BOK to keep monetary easing in 2021 to support economic recovery

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday it will maintain an accommodative monetary policy next year to help the nation's economic recovery from the pandemic, but it will closely watch the side-effects of monetary easing. "Under the direction of its monetary policy in 2021, the Bank of Korea will maintain the easing stance of its monetary policy to support the recovery in growth and to ensure the rise in consumer prices will be stabilized at around the target level," the BOK said in a stat

EconomyDec. 25, 2020

Kospi crosses 2,800 mark on chip rally

South Korea‘s stock market hit a new all-time high Thursday as the Korea Exchange’s main board Kospi crossed the 2,800 mark on massive institutional buying of chip shares. The Kospi rose 1.7 percent to 2,806.86 on Thursday, pushing its total market cap to reach 1,936.5 trillion won ($1.8 trillion). Kospi crossing the 2,800 mark came three weeks after it passed the previous threshold of 2,700 on Dec. 4, which was then a fresh high. Institutions net purchased 628.2 billion won worth

MarketDec. 24, 2020

[News Focus] More Koreans giving up looking for jobs

SEJONG -- A growing number of South Koreans have abandoned looking for jobs as the pandemic worsens a hiring market that was already tightening for several years. According to a survey on the working age population -- those aged 15 or over -- by Statistics Korea, the number of discouraged workers stood at 534,000 in December 2019, the month before the novel coronavirus first arrived in Korea. The tally counts people who had looked unsuccessfully for a job in the previous year but not in the m

EconomyDec. 24, 2020

[Women in Finance 6] Breaking the gender mold for diverse thinking, healthy finance

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of special reports on the glass ceiling in the financial industry, focusing on South Korea’s market compared to other major economies. Funded by The Korea Press Foundation, the series will evaluate where Asia’s fourth-largest economy stands in terms of gender equality, reflect on changes being made, and explore ways to boost inclusion in the sector. This is the final installment. -- Ed. Gender discrimination in the finance sector has long been

EconomyDec. 24, 2020

SK Innovation to inject W1tr into Georgia battery plants using green capital

SK Innovation said Thursday it will finance 1.09 trillion won ($986 million) to its battery manufacturing plants in Georgia through green bonds. According to the South Korean refinery-to-battery giant, it will guarantee the bonds to be issued by its US subsidiary SK Battery America in January next year. The fund will be used for the US unit‘s two battery plants currently under construction. Scheduled for completion in 2023, the two factories will offer a combined annual production cap

IndustryDec. 24, 2020

LG Chem sets course to new drug technologies after battery biz split-off

LG Chem has recently purchased a series of new drug technologies from South Korean bio companies, as part of an effort to seek a new growth engine after it split-off of its battery business. The company has signed two technology transfer agreements with local bio firms Medipost and ICM this month, the company said Thursday, with an aim to introduce two global new drugs within 10 years. The technology transferred from Medipost can grow mesenchymal stem cells in large quantities. LG Chem aims t

IndustryDec. 24, 2020

S. Korean stocks break 2,800 ceiling to fresh high on vaccine deals

South Korean stocks broke the 2,800 mark for the first time Thursday to close at an all-time high, as the country's additional deals to purchase COVID-19 vaccines boosted hopes for a faster-than-expected economic recovery. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 47.04 points, or 1.7 percent, to close at 2,806.86. Trading volume was moderate at about 1 billion shares worth some 20 trillion won ($18.1 billion), with gainers outnumbe

MarketDec. 24, 2020

Cash-strapped Ssangyong Motor partially solves its parts supply deadlock

SsangYong Motor, which recently filed for court receivership due to a liquidity crunch, said Thursday that its parts delivery deadlock is showing signs of alleviating as one of the key partners resumed supply. “Hyundai Mobis has announced that it will start supplying head lamps again, starting Dec. 29,” said an official of the company. The cash-strapped automaker had announced Wednesday that it will suspend the operation of its Pyeongtaek factory on Dec. 24 and 28 after its suppli

IndustryDec. 24, 2020

[Newsmaker] Coupang offers streaming for premium subscribers

South Korea’s major e-commerce platform operator Coupang said Thursday that it has launched Coupang Play, an over-the-top service that provides unlimited streaming to premium membership holders. Vying with global players such as Netflix and incoming Disney Plus, as well as a number of domestic rivals, Coupang Play will tap the video content market by bundling it with their Rocket Wow Club service at the existing price of 2,900 won ($2.63) per month. The application for Android mobile ph

IndustryDec. 24, 2020

Korea's financial market faces risks over surging debts, virus resurgence: BOK

  South Korea's central bank on Thursday raised alert about escalating risks to the financial system, pointing out household and corporate loans that have continued to surge in the wake of a protracted economic slump. As of end-September, outstanding loans of local households rose 7 percent on-year to 1,682.1 trillion won ($1.52 trillion). Their debt burden sharply increased with the households’ debt to disposable income ratio reaching 171.3 percent, up 10.7 percentage points from th

