Seoul stocks snap four-day winning streak amid COVID-19 uncertainties

South Korean shares closed lower Friday, snapping a four-day winning streak, as economic uncertainties loom large amid the new coronavirus pandemic. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 17.64 points, or 0.78 percent, to close at 2,249.37. Trading volume was high at about 679 million shares worth some 12.7 trillion won ($10.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 572 to 276. Foreigners sold a net 86 billion won, ending a f

MarketJuly 31, 2020

Daewoo E&C launches ‘arcloud’ commercial complex brand

Daewoo Engineering and Construction said Friday it is launching a new commercial facility brand “arcloud,” and open its first shopping center in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, under that name. The construction company said the brand name combines the words ‘arc” and “cloud,” carrying the meaning of connecting people and cultural content. The first arcloud complex, which is a two-story building with one basement floor, will be opened in Gam-il district in Hanam,

IndustryJuly 31, 2020

BMW Motorrad opens preorders for new R 18 cruiser in South Korea

BMW Motorrad said Friday it is opening the preorders for new R 18 cruiser in South Korea, before the official launch in September. According to the company, the new R 18 model, which has been inspired by the R 5 model that was released in 1936, is a cruiser bike equipped with the strongest boxer engine the company has ever made. The 1,802 cc two-cylinder boxer engine delivers a maximum torque of 158 newton-meters at 3,000 rpm. At 4,750 rpm, the Big Boxer delivers 91 horsepower, the company s

MobilityJuly 31, 2020

LG Chem anticipates smooth resolution with SK Innovation

LG Chem is talking with SK Innovation to reach a settlement regarding a trade secret violation suit against the latter, and anticipates a resolution before October, the firm said Friday. “We can settle the case through negotiations before the final decision in October, should the settlement be on a reasonable level based on objective facts,” said LG Chem during a quarterly conference call with investors. The US International Trade Commission has made a default judgement in favor of

IndustryJuly 31, 2020

LG Chem’s EV batteries drive best-ever performance in Q2

LG Chem posted a second quarter revenue of 6.9 trillion won ($5.8 billion) and an operating profit of 571.6 billion won on Friday, marking an earnings surprise on the back of its electric vehicle batteries. The revenue is a 2.3 percent on-year increase and the operating profit a 131.5 percent jump, the best performance LG Chem has shown in any quarter. LG Chem credited improved productivity at its Poland plant -- arising from an increased number of quality products among all manufactured goo

IndustryJuly 31, 2020

[Monitor] Relocation of Koreans in June highest in 5 years

The number of people who relocated to other areas within the country in June was the highest in five years, data from Statistics Korea showed. This was due to a rise in home purchases and rents, it said. According to the data that collected reports of new addresses, a total of 607,000 resettled, up 25.3 percent from a year ago. The Korea Appraisal Board said that the number of house transactions reached 138,578 in June, up 152.5 percent from a year ago, and the highest in 14 years. (khnews@h

IndustryJuly 31, 2020

[Graphic News] Financial app users outpace e-commerce, game apps: data

　The number of people using financial mobile apps, including for banking and stock trading, has surpassed users of apps for online shopping and games, industry data showed. 　According to data from mobile big data platform IGAWorks, a total of 31.16 million people with Android devices used financial applications in June, compared to 23.63 million people using e-commerce apps and 19.84 million mobile game users here. 　A total of 37.5 million Android device owners used portal apps including N

BusinessJuly 31, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad lower on economic slump woes

South Korean shares opened slightly lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street sparked by concerns over an economic slump in the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.03 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,262.98 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The US economy shrank by 32.9 percent in the second quarter this year, marking the worst contraction in 73 years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.85 percent to close at 26,313.65 on Thursday (

MarketJuly 31, 2020

S. Korea's industrial output rebounds in June

SEJONG -- South Korea's industrial output rebounded in June, possibly indicating that the nation's economy hit bottom amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Friday. The nation's overall industrial production gained 4.2 percent on-month in June, following a 1.2 percent on-month decline in May, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea. Compared with a year earlier, overall industrial production also rose 0.7 percent in June. Retail sales rose 2.4 percent from a month earlier as the n

EconomyJuly 31, 2020

Govt. to create New Deal fund to funnel investments into future tech

South Korea's government is moving to create a special fund to support the New Deal initiative and help funnel investment into cutting-edge 5G technology, autonomous cars and eco-friendly sectors, the country's top economic policymaker said Thursday. In a message posted on his Facebook account, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said there is a need to divert large amounts of liquidity in the market from going into real estate and gold buying to more productive activities. The senior official said

