NH Investment joins consortium to acquire stake in UAE’s natural gas pipeline

NH Investment & Securities, the brokerage unit of South Korea’s NongHyup Financial Group, has joined a consortium to acquire a stake in the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s natural gas pipelines, according to investment banking sources Monday. It is part of the $8 billion project financing from the oil firm, composed of the American private equity fund firm Canadian Brookfield Asset Management, Italian infrastructure operator Snam, Ontari

MarketMay 18, 2020

[Photo News] Frigate departs with masks

FRIGATE DEPARTS WITH MASKS -- The Philippine Navy’s latest 2,600-ton frigate, the Jose Rizal, recently built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, set sail for the Philippines on Monday carrying masks and other quarantine supplies. Hyundai Heavy shipped 20,000 masks, 180 bottles of disinfectant, 2,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and 300 packs of sanitizing wipes to the Philippines out of gratitude for its participation in the Korean War.

MobilityMay 18, 2020

KCCI wins 2020 Van Fleet Award

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry was selected as the winner of the 2020 James A. Van Fleet Award in recognition of its contribution to strengthening Korea-US relations, the KCCI said Monday. It is the first time that a business organization has received the award. The Van Fleet Award is an award given by the Korea Society, a Korea-US nonprofit foundation for friendship, to individuals or organizations that have worked to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two cou

IndustryMay 18, 2020

GC Pharma will give COVID-19 plasma treatment away for free

GC Pharma said Monday that it would give out its blood plasma-derived COVID-19 treatment for free to domestic patients. The company’s pipeline, GC5131A, is currently under development and mass distribution is due in the second half of 2020. Huh Eun-chul, the CEO of GC Pharma, wrote to shareholders requesting their understanding over the company’s decision to put long-term health care stability over short-term profit. Many firms have previously offered potential COVID-19 treatmen

IndustryMay 18, 2020

Genexine consortium develops COVID-19 vaccine for human testing

Korean biotech firm Genexine’s COVID-19 deoxyribonucleic acid vaccine pipeline GX-19 is ready for clinical testing, as soon as it applies to the Drug Ministry for human testing. Binex, which is part of the consortium that developed the drug, said Monday that it has completed manufacturing the supply enough for a clinical phase 1 trials of the drug. GX-19 is a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed based on Genexine’s DNA vaccine know-how. It is being collectively pursued by a consor

IndustryMay 18, 2020

SsangYong Motors’ business survival doubtful: auditor

SsangYong Motors, one of South Korea’s five major automakers, has been refused by its financial auditor to deliver an opinion on its ability to survive, after posting swelling losses for the 13th consecutive quarter last week. But an official from the carmaker told The Korea Herald that it does not plan to appeal the decision, given that it was based on its latest quarterly report, not an annual report, and does not require appealing to prevent delisting. According to the automaker&rsqu

MobilityMay 18, 2020

BMW 5 and 6 series’ new models to be unveiled in Korea

BMW Korea said Monday that its new models of 5 and 6 series sedans will be unveiled at the world premiere taking place in South Korea on May 27, the first time an imported carmaker here is hosting the world premiere here. The carmaker said, it will also be the first time for a foreign automaker to reveal the new model series -- not just a specific trim of the new models -- in the country, apart showcasing two world premiere models at once. BMW Korea said it has decided to hold the world premi

MobilityMay 18, 2020

Samsung heir 1st foreign biz tycoon to visit China after COVID-19 outbreak

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday paid a visit to the company’s memory chip plant in Xian, China -- the first foreign business mogul to enter the country after the coronavirus outbreak. The South Korean tech giant’s heir apparent checked on the memory business in China during the visit accompanied by Memory Business President Jin Gyo-young and Samsung’s China operations chief Hwang Deuk-kyu. “There will be no future if we are caught in the past

TechnologyMay 18, 2020

Gates Foundation gives $3.6m to SK Bioscience’s COVID-19 research

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is doling out a series of funding for epidemic countermeasure research in Korea. SK Bioscience, a vaccine researcher and developer firm, said Monday that it has nabbed $3.6 million financial backing from the US foundation for to research the biologic structure of an optimal antigen for epidemics. This comes a day after the announcement of some $9.7 million funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Korean telecom company KT’s research fo

IndustryMay 18, 2020

Offline applications begin for virus relief fund

The application process for the government's emergency fund to ease economic pain from the novel coronavirus became available offline Monday morning. Applicants can now visit community service centers or banks to apply for the money regardless of the forms of the state aid, be it credit or debit card points, regional gift certificates or prepaid cards. For the last week, only online applications were allowed. Those who apply for the last two forms of the payment can get them immediately on-si

