Current account surplus reaches two-year high in Sept.

South Korea’s current account surplus, a key barometer of the nation’s trade, surpassed $10 billion and hit a two-year high in September, the central bank said Thursday, feeding anticipations that it would easily top its 2020 outlook of $54 billion. On the back of improved exports, the surplus came to $10.21 billion in September, compared to $6.57 billion the previous month, the Bank of Korea said. This marked a surplus for Asia’s fourth-largest economy for five consecutive m

EconomyNov. 5, 2020

BAT Korea to up ratio of non-combustible cigarettes to 50%

British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea said Thursday it will increase the ratio of non-combustible cigarette products to 50 percent by 2030 to boost sales amid regulations and health concerns over smoking. The British tobacco company has sold the heat-not-burn glo tobacco heating product (THP) series in the Korean market since 2017 on top of its traditional cigarette products. Currently, traditional cigarette products account for 90 percent of BAT Korea's total sales, with the remaining 10 perc

EconomyNov. 5, 2020

S. Korea to offer $30m to local office of World Bank by 2023

South Korea pledged Thursday to provide U30 million to the local office of the World Bank by 2023 in an effort to promote cooperation with the international organization. South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance made the pledge in a conference in Seoul on innovative technology, which it hosted with the Korean office of the World Bank and the International Development Association. The conference was the first face-to-face forum held by the World Bank since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the glo

EconomyNov. 5, 2020

SPC Group opens Passion 5 Terrace

SPC Group said Thursday it opened Passion 5 Terrace, a bakery restaurant brand inside the Passion 5 building in Hannam district in Seoul. Passion 5 is the group’s flagship premium bakery brand. The newly opening Passion 5 Terrace will be dedicated to the company‘s origin, bread, and will run under the slogan, “Made from origin, Baked with Passion,” the company said. The Passion 5 Terrace has installed a stone milling system and has been designed so that customers can

ConsumerNov. 5, 2020

Homeplus starts first open recruitment in three years

Homelus, a hypermart chain, said Thursday it was starting open recruitment for its supermarket brand, Homeplus Express, a first in three years since 2017, after the company was acquired by MBK Partners, a private equity firm. With the recruitment, Homeplus said it seeks to strengthen its supermarket business, which shows consistent growth while the offline retail industry is struggling overall, and also to provide job opportunities to college graduates seeking jobs amid the pandemic. The re

ConsumerNov. 5, 2020

Builder sentiment hits yearly high in Oct.

South Korean builders' business sentiment surged to a yearly high in October on a recovery in housing orders despite the prolonged coronavirus crisis, a poll showed Thursday. The construction business survey index (CBSI) stood at 79.9 last month, up 4.6 points from the prior month, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea. The October figure was the highest monthly tally for this year, but it was still below the benchmark level. A reading below 100 i

EconomyNov. 5, 2020

LG to launch new budget 5G phone in N. America

LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday it will launch a new 5G-running budget smartphone in North America this week as it looks to compete for the growing market for the latest generation network there. The K92 5G -- LG's first budget K Series phone to support the high-speed network -- will first be available in the region Friday (US time) for less than $400, the company said in a statement. Despite the relatively low price tag, LG said the smartphone has a 6.67-inch display that features higher-en

TechnologyNov. 5, 2020

LG Uplus downplays Huawei risk, Q3 net nearly quadruples

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, downplayed concerns Thursday over its use of network equipment by Huawei Technologies Co. amid US pressure to sever ties with the Chinese company, citing the completion of equipment installation and a healthy backlog for maintenance. The United States has repeatedly pressed the South Korean carrier to stop using Huawei's 5G equipment, claiming the Chinese telecom equipment maker poses a security risk and could compromise the country's inter

IndustryNov. 5, 2020

[Monitor] Rise of women in C-suite, still long way to go

Among 6,871 executive-level members of South Korea’s top 100 companies by revenue, 286 of them are women, according to a report by global headhunting firm Unico Search on Wednesday. This accounted for 4.1 percent of the total. It was up 42 from 286 last year. Conglomerates have been moving to increase the ratio of women in their C-suite, such as Samsung Electronics which had pledged in 2011 to raise the proportion to 10 percent.  (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

IndustryNov. 5, 2020

LG Chem, Neste sign strategic partnership on renewable sources

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical firm, said Thursday it will collaborate with Finland-based bio diesel producer Neste to develop renewable materials for its chemical products. LG Chem and Neste signed a strategic long-term partnership to develop biopolymers and biochemicals to reduce use of fossil feedstock in the Korean company's manufacturing process. LG Chem has a diversified chemical portfolio ranging from petrochemical products to lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

