S. Korea to see limited impact on local markets from global food insecurity: vice finance minister

South Korea’s first vice finance minister said Friday the global food insecurity worsened by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will not have a serious impact on the local food supply chain, but the government will continue to keep an eye on the market condition. “According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the FAO Food Price Index has continued its upward trend in recent months, signaling food insecurity around the globe,” Kim Yong-beom, first vice

EconomyNov. 27, 2020

News of potential deal with Tesla boosts Doosan Solus stocks

Doosan Solus stocks rose to 49,400 won ($44.70) on Friday, a 6.7 percent increase from a day prior, following a local news report that the company is in talks with Tesla to supply copper foil for electric vehicles in Europe. According to the news report, the material solutions unit of Doosan Group is expected to sign an agreement on general terms and conditions to provide copper foil for Tesla electric vehicles in Europe. The exact size and the length of the contract will be decided after th

IndustryNov. 27, 2020

S. Korea's state pension fund logs over 4% return in Jan.-Sept.

South Korea's state pension fund posted a return rate of over 4 percent through September on robust performances in domestic and overseas stock markets, its operator said Friday. The state pension fund registered a 4.17 percent investment return at the end of September, according to the National Pension Service (NPS). It chalked up a 8.47 percent investment return from the local stock market and a 3.28 percent yield from investments in overseas stocks. The fund's return rates from investme

EconomyNov. 27, 2020

S. Korea to delay opening of FX market by 1 hour on college entrance exam day

The opening of South Korea's foreign exchange market will be delayed by one hour on the day of the college entrance exam next week, the committee in charge of the foreign exchange market said Friday. The foreign exchange market is set to open at 10 a.m. and close at 3:30 p.m. next Thursday as part of efforts to ease traffic, according to the Seoul Foreign Exchange Market Committee. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly high school seniors, are scheduled to take the crucial test that is wide

EconomyNov. 27, 2020

Kogas completes world’s first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering test

Korea Gas Corp. said Thursday it has successfully carried out the world’s first ship-to-ship liquefied natural gas bunkering test, which examines whether an LNG carrier works properly before it begins commercial operation. LNG bunkering is the process of transferring gas to a ship. On Tuesday, after loading 2,000 metric tons of LNG at Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province, Kogas’ LNG carrier SM Jeju LNG2 entered the Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering

IndustryNov. 27, 2020

Hanwha Systems wins $40m space radar development deal

Hanwha Systems said Friday it has won a deal worth 45 billion won ($40.7 million) to develop a next-generation space radar that can detect and track space objects with precision. According to the defense and information technology service unit of Hanwha Group, it has won the Defense Industry Technology Center’s research and development project for the space radar worth 45 billion won. For the next five years, Hanwha Systems will develop three core technologies including the precise d

IndustryNov. 27, 2020

PEF-led consortium picked as main bidder for STX Offshore

Midsized shipyard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. said Friday its creditors led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) have picked a consortium as the prime bidder for the shipbuilder. On Nov. 9, the creditors signed a preliminary deal with the consortium comprising local private equity fund KH Investment (KHI) and United Asset Management Company (UAMCO), South Korea's biggest bad debt clearer, to sell the shipbuilder. After the deal, the creditors put up the stake in the shipbuil

EconomyNov. 27, 2020

Federation of Korean banks appoints NH Financial chief as new head

NH Financial Group Chairman Kim Kwang-soo has officially been tapped to lead the Korea Federation of Banks, a representative body of commercial banks, officials said Friday.  The KFB board of directors unanimously approved Kim’s nomination as its 14th chairman during a general meeting held early in the morning. The appointment came after Kim was picked as the sole candidate to be KFB chief Tuesday, among seven candidates initially recommended for the post. Kim’s three-year te

MarketNov. 27, 2020

Manufacturing sector's 2019 added value dips at fastest pace since 1998

South Korea's manufacturing industry saw its added value shrink at the fastest clip in 21 years in 2019 on falling prices of chips and other key products, government data showed Friday. The added value of the country's manufacturing and mining sectors came to 559.8 trillion won ($507 billion) last year, down 1.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It was the largest annualized contraction since the 2.1 percent fall recorded in 1998 in the wake of the count

EconomyNov. 27, 2020

Institutions' investments in foreign securities rise in Q3

South Korean institutions' investments in foreign securities rose in the third quarter from three months earlier as global financial markets recovered from pandemic-driven losses, central bank data showed Friday. The combined value of foreign securities held by institutional investors came to $345.4 billion as of end-September, up $8.9 billion from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked a gain for the second straight quarter after a $9.5 billion fall in the firs

EconomyNov. 27, 2020

Banks' lending rates stay flat in October

South Korean banks' lending rates stayed flat in October, despite rising market rates, central bank data showed Friday. The average interest rate charged on new bank loans came to 2.66 percent in October, unchanged from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). In September, banks' lending rates rose for the first time in four months. The rates declined for the third straight month since June due to the impact of the central bank's policy rate cut in May.

EconomyNov. 27, 2020

[Monitor] Fertility rate drops further in South Korea

South Korea‘s total fertility rate continued at a low number in the third quarter this year, reaching 0.84. The rate, referring to the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, had hit an all-time low of 0.92 in 2019. It was the second consecutive year for the rate to fall below 1. In order to maintain its population stably at 51 million, South Korea would need to keep the rate at 2.1.   (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

IndustryNov. 27, 2020

KT to support homegrown parts suppliers amid pandemic

South Korean telecom giant KT Corp. said Friday it will invest 9 billion won ($8.1 million) over the next three years to reduce its reliance on overseas suppliers amid the pandemic. KT said it will make the investment until 2023 to help its local suppliers manufacture homegrown materials and parts for equipment used by the telecom operator. The move comes as KT seeks to strengthen partnerships with local companies as uncertainties from the COVID-19 pandemic weigh on global supply chains. The

TechnologyNov. 27, 2020

Seoul stocks open nearly flat on virus concerns

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Friday after the benchmark index hit an all-time high the previous session amid the soaring new coronavirus cases.  The Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.37 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,626.28 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a muted start, as soaring COVID-19 cases and valuation pressure left investors questioning the index's short-term peak.   Large caps traded mixed in Seoul. Market behemoth Samsung Electr

MarketNov. 27, 2020

[Herald Interview] Pernod Ricard brings RTD craze to Korea

Consumption of alcohol at home has been growing amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. According to Statistics Korea earlier this week, households spent an average 19,651 won ($17.75) a month on alcoholic beverages, the highest figure since the agency began collecting relevant data. With that, the demand for better convenience in drinking has also surged, further accelerating the growth of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages since before the pandemic. The ready-to-drink market in the US, for inst

ConsumerNov. 26, 2020

LG Electronics to establish new biz center in US to seek future growth engines

LG Electronics, a major home appliance maker in South Korea, on Thursday said it will set up a new business unit in the United States to seek future growth opportunities. LG's North American Innovation Center will be based in Silicon Valley, California, with the task of exploring new business opportunities and cooperating with leading tech firms there, the company said. Rhee Sokwoo, who served as an associate director at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will head

TechnologyNov. 26, 2020

Moon meets top Chinese diplomat, requests role for inter-Korean ties

South Korean President Moon Jae-in greeted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday and stressed that his administration won't cease the drive for lasting peace on the peninsula. "Our government will not stop efforts to put a (formal) end to war on the Korean Peninsula and achieve complete denuclearization and permanent peace together with the international community, including China," Moon told Wang at the start of their meeting, which pool reporters were allowed

MarketNov. 26, 2020

LG Group to establish new holding firm

LG Group, the fourth-biggest conglomerate in South Korea, will add a new holding firm before its planned leadership split-off, the group announced Thursday. Spearheaded by the current holding company, LG Corp., LG’s affiliates announced organizational and personnel restructuring plans for 2021 as they were approved by each company’s board of directors. LG was the first among Korea’s family-run conglomerates to announce its plans for next year. LG Corp. said the group will

IndustryNov. 26, 2020

[News Focus] Of all foreign-owned land in Korea, Americans own 52%

SEJONG -- Foreign ownership of South Korean land has continued to increase over the past few years, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport showed. As of December 2019 foreigners owned 248.6 million square meters of land, or 248.6 square kilometers, which is the latest figure available. This was a 3 percent increase from a year earlier in terms of land owned, as opposed to the value of the real estate. Compared with December 2016, when the figure was 233.5 million square m

EconomyNov. 26, 2020

S. Korea to inject extra W4tr into COVID-19 relief

Seeking to cushion the fallout from the COVID-19 resurgence, South Korea’s government vowed Thursday to spend an additional 4 trillion won ($3.62 billion) by ensuring that local governments across the nation don’t hold back on spending. It also decided to expand the range of usage for its state-distributed dining coupons, seeking to include food delivery applications that are facing soaring demand due to the social distancing restrictions. “(The government) will continue t

EconomyNov. 26, 2020