Direct overseas purchases more than double in 5 years: data

South Koreans' direct purchases from overseas online malls more than doubled in the past five years in terms of value, a ruling party lawmaker said Wednesday.  Rep. Park Hong-geun of the ruling Democratic Party said the number of Koreans' overseas online direct buying jumped to 42.99 million in 2019 from 15.84 million in 2015, citing data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS). The value of foreign direct buying also soared to $3.14 billion from $1.51 billion over the cited period, the data

ConsumerSept. 30, 2020

[Monitor] Average price of apartments in Seoul surpasses W1b

Data released by KB Kookmin Bank‘s real estate information provider Liiv On showed that the average selling price of apartments in Seoul surpassed 1 billion won for the first time in September this year.  (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

BusinessSept. 30, 2020

How to save and invest Chuseok money?

Ahead of the Chuseok holidays, many Koreans expect cash, with companies offering bonuses to motivate employees and relatives exchanging money as gifts in the family reunion rituals. This year, the three-day Chuseok holiday that kicks off Wednesday for three days is coming amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and the prolonged pandemic appears to be influencing ways to save or invest the holiday pocket money. But what to do with cash in times of ultralow interest is a big question.　 Some financial consu

EconomySept. 29, 2020

Financial firms run contactless Chuseok promotions amid coronavirus pandemic

With the Chuseok holiday just around the corner, financial firms and rising fintech firms are making efforts to offer new services to attract customers amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Kakao Pay, a payment solutions firm under mobile messenger giant Kakao, has launched a marketing campaign for its money transfer service. During the promotional event from Sept. 16 to Oct. 5, the company will pick eight users who send Chuseok gifts via the payment platform, and will reward them with the sam

MarketSept. 29, 2020

Seoul stocks extend winning streak to 3rd session on US stimulus hopes

South Korean shares extended their winning streak to a third session Tuesday, as progress in negotiations for a new US fiscal stimulus plan boosted investor appetite for risky assets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 19.81 points, or 0.86 percent, to close at 2,327.89. Trading volume was moderate at about 626 million shares worth some 8.9 trillion won ($7.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 667 to 192. Foreigners

MarketSept. 29, 2020

Over 30% of major Korean firms cut greenhouse emissions by double digits: data

More than 30 percent of major Korean companies sliced greenhouse gas emissions more than 10 percent last year, according to the data from CEO Score Tuesday. The corporate data tracker requested greenhouse gas emission data from the top 500 Korean companies and analyzed the data submitted by 200 of them. Then, CEO Score examined how much greenhouse gas they emitted per 100 million won ($85,470) of revenue. Results showed that 67 companies reduced their greenhouse gas emissions per 100 million

IndustrySept. 29, 2020

Hyundai Rotem bags W407.7b wheeled armored vehicle deal

Hyundai Rotem said Tuesday it has signed a contract worth 407.7 billion won ($348.4 million) with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to supply wheeled armored vehicles by 2023. According to the rolling stock and arms manufacturing unit of Hyundai Motor Group, it will mass-produce the third batch of K806 and K808 armored personnel carriers to DAPA by 2023. Hyundai Rotem won the order for the first batch worth 26.9 billion won in 2016 and completed the delivery in 2018. It also grab

IndustrySept. 29, 2020

USITC rejects SK Innovation’s request for forensic inspection of LG Chem

In the latest development of an ongoing patent lawsuit SK Innovation filed against LG Chem a year ago in September 2019, the US International Trade Commission on Tuesday dismissed SK Innovation’s request for a forensic inspection of LG Chem for the alleged unauthorized export of SK Innovation data. On Sept. 1, SK Innovation filed a motion asking for a forensic inspection of LG Chem. SK Innovation claimed that when LG Chem officials visited SK Innovation headquarters on July 20 to conduc

IndustrySept. 29, 2020

LG Electronics tipped to deliver best Q3 earnings in 11 years: analysts

LG Electronics Inc. is likely to report its largest third-quarter earnings in 11 years on the back of increased demand of its premium home appliance and TV products amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend, analysts said Tuesday. LG was expected to log 16.12 trillion won ($13.7 billion) in sales in the July-September period, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier, while its operating profit was estimated to increase 5.9 percent on-year to 828 billion won over the period, according to Yonhap Inf

IndustrySept. 29, 2020

Samsung tops global smartphone market in Aug.: report

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's top smartphone vendor in August, a report showed Tuesday, as it widens the gap with China's Huawei Technologies Co. amid the pandemic. The South Korean tech giant accounted for a 22 percent share of the global smartphone market last month, beating Huawei with a 16 percent share, according to industry tracker Counterpoint Research. The gap of 6 percentage points between the two sides is the largest since February, when China's smartphone market was se

TechnologySept. 29, 2020

Air Busan to resume flights to Qingdao on biz demand

Air Busan Co., the budget carrier unit of Asiana Airlines Inc., said Tuesday it will resume flights to the Chinese city of Qingdao in mid-October to meet travel demand from businessmen. Air Busan plans to offer one flight a week on the Busan-Qingdao route from Oct. 15 after suspending the route for more than seven months due to the coronavirus impact on the airline industry, the company said in a statement. In July, the carrier resumed the Incheon-Shenzhen route, but other Chinese routes to N

MobilitySept. 29, 2020

Samsung joins hands with Microsoft for cloud-based 5G network solutions

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has joined forces with Microsoft Corp. to provide cloud-based private 5G network solutions as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its presence in the next-generation communications sector. Samsung will deploy its virtualized radio access network (RAN), virtualized core, and multi-access edge computing technologies on Microsoft‘s cloud platform Azure, which will better support private 5G networks in enterprises. “The collaboration hig

TechnologySept. 29, 2020

LG tipped to release rollable TV next month

LG Electronics Inc., a major home appliance maker in South Korea, is expected to release the industry‘s first rollable TV next month, sources here said Tuesday, as the company tries to expand its presence in the high-end TV market. LG recently opened a website dedicated to the Signature OLED R to receive preorders from its VVIP customers, according to the sources. After holding an event for its customers in Seoul, LG is expected to launch the rollable TV in the market in late October,

IndustrySept. 29, 2020

KG Group to acquire Hollys Coffee for W145b

Chemical-to-financial conglomerate KG Group said Tuesday that it would take over a 93.8 percent stake in Hollys F&B from investment firm IMM Private Equity. Hollys F&B owns Hollys Coffee, one of the largest coffee franchises in South Korea. With the acquisition deal, KG Group will own slightly more than 1.65 million shares, worth 145 billion won ($124 million), of the coffee chain operator. Founded in 1998, Hollys Coffee currently runs 560 stores across the nation with its sales last

MarketSept. 29, 2020

Yanolja preps to go public in 2022

Yanolja, the largest accommodation and leisure activity booking platform operator in South Korea, is taking steps toward an initial public offering, according to news reports Tuesday. The accommodation booking services firm is a local startup unicorn with a market value exceeding 1 trillion won ($855 million). The Seoul-based firm is widely expected to go public, along with game producer and unicorn Krafton, among many others. In light of the momentum created in the local market by recent IPOs,

MarketSept. 29, 2020

[Newsmaker] Google goes ahead with controversial in-app payment policy

Google said Tuesday that the company is updating its billing policies to require app developers distributing software through Google Play Store to use its own in-app payment system. All developers who are already distributing their software will have to use Google Play Store’s in-app purchase system instead of third-party payment systems, starting in October next yaer. The billing system charges a 30 percent fee to app developers. As for developers newly launching their applications

TechnologySept. 29, 2020

Hyundai Mobis to buy back 221b won worth of stocks

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker, said Tuesday it will buy back 221 billion won ($189 million) worth of its stocks in the fourth quarter to enhance shareholder value. Hyundai Mobis plans to buy back 983,000 stocks from Oct. 5 through Dec. 28 to stabilize the stock prices and improve shareholder value, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company said it will cancel 62.5 billion worth of stocks out of the 983,000 shares to be bought and ho

EconomySept. 29, 2020

Shinsegae heirs expected to pay W300b in gift taxes

As Shinsegae Group heirs Chung Yong-jin and Chung Yoo-kyung became the largest shareholders of the group’s retail and department store units, respectively, upon receiving shares as gifts from their mother, they are expected to pay a combined 300 billion won ($256 million) in gift taxes, according to the industry. According to a regulatory filing on Monday afternoon, Shinsegae Group Chairwoman Lee Myung-Hee donated an 8.22 percent stake in E-mart to her son, Yong-jin, and an 8.22 percent

IndustrySept. 29, 2020

Hyundai Heavy wins 420b won order for 4 crude carriers

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Tuesday that its shipbuilding unit Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. secured a 420 billion won ($359 million) deal to build four crude carriers. Under the deal with companies from Europe and Oceania, Hyundai Heavy will complete the construction of the 300,000-ton very large crude carriers by the first half of 2022, Korea Shipbuilding said. The names of the buyers were not revealed. With the latest orders, Korea Shipbuilding has so far won ord

EconomySept. 29, 2020

[Photo News] Genesis unveils its first GV70 teaser image

NEW GENESIS IN CAMOUFLAGE -- Genesis unveiled its first GV70 teaser image wrapped in camouflage Tuesday. Genesis emphasized the brand’s identity by attaching the G-Matrix pattern camouflage film to the GV70. The GV70 is the fifth vehicle in the Genesis lineup, and is a rear-wheel-drive-based luxury midsize sport utility vehicle. (Hyundai Motor)

MobilitySept. 29, 2020