EconomyDec. 24, 2020

Shinhan Life OKs merger with ex-ING's Korean arm

Shinhan Financial Group has approved a merger of its two wholly-owned life insurer subsidiaries -- Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life Insurance -- into a single entity next year, filings showed Thursday. As a result of the move, Orange Life, formerly the Korean arm of Amsterdam-based ING Group, will be merged into Shinhan Life. The two firms’ combined valuation exceeded 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion), according to the filings. Orange Life‘s 82 million shares will be converted i

MarketDec. 24, 2020

Why alcohol brand mascots are making a comeback

Two major alcohol companies in Korea have one thing in common lately -- a high-profile retro mascot that has become the face of the company. Oriental Brewery brought back its nostalgic bear character from the 1980s known as “Lala Bear,” while its rival HiteJinro released a blue bottled soju featuring its famous toad mascot last year, a character that dates to 1954. Their foray into soft power territory comes following a year dominated by “Pengsoo,” a beloved giant peng

ConsumerDec. 24, 2020

S. Korean public sector debt grows at fastest pace in 5 years in 2019

South Korea's public sector debt climbed at the fastest clip in five years in 2019 to exceed the 1,100 trillion-won ($1 trillion) mark, the government said Thursday. The country's public sector debt, known as D3, which includes the debt of the central government and state-funded firms, came to 1,132.6 trillion won as of end-2019, up 5.1 percent, or 54.6 trillion won, from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The on-year increase in the public debt represents th

EconomyDec. 24, 2020

SK Telecom teams up with AWS to launch 5G edge cloud service

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top wireless provider, said Thursday it has partnered with Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) to launch the country's first 5G edge cloud service. The business-targeted service, named SKT 5GX Edge, provides users ultra-low latency for data-intensive services by connecting to AWS Wavelength Zones installed in SK Telecom's telecommunications offices, making it unnecessary for traffic to go through regional aggregation sites, according to the carrier. SK Telecom said it

IndustryDec. 24, 2020

[Graphic News] Samsung ranks 5th in global computer monitor market in Q3: report

　Samsung Electronics was the world's fifth-largest computer monitor vendor in the third quarter of the year, a report showed, as its shipments increased significantly amid the pandemic. 　The South Korean tech giant had a market share of 9 percent in the global computer monitor market in the July-September period, up from 6.8 percent a year ago, according to market researcher International Data Corp. 　Samsung’s computer monitor shipments jumped 52.8 percent on-year to 3.37 million u

BusinessDec. 24, 2020

S. Korean stocks open higher on deals on COVID-19 vaccines

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as South Korea's deals to buy COVID-19 vaccines boosted investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 22.49 points, or 0.81 percent, to 2,782.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the country has signed deals to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen. The government plans to offer shots of Janssen's vaccine in the second

MarketDec. 24, 2020

S. Korea's top 3 shipyards fare relatively well despite pandemic

Despite the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea's big three shipbuilders have fared relatively well this year as they clinch a majority of global orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships and very large crude carriers (VLCCs), industry sources said Thursday The trio -- Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. -- have achieved 91 percent, 65 percent and 75 percent of their order targets, r

EconomyDec. 24, 2020

S. Korea deploys 5G tech in airport virus check

South Korea said Wednesday it has introduced mobile edge computing (MEC) technology at Incheon International Airport to operate an artificial intelligence (AI) system that screens potential COVID-19 patients in a move to step up preventative measures against the pandemic. 　 The Ministry of Science and ICT said the system will check for passengers without masks or with COVID-19 symptoms, such as high temperature, at the arrival and departure halls of the country‘s main gateway, located west

IndustryDec. 23, 2020

Han Sung Motor celebrates graduation of Dream Gream students

For Han Sung Motor, Korea‘s official Mercedes-Benz dealer, year-end celebrations aren’t complete without a graduation ceremony for recipients of its art scholarship program. This year, the event honored four students who completed the Dream Gream program. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event was held Friday virtually for the first time since the firm launched the program in 2012 Only a small number of people gathered at a cafe in Seoul on Friday, while gradu

MobilityDec. 23, 2020

30% of COVID-19 relief funds spent on boosting consumption: KDI

Around 30 percent of the COVID-19 relief funds universally handed out by the government in May were spent to boost sluggish domestic consumption, with the rest used for debt payments or savings, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. According to a report released by the Korea Development Institute, some 4 trillion won ($3.65 billion) has been spent through credit and debit cards, accounting for between 26.2 percent and 36.1 percent of an estimated 11.1 trillion to 15.3 trillion won granted by

EconomyDec. 23, 2020