Seoul opens world's 1st hydrogen mobility show

South Korea on Wednesday opened the world's first hydrogen mobility show as it pushes to become a leader in hydrogen vehicles and other related industries. More than 100 companies and research institutions of 11 countries participated in the H2 Mobility+Energy Show at an exhibition center in Ilsan, just north of Seoul, to discuss ways to spread hydrogen energy and seek hydrogen-related business opportunities, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, which hosted the hydroge

MobilityJuly 1, 2020

Hyundai Motor invests the most in promising startups: report

South Korea’s 500 largest companies by assets have expanded their investments in startups with high technologies since 2015, latest data showed Wednesday. Local corporate tracker CEOScore said their investments in startups increased more than 10-fold from 118.2 billion won ($98 million) in 2015 to 1.2 trillion won last year, with the total amount reaching 2.7 trillion won over the past five years. By sector, large investments were made in shared mobility, green cars, artificial intellig

IndustryJuly 1, 2020

Authorities to expand local companies’ access to financial database

South Korea’s financial authorities said Wednesday they will ramp up their efforts to open up financial big data to local markets in an effort to nurture the industry here. Starting August, the Korea Credit Information Services, a pan-industry body tasked with data preservation and protection, will offer various information collected from nearly 50 million anonymous insurance consumers to both financial and nonfinancial companies via its online-based Financial Bigdata Open System, dubbed

EconomyJuly 1, 2020

S. Korea aims to foster 1,000 hydrogen-related firms by 2040

SEJONG, July 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Wednesday it will foster 1,000 businesses in the hydrogen industry over the next 20 years in its latest push to nurture a hydrogen-based ecosystem and related economy. Under the goal, the country will help create at least 500 new firms in various hydrogen-related segments, including cars, battery cells and production by 2030, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The country will also raise funds worth 34 billion won ($28.3 millio

IndustryJuly 1, 2020

Seoul still open for talks over trade row with Tokyo

SEJONG -- South Korea said Wednesday it is still open to talks with Japan to settle the yearlong trade spat with the Asian neighbor but hinted that it has no intention to drop its complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO). "We are always open to talks and communications with Japan. But we have not yet received any requests from Tokyo," Na Seung-sik, deputy minister for trade and investment at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said during a meeting with reporters. &qu

EconomyJuly 1, 2020

[Graphic News] Exports of ramyeon, kimchi jump amid pandemic

　Exports of the Korean staple kimchi and the instant noodle ramyeon posted double-digit growth in the February-May period from a year earlier on increased online purchases amid the new coronavirus outbreak, data showed. 　In the January-May period, exports of ramyeon and kimchi jumped 36 percent and 37 percent on-year, respectively, to $249 million and $162 million, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation. 　Outbound shipments of ramyeon jumped 40 percent to $55 mi

BusinessJuly 1, 2020

S. Korean insurers' financial health worsens in Q1

South Korean insurance companies saw their financial health worsen slightly in the first quarter as share price falls eroded capital, data showed Wednesday. The risk-based capital (RBC) ratio of insurance firms stood at 267.2 percent at the end of March, down 2.4 percentage points from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). A key yardstick of financial stability, the RBC ratio -- the actual solvency capital divided by the minimum solvency cap

EconomyJuly 1, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street

South Korean shares opened higher Wednesday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 18.21 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,126.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The strong start came after major US stock indices closed higher on growing hopes of an economic recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.85 percent to end at 25,812.88 on Tuesday (New York time), with the tech-laden NASDAQ soaring 1.87 percent. In

MarketJuly 1, 2020

S. Korea begins using remdesivir to treat COVID-19

Korean health authorities said Wednesday that stocks of remdesivir, an experimental antiviral once seen as a potential Ebola therapy, will be supplied to local hospitals for treating COVID-19. In a press release, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the use of remdesivir will be limited to seriously ill patients in need of oxygen therapy. More specifically, patients with chest scans showing signs of pneumonia and oxygen saturation of 94 percent or lower are eligible for th

TechnologyJuly 1, 2020

Samsung introduces new solid state drive with 8TB capacity

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday introduced its new solid state drive (SSD) product with an industry-leading capacity of up to 8 terabytes (TB). The world's largest memory chip producer said its second generation quad-level cell flash drive, the 870 QVO SATA SSD, will go on sale in 40 countries, starting in South Korea and the United States. SSD is a storage device for computing products that leverages NAND flash chips to provide non-volatile and rewritable memory, replacing hard disk d

