

IndustryFeb. 1, 2021

Four ways the LG-SK battery lawsuit could end up

Almost three years have passed since LG Energy Solution sued SK Innovation through the US International Trade Commission and the US District Court of Delaware for allegedly stealing its electric vehicle battery trade secrets. As the legal wrangling nears a conclusion, the USITC is set to deliver its final ruling on Feb. 10. From South Korean Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun to congressmen in Georgia and Tennessee, pressure is mounting on both parties to patch things up, but a huge discrepancy i

IndustryFeb. 1, 2021