[News Focus] LG Chem is ready to defeat CATL

The rivalry between neighboring South Korea and China has existed in multiple industries and in different dimensions. The long-festering rivalry is also intense between the leading battery makers of each country -- Korea’s LG Chem and China’s CATL -- in the war of electric vehicle batteries. Despite the many wars it has lost to China, this time, it may be Korea that is winning the battery war. LG Chem on Friday posted a record quarterly revenue and operating profit of 2.8 tril

TechnologyAug. 2, 2020

Amid bio rally, unlocked SK Biopharma shares in spotlight

Shares of SK Biopharmaceuticals held by institutional investors will be up for sale Monday after a lockup period, drawing attention to its impact on bio equities that are zooming. According to South Korea’s sole stock securities operator Korea Exchange on Sunday, the lockup banning investors from trading shares after the initial public offering of the company will be lifted. Some 13.2 million shares were allotted to institutional investors right after the drug company was listed on

MarketAug. 2, 2020

S. Korea ranks 2nd in GDP growth rate after China: OECD

South Korea’s economy declined 3.3 percent on-year during the second quarter, but it ranks second in terms of gross domestic product growth rate among major economies, data showed Sunday.  According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the nation’s second-quarter GDP growth rate was the second-highest among 14 major economies. China clinched the first place as its economy grew 11.5 percent during the same period.  The OECD -- a forum of 37 mostly

EconomyAug. 2, 2020

S. Koreans' nonessential spending plummets amid coronavirus

South Korean consumers purchased far fewer nonessential items in the first quarter than normal due to economic uncertainty sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Sunday. The combined essential spending came to 84.81 trillion won ($71 billion) in the January-March period, accounting for 40.56 percent of total household expenditures, according to the data released by the Bank of Korea. It is the first time that the proportion of essential spending in total household expenditures surpa

EconomyAug. 2, 2020

Doosan sells golf club for 1st bailout payback

Financially stressed Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction said Sunday it has closed a deal to sell its golf course for 185 billion won ($155.33 million), enabling it to make debt repayment for the first time since a bailout package earlier this year. Part of the sales proceeds -- roughly 120 billion won -- went to creditors, which have so far injected 3.6 trillion won in the cash-strapped Doosan Group. A consortium composed of construction firm Moamiraedo and Hana Financial Group is th

MarketAug. 2, 2020

Bridge institution to assume liabilities of scandal-ridden Lime funds

South Korea is looking to launch a bridge institution to take over all the assets, as well as the liabilities, of the scandal-ridden hedge fund Lime Asset Management and ensure that its end-investors can retrieve their investments as planned. A group of 20 financial institutions -- involved in selling hedge funds of Lime -- named Kang Min-ho, former chief risk officer of Hanwha Investment & Securities for a two-year term -- as head of the new bridge institution with 5 billion won ($4.2 mill

MarketAug. 2, 2020

UAE begins operations at S. Korean-built nuclear reactor

TEHRAN/SEOUL -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has started operations at the first unit of the South Korean-built Barakah nuclear power plant, Dubai's ruler said Saturday, marking the first operation of a peaceful nuclear reactor in the Arab world. Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said in a Twitter post that nuclear fuel was successfully loaded into the first reactor of the nuclear power plant. In 2009, a South Korean-led consortium won a $20 billion contract to build four

IndustryAug. 2, 2020

S. Korea's growth rate second highest among 14 major countries

South Korea's economy contracted 3.3 percent in the second quarter from a quarter earlier, but it fared well compared with other major economies, data showed Sunday. South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was the second highest among the 14 countries that included the United States, China, Germany and France, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of 36 mostly rich and advanced nations. The OECD has released GDP growth rates for

EconomyAug. 2, 2020

Seoul stocks to be in tight range next week; data, stimulus packages in focus

South Korean stocks are expected to move in a tight range next week, as investors remain watchful over the US stimulus package under way, analysts said Saturday.    The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,249.37 points on Friday, up 2.22 percent from 2,200.44 points a week ago.    The index increased in the first four sessions of the week, due to massive foreign buying of market heavyweights and better-than-expected earnings by Samsung Electron

MarketAug. 1, 2020

Seoul seeks to phase out diesel cars from public sector by 2025

Seoul plans to phase out diesel cars from public sector and mass transit fleets by 2025 as part of efforts to accelerate its transition to green mobility.     The metropolitan government unveiled a "No Diesel" initiative this week aimed at eliminating the highly emitting automobiles from the roads and replacing them with electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.   Diesel cars, deemed as a key culprit of climate change and fine dust air pollution, account for 64.6 p

