Bioneer to supply Colombia with W5.6b worth of COVID-19 kits

Bioneer signed a deal worth 5.6 billion won ($4.7 million) to supply the South American country of Colombia with COVID-19 test kits and sequencing machine, the company said Tuesday. Bioneer has the capability to provide both COVID-19 test kits and the sequencing machine to read the kits. It asserts to be the only Korean firm with such total-solution capacity. Under the new deal, Bioneer will provide 5 billion won worth of COVID-19 kits and 600 million won worth of machinery to Colombia in the

IndustryAug. 4, 2020

US slaps Korean wind towers with 5.41% anti-dumping tariff

The US International Trade Commission has greenlighted a 5.41 percent anti-dumping tariff on wind towers imported from South Korea, citing that the local industry there has been “materially injured.” According to the Korea International Trade Association on Tuesday, the ITC made a final ruling Thursday to issue the tariff on the imports of utility-scale wind towers from Korea, saying the products are sold at “less than fair value” in the US market. Wind towers are st

IndustryAug. 4, 2020

Samsung to hold first-ever online ‘Unpacked’ on Wednesday

Expectations are running high ahead of Samsung Electronics’ first-ever online unpacking event Wednesday, as the South Korean tech giant is expected to introduce the Galaxy Z Fold 2 with a fuller display. At Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020, which is scheduled for 11 p.m., Samsung will introduce five products -- the Galaxy Note 20 phablet, Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable smartphone, Galaxy Tab S7 tablet, Galaxy Buds Live wireless noise-canceling earbuds and the Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch. Due to c

IndustryAug. 4, 2020

K bank ups ante with non-face-to-face mortgage service

In its first step since resuming operations, internet-only lender K bank unveiled a mobile mortgage loan service on Tuesday, allowing customers to borrow money without visiting brick-and-mortar banking branches. Utilizing data scraping technology to gather customers’ credit information online, the bank can easily calculate loan limits and interest rates for customers, officials said. It has also reduced the number of documents needed when taking mortgage loans -- the bank only requires

MarketAug. 4, 2020

Kospi notches record high for 2020 amid economic rebound hopes

South Korea’s main bourse Kospi on Tuesday hit the highest point over the last year, with retail investors continuing their buying spree for a fifth consecutive session after tracking an overnight Wall Street rally led by economic rebound hopes. The Kospi opened higher at 2,272.33 -- up 21.29 points, or 0.95 percent, from the previous session. The strong start continued throughout the day to close at 2,279.97, its highest of the year, surpassing 2,267.25 on Jan. 22. The index hit an intr

MarketAug. 4, 2020

S. Koreans’ demand for personal credit loans surge 2.3% in July

Korean lenders’ personal credit loans extended to borrowers gained 2.3 percent on-month in July, following the largest-ever increase in June, data showed Tuesday, fueling concerns on the nation’s heated housing market and the dire job market amid the coronavirus pandemic. Outstanding personal loans extended to individual borrowers by five major lenders here rose a combined 2.28 percent, or 2.7 trillion won ($2.26 billion), from the previous month to 120.2 trillion won last month, in

EconomyAug. 4, 2020

S. Korea to add 132,000 more houses in Seoul-Gyeonggi to solve supply-demand gap

South Korea will add 132,000 residential units in Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan area, in continued efforts to improve the demand-supply imbalance and to curb housing prices, according to the nation’s fiscal chief on Tuesday. It also promised to ease some of the disputed construction regulations, allowing timeworn apartments to be redeveloped into skyscrapers under certain conditions, but refused to remove the development ban on most greenbelt areas, citing preservation needs. &

MarketAug. 4, 2020

Seoul stocks almost hit 2-year high on economic rebound hopes

South Korean shares rallied Tuesday, nearly hitting a two-year high, as signs of economic recovery improved investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 28.93 points, or 1.29 percent, to close at 2,279.97, after briefly touching the year's high of 2,284.66 points. The closing marks the highest since 2,309.57 points on Oct. 2, 2018.  Trading volume was moderate at about 713 million shares worth some 9

MarketAug. 4, 2020

KT CEO urges transformation into platform company

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo has told executives and employees in a company-wide email that the mobile carrier needs to move beyond network service provision to become a platform operator. The KT CEO’s announcement followed several recent changes at the corporation. KT Skylife last month was selected as the preferred bidder to acquire cable TV operator Hyundai HCN. KT also inked a partnership with Netflix to improve the quality of its pay TV platform. “KT has started to undertake practica

TechnologyAug. 4, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Race for core assets overseas still competitive amid pandemic’

The pandemic may have shifted Korean real estate investors away from risk toward more conservative assets overseas in hopes of finding bargains, but they are likely to face strong competition from local investors also looking for a flight to safety, experts here said. “During 2020, many investors, including Korean investors, have been anticipating a discount for core assets as a result of the coronavirus, but this discount has not materialized,” Sean Choi, head of the capital market

