S. Korea’s global competitiveness ranking climbs 5 spots to 23rd

South Korea’s global competitiveness ranking climbed five spots this year, buoyed by improvement in government, business and infrastructure efficiencies amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to an annual global competitiveness report. The report by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development, which was released here by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy on Tuesday, showed that the nation ranked No. 23 out of 63 countries and saw the faste

EconomyJune 16, 2020

S. Korea to reinforce rules against real estate speculation

South Korea is about to unveil additional regulations to curb housing prices, mainly by deterring the rampant practice of speculative buying made possible by the country’s unique jeonse lease system, officials said Tuesday. The government will hold a ministerial meeting Wednesday under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, where the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is to report a new set of real estate policies. After the suggested pol

EconomyJune 16, 2020

Korea inspects quality of local 5G networks upon complaints

The South Korean government is carrying out a nationwide quality inspection of its 5G networks amid growing dissatisfaction among people using the service, which came out last year. According to an ICT Ministry announcement Tuesday, the government has started assessing 5G networks and service in the nation’s major cities -- Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Ulsan. The government has sampled around 100 locations in those cities, checking call quality and 5G network recept

TechnologyJune 16, 2020

[News Analysis] Why hydrogen when there’s already EV?

The South Korean government on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyundai Motor to deploy its hydrogen vehicles at Jaundae, a military base in Daejeon where a new hydrogen charging station will be built. According to the memorandum -- signed by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo and Hyundai Motor Group President Gong Young-woon -- the military will purchase five hydrogen vehicles, i

IndustryJune 16, 2020

[News Focus] Fanfare for SK Biopharm stock debut, but should you invest?

SK Biopharmaceuticals’ imminent initial public offering on South Korea’s main bourse Kospi has the stock market excited. But is it really the right time to buy? The global coronavirus pandemic has definitely given investors a moment to give a second look at previously-bypassed biologics stocks, and many who have never purchased any stocks are contemplating trying their chances.　　 But as SK Biopharmaceuticals’ CEO Cho Jeong-woo said at the online press event on Monday, just

IndustryJune 16, 2020

SK Innovation ranks 5th in EV battery sales in April

SK Innovation ranked 5th in the global electric vehicle battery market in April, according to industry data Tuesday. According to market tracker SNE Research, SK Innovation took up 3.5 percent of global EV battery market by supplying 189.1 megawatt-hours of batteries. Samsung SDI was next, accounting for 3.4 percent by deploying 187.2 megawatt-hours of batteries in April. Meanwhile, South Korea’s No. 1 EV battery maker LG Chem took the second spot, commanding 18.2 percent market share

IndustryJune 16, 2020

[Gadget Review] Samsung’s Clean Station brings small but groundbreaking liberation

  Many readers must have mistakenly dropped the dustbin of a vacuum cleaner at least once while cleaning it out. Worse still, all the dust, hair and unknown particles that are stuck together have to be dug out manually so they can be thrown in the trash. While technology advances among vacuum cleaners have been pronounced in recent years under the lead of manufacturers like Dyson, my try at using Samsung Electronics’ Clean Station for Jet vacuum was extremely satisfying. While, ad

TechnologyJune 16, 2020

Celltrion plans 2 types of COVID-19 test kits for overseas markets

Celltrion said Tuesday that it plans to release two types of COVID-19 test kits for approval this month for overseas markets from no later than July. Both tests require just 15 to 20 minutes’ analyzation time, Celltrion said. Celltrion has co-developed point-of-care tests with kit maker BBB. The tests use small machinery that analyzes blood and saliva. They are characterized for their 95 percent high sensitivity, as well as being slightly costly. Celltrion said it will have the point-

IndustryJune 16, 2020

Seoul stocks spike over 5% on Fed's asset purchase scheme

South Korean stocks spiked over 5 percent Tuesday on the Federal Reserve's plan to purchase corporate bonds, which fueled optimism over a quicker-than-expected recovery in the global economy. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 107.23 points, or 5.28 percent, to close at 2,138.05. Trading volume was high at about 947 million shares worth some 13.4 trillion won ($11.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 868 to

MarketJune 16, 2020

Hyundai Motor to supply hydrogen buses to defense ministry

Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday that it will supply 10 hydrogen buses to South Korea's defense ministry by next year. Under an initial agreement with the ministry, Hyundai Motor also said it will build a hydrogen charging station at a military training facility in the central city of Daejeon. The move comes as South Korea is pushing to use hydrogen as the main source of energy for cars instead of fossil fuel. Carmakers have been racing to go eco-friendly amid tightened regulations on emission

