BMW Korea introduces electronic contract system

BMW Korea said Friday it will introduce an electronic contract system, called the Digital Sales Platform, becoming the first foreign carmaker to do so here. According to the BMW Korea, the new system, which would entirely replace the traditional face-to-face contract services, will be implemented in all of its seven dealerships and 52 showrooms across the country, starting July 1. The Digital Sales Platform will replace all paperwork necessary in purchasing a car, including registering for a

MobilityJune 19, 2020

KT partners with Wonderful Platform on AI senior care services

South Korea’s second-largest telecom firm KT said Friday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with an artificial intelligence solutions company Wonderful Platform to develop AI care services for seniors and children. The two companies have agreed to cooperate in developing and commercializing artificial intelligence-powered care robots and services by equipping the robots with KT’s GiGA Genie Inside -- the software of its AI speaker GiGa Genie. Wonderful Platform is an AI

IndustryJune 19, 2020

Duty-free stores offer huge discounts on luxury goods

Duty-free stores are planning to offer huge discounts, including on luxury items, next week to clear out their inventory, following lackluster sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shilla Duty Free said Friday it will start selling duty-free products next week on its platform Shilla Trip, which was launched last year. While duty-free products are usually banned from domestic sales, Korea Customs Service has temporarily allowed sales of the goods that have been in stock for more than six months

ConsumerJune 19, 2020

Seoul stocks close higher amid slight decline in virus tally

South Korean stocks pared earlier losses to close a tad higher Friday, with investors weighing cautious optimism over the new coronavirus tally that is still high yet on a decline. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.84 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 2,141.32. Trading volume was high at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.1 trillion won ($10 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 432 to 423. The index started o

MarketJune 19, 2020

Medical AI company Vuno taps Japan through M3

Medical artificial intelligence solution provider Vuno said Friday it plans to tap the Japanese market through Sony’s subsidiary M3. M3 is 33.9 percent owned by Sony and is Japan’s biggest medical data platform company with 280,000 medical professionals enrolled as members. It has accumulated knowledge in the conservative Japanese medical field, and provides a wide range of services including clinical test designing, marketing support for pharmaceutical firms and remote medicine.

IndustryJune 19, 2020

S. Korea’s overseas direct investment falls 15% in Q1

South Korea’s overseas direct investment fell 15.3 percent on-year in the first three months of the year, weighed on by the coronavirus pandemic, with investments to China and Hong Kong having fallen the most, data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance showed Friday. Local companies invested a combined $12.6 billion in the cited period, compared with $14.9 billion reported for the same quarter last year. This year’s first quarter also marked the first time the figure turned int

EconomyJune 19, 2020

Galaxy S20+ BTS Edition preorders close in 1 hour

“I purple you,” Samsung Galaxy S20+ BTS Edition, is selling like hot cakes. Preorders for Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S20+ 5G phone and wireless earphones Buds+ BTS Editions, garbed in the K-pop group’s iconic purple and accentuated with tiny purple hearts and BTS logo, closed in an hour since opening in South Korea, Friday. The set is priced at 1.6 million won ($1,320), not a far-off figure from the combined price of a regular S20+ and Buds+, which cost about 1.5 milli

IndustryJune 19, 2020

S. Korea sets aside W5tr for subcontractors in key industries

South Korea will provide 5 trillion won ($4.12 billion) to subcontractors in key industrial sectors, in an extended move to shore up the economy amid the fallout of COVID-19, the nation’s top fiscal policymaker said Friday. “Starting July, (the government) will supply operating fund loans to subcontractors in basic industries,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in an economy-related ministerial meeting held at Seoul Government Complex. Responding t

EconomyJune 19, 2020

Samsung heir checks out semiconductor business

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the company’s semiconductor headquarters in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to check on its operations, the tech giant said Friday. The heir apparent discussed Samsung’s road map for next-generation semiconductor development, including memory and system-on-chips, strategies for manufacturing facilities and materials and long-term measures to respond to the COVID-19 impact. Lee also visited the chipmaker’s research and de

TechnologyJune 19, 2020

Psomagen, Cell Biotech sign MOU for microbiome biz

US-based Psomagen and Korean probiotics company Cell Biotech said Friday they will jointly strive for big data-based microbiome research and commercialization. According to the memorandum of understanding, Psomagen and Cell Biotech will research microbial organisms that will show clinical efficacy in health care, as well as develop new probiotics products. Using Psomagen’s big data analysis technology, they will identify potential novel drug materials and develop probiotics products sp