EconomyMay 18, 2020

White chicken meat enjoys heyday on wellness boom in Korea

There is no doubt that chicken is one of the most-favored meats around the world, but the favorite parts of the meat may vary across cultures. In South Korea, white chicken breast is often less in demand the softer and juicier dark meat of thighs and wings. But in recent years, chicken breast has been experiencing a heyday here, as more people are looking for a healthier protein choice with less fat. Along with increased attention on wellness, the growing dumbbell economy here has also shed

ConsumerMay 18, 2020

[Monitor] Growing telemedicine market

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for telemedicine services is on the rise, urging governments to relax related regulations. The market value for the global telemedicine market has been continuously growing from $18.1 billion in 2015 to $30.5 billion as of 2019. The market is forecast to expand to $35.5 billion this year and to $41.2 billion next year, according to data by market researcher Statista. South Korea has been a country that strictly regulates telemedicine, but the gov

IndustryMay 18, 2020

Food makers enjoy two-digit profit hike amid social distancing

South Korean giant food manufacturers boasted two-digit profit growth in the first three months of this year on brisk demand for instant home meal products amid coronavirus-led social distancing, data showed Monday. In the January-March period, earnings of food conglomerate CJ Cheiljedang Corp. were 28 percent higher than brokerages' consensus. The company's operating profit jumped 54.1 percent on-year to 275.9 billion won ($223.9 million), according to its regulatory filing. Sales increased

EconomyMay 18, 2020

Samsung's chip production up 57% in Q1: report

Samsung Electronics Co.'s chip production in the first quarter of the year increased 57.4 percent from a year earlier despite the spread of the novel coronavirus, the company's quarterly business report showed Monday. Samsung, the world's largest memory chip maker, produced 277.4 billion units of semiconductors in the January-March period, up from 176.2 billion units a year earlier, according to the report. Its chip factory operation rate was 100 percent. Industry insiders said Samsung's i

TechnologyMay 18, 2020

Illicit stock trading soars in 2019 amid uncertainties

Incidents of suspected illicit stock trading soared last year, reflecting the rampant amount of false and exaggerated information in the market amid uncertainties, the Korea Exchange said Sunday. The bourse operator’s market supervisory committee reported that 120 suspected cases of unfair transactions were observed here last year, up from 118 in 2018 and 117 in 2017. Of the total, illicit trading accounted for 28 cases, or 23.3 percent, up 47.4 percent -- 19 more cases -- from a year e

MarketMay 18, 2020

S. Korean shares open lower on tech, auto losses

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Monday with major techs and autos suffering heavy losses. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 3.86 points, or 0.20 percent, to 1,923.42 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Large caps traded mixed. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics lost 0.21 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix plunged 3.17 percent. Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor slipped 0.87 percent, with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors losing 0.34 percent. Pharmaceuti

MarketMay 18, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Never too early to start preparing for next epidemic’

A seasoned health official who was a key player in South Korea’s response to Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2015 said the novel coronavirus crisis could prove to be an opportunity for the health sector to boost its epidemic preparedness, as did earlier disease outbreaks that struck the country. Kwon Deok-cheol, a former vice health minister and the president of the ministry-affiliated Korea Health Industry Development Institute, told The Korea Herald at his office in Seoul on Wednes

TechnologyMay 17, 2020

Authorities slash subsidies for foreign banks over ‘passive’ approach toward low-rate lending program

South Korea’s financial authorities have slashed government subsidies for foreign banks that they view as “passive” toward the need to support small businesses hit by COVID-19, officials said Sunday. The amounts withheld from foreign banks will be reallocated to five major local lenders to maximize the availability of state-funded low-rate loans for cash-strapped business owner-operators. Starting Monday, seven major banks here are accepting loan applications from owner-oper

EconomyMay 17, 2020

OECD leading index for S. Korean economy edges up in April

A leading economic index for South Korea inched up in April, with Asia's fourth-largest economy being the only country among OECD member states to see such a trend, data showed Sunday. The composite leading indicator (CLI) of economic activity for South Korea stood at 99.9 last month, up 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, marking the rise for eighth consecutive month, according to the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A reading below 100 me

EconomyMay 17, 2020

COVID-19 changes home appliances consumption trend

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has led to a change in the home appliance consumption trends, with increased popularity of electronics helping household chores and less demand for grooming and beauty-related products, according to the retail industry Sunday. According to Homeplus, a South Korean discount chain, the sales of dishwashers and dish dryers jumped by 36 times in March and April compared to a year earlier. On the list of best-selling products by sales, those machines soared

ConsumerMay 17, 2020