IndustryNov. 5, 2020

Doosan Logistics Solutions to supply Geek+'s logistics robots in S. Korea

Doosan Group's system integrator Doosan Logistics Solutions Co. (DLS) said Thursday that it has signed a deal with Chinese autonomous mobile robot (AMR) maker Geek+ to bring logistics robots to South Korea. Under the deal, DLS will exclusively provide logistics robots made by Geek+ to the local market and maintenance services for them, the company said in an emailed statement. Geek+ is the world's largest AMR maker, having 16 percent share of global AMR market, DLS said. Unlisted DLS, a sy

IndustryNov. 5, 2020

SK Telecom's Q3 net up over 40% on media biz growth, equity gains

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Thursday its net income rose more than 40 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier on the back of robust growth in its media business. The telecom operator's net income stood at 395.7 billion won ($350.5 million) in the July-September period, up 44.2 percent from 274.4 billion won the previous year, according to a regulatory filing. Operating income reached 361.5 billion won, up 19.7 percent over the cited period, while sales r

IndustryNov. 5, 2020

Seoul stocks open sharply higher despite US election limbo

The South Korean benchmark stock index opened sharply higher Thursday despite the US presidential election being in limbo, taking a cue from the overnight Wall Street rally. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 31.13 points, or 1.32 percent, to 2,388.45 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks traded bullish after a 0.6 percent hike the previous session, as investors rush for giant tech and bio stocks as US election uncertainties continue.  Investor sentiment

MarketNov. 5, 2020

Meritz Securities Q3 net soars 56% on more fee income

Major South Korean brokerage house Meritz Securities Co. said Thursday its third-quarter net profit spiked nearly 56 percent from a year ago thanks mainly to increased fee income. Net profit came to 162.5 billion won ($142.8 million) in the July-September period, up 55.7 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its operating income shot up 72.2 percent on-year to 208.1 billion won in the quarter, and sales rose 4.9 percent to 3.39 trillion won. Meritz Securities s

IndustryNov. 5, 2020

Kakao's Q2 net nearly quadruples on robust platform, e-commerce

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Thursday its third-quarter net profit jumped nearly three times from a year earlier on the back of robust growth of its e-commerce services based on its messenger platform. Net profit reached a quarterly high of 143.7 billion won ($126.3 million) in the July-September period on a consolidated basis, compared with a profit of 51.1 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales jumped by 4

IndustryNov. 5, 2020

S. Korea's current account surplus hits 2-year high in Sept. on export recovery

South Korea's current account surplus hit a two-year high in September as exports rebounded for the first time in seven months on brisk shipments of chips and autos amid the new coronavirus outbreak, the central bank said Thursday. The current account surplus reached $10.21 billion in September, compared with $6.57 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. It marked the largest surplus since September 20

EconomyNov. 5, 2020

[Advertising Awards] What makes a digital marketer shine?

This is the era of fourth industrial revolution. Traditional marketing platforms are rapidly receding in their stature now that we have big data-based artificial intelligence entering the realm of decision-making. Digital advertisement quotes had already begun to surpass the TV advertisement quotes since 2016, and this year, in 2020, they are expected to account for over 50 percent of the entire advertisement market. Digital marketing refers to the extensive marketing activity of pitching prod

IndustryNov. 5, 2020

Biz community on virus alert after reporter at Lee Kun-hee's funeral tests positive

A number of South Korean business leaders and senior government officials who visited the funeral hall of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee were either tested or planning to undergo tests for COVID-19 on Wednesday after a reporter who covered Lee‘s funeral was confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus. 　 According to business community insiders, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, both received tests after rec

IndustryNov. 4, 2020

[KH Finance Forum] COVID-19 provides financial firms new opportunities to go digital, global

Despite the uncertainties posed by the pandemic, South Korea’s financial industries are met with fresh opportunities to accelerate digitalization in response to the major changes in financial consumers’ behavior, as more people turn to mobile phones instead of brick-and-mortar branches to use financial services in times of COVID-19, said speakers at The Korea Herald’s first finance forum Wednesday. At Korea Herald Finance Forum 2020, held under the tagline “Korean Econo

EconomyNov. 4, 2020

[KH Finance Forum] Korea-ASEAN’s strong ties to offer new opportunities for financial firms

Efforts should be made to support Korean financial companies’ entry to Southeast Asian markets to secure sustainable future growth and foster stronger financial ties, a senior researcher said Wednesday. The country’s financial competitiveness along with the development of its economy has grown at large, and it is the time for the local financial industry to seek new opportunities by bolstering economic cooperation with Southeast Asia, said Jeong Young-sik, senior researcher for inte

EconomyNov. 4, 2020