Hyundai to build hydrogen fuel cell plant in China: sources

Hyundai Motor, South Korea's biggest carmaker, will build its first overseas hydrogen fuel cell systems plant in China as it seeks to enter the local hydrogen market, industry sources said Tuesday. Hyundai Motor aims to build the hydrogen fuel cell systems plant in Guangzhou within this year as it has recently obtained government approval for the investment plan, a person familiar with the matter said over the phone. "Hyundai Motor is in talks with a Chinese company to form a joint compan

IndustryJan. 5, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on virus concerns, profit-taking

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight Wall Street losses over jitters from the coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 2.28 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,942.17 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a muted start, with the global coronavirus infections exceeding 85 million and the new COVID-19 variant spreading concerns in major economies. Investors' desire for profits also increased after a five-session record-

EconomyJan. 5, 2021

Celltrion to release clinical study data of COVID-19 treatment next week

South Korea's pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. is expected to release the outcome of its second phase clinical study of anti-COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment later this month, company officials said Tuesday. The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is currently reviewing conditional approval of CT-P59, also known as Regdanvimab, a move that could potentially lead to manufacturing and sales of the first homegrown treatment. This submission was based on the data from the global phase

IndustryJan. 5, 2021

Spending on alcohol, tobacco hits record high in Q3 amid pandemic

South Koreans' spending on liquor and cigarettes reached an all-time high in the third quarter of 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Tuesday. Local households spent 4.3 trillion won ($3.96 billion) on alcohol and cigarettes in the July-September period, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. It represents the largest quarterly figure since 1970, when the central bank began tracking related data. The on-year increase is the h

EconomyJan. 5, 2021

S. Korean shipyards tipped to take No. 1 spot in new orders in 2020

South Korean shipbuilders are expected to take the top spot in new global shipbuilding orders for 2020 despite the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Tuesday. Local shipyards' new orders came to 7.98 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) as of Dec. 28 last year, ranking first worldwide, according to data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service. Chinese shipbuilders came in second with 6.73 million CGTs. Global new orders totaled 17.92 million CGTs

IndustryJan. 5, 2021

SK Biopharm shares slump as lock-up expires

SK Biopharmaceuticals shares plummeted as much as 10 percent Monday as almost 5 million shares were released after a lock-up period. Shares in the pharmaceutical company declined 8.58 percent to close at 154,500 won ($142) after plunging as much as 10 percet during trade as the last batch of shares that were locked in after the initial public offering were freed to the market. The benchmark Kospi rose 2.47 percent to 2,944.45 points on Monday.  Over 4.9 million additional shares held by

MarketJan. 4, 2021

Stock rally nears turning point as Kospi market cap tops W2,000tr

Stock analysts began to look for signs that the current bull market will end its run, as stocks in South Korea got started the year strongly on Monday, setting yet another all-time high on the first trading day of 2021. The Korea Exchange’s main board, the Kospi, closed at 2,944.45 points on Monday, up 2.5 percent from the previous close. The combined market capitalization of the Kospi’s 916 constituents, including electronics giant Samsung Electronics, exceeded 2,028.3 trillion wo

MarketJan. 4, 2021

[News Focus] Lee puts compliance 1st in ‘new Samsung’ vision

For Samsung, South Korea’s No. 1 business empire, 2021 could be a year of historic changes under its third-generation leader, if things turn out as the company hopes. Amid adverse conditions expected out in the market under the unending pandemic, the biggest Korean tech giant appears to be bracing for more internal and fundamental changes in response to the needs of the time, amid a court verdict on its de-factor chief, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. On behalf of the

TechnologyJan. 4, 2021

Businesses look beyond pandemic to a year of market upheavals

After a year of unprecedented crisis brought on by the pandemic, South Korean businesspeople were realigning themselves for the new year, tense over continuing market disturbances. In their respective New Year’s addresses, conglomerate chiefs all predicted that the market will face an accelerated transformation this year in response to post-coronavirus new norms. The most hopeful was the electronics industry, including the country’s No. 1 tech giant, Samsung Electronics, which has

IndustryJan. 4, 2021

K bank upgrades mobile app for tailored services

K bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, said Monday that it had revamped its mobile application to provide tailored services to its customers. Designed as a personal finance platform, the app operates an open banking system that allows users to transfer and withdraw money from accounts registered at separate banking institutions. Once a customer logs in, the main page of the K bank app displays the list of all accounts held by that customer. Customers can also personalize the

