Korean Air's aircraft conversion plan approved

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Tuesday it will convert two of its passenger jets into cargo planes upon government approval to meet growing demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.    The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has approved the national flag carrier's request to convert two B777-300ER jets into cargo planes, a Korean Air spokeswoman said over the phone. "The company may consider making another request to the ministry to con

EconomySept. 1, 2020

[Monitor] Much of COVID-19 emergency funds used at restaurants

  A report by the Korea Food Service Industry Association showed that the use of emergency funds doled out by the government in May in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic was largest at restaurants. Although the funds were largely used at restaurants, the industry also the most vulnerable to the change in the number of moving population, the report added. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

IndustrySept. 1, 2020

S. Korean economy shrinks revised 3.2% on-quarter in Q2

  South Korea's economy shrank at a slower-than-estimated pace in the second quarter from three months earlier amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 3.2 percent in the April-June period from the previous quarter, the biggest on-quarter drop since a 3.3 percent retreat posted in the last three months of 2008, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). But the reading marks a slight increase

EconomySept. 1, 2020

Export slump extends to 6th month; chips cushion virus fallout

South Korea's exports extended their slump to a sixth month in August as the resurgence of the new coronavirus around the globe continued to strain business activities, data showed Tuesday. But the retreat was in the single digits on a recovery in shipments of chips. Outbound shipments came to $39.6 billion last month, down 9.9 percent from $44 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The latest figures were slightly better t

EconomySept. 1, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on US tech gains

South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday on overnight tech gains on Wall Street, despite a surge in new coronavirus cases here. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.1 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,342.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Trading kicked off bullish after a 1.17 percent plunge in the previous session amid virus woes. Investor sentiment was boosted after the tech-savvy Nasdaq Composite advanced 86.75 points, or 0.76 percent, to close at 11,466.47

MarketSept. 1, 2020

[From the Scene] ‘We understand, but it’s life or death for us’

The owner of a 24-hour eatery in Mapo, Seoul, sat hopelessly in her near-empty kimchi stew restaurant, which on other days had bustled with customers around the clock. Lee, 50, said the “Level 2.5” social distancing rules had cut the number of customers in half, one day after they were imposed to curb a spike in COVID-19 infections. This includes a weeklong ban on food and drink consumption inside large chain cafes in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province and the forced closing of restaurant

ConsumerAug. 31, 2020

Hanwha skyscraper enjoys international exposure on MTV thanks to BTS

Hanwha Group’s skyscraper 63 Square, more commonly known as 63 Building, made a cameo appearance with BTS at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. During the septet’s performance of their new single “Dynamite,” Seoul’s landmarks stood tall in the backdrop alongside a display of fireworks over what appears to be the Han River. “Shining through the city with a little funk and soul,” bandmate Jin belted out the last round of the chorus as the conglomerate

IndustryAug. 31, 2020

Industrial output inches up, consumption dips in July

South Korea’s industrial output inched up in July but consumption slipped as the COVID-19 pandemic continued and disaster relief funds were mostly exhausted by June, data showed Monday. The overall industrial production for July increased 0.1 percent from a month earlier, extending the on-month rise for two months straight but slowing from the 4.1 percent on-month gain observed in June, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea. The latest figure, however, was down 0.7 percent fr

EconomyAug. 31, 2020

Seoul stocks plunge over 1% on record-high foreign dumping

South Korean shares dipped more than 1 percent Monday, as foreign sell-offs soared to an all-time high amid the spreading new coronavirus fears. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 27.63 points, or 1.17 percent, to close at 2,326.17. Trading volume was high at about 1.6 billion shares worth some 19 trillion won ($16 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 498 to 350. The index set out strong on the Fed's dovish signal but t

MarketAug. 31, 2020

KOTRA undertakes digital transformations for local, foreign businesses

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced Monday that it would push digital transformation to provide quality services to local and foreign businesses. The agency said it would bring digital transformation into a wide range of tasks it manages. According to KOTRA, its customers can now easily access various types of market data that it has collected from its 125 offices in 82 different nations around the globe. The agency said the big data collected in different nations would

IndustryAug. 31, 2020

Stronger ad rules begin for social media stars in Korea

Reinforced rules by South Korea’s antitrust regulator began to take effect Tuesday to prevent social media influencers from advertising products without telling viewers of their business ties with corporate sponsors. According to the Fair Trade Commission’s guidelines, the online streamers and social media influencers should explicitly disclose their business ties when they are provided with financial means to produce promotional posts or videos. The FTC said it revised old guidel