IndustryJune 19, 2020

SsangYong partners with China firm for exports

SsangYong Motor Co. said Friday it has signed an initial agreement with Chinese carmaker Songuo Motors Co. to export its Tivoli sport utility vehicle. Under the basic agreement, SsangYong Motor will deliver the Tivoli SUV in the form of knockdown units to Songuo Motors' plants in China to be assembled into complete vehicles for exports to the Middle East and Africa from late this year, the company said in a statement. Songuo Motors plans to develop its own vehicle based on the Tivoli platfo

MobilityJune 19, 2020

Huawei inks partnership to support S. Korea's AI companies

The Korean unit of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co. on Friday signed a partnership deal to support South Korea's artificial intelligence (AI) businesses as it tries to expand its presence here. Under the deal with the Korean Artificial Intelligence Association, which represents some 300 startups in the AI sector, Huawei Korea will support local companies exploring overseas business opportunities. It will also co-organize events and education programs with the association. Huawei Ko

IndustryJune 19, 2020

Samsung inks 5G deal with Canada’s Telus

Samsung Electronics said Friday it has been selected as the 5G network infrastructure supplier for Canada-based telecom firm Telus, laying the groundwork for its presence as one of the primary vendors in the country. Telus, founded in 1990, has 13.4 million mobile subscribers with annual revenue of C$14.4 billion ($10.4 billion). Canada plans to invest C$40 billion to deploy 5G networks across the country in addition to C$200 billion investments made in establishing wireless networks, freq

TechnologyJune 19, 2020

S. Korea's current account surplus with US, China narrows in 2019

South Korea's current account surplus with the United States and China sharply narrowed in 2019 from a year earlier amid a prolonged trade dispute between the world's largest economies that undermined its exports, as well as its current account balance, central bank data showed Friday. South Korea posted a current account surplus of $22.05 billion with the United States in 2019, compared with a $24.67 billion surplus posted in 2018, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Its curr

EconomyJune 19, 2020

Chiefs of Hyundai Motor, LG to meet over EV battery biz

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun is scheduled to meet LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo next week to discuss electric vehicle battery business, industry sources said Friday.  This comes less than a month after the heir apparent of South Korea’s largest automaker met Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to discuss next-generation EV batteries in Cheonan on May 13. They reportedly exchanged opinions on the current situation and the directions for develop

MobilityJune 19, 2020

Lotte, Shilla to begin domestic sales of duty-free products next week

South Korea's two leading duty-free operators will begin to sell duty-free products through local retail channels next week as the government has decided to temporarily permit such sales to help the pandemic-hit sector, company officials said Friday. Industry leader Lotte Duty Free and its rival, Shilla Duty Free, plan to release duty-free items at its local retail channels and via an online sales platform, respectively, next week. The customs office decided in late April to permit domestic s

ConsumerJune 19, 2020

[Graphic News] Number of animals used for experiments triples in decade

　The number of animals used for experiments in South Korea nearly tripled in 2019 from 10 years earlier, data showed, with private firms carrying out most of the related research. 　South Korea used 3.71 million animals for research purposes last year, up sharply from just 1.32 million in 2010, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The figure, however, remained nearly flat from 3.72 million in 2018. 　Rodents accounted for the majority at 87 percent in 2019, follo

TechnologyJune 19, 2020

Seoul stocks open lower amid virus fears, NK risks

South Korean shares opened lower Friday amid concerns over a recent rise in new coronavirus infection cases here and abroad, with lingering inter-Korean tensions further spooking investors. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.06 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,125.42 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index's loss was largely attributed to the growing investor concerns over the high infection toll in major economies and at home, which countered economic recovery

MarketJune 19, 2020

Finance minister renews calls for parliamentary approval of 3rd extra budget

SEJONG -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Friday renewed calls for the National Assembly to approve the third extra budget to help revive the virus-hit economy, saying the government will spare no efforts to achieve positive growth this year. Earlier this month, South Korea proposed its third extra budget of 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion) meant to help key industries cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and protect jobs. "I earnestly ask the National Assembly to appr

EconomyJune 19, 2020

Seoul requests WTO to open panel on trade row with Tokyo

South Korea has requested the World Trade Organization to open a dispute-settlement panel to deal with Japan's export curbs against its Asian neighbor, which have been in effect since July, the trade ministry here said Thursday. The move came around two weeks after Seoul, disappointed by lack of progress in the feud, said it would reopen its complaint against Tokyo's export restrictions at the WTO Last year, Seoul had dropped its WTO complaint against Tokyo's export restrictions in a goodwill

IndustryJune 18, 2020