MobilityAug. 1, 2020

Export slump eases due to reopenings, chips on recovery track

South Korea's exports extended their slump to a fifth consecutive month in July amid the fallout of the new coronavirus, but the pace of decline slowed sharply due to reopenings, data showed Saturday. Outbound shipments came to $42.8 billion last month, down 7 percent from $46 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The latest figures were better than what the market had expected. According to a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the f

EconomyAug. 1, 2020

Samsung's foundry biz expected to further grow in H2: analysts

Samsung Electronics is projected to see further growth in its foundry business in the second half of the year, analysts here said Saturday, with growing expectations for receiving orders from Intel Corp.    In its second-quarter earnings announcement, the world's largest memory chipmaker said its foundry business achieved record quarterly and half-yearly revenues, though it did not reveal exact figures.    The South Korean tech titan added that the increase of its custom

TechnologyAug. 1, 2020

Lotte kin shoulder at least W450b in tax for late chairman's inherited assets

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and his siblings may have to pay at least 450 billion won ($378 million) in tax in South Korea for their late father's inherited assets, but their tax payment may swell when assets in Japan are counted. Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho died of a chronic illness at age 99 in January, survived by Dong-bin and three other adult children. Details about changes in their stakeholdings inherited from the late chairman were revealed Friday, the deadline for them to

ConsumerJuly 31, 2020

Korean Air flight flew to Japan with mechanical damage: BAI

Korean Air flew a damaged plane in 2018 without being aware of it until landing in Japan, and then falsely reported that the damage happened after the flight, an audit report said Friday. According to the report issued by the Board of Audit and Inspection, the South Korean flag carrier filed a false report to the Transport Ministry after discovering that its plane leaving from Incheon to Kansai, Japan, in April of 2018 had been damaged near the cover of the its engine inlet before take-off. T

MobilityJuly 31, 2020

Incheon Airport, golf course operator to meet Wednesday over lease dispute

Incheon International Airport Corp. said Friday that it is fully cooperating with the Korean Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s investigation into a lease dispute surrounding a golf course built on airport-owned land. A three-way meeting between the airport, the anti-corruption body and golf resort Sky72 is scheduled for Wednesday, an airport official said. IIAC and Sky72 have been at odds over the land leased by the airport to the golf resort operator since 2002, with the cont

MobilityJuly 31, 2020

S. Korea’s industrial output recovers in June

South Korea’s industrial output gained 4.2 percent on-month in June, showing signs of recovery from the contractions prompted by the coronavirus pandemic in recent months, data from Statistics Korea showed Friday. Along with industrial output -- which had rebounded from a 1.2 percent on-month drop in May and a consistent five-month slide -- retail sales and facility investment inched up 2.4 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, in the same period. This put the key indicators of the nati

EconomyJuly 31, 2020

Uniqlo to close 9 outlets in S. Korea amid trade dispute-caused boycott

Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo said Friday it will close nine of its stores in South Korea next month amid a sharp fall in sales stemming from the new coronavirus outbreak and a trade dispute between Seoul and Tokyo. The closure came as online shopping has gained traction amid the COVID-19 pandemic and as its sales were hit hard by strained relations between the two neighboring countries over the trade tussle that started in July last year. The number of Uniqlo's shops in South Korea stands

IndustryJuly 31, 2020

Global X lists telemedicine, digital health ETF on Nasdaq

The New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds Global X has listed its ETF -- which invests in global telemedicine and digital health companies -- on the Nasdaq, parent company Mirae Asset Global Investments said Friday. The product -- the Global X Telemedicine & Digital Health ETF -- tracks the Solactive Telemedicine & Digital Health Index, which included 40 firms as of July 21. US firms account for 82.48 percent of the total, while firms from countries such as Japan, China and

MarketJuly 31, 2020

NPS to raise overseas investment ratio to 50% by 2024

South Korea’s public pension fund National Pension Service said that it will expand its overseas investment proportion to over 50 percent during the next five years, seeking for higher returns amid market uncertainties caused by COVID-19. The NPS’ decision-making Investment Management Committee met Friday at The Plaza Seoul Hotel under the chairmanship of Health Minister Park Neung-hoo to discuss the organization’s mid-term overseas investment blueprint. “As a long-ter

EconomyJuly 31, 2020

S. Korea to deliver $5.15m in ODA via World Bank

South Korea will provide over $5 million through the World Bank to assist emerging economies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday. “We will deliver $5.15 million, which is around 6 billion won, to six emerging economies to help them deal with COVID-19 and (to pursue) digital and green (development) projects,” the ministry said in a release. “This latest approval for official development assistance will enhance international cooperatio

EconomyJuly 31, 2020