IndustryAug. 31, 2020

More firms stand in regulatory blind spot: FTC

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Monday that an increasing number of companies occupy a regulatory blind spot that shields the owner families. Owners increased their shares through indirect investment from public corporations and overseas affiliates this year, it said. The Fair Trade Commission said it analyzed the stock ownership of the 64 largest groups and their 2,292 affiliates. Among the groups, the equity held by owner families amounted to 3.6 percent, down 0.3 percentage p

IndustryAug. 31, 2020

Study suggests children’s potential for ‘silent COVID-19 spread’

The novel coronavirus infection is relatively unnoticeable in children, leaving them less likely to get diagnosed. And despite their lack of distinct symptoms, children with COVID-19 can shed the virus for as long as over two weeks, a recent study found, highlighting their potential role in spreading the disease silently in the community. The study published Aug. 28 in the Journal of the American Medical Association assessed 91 children with COVID-19 in Korea to find that only 8.5 percent of t

TechnologyAug. 31, 2020

Kakao Games likely to issue most successful IPO in Korea

The initial public offering of Kakao Games is likely to be the most successful market debut in South Korea’s history in terms of the number of applicants for its shares, according to market watchers on Monday. In the two-day book building for institutional investors that wrapped up on Thursday, a total of 1,745 domestic and foreign institutional investors participated in the tranche and bid for 11.28 million shares, or 70.49 percent of the total. Competition for stocks by institutional

MarketAug. 31, 2020

Incheon Airport projected to lose over W430b this year

Incheon International Airport Corp. is set to post an annual deficit of over 430 billion ($ 363 million) won this year, according to its latest projection Monday. As things stand in August, the airport is on course to be in the red this year, marking the first time in 17 years since 2003. The projection comes following a sharp drop in the number of flights and revenue during the first half of 2020, which saw its previous projected deficit grow over time since the first quarter. “The pro

MobilityAug. 31, 2020

Authorities vow to bolster financial safety net for senior citizens

With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating digitalization of the financial sector and magnifying risks for individual investors, financial authorities recently vowed to create a safe and friendly environment for senior citizens here. To help the elderly carry out smooth banking transactions, local lenders would be required to alert their customers when closing a brick-and-mortar branch with a high-proportion of senior customers, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during a

EconomyAug. 31, 2020

Korean pension funds cushion pandemic impact in H1

South Korea’s pension funds took positive returns in the first half of this year, as they managed to weather the impact of the novel coronavirus on financial markets across the globe, disclosures showed Monday. The National Pension Service, Korea’s largest public pension fund with 752.2 trillion won ($635.5 billion) assets under management, posted a 0.5 percent return Friday as its stock losses were offset by fixed-income assets and alternative investments. By asset classes, from

MarketAug. 31, 2020

JB Financial launches Vietnam-based brokerage firm JBSV

JB Financial Group said Monday it has launched a brokerage unit through its newly acquired Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities, a midsized brokerage firm headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. It has changed the company name to JB Securities Vietnam as part of a move to officially start operations, the group added.  Earlier in April, the banking group paid for its 100 percent stake in MSGS -- previously owned by global investment bank Morgan Stanley -- and recently received final approval from

MarketAug. 31, 2020

[News Focus] Semiconductor industry back in conservative mode

After successfully bolstering the supply side with aggressive investments over the last six months, the semiconductor industry is again in a conservative mode at least until the second quarter of next year, according to industry sources Monday. Such conservatism in making new investments is running deep across the memory market, in particular amid growing forecasts of slowing demand in the second half of the year. According to sources, the world’s two largest memory providers Samsung

TechnologyAug. 31, 2020

Hyundai Motor unveils Ioniq brand song with BTS

Hyundai Motor said Monday it will introduce brand song of its new electric vehicle Ioniq with boy band BTS. The brand song “Ioniq: I’m on it” will be distributed on the automaker’s global website at 7 p.m. on Monday. Hyundai Motor and BTS have been working together on various marketing activities for three years since the band was chosen as Palisade’s global PR ambassador in 2018. The automaker said the latest project aims to convey a vision of the infinite po

MobilityAug. 31, 2020