MarketJan. 4, 2021

Carmakers' Dec. sales dip 5% amid pandemic

South Korean carmakers' sales fell 5 percent last month from a year earlier as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on demand, industry data showed Monday. The five carmakers in South Korea -- Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and SsangYong Motor -- sold a combined 658,550 vehicles in December, down from 694,988 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Their domestic sales fell 8 percent to 133,061 units in December from 144,839 a year ago, while ov

MobilityJan. 4, 2021

Samsung to disclose Galaxy S21 series next week

Samsung Electronics will introduce its new flagship smartphone Galaxy S21 on Jan. 15, the company announced Monday. The first launch from the global smartphone giant this year, the Galaxy S21 series comprises a 6.2-inch S21, 6.7-inch S21 Plus and 6.8-inch S21 Ultra, which have been drawing expectations for their upgraded specs and designs. The models to be launched in North America are expected to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 processor, while those for Europe and South Korea will

TechnologyJan. 4, 2021

Hyundai Motor may buy EV batteries from Samsung SDI for 1st time

Hyundai Motor said Monday it has selected Samsung SDI as one of the final candidates to supply batteries for its electric vehicles to be rolled out in 2023. South Korea’s largest automaker is currently shopping for the third batch of batteries for its EVs to be assembled using its platform E-GMP. Designed by Hyundai Motor, E-GMP is a platform dedicated to EVs that allows the carmaker to load batteries under the car’s floor instead of engine bay. If selected, Samsung SDI, toge

IndustryJan. 4, 2021

Kowepo to inject W250b to build 3 fuel cell power plants

Korea Western Power said Monday it will invest 250 billion won ($231.3 million) to construct three fuel cell-based electricity generation facilities. In a recent board meeting, Kowepo, which aims to increase its renewable power generation capacity to 6.1 gigawatts by 2030 from 490 megawatts as of 2019, decided to establish three fuel cell power plants, in Iksan, North Jeolla Province; Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province; and Goryeong, North Gyeongsang Province. The 15-megawatt plant in Iksan will

IndustryJan. 4, 2021

Renault Samsung's Dec. sales nearly halve amid pandemic

Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Monday that its auto sales tumbled 46.9 percent last month from a year earlier as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on demand for its models. The South Korean unit of Renault SA sold 9,016 vehicles in December, down from 16,965 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales decreased 19.7 percent on-year to 8,010 units last month, while exports tumbled 85.6 percent to 1,006 units over the cited period, the firm said. For the whol

IndustryJan. 4, 2021

HHIH likely to complete acquisition of DSME within H1: HHIH chairman

Global shipbuilding behemoth Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) will be able to complete the acquisition of smaller local rival Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) within the first half of this year, the company's chairman said Monday. "The review of the business combination (between HHIH and DSME) has been a little delayed but is expected to be completed within the first half of this year," HHIH's chairman Kwon Oh-gap said in his New Year's message. The

IndustryJan. 4, 2021

Market leaders call for innovation, risk management amid lingering uncertainty

Leaders of state-run investment institutes and private brokerage firms here said they would accelerate digital transformation of the market and beef up their risk management capabilities in the face of lingering pandemic uncertainties. The Korea Exchange, the nation‘s sole securities exchange operator, said it would seek ways to expand the market entries of promising companies and secure market fairness by strengthening regulations on short selling. “The KRX will support innovative

MarketJan. 4, 2021

Korea begins approval process for AstraZeneca vaccine

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine (AZD1222) will be reviewed for potential approval in South Korea within the next 40 days, Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced Monday. According to the Drug Ministry, AstraZeneca Korea has submitted applications for approval for its vaccine to be manufactured locally under a contract with SK Bioscience and for more of the vaccine to be shipped from manufacturers in Italy, the US and the UK. AstraZeneca is required to submit further doc

IndustryJan. 4, 2021

Mobile carriers tipped to log robust Q4 results on 5G growth

South Korean mobile carriers are expected to report improved earnings for the final quarter of 2020 on the back of steady growth in 5G users, analysts said Monday. The combined operating profits of the country's three major telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- are estimated at 670.9 billion won ($620.3 million) in the Oct.-Dec. period last year, compared with 497.9 billion won the previous year, according to a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap Ne

TechnologyJan. 4, 2021

Banking groups face challenge as pandemic-led digitalization accelerates

      The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of the financial industry, pushing local banking groups to cater services to require less contact. The heated competition to gain a digital foothold in the industry pose as a key task for the firms this year, experts and head of the groups said Monday. “Local banks must bolster their risk management, while seeking for fresh revenue sources in the era of near-zero interest rates and improve the com

MarketJan. 4, 2021