MobilityJune 16, 2020

KT to buy stake in Hyundai Heavy's robotics unit

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecommunications firm, on Tuesday said it will acquire a 10 percent stake in a robotics unit of shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Group to enhance its competitiveness in smart factory and robot solutions. KT said it will acquire the stake in Hyundai Robotics Co., the largest industrial robot manufacturer here, for 50 billion won ($41.4 million). Hyundai Robotics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co., the holding comp

IndustryJune 16, 2020

Top investment banks upgrade Korea’s growth forecasts

　 Major foreign investment banks and institutions have revised their economic growth outlook for South Korea, data showed Tuesday.  According to the Korea Center for International Finance, nine foreign investment banks -- Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, HSBC, Nomura and UBS -- forecast that the local economy will contract by 0.4 percent this year on average, slightly improved from the minus 0.9 percent growth estimated in late Apr

EconomyJune 16, 2020

Hyundai Card, Starbucks launch private label credit card

Hyundai Card said Tuesday it has forged a partnership with Starbucks Korea to launch a private label credit card in the second half of this year. The local credit card issuer will be in charge of marketing and operations. PLCC refers to a store-branded credit card -- applicable for either retail or wholesale manufacturers, such as department and specialty stores -- allowing users to enjoy all rewards provided by the partner company. It is Starbucks Korea’s first PLCC partnership sinc

MarketJune 16, 2020

Chinese TV makers outstrip Korean firms in Q2: report

Chinese TV makers are set to outperform their South Korean rivals in the global TV market as they have shipped more products in the second quarter amid the COVID-19 impact, according to a market researcher Tuesday. According to UK-based market tracker Omdia, Chinese TV manufacturers are projected to have shipped out 15.14 million units from April to June, much higher than that of Korean tech firms Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. The domestic manufacturers here are estimated to have

TechnologyJune 16, 2020

S. Korean companies' sales, profitability narrow in Q1 amid pandemic

South Korean businesses' sales and profitability worsened in the first quarter from three months earlier, central bank data showed Tuesday, amid slowing demand at home and abroad caused by the spread of the new coronavirus. In the January-March period, sales of local businesses dropped at an average 1.5 percent from the same period last year, accelerating from an average 0.5 percent on-year decline in the last three months of 2019, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The quarterly r

IndustryJune 16, 2020

FX deposits hit 26-month high in May amid pandemic-caused uncertainties

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea surged to the highest amount in over two years last month, central bank data showed Tuesday, amid pandemic-triggered uncertainties that apparently prompted local businesses to stockpile hard currency. Foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $80.92 billion as of end-May, up $2.74 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the highest since March 2018, when foreign curr

EconomyJune 16, 2020

Cash-strapped Doosan to sell core construction equipment maker unit

Cash-strapped Doosan Group plans to sell its key construction equipment maker unit Doosan Infracore Co. as part of its self-rescue measures to receive financial support from creditor banks, industry sources said Tuesday. South Korea's 15th-largest conglomerate is seeking to sell its shares and assets to improve its financial structure and repay debts held by the flagship unit Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. in return for a 3.6 trillion-won ($2.98 billion) lifeline from state-run

IndustryJune 16, 2020

[Monitor] Change in global market share of chipmakers

With China gearing up to enter the global semiconductor market, there have been notable changes in the market share of major memory chip producers in the last 10 years, data by the Federation of Korean Industries showed. According to the FKI, the United States, home to chipmakers like Intel, Qualcomm and Micron, kept its solid lead in the market with around 45 percent share for the past decade. Its share slightly dropped from 48 percent in 2010 to 47 percent in 2019. South Korea, the world&

IndustryJune 16, 2020

LG introduces new smartphone Velvet in Europe

LG Electronics Inc. on Tuesday introduced its new smartphone, the Velvet, in Europe as the South Korean tech firm hopes its latest handset can end a long slump in its mobile business amid the virus pandemic. Starting with Germany on Tuesday, LG will release the Velvet in major European countries, like Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. The company said it will also launch the Velvet in the Americas and other Asian countries in coming weeks. LG said the Velvet will be available in 10 colors, i

IndustryJune 16, 2020

[Graphic News] US dollar deposits at banks rise 30% over pandemic

　US dollar-denominated deposits at South Korean banks have risen nearly 30 percent since February, as investors have chased safer assets amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, industry data showed. 　Outstanding dollar deposits at five local banks reached $47 billion as of June 11, up 28 percent from $36.6 billion tallied at the end of February, according to the data. 　A rise in the foreign currency deposits came as investors bet on a stronger US dollar amid pandemic-caused economic uncertain

BusinessJune 16, 2020