MarketAug. 4, 2020

Kakao Games pushes for September IPO

Kakao Games, the games unit of Korea’s mobile giant Kakao, has submitted a registration statement to the Financial Services Commission, with an intention of listing on the nation’s tech-heavy Kosdaq market in September. By issuing 16 million new common shares, at a price between 20,000 won and 24,000 won ($16.70-$20.10) each, the game developer looks to raise as much as 384 billion won, Kakao Games said Monday via DART-- the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosu

MarketAug. 4, 2020

Korean shipbuilders win consecutive orders despite pandemic

South Korean shipbuilders have won orders one after another in recent months after suffering from a dismal performance in the first half of this year. Expectations are growing that they will continue to win more liquefied natural gas carrier orders in the latter half despite the pandemic. Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the shipbuilding holding unit of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, said Tuesday it had won orders worth more than 1 trillion won ($837 million) in a week. KSOE

MobilityAug. 4, 2020

Vietnam-EU FTA to benefit S. Korean fashion firms: KITA

South Korean fashion firms based in Vietnam are expected to benefit from the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Southeast Asian country and the European Union, which went into effect this month, a report showed Tuesday. "Under the agreement, clothes producers based in Vietnam can enjoy the benefit of the latest FTA for goods made with South Korean materials," the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) said in its report. Clothes produced with Chinese materials, on the oth

EconomyAug. 4, 2020

[Monitor] Lotte’s Shin Dong-bin tightens grip on conglomerate

Last week’s disclosure by family members of the late Lotte Group Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho with regard to changes in their stakes in the group after inheriting assets from Shin showed that his second son, current Chairman Shin Dong-bin, has further expanded his control over the group. Friday was the deadline for members of the Lotte owner family to report their inheritance taxes, which are estimated to total at least 450 billion won ($376.94 million). The founder died in January and his two

IndustryAug. 4, 2020

Seoul stocks open sharply higher on overnight Wall Street rally

South Korean shares opened sharply higher Tuesday, tracking an overnight Wall Street rally led by economic rebound hopes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.35 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,274.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Estimate-beating July manufacturing data in the United States, China and Europe raised hopes for a global economic rebound, despite the global rise in new coronavirus infections. The NASDAQ Composite advanced 1.47 percent to a fresh

MarketAug. 4, 2020

S. Korea's inflation rises 0.3% in July

SEJONG -- South Korea's annual inflation rose 0.3 percent in July, marking the first upturn in three months, as signs of a recovery in consumer sentiment have appeared amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The July tally compares with zero growth in June, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. The nation's inflation was unchanged on-month, the data showed. Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and petroleum products, rose 0.7 percent from a year earlier. Ut

EconomyAug. 4, 2020

[From the Scene] Inside the world’s biggest biologics plant

This article was written after a one-on-one tour of Samsung Biologics’ plants. -- Ed. If this era insists that there be “photos or it didn’t happen,” then this trip to Samsung Biologics’ plants may as well have not taken place. All Samsung plants are under strict security protocols, meaning phones only pass the security gate once tape is placed over both the front and rear cameras. There is also no Wi-Fi for visitors. So, since no selfies and no candid videos c

IndustryAug. 3, 2020

‘Most young COVID-19 patients in Korea recovered without oxygen therapy’

Most COVID-19 patients under 50 have recovered without oxygen therapy, according to a study conducted by the National Medical Center’s clinical committee for emerging infectious diseases, supporting findings of previous studies that showed age is associated with worse outcomes. The study, which assessed the clinical outcomes of 3,060 patients who received care at 55 hospitals during the first wave of the epidemic here between Jan. 20 and May 31, found none of the 1,324 patients under 50

TechnologyAug. 3, 2020

Concerns of liquidity trap rise as cash deposits grow

Despite the nation’s monetary and fiscal policymakers’ measures to funnel liquidity into the market to offset risks from the coronavirus, cash flows into unexpected areas, such as bank deposits, have been fueling concerns of a liquidity trap, officials and experts recently noted. South Korea’s M2 money supply came to 3.065 quadrillion won ($2.56 trillion) in May, up 10.6 percent on-year, data from the Bank of Korea released in July showed. The figure marked the largest amou

EconomyAug. 3, 2020

[News Focus] Questions persist on effectiveness of ‘tenant protection’ laws

Debates are heating up in the housing market and among political parties over the merits of the recently introduced tenant protections laws. While the ruling party saw the new rules as a vital step in stabilizing the bubble-prone market, opposition parties blamed the demanding new rules for further cutting back on the supply of housing. “The new tenant protection laws were effectuated in an unprecedented speed in order to minimize market confusion,” said Lee Hae-chan, chairman

MarketAug. 3, 2020