Kia Motors suspends 2 plants near capital over coronavirus

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker by sales, halted its two domestic plants Thursday, as two workers at the plants near the capital were confirmed to have contracted the new coronavirus. The suspension came after the two worker at the plants in Gwangmyeong, just southwest of Seoul, tested positive for COVID-19. South Korean health officials tested workers who came into contact with the virus patients. The test results are due as early as Friday morning. Kia Motors and he

MobilityJune 11, 2020

Hyundai, GM Korea join government move to support auto parts makers

Local automakers including Hyundai Motor Group and GM Korea have joined hands with the government for guarantee funds to support auto parts makers hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Thursday. An agreement to the effect was signed in Seoul by the automakers and the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Energy and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.  Transport Minister Sung Yoon-mo said that the fund would “work as a liquidity supporting net for midsized companies with l

MobilityJune 11, 2020

Asset management firms’ profits halve in Q1

South Korea’s asset management companies’ combined net profit has shrunk by over half on-year in the first quarter, data showed Thursday. The net income of 300 AMCs here came to 116.4 billion won ($97.32 million) during the January-March period, down 52.3 percent from the previous year, according to data by the Financial Supervisory Service. The volume fell 11.4 percent on-quarter. Their return on equity -- a key measure of financial performance -- stood at 6.1 percent in the firs

MarketJune 11, 2020

Celltrion to test Remsima on COVID-19 patients in UK from June

Celltrion Healthcare said Thursday it will begin clinical trials of its anti-inflammatory drug Remsima on COVID-19 patients in the UK this month. “As Remsima is an approved drug, the clinical trials will directly begin on infected COVID-19 patients,” a Celltrion Healthcare official told The Korea Herald. Four UK health care institutions -- University Hospital of Birmingham, NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford NIHR BRC and UCLH/UCL Biomedical Research Centre in Lond

IndustryJune 11, 2020

50% more gamers globally in 2020 amid pandemic: report

The number of people playing PC and console-based games jumped by nearly 50 percent globally this year as the new coronavirus pandemic has confined more people to their homes, an industry report showed Thursday. Daily active users of PC and console games spiked 46 percent on-year during the January-May period, according to the report by game software developer Unity Technologies. The correspondent number for mobile gaming was a 17 percent increase. Before the COVID-19 outbreak hit, there was

IndustryJune 11, 2020

Korean economic policies for tackling COVID-19 impact explained in English

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday it has published an English-language version of a booklet explaining its countermeasures against the economic shock due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the international community. Titled “Safeguarding Economic Resilience,” the booklet introduces a number of fiscal measures that the government has implemented as well as some preliminary policies set up to prepare for the post-COVID-19 era, officials said.  Since February, when co

EconomyJune 11, 2020

Insurers' lending rises 1.6% in Q1

Loans extended by South Korean insurance companies rose 1.6 percent in the first quarter, but the loan default rate remained unchanged, the financial regulator said Thursday. Insurers' outstanding loans totaled 238.4 trillion won ($200.4 billion) as of the end of March, up 3.7 trillion won from the end of December, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement. Their loans to households increased 0.1 percent to 121.3 trillion won in the first quarter, while lending to companie

EconomyJune 11, 2020

S. Korea's exports outdo rivals but still face slump: BOK

South Korea's exports and imports will likely outperform those of major economies this year but face a slump due to sluggish demand in major economies caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, the country's central bank said Thursday. "Global demand for imports is expected to greatly drop this year due to the stronger-than-anticipated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a report submitted to the National Assembly. "However, when considering better-th

EconomyJune 11, 2020

Doosan to raise W1tr by selling shares, assets

Debt-laden Doosan Group will raise 1 trillion won ($800 million) this year by selling new shares and its assets to ease its cash shortage crisis, the group's chairman said Thursday. Park Jeong Won, chairman of the group, said the group will push for sales of its assets in line with a plan to reorganize its business line and Doosan Heavy's financial structure. In return for 3.6 trillion won in financial support from state-run banks, Doosan Heavy, the country's leading power equipment maker,

IndustryJune 11, 2020

More cable TV operators up for sale, telcos eye bigger share of pay TV market

  South Korea's three major telecommunications firms are to enter heated competition to expand their presence in the local pay TV market, industry insiders said Thursday, as more cable TV operators are up for sale. According to sources, the owner of Central Multi Broadcasting (CMB) Co., the nation's fourth largest cable TV firm, recently decided to sell the company. The country's No. 3 cable TV operator, D'Live Co., and No. 5 player, Hyundai HCN Co., have also been put up for sale. CMB

