Finance minister considers easing ‘large shareholder’ standards

Amid fierce backlash from retail investors on the Korean government’s major shareholder standards, the Finance Ministry is currently mulling to alter its plan to define retail investors with shares worth 300 million won ($260,000) as large shareholders. “The financial authority is considering to charge stock transfer taxes based on the value of stocks held by each individual, not on the aggregated holdings of households,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Na

MarketOct. 8, 2020

Hyundai Oilbank to operate 200 EV charging stations by 2023

Hyundai Oilbank announced Thursday it plans to grow the number of its electric vehicle charging stations to 200 by 2023. The petroleum and refinery company currently operates 20 charging stations for electric cars, but a partnership agreement signed with Charzin, a company specializing in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, on Wednesday will see the number grow tenfold in the next three years. Under the new move, electric vehicle chargers of 100 kilowatts or more will be installed at gas

MobilityOct. 8, 2020

Hyundai Motor pushes for global expansion of hydrogen trucks

Hyundai Motor said Thursday that it is pushing for the global expansion of its Xcient Fuel Cell, the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell electric heavy-duty truck, as it delivered the first batch to customers in Switzerland. At a delivery ceremony in Lucerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Hyundai said it had handed over seven of the Xcient Fuel Cell trucks to seven customers -- Coop, Migros, Travego, Galiker, Camion, Murpf and Leclerc -- which are major Swiss retail and logistics firms. T

MobilityOct. 8, 2020

Hyundai to recall over 25,000 Kona EVs for faulty battery part

Hyundai Motor Co. will voluntarily recall over 25,000 Kona all-electric models for a faulty battery cell component, the transport ministry said Thursday. Hyundai Motor will recall 25,564 Kona Electric models manufactured between Sept. 29, 2019, and March 13, 2020, as a possible short circuit in the faulty battery cell system may start a fire in the pure EV model, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The recall comes after 13 cases of fires in the model have

MobilityOct. 8, 2020

Korean antitrust agency chief to review Google’s 'unfair fees'

Joh Sung-wook, chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, will look into Google’s purported anti-competitive practice of taking 30 percent commission on in-app purchases. Joh, speaking at the National Assembly’s inspection of the FTC on Thursday, said that what Google does may eventually affect the end-consumer, and that its monopoly of the market calls for a review. Upon being asked whether the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act may apply in the case of Google’s 30 perc

IndustryOct. 8, 2020

Seoul stocks up for 7th day on US stimulus hopes

South Korean stocks extended their winning streak to seven straight sessions Thursday, thanks to the massive foreign buying that stemmed from US stimulus hopes. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.02 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 2,391.96. Trading volume was moderate at about 939 million shares worth some 12.2 trillion won ($10.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 510 to 300. Foreigners bought a net 756 billi

MarketOct. 8, 2020

[Herald Interview] Hyundai’s self-driving tech partner robust on robotaxis

The demand for robotaxis, or self-driving cabs, could grow in the era of pandemics and social distancing as more people try to avoid getting in a vehicle with strangers. A number of startups and established automakers are racing to release test versions of fully driverless cars within this year. Boston Consulting Group recently suggested that the autonomous mobility and robotaxi industry would be worth $40 billion by 2030. In a bid to get a head start in the race, Hyundai Motor Group and US

TechnologyOct. 8, 2020

CrystalGenomics appoint Gavin Choy as CEO of CG Pharmaceuticals

CrystalGenomics on Thursday said it appointed Gavin Choy as the CEO of its US subsidiary, CG Pharmaceuticals. Choy has 27 years of experience in researching and developing anticancer and antiviral treatments, as well as four successful clinical trial design applications with the US Food and Drug Administration, CrystalGenomics said. At his new post, Choy will help CrystalGenomics advance its COVID-19 treatment pipeline for pancreatic cancer treatment research in the US. Choy holds a doctorat

IndustryOct. 8, 2020

Govt. to seek new steps to curb soaring 'jeonse' rates: finance minister

The government will seek to come up with additional measures to rein in soaring "jeonse" rates as part of efforts to stabilize the housing market, the country's chief economic policymaker said Thursday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who doubles as the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, made the remark during an annual parliamentary inspection of the ministry. "Jeonse rates have risen considerably over a short period of time and they are unlikely to go down easily down t

EconomyOct. 8, 2020

S. Korea, China agree to extend currency swap deal

South Korea and China have agreed to extend their bilateral currency swap agreement, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday, in a move aimed at helping ease a potential liquidity crunch amid the new coronavirus outbreak. In 2017, the BOK and People's Bank of China extended the won-yuan currency swap deal worth 64 trillion won ($55.3 billion) for three years, and the arrangement was set to expire Saturday. The two Asian nations inked the currency swap deal in April 2009 in the midst of the globa

