Kepco swings to profit in three years in Q1 thanks to cheap oil

Korea Electric Power Corp. said Friday that it recorded 430.6 billion won ($350.1 million) in operating profit in the first quarter this year, swinging back into the black in three years. The state-run utility witnessed 430.6 billion won in operating profit, a 1-trillion-won increase on-year from an operating loss of 629.9 billion won thanks due to a sharp fall in oil prices. “Thanks to the global fall in fuel prices, Kepco’s expenses spent for fuel and electricity purchases dec

IndustryMay 15, 2020

Seoul stocks nearly flat after choppy session

South Korean stocks closed slightly higher Friday after a choppy session as investors sat on the sidelines over the growing concerns over the diplomatic and economic tension between the United States and China. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index moved up 2.32 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish at 1,927.28. Trading volume was moderate at 850 million shares worth 9.55 trillion won ($7.75 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 485 to 360.

MarketMay 15, 2020

Korean Air to require domestic passengers to wear masks

Korean Air announced Friday it will make it mandatory for domestic passengers to wear masks from Monday to follow the government’s social distancing guidelines amid the pandemic. Passengers using Korean Air’s domestic flights must wear masks or appropriate face shields not only on board but also during the pre-flight process. Exceptions are made for infants under 24 months old, people who are difficult to remove their masks on their own and people who are unable to breathe when we

MobilityMay 15, 2020

[Monitor] Mobile carriers fare relatively well in Q1 despite pandemic

South Korea’s three mobile carriers’ performance in the first quarter can be summarized as “comparatively good” despite the huge negative effects of the novel coronavirus. SK Telecom posted 4.45 trillion won ($3.62 billion) in sales with operating profit of 302 billion won. Sales rose 2.7 percent on-year, but operating profit fell 6.4 percent. KT’s sales rose 1 percent on-year to 5.83 trillion won, but its operating profit fell 4.7 percent to 383 billion won. LG

IndustryMay 15, 2020

Virus pandemic rekindles telemedicine controversy in S. Korea

The coronavirus pandemic triggered renewed controversy about whether to allow telemedicine services in South Korea, as a doctors' lobby group warned of "extreme" resistance against telemedicine. Telemedicine is illegal in South Korea, but the nation has allowed doctors to treat coronavirus patients who have mild symptoms via telephone since late February. Telemedicine has played a role in protecting medical staff from exposure to the virus, while helping virus patients recover. H

IndustryMay 15, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

Seoul stocks opened higher Friday, tracking the overnight gains from Wall Street as investors welcomed the gradual reopening of businesses across the globe, including the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 7.64 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,932.60 in the first 15 minutes of trading. After trading in negative terrain earlier in the sessions, the Dow Jones Industrial Average eventually advanced 1.62 percent overnight, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.91 perc

MarketMay 15, 2020

Korea's export prices down for 2nd straight month in April

South Korea's export prices dropped for a second consecutive month in April, central bank data showed Friday, apparently adding to woes over a slump in outbound shipments by Asia's fourth-largest economy amid the new coronavirus pandemic. The export prices index, in terms of local currency, came to 94.54 in the month, down 1.6 percent from the revised 96.08 the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. From a year earlier, the reading marks a 5.9 percent drop. Apri

EconomyMay 15, 2020

G-20 members vow to sustain global supply chains amid virus pandemic

South Korea said Friday it has adopted an action plan with other Group of 20 members that centers on maintaining the global supply chains and refraining from implementing new trade barriers as the new coronavirus pandemic continues to put great strains on business activities. South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee discussed with her counterparts from the group of 20 advanced and emerging economies on late Thursday how to expand global cooperation in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, accord

EconomyMay 15, 2020

Hyundai, Kia to resume operations at all overseas plants from Monday

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday all of their overseas plants will be in operation next week amid signs of the coronavirus epidemic passing its peak. Currently, Kia's plant in Mexico is the only overseas manufacturing facility which is still suspended to manage inventories. South Korea's No.2 carmaker plans to restart production at its Mexican plant on Monday, a company spokesman said over the phone. "Most of their overseas plants have resumed producti

IndustryMay 14, 2020

Korean firms again in anti-virus mode over Itaewon cluster infections

South Korean firms are again beefing up their virus prevention measures after the country reported cluster infections linked to clubs and bars in a popular nightlife neighborhood in Seoul, industry insiders said Thursday. After the country shifted to an "everyday life quarantine" scheme to normalize social and economic activities last week, many companies decided to end remote working and allowed their workers to return to the office. However, with the recent surge in virus cases

IndustryMay 14, 2020

S. Korea to add 1.56 million new jobs in public sector

South Korea’s government aims to create 1.56 million jobs mostly in the public sector, hoping it will eventually trigger the private sector to follow suit and hire more, according to the nation’s fiscal chief Thursday. “The ongoing pandemic has triggered not only immediate job losses but also long-term quantitative and qualitative shocks to the employment market,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in an economic policy headquarters meeting he

EconomyMay 14, 2020

Watcha to enter music market

South Korean over-the-top service provider Watcha said Thursday it plans to jump into the music market. The company established a subsidiary Wpeer last year to launch Watcha Music Publishing, which will become a digital music distribution platform that will connect artists with investors, production firms and other associates to help them to publish their titles. Watcha Music Publishing is expected to officially launch in the second half this year after securing a reasonable number of artists

TechnologyMay 14, 2020

South Korea’s ICT exports down 15% in April

South Korea’s outbound shipments of information and communications technology products in April reached $12.88 billion, down 15 percent on-year, according to latest government data Thursday. The Ministry of Science and ICT noted that the import value of ICT products in April was $8.87 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $4 billion. The daily average exports in the same month came down by 7.6 percent on-year at $0.59 billion, compared to $0.63 billion in April last year. Exports o

TechnologyMay 14, 2020

Kogas prepares global LNG transition with infrastructure upgrades

Korea Gas Corp. said Wednesday it is expanding its liquefied natural gas bunkering infrastructure to respond to the global shift to cleaner ship fuel. LNG bunkering is the process of transferring gas to a ship for use as fuel. The state-run natural gas company said it has recently built an LNG carrier SM JEJU LNG2 equipped with ship-to-ship bunkering capabilities. Also, as the ship sails between Jeju Island and Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, it has installed four loading arms -- a pi

IndustryMay 14, 2020

Kakao Pay now available at S-Oil gas stations

S-Oil said Thursday it has partnered with South Korea’s mobile payment platform Kakao Pay that has more than 30 million members, boosting customer experience by facilitating mobile payment at its service stations. The company said it has become the first Korean refiner to introduce Kakao Pay payment at service stations. Instead of carrying credit cards or cash, customers can make payments by scanning their barcodes on the Kakao Pay app. Over the past week, some 200 S-Oil service stat

IndustryMay 14, 2020

OECD convention to end MNCs’ tax evasion to take effect in Sept.

A multilateral convention of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to combat multinational corporations’ tax avoidance strategies, which exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules, is slated to take effect here in September, Korea’s Finance Ministry said Thursday. The government has recently deposited its instrument of ratification in the OECD, which would allow South Korea to more smoothly deal with the corporations’ base erosion and profit shifting through

EconomyMay 14, 2020

Vice finance minister lends support to presidential aide’s call for telemedicine

A top-level official on Thursday expressed support for a plan to nurture the telemedicine industry in response to escalating demand for non-face-to-face health care services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Ministry of Economy and Finance is sticking to the stance that the government needs to review the implementation of telemedicine,” Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said Thursday. “As the number of related phone calls have neared 170,000 so far, under the temporarily al

EconomyