CU reveals plans to offer in store currency exchange

CU provided details Thursday on plans to allow foreign currency exchange at its convenience stores early next year. BGF Retail, the operator of the convenience store brand, has signed a partnership with a local fintech startup U Fintech Hub, which provides a small overseas remittance service, in a step to launch foreign currency exchange service at its local branches, they said. Under the deal, the retail giant will receive technical support from the fintech firm to develop the service platf

MarketNov. 26, 2020

Daesang eyes Middle East with Korean food products

South Korean general foods company Daesang said Thursday that it is branching out into the Middle Eastern market, which serves a population of about 4 billion, with popular food products such as halal-certified kimchi and tofu. Daesang said it has teamed up with 21 stores in Qatar, including Carrefour, Lulu and Spar. In Iraq its products are being distributed through Carrefour and Majidi Mall, with plans underway to expand its presence in the region to countries including Saudi Arabia and Israe

ConsumerNov. 26, 2020

Posco shares achievements from pro bono program

Posco International, a South Korean general trading company, celebrated the achievements of its corporate social responsibility project known as “pro bono volunteers” Thursday. The volunteer team -- made up of employees skilled in the fields of marketing, human resources and finance -- worked with social enterprises for the last six months, offering them mentoring. Some of the beneficiaries included Dodohan Collabo, a media content platform focusing on youth policy; Eunhasoo Art Mu

IndustryNov. 26, 2020

LG Display teams up with startups for OLED smart home life

LG Display is seeking to expand the use of organic light-emitting diode display panels at smart homes by teaming up with startups. On Thursday, LG Display announced eight candidates out of some 80 startups who have taken part in a contest the company has hosted since July to select open innovation partners. The eight are Roha, TheFamilyLab, AllBlanc, Verses, Yeastudio, VTouch, BeJewel and Volla. From here, the candidates will proceed to the next round where three finalists will be narrowed do

IndustryNov. 26, 2020

S. Korean mobile carriers eye more cloud gaming users as demand grows

South Korean telecom operators are targeting wider market penetration of cloud gaming services by expanding availability, industry officials said Thursday, amid strong demand from mobile gamers. The country's three major carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- have in recent months opened up their subscription services that stream console games on smartphones to other carrier users and networks. Last week, LG Uplus expanded its 5G cloud gaming service GeForce NOW's availabil

TechnologyNov. 26, 2020

KT announces first IPTV export to Thailand

South Korean mobile carrier KT said Thursday the company’s Internet Protocol television service is now available in Thailand, marking the first export case of IPTV platform technology to a foreign country. Dubbed the “3BB GIGA TV,” KT’s IPTV platform combined with over-the-top media service is being made available in the Southeast Asian country staring Thursday under a 24 billion won ($21.7 million) deal. KT worked with 11 local partners over the past 15 months via

TechnologyNov. 26, 2020

SK Telecom spins off mobility business

  SK Telecom announced Thursday the mobile carrier’s shareholders approved the spinoff of its mobility business unit as part of enhancing the carrier’s future mobility solutions. Approved by 99.98 percent of its shareholders, a new mobility business dubbed as T Map Mobility will be established on Dec. 29 as a wholly owned subsidiary. The unit has been operating SKT’s T Map service, the largest mobile navigation service whose users doubled from its rival Kakao’

TechnologyNov. 26, 2020

Daewoo Shipbuilding succeeds in ship-to-ship LNG loading test

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Thursday that it has succeeded in a ship-to-ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) loading test for the first time in the global shipbuilding industry. The ship-to-ship LNG loading test was aimed at streamlining procedures to verify the safety of newly built LNG carriers' tanks and to save on test costs, Daewoo Shipbuilding said. Before the ship-to-ship LNG loading test, newly built LNG carriers were usually sent to local LNG terminals far away

IndustryNov. 26, 2020

Korea Air wins W290b F-16 maintenance deal

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Thursday it has received a 290 billion won ($260 million) F-16 maintenance order in the United States.  In the 10-year deal signed with the US Department of Defense, Korean Air will be in charge of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) work for the life extension of the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft deployed to the US air forces in South Korea and Japan, the company said in a statement. The national flag carrier has been providi

MobilityNov. 26, 2020

S. Korea to roll out more digital services amid pandemic

South Korea will start to unveil more digital services, from mobile identification to artificial intelligence (AI) doctors, as the pandemic limits face-to-face contact, the ICT ministry said Thursday. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it has named key services to support for digital transition amid the pandemic, including rolling out mobile identification for public servants from this year and mobile driver's licenses from next year. The ministry said it will also pursue a test service for

