S. Korea to extend short-selling ban until March

South Korea’s top financial regulator said Thursday its temporary ban on short-selling activities of all listed Korean shares will be extended to March 2021, immediately after the current six-month restriction expires in September. The Financial Services Commission’s decision is meant to keep the stock market volatility at bay as the impact of the coronavirus still persists across the nation. The decision was made as FSC collected written agreements from its commissioners after the

MarketAug. 27, 2020

FTC fines Kumho Asiana W32b, reports chairman to prosecutors

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has decided to impose a fine of 32 billion won ($27 million) on Kumho Asiana Group for unfair internal transactions that aimed at tightening family control over the conglomerate, officials said Thursday. The Fair Trade Commission also reported Chairman Park Sam-koo and two other executives to prosecutors. The FTC said Kumho Asiana Group used the in-flight meal business rights of its flagship affiliate Asiana Airlines to illegally fund struggling Kumho

IndustryAug. 27, 2020

SK Innovation loses lawsuit against LG Chem

SK Innovation on Thursday lost a compensation lawsuit it filed against LG Chem in Seoul for breaching a patent settlement. The Seoul Central District Court delivered a verdict siding with LG Chem, saying that the patent settlement both companies signed in 2014 is only effective in Korea. It has dismissed SK Innovation’s claim that LG Chem should drop its lawsuits against SK Innovation in the US and pay 500 million won ($42,000) in compensation to SK Innovation and its US subsidiary SK B

IndustryAug. 27, 2020

NH Investment to repay Optimus investors in advance

NH Investment & Securities, a brokerage unit of South Korea’s NongHyup Financial Group, decided Thursday to offer up to 70 percent of funds invested in now-frozen Optimus Asset Management’s funds via the firm. Stressing its ethical, not legal, responsibility as the seller of the troubled fund, the company said it would pay 30-70 percent of investment funds to retail and corporate investors in advance. The payment is not a sort of compensation, but is designed to provide financi

MarketAug. 27, 2020

Kia Motors launches revamped Stinger Meister

Kia Motors launched the face-lifted version of sports sedan Stinger Meister on Thursday, with enhanced performance. Revealing a promotional video featuring actor Go Soo on YouTube and Naver TV, the automaker presented the upgraded model, which was first released in 2017. The new Stinger Meister is offered with two gasoline engines, the new Smartstream 2.5 Turbo and 3.3 Twin-Turbo. It is the first time for Kia to equip the Smartstream G2.5 T-GDI in its vehicle. The Smartstream 2.5 Turbo pr

MobilityAug. 27, 2020

Daewoo E&C meets H1 target despite pandemic

Daewoo Engineering & Construction said Thursday it has met its target for the first half of the year owing to new overseas deals. The company won has won orders worth 6.4 trillion won ($5.39 billion) during the first half of the year, racking up 3.949 trillion won in revenue and 202 billion won in operating profit. Compared to the first half of 2019 when domestic orders accounted for more, this year saw Daewoo E&C land orders worth 2.68 trillion won from overseas, including the Train 7

IndustryAug. 27, 2020

Mercedes-Benz Korea unveils 3 new models of luxury SUV family

Mercedes-Benz Korea on Thursday unveiled three new luxury sports utility vehicle models, expanding its premium SUV lineup to nine in the country. In the unveiling ceremony held via its official YouTube channel, the automaker presented Mercedes-Benz GLB, a “versatile” family SUV; the new Mercedes-Benz GLA, a dynamic sporty SUV; and the new Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe, a premium coupe SUV. Opening the unveiling event was interim President and CEO Kim Jee-seop, who was formerly vice pre

MobilityAug. 27, 2020

LIG Nex1 allows remote work, first in defense industry

LIG Nex1 said Thursday that it has adopted a remote working system. It is the first company in South Korea’s defense industry to do so. The military electronics and missile manufacturer said it has decided to allow all staff members, except key personnel, to work from home on weekdays in response to the resurgence of the coronavirus. “LIG Nex1 took a preemptive measure after the government raised social distancing rules to Level 2 from Level 1 in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province rec

IndustryAug. 27, 2020

Nexon cultivates coding hopefuls for ‘4th industrial revolution’

South Korea’s leading game company Nexon has rolled up its sleeves to foster better education on coding for students. Since 2016, the firm has been running the “Nexon Youth Programming Challenge,” an annual coding competition that has attracted more than 17,000 eager students. To help familiarize students with coding, Nexon has used what it knows best: games. Instead of solving textbook coding problems, students are given practical problems that are more relatable. Last y

IndustryAug. 27, 2020

Korea to increase flexibility in parental leave system

South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday that the government will work to diversify the current parental leave system, allowing parents to split their leave period according to needs. “In order to respond to the decreasing number of productive age population, it is crucial that we should encourage everyone to participate in economic activities,” Hong said in a meeting of economy-related ministers held at Seoul Government Complex.