IndustryJune 11, 2020

[Monitor] Korean firms suffer 10% drop in overseas revenue

The combined revenue from overseas markets of South Korea’s top 100 companies dropped by 10.4 percent due to the coronavirus pandemic, data from the Federation of Korean Industries showed. The data was based on each firm’s report of their consolidated revenue as of the first quarter this year. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

IndustryJune 11, 2020

Korean Air to extend unpaid leave for flight attendants

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's largest airline, said Thursday it will extend unpaid leave for its flight attendants in the latest move to cope with a sharp decline in air travel demand amid the spread of the coronavirus. Korean Air said all flight attendants who have worked for the flag carrier for at least two years can take the unpaid leave for a minimum period of six months and up to one year, beginning on July 1. The latest move comes amid no clear sign of business normalization due

MobilityJune 11, 2020

Auto exports fall nearly 60% in May amid pandemic

South Korea's auto exports more than halved in May from a year earlier due to falling demand in the face of the new coronavirus pandemic that as infected more than 7 million people, data showed Thursday. Local carmakers shipped 95,400 units of cars overseas last month, down 57.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, auto exports also fell 54.1 percent over the period to reach $1.81 billion. In the first

MobilityJune 11, 2020

Seoul stocks open lower on Fed's gloomy forecast

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, following the Federal Reserve's dismal US economic forecast and the absence of stronger stimulus tools earlier anticipated amid the coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 13.42 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,182.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The drop came after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell predicted that the economic damages of COVID-19 may have lasting effects despite the Fed's plan to keep the curr

MarketJune 11, 2020

LG Uplus to supply 5G VR content to Taiwan's top telco

LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's No. 3 mobile carrier, said Thursday it will supply 5G virtual reality (VR) content to Taiwan's largest telecommunication firm. LG Uplus' 5G VR content will be also available on Chunghwa Telecom Co. when Taiwan commercializes a 5G network next month, according to the company. LG Uplus will first provide 180 K-pop VR content products and introduce its multi-view technology. This is the fourth time that LG Uplus has exported its 5G content to a foreign company. LG U

IndustryJune 11, 2020

S. Korea's June 1-10 exports jump 20% on more working days

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports soared in the first 10 days of June from a year earlier, mainly due to a calendar effect but raised hopes for a recovery in global trade as more nations eased coronavirus lockdown measures. The country's outbound shipments jumped 20.2 percent to $12.3 billion in the June 1-10 period from the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 10-day period, however, fell 9.8 percent on-year. Compared

EconomyJune 11, 2020

S. Korea to help create more jobs in private sector: finance minister

South Korea will help private firms create more jobs, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday, in the latest effort to protect jobs that have vanished due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move came after the government has pushed to create 550,000 jobs in the public sector as the nation's job market remained grim due to falling exports and consumption. The government will encourage private firms to open 50,000 jobs for young people in July, and smaller firms will be given benefits for jo

EconomyJune 11, 2020

State COVID-19 relief funds used mostly for dining out, grocery shopping: ministry

The state coronavirus relief funds have been spent mostly on dining out and grocery shopping, the interior ministry said Wednesday, based on an analysis of credit card data.    The Ministry of Interior and Safety analyzed credit and debit card transactions from May 11-31 from eight financial firms to find out about spending behavior with the relief money.    As of May 31, a total of 5.67 trillion won in relief money was spent, and restaurants were the biggest spending dest

EconomyJune 10, 2020

Hyundai Heavy to expand presence in warship market

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, will enhance its presence in the warship market as part of efforts to boost sales, its parent, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, said Wednesday.    The company said a 26,000-ton warship, named Aotearoa, built by the shipbuilder left Ulsan, southeast 414 kilometers of Seoul, late Tuesday for New Zealand. Hyundai Heavy clinched an order for the warship in July 2016 from the Royal New Zealand Navy. "Hyundai H

IndustryJune 10, 2020

FSS plans to review security of fintech solutions due to unauthorized payments on Toss

The unauthorized transactions on Toss, an online money transfer platform operated by fintech startup Viva Republica, are likely to trigger extensive inspections of similar solutions by the financial watchdog. “We plan to conduct reviews of fintech systems that adopt payment technology similar to Toss, if necessary,” an official from the Financial Supervisory Service said. “Some 40 companies could be subject to such inspections,” the official added. The Seoul-b

MarketJune 10, 2020