TechnologyNov. 26, 2020

Samsung maintains top spot in Western Europe smartphone market in Q3: report

Samsung Electronics Co. maintained the top spot in the Western Europe smartphone market in the third quarter of the year, a report showed Thursday, despite sales decline. The South Korean tech giant shipped 10.3 million smartphones in Western Europe in the July-September period for a 35.6 percent market share, according to industry researcher International Data Corp. (IDC). The figures were slightly down from a year ago when the company shipped 11 million smartphones for a 35.8 percent marke

TechnologyNov. 26, 2020

S. Korea to reduce operation of coal plants to cut fine dust emissions over winter

South Korea said Thursday it plans to reduce the operation of some coal-powered plants over the winter in line with efforts to cut the emission of fine dust. Under the plan, the country will halt the operation of from nine to 16 coal-powered plants over the season, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy. Other plants will be required to maintain their power output at 80 percent of capacity depending on demand. South Korea first adopted the reduction scheme last year. Throug

EconomyNov. 26, 2020

[Monitor] Major firms see overseas sales increase despite pandemic

The top 100 companies in South Korea saw their overseas sales inch up in the third quarter this year despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Federation of Korean Industries showed Tuesday. According to the data, the companies marked a combined 181.9 trillion won ($164 billion) in revenue from their overseas operations, up 1.6 percent from a year ago. Compared to the second quarter, it is an increase by 24.1 percent. The increase came from a rise in demand from major exporting coun

IndustryNov. 26, 2020

Hyundai, Kia's EV exports set to exceed 100,000 units this year

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday they are set to export over 100,000 electric vehicles this year on growing demand for environment-friendly cars. Hyundai and Kia shipped a combined 98,505 EVs from January to October, jumping 71 percent from 57,517 units during the same period of last year, according to the companies. "Stricter emission rules in Europe drove up demand for all-electric and less-emitting models," a Hyundai spokesman said. Hyundai's

MobilityNov. 26, 2020

[Graphic News] KT maintains top spot in pay TV market in H1: data

　KT, a South Korean telecom giant, and its affiliate had the most number of pay TV subscribers in the country in the first half of this year, maintaining the top status in terms of market share, ministry data showed. 　The mobile carrier and its satellite TV unit KT Skylife had a combined 31.4 percent share of the market, or 10.7 million subscribers, in the January-June period, followed by LG Uplus and its pay TV unit LG HelloVision at a total 25.1 percent, according to the Ministry of Scien

BusinessNov. 26, 2020

Seoul stocks open lower on Wall Street losses

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Thursday, taking a cue from overnight losses on Wall Street over disappointing US economic indices. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.94 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,600.6 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.58 percent to 29,872.47 points on an increase in weekly US jobless data, weakening hopes for a quick recovery from the pandemic. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.48 percent,

MarketNov. 26, 2020

BOK keeps key rate at record low, ups economic outlook

The South Korean central bank on Thursday held its policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, while slightly revising up this year's economic outlook, amid growing concerns over a winter wave of coronavirus infections. As expected, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) voted to leave the base rate steady in this year's final rate-setting meeting. Driven by signs of a modest recovery in exports, the BOK revised up this year's economic growth outlook to 1.1 percent cont

EconomyNov. 26, 2020

[Herald Interview] Customs service promotes global program for safe, risk-free trade

The global economy has been seriously affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with trade and international travel being restricted due to economic lockdowns worldwide. Amid the ongoing battle against the economic fallout from the virus, the Korea Customs Service will hold a conference Friday to promote the authorized economic operator (AEO) program, which helps both exporters and importers carry out customs procedures swiftly. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the World Customs Organization

MarketNov. 26, 2020

Banks' bad loans inch down in Q3

Nonperforming loans at South Korean banks edged down in the third quarter from three months earlier due to a decline in overdue corporate loans, data showed Thursday. Nonperforming loans came to 14.1 trillion won ($12.7 billion) at the end of September, down 900 billion won from the end of June, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Overdue corporate loans reached 12 trillion won at the end of September, compared with 12.8 trillion won from a quarter earlier, the

EconomyNov. 26, 2020

S. Korea's Nov. exports tipped to rebound 6.6%: poll

South Korea's exports are expected to rebound by rising 6.6 percent on-year in November following a brief fall in the previous month, on the back of stronger demand for chips and automobiles, a poll showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments are estimated to reach $46.9 billion this month, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was conducted on eight local brokerage houses. Imports were estimated at $40.3 billion this month, res

EconomyNov. 26, 2020