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

D.Camp opens largest startup boot camp in S.Korea

D.Camp, a Korean startup accelerator backed by local lenders, on Thursday launched Front 1, a startup incubator that will run a range of support programs for fledgling startups in Seoul. Located in Mapo, the newly launched startup center is the largest in size as an incubator, and is set to house some 100 startups, it said. The startup center is expected to form a startup cluster together with other incubation organizations located in the district, including Seoul Startup Hub and IBK Changg

MarketJuly 30, 2020

LG Electronics beats Whirlpool in Q2 earnings

If the semiconductor business perks up Samsung Electronics’ bottom line, it’s home appliance that does it for crosstown rival LG Electronics. LG Electronics posted an overall slide in its second-quarter earnings, but still came out resilient, posting earnings bigger than US’ Whirlpool. The company reported a 17.9 percent fall in revenue and 24.1 percent drop in operating profit, at 12.8 trillion won ($10.7 billion) and 495.4 billion won, respectively. However, in the consume

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

Mirae Asset Daewoo to buy back stocks worth W113.4b

South Korean brokerage firm Mirae Asset Daewoo said Thursday it plans to repurchase 15 million treasury stocks worth 113.4 billion won ($94.84 million) in an effort to boost shareholder value and stabilize its shares. “Despite the well-balanced profit model and financial stability, the firm’s stock prices are undervalued,” said Jun Kyong-nam, head of business innovation division at Mirae Asset Daewoo. “With the company’s ample liquidity, we’ve made such a

MarketJuly 30, 2020

Kospi briefly touches record high for 2020 on foreign buying spree

South Korea’s main bourse Kospi reached a level not seen in some six months on Thursday, with foreign investors continuing their buying spree for a fifth consecutive session amid the US Federal Reserve’s steady rates and high interest in major tech firms and automakers. The Kospi opened higher at 2,275.33 -- up 12.17 points, or 0.54 percent, from the previous session. The strong start continued throughout the day to close at 2,267.01, just short of its yearly high closing of 2,267.

MarketJuly 30, 2020

Korean Air to supply ‘hybrid drones’ to military

Korean Air has signed a supply deal for hybrid drones for the military, with plans to send the first batch of six units sometime in late October, the company said Thursday. As part of the deal, which is designed for the military to adopt the products of creative and new technologies developed in the private sector, the airline’s drones will be deployed to guard Korea’s coasts. The drones, whose development began in 2016, are equipped with hybrid engines powered by an internal combu

MobilityJuly 30, 2020

Tit-for-tat escalates on Asiana-HDC deal

Tension surged in the aviation industry Thursday, with HDC Hyundai Development Co. and Asiana Airlines trading barbs over who is to blame for the lagging acquisition process. HDC on Thursday repeated its call for Asiana to agree to a new round of due diligence in August to finalize its acquisition process. In a statement, the building company said that its call for another round of due diligence last week is being ignored, and claimed that Kumho Industrial and the airline appear poised to term

MobilityJuly 30, 2020

Booyoung supplies housing in Cambodia

Booyoung Group said Thursday that it was entering the housing market in Cambodia for the first time and developing Borey Booyoung Sensok in Phnom Penh, the nation’s capital. According to the group, its local headquarters there, Booyoung Khmer Co., is developing the residential area in the capital’s Sensok district for 716 households. The company said it opened its sales office Wednesday and that construction is expected to finish in December 2021. Borey Booyoung Sensok will hav

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

Retails sales up 3.7% in H1, towed by e-commerce

Retail sales edged up 3.7 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, with the growth towed by e-commerce companies, government data revealed Thursday. According to the Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy, total sales in the retail industry recorded 66.79 trillion won ($55.9 billion) on-year, up 3.7 percent. The growth rate appears to have slowed compared to previous years, as sales increased by 7.5 percent in 2018 and 5.6 percent in 2019. For the report,

ConsumerJuly 30, 2020

[Photo News] S. Korea, Cambodia begin official FTA talks

IndustryJuly 30, 2020

S. Korea to inject W40tr into ‘innovative’ champion firms

South Korea on Thursday unveiled a financial package to inject some 40 trillion won ($33.48 billion) into 1,000 selected innovative businesses over the next three years. The plan seeks to promote synergies between the financial sector and actual industries, and to ultimately shore up the so-called “Korean New Deal” -- the country’s midterm economic stimulus program worth 160 trillion won. “(The government) will designate 1,000 innovative business pioneers from various

EconomyJuly 30, 2020