TechnologyJuly 1, 2020

S. Korea's exports decline for 4 straight months amid pandemic, but pace slows as economies reopen

South Korea's exports fell 10.9 percent in June marking the fourth consecutive month of decline amid the fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday, although the pace slowed as major economies around the globe slowly began to resume business activities. Outbound shipments came to $39.2 billion last month, compared with $44 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The June tally marked the fourth straight

EconomyJuly 1, 2020

Monthly increase in 5G subscribers reaches record high in May: data

The number of new 5G subscribers rose by a record high in May for this year, with total network users reaching just under 6.9 million, official data showed Tuesday. The latest findings showed 5G subscribers increasing by 536,997 in May compared to the month before, exceeding the previous monthly record of 520,478 reported in March, the Ministry of Science and ICT said. The overall number of 5G users stood at over 6.87 million, just 14 months after the country adopted the ultrahigh speed telec

TechnologyJune 30, 2020

Huons first Korean firm to export KF94 masks to Washington

Huons Global said Tuesday that it will be the first South Korean firm to supply high-filtration masks to the state of Washington in the US. “This deal shows that Huons’ epidemic prevention products have gained trust. We are also exchanging messages with the state of New York, where we anticipate to sign more deals,” said Um Key-an, CEO of Huons. Huons had signed deals to export various epidemic prevention tools to the US since May. The six deals amount to roughly 8 billi

IndustryJune 30, 2020

Merck starts next-gen semiconductor materials center in Korea

Global science and technology company Merck has opened the Korea Advanced Technology Center in Songtan Industrial Complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, the company said Tuesday. “K-ATeC,” according to Merck, is a state-of-the-art facility that supports research and development for chemical mechanical polishing slurries as well as for the post-CMP cleaning of cutting-edge semiconductor devices.  “Korea is an important innovation and production hub for Merck. We ha

IndustryJune 30, 2020

Domestic contracts rescue Korean defense firms from pandemic

Despite an export crunch, South Korean defense firms are powering through the coronavirus outbreak with the help of domestic contracts. According to Korea Aerospace Industries Tuesday, South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer signed a 688 billion-won ($570 million) deal with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to supply 20 TA-50 aircraft to Korean Air Force by 2024. The TA-50 is a lead-in fighter trainer that was developed by adding a weapons system and a radar to KAI&rsquo

IndustryJune 30, 2020

Secured bonds safe haven during pandemic: Barings

Amid the lingering business uncertainties from continued COVID-19 crisis, bond investors would be able to avert risks of companies’ default in case they have invested in secured high-yield bonds, a top Barings Asset Management official said on Tuesday. “(Secured bonds) are on top of the capital structure and tend to recover better,” said David Mihalick, head of US public fixed income at Barings, in a teleconference. “Secured bonds are attractive because of the extent th

MarketJune 30, 2020

NPS to invest W800b through private equity firms

South Korea’s National Pension Service said Tuesday it has selected five private equity firms as external partners to invest a combined 800 billion won ($665.28 million) in private equities. According to the world’s third-largest public pension fund, it will commit 160 billion won each to Glenwood Private Equity, Macquarie Asset Management Korea, SkyLake Investment, IMM Investment and JKL Partners. The firms will be responsible for managing funds with a 10-year maturity. Investmen

MarketJune 30, 2020

KT introduces smart factory robotic solution

KT announced Tuesday that it has introduced automated robotic solutions at a local auto parts manufacturer’s factory. The South Korean telecom firm’s smart factory robot Cobot has been installed at a facility of Parkwon -- a manufacturer of steel balls for steering and power transmission systems -- in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province. The system can help in handling loading, packaging and other repetitive work procedures that are physically taxing, often causing injuries, acc

TechnologyJune 30, 2020

Seoul stocks close higher on economic rebound hopes

South Korean shares closed higher Tuesday on hopes of an economic recovery that offset renewed concerns over political tensions between the world's two largest economies. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.85 points, or 0.71 percent, to close at 2,108.33. Trading volume was moderate at about 700 million shares worth some 11.6 trillion won ($9.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 594 to 252. Foreigners sold a net 7

MarketJune 30, 2020

S. Korea’s coincident index plummets to lowest in 21 years

South Korea’s coincident index -- that summarizes current economic conditions -- plunged to the lowest level in 21 years in May amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data from Statistics Korea showed Tuesday. The nation’s industrial output slipped 1.2 percent on-month as well, remaining in the negative terrain since January, when the outbreak of the virus here broke its gain throughout the fourth-quarter of last year. Investment in infrastructure dropped 5.9 percent in the same period. Th

EconomyJune 30, 2020