EconomyOct. 8, 2020

Celltrion revs up for Xolair biosimilar’s phase 3 clinical trial

Celltrion’s Xolair biosimilar CT-P39 was given the Korean drug authority’s green light to proceed to a clinical phase 3 trial in Korea, the company said Thursday. The company plans to begin the late stage human test of the pipeline first in Korea, and expand to 600 patients suffering from chronic spontaneous urticaria in seven countries. So far, in Australia, Celltrion has gained midterm data for the drug’s safety in the human body from the phase 1 clinical trial that is bei

IndustryOct. 8, 2020

S. Korea's rice output forecast to dip 3% in 2020

South Korea's rice output is expected to shrink 3 percent in 2020 due mainly to bad weather conditions and reduced cultivation area, government data showed Thursday. The country's rice production is likely to come to 3.63 million tons this year, compared with 3.77 million tons a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The amount would represent the lowest level since 1980, when South Korea produced 3.55 million tons of rice. It would also mark the fifth consecutive y

EconomyOct. 8, 2020

IFC hosts online workshop to discuss APAC infrastructure opportunities

International Finance Corp., a global development institution, said on Wednesday it hosted a virtual workshop targeting Korean infrastructure developers and investors to allow them to identify new opportunities post-COVID-19. IFC officials discussed the upsides and challenges of public-private partnership projects in Southeast and Central Asia and highlighted the role of IFC to turn the PPP projects into more bankable ones, according to IFC. Speakers also focused on environmental and social ri

MarketOct. 8, 2020

[Monitor] Online shopping volume breaks record in August

South Korea’s online shopping volume reached 14.38 trillion won ($12.4 billion) in August, the highest since records began in 2001. Mobile shopping volume was 9.32 trillion won, surpassing by far the money spent through online shopping on PCs. Online shopping also accounted for a record breaking 28.6 percent of overall retail sales, up 7.7 percent from the same time last year. While food delivery services and ready-made meals helped drive sales up as people spent more time at home foll

ConsumerOct. 8, 2020

S. Koreans spent nearly 30 hours on YouTube in Sept.: data

South Koreans are estimated to have spent nearly 30 hours on YouTube in September, a report showed Thursday, far surpassing other popular social media apps. South Korean users spent an average of 29.5 hours on Google's video-sharing app last month, compared with 12 hours on KakaoTalk, the country's top messenger app, according to data from local market tracker IGAWorks. Local users spent an average of 11.7 hours on global social media app Facebook, followed by 10.2 hours on Naver, South Korea'

TechnologyOct. 8, 2020

[Graphic News] Duty-free sales up for 4th month in Aug. but still below pre-pandemic level

　Duty-free sales in South Korea rose for the fourth straight month in August on increased purchases by Chinese vendors, but revenues remained below the pre-pandemic level, industry data showed. 　Combined sales at duty-free shops here reached 1.44 trillion won ($1.23 billion) last month, up 15.3 percent from the previous month, according to the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. 　It marked the fourth straight month of gains since April, when sales fell below the 1 trillion-won threshold for

BusinessOct. 8, 2020

BTS, S. Korean biz lobby win Van Fleet Award

South Korean K-pop boy band BTS won the 2020 Van Fleet Award for its contribution to strengthening ties between South Korea and the United States, South Korea's leading business lobby group said Thursday. The two other recipients are the Korean War Veterans Association and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), according to the KCCI. The KCCI became the first Korean organization to earn the award. In 2014, KCCI Chairman Park Yong-maan received the same prize as an individual. The

EconomyOct. 8, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street rallies

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, taking a cue from U.S. stock rallies over stimulus hopes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 12.88 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,399.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Local stocks got off to a strong start, bolstered by optimistic signals by US House speaker Nancy Pelosi over an airline-relief bill in talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Investor appetite for risk also hiked on the back of the Federal Open

MarketOct. 8, 2020

S. Korea lags behind in hydrogen charging infrastructure

South Korea needs to further expand the country's hydrogen charging infrastructure as it lags behind advanced countries amid growing interest in zero-emission vehicles, a business association said Thursday. South Korea has emerged as a major player in technologies involving hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles and fuel-cell battery-based power generation in recent years. But the country still is behind developed nations in hydrogen charging stations and the production, storage and transport o

EconomyOct. 8, 2020

Samsung logs largest operating profit in 2 years

Samsung Electronics on Thursday announced an earnings surprise for the third quarter of this year, posting the largest operating profit in two years. The South Korean tech giant said in its preliminary earnings report that it would register 66 trillion won ($57.01 billion) in revenue and 12.3 trillion won in operating profit for the July to September period. It was a surprise, since the financial market’s forecasts hovered around 10 trillion won. If confirmed, the Q3 revenue will hav

IndustryOct. 8, 2020