EconomyAug. 27, 2020

Amorepacific publishes clinical study on blue light skin protection

In a world first, beauty and cosmetics conglomerate Amorepacific has developed a clinical evaluation method for blue light, the company said Thursday. The study by the firm’s research body, the Anti-Pollution Research Center, discovered that blue light -- high-energy light in the blue band with a wavelength between 380 and 500 nanometers in the visible spectrum -- can cause skin pigmentation at the point of 456 nanometers. After developing a clinical device that emits blue light, resear

ConsumerAug. 27, 2020

HDC begins presales of serviced apartments in Sokcho

DC Hyundai Development Co. said Thursday it has begun presales of its new serviced apartments at Sokcho Ipark Suite. With popular holiday spots such as Seoraksan National Park and Sokcho Beach close to the apartments, the company said it plans to build a new KTX station in Sokcho by 2027 to bring Seoul closer, as traveling to Yongsan Station will take some 70 minutes.  Located in Joyang-dong in Sokcho-gu, the model house is currently open for the 27-story residential building with tw

IndustryAug. 27, 2020

Seoul stocks snap 4-day winning streak on spiking virus cases

South Korean shares ended a four-session winning streak Thursday, as the daily new virus cases in the country spiked to a nearly six-month high. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 24.87 points, or 1.05 percent, to close at 2,344.45. Trading volume was high at about 898 million shares worth some 14.9 trillion won ($12.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 725 to 152. Foreigners sold a net 24 billion won, ending a four

MarketAug. 27, 2020

KB Financial’s acquisition of Prudential Life approved

KB Financial Group said Thursday that it has received approval from the Financial Services Commission to acquire Prudential Life Insurance of Korea. In April, the Korean financial giant inked a deal with Prudential to buy a 100 percent stake in the insurance company for some 2.3 trillion won ($1.94 billion). It is scheduled to pay for the acquisition by Monday. When the deal closes, the insurance firm will become the financial group’s 13th subsidiary. The takeover of the nation&rsquo

MarketAug. 27, 2020

Amid virus resurgence, BOK slashes S. Korea growth forecast to minus 1.3%

South Korea’s economy is forecast to see a sharper-than-expected contraction of 1.3 percent this year under the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Thursday, fueling concerns that this year may see one of the worst negative growth figures in decades. In May the Bank of Korea slashed the growth forecast from the previous minus 0.2 percent. The May revision sent shock waves across the nation, as it was previously expecting a 2.1 percent expansion since February. BOK Gov. Lee Ju-y

EconomyAug. 27, 2020

[Monitor] No. of newborns in Korea dips to record-low

In the first six months of this year, 142,663 babies were born in South Korea, marking the lowest since the Statistics Korea started compiling related data in 1981. The number of newborns in June dropped to 22,193, down by 7.5 percent from 23,992 in the same month of 2019. The nation’s fertility rate -- average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- came to 0.92 last year, down from 0.98 in 2019. Meanwhile, the number of people who died during the first quarter reached

IndustryAug. 27, 2020

Macquarie IM Korea names new CEO

Macquarie Investment Management has named Bastiaan Jeroen van Buuren as its new chief executive to oversee its Korean operation, a filing showed Thursday. The change of leadership has been effective since Aug. 18. Van Buuren replaced Lee Kyung-soo, who served for 16 months at the top post. Joining the Australian asset management house in 2018, van Buuren was head of Asia Distribution based in Hong Kong. He joined Macquarie IM Korea’s board in June 2020. Macquarie IM acquired ING Inve

MarketAug. 27, 2020

Kakao, Naver shares continue to surge amid prolonged virus battle

Shares of South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator Kakao and leading portal operator Naver continued their bullish run on the local stock market Thursday, on investors’ profit-taking drive from “untact” -- contactless -- sectors amid the spike in COVID-19 pandemic cases. Kakao’s stock price began trading at 392,000 won ($330.38), then rose by 18,500 won, or 4.72 percent, to close at 410,500 won. It once soared up to 413,000 won in later trading hours, jumping ab

MarketAug. 27, 2020

Netflix under probe in Korea over potential tax avoidance

Netflix’s regional office in South Korea is being investigated for alleged tax avoidance, according to industry sources on Thursday. The National Tax Service made its first visit to the Netflix‘s office in Seoul and launched a probe on Wednesday. The NTS suspects the global streaming giant might have intentionally avoided paying tax by reporting fiscal deficits after sending large-sized management consultation fees to the company‘s US-based headquarters. Netflix’s o

TechnologyAug. 27, 2020

Shinhan BNP Paribas closes W690b private debt fund

Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management said Thursday it has raised a total of 690 billion won ($582 million) commitment to close its latest private debt fund, designed to offer nonbank loans to support mergers and acquisitions activities. Backers of the fund include its affiliates Shinhan Bank and Shinhan Life Insurance, under the umbrella of the nation’s largest Shinhan Financial Group. The Seoul-based asset management house’s new blind pool fund will extend loans to an acquirer by

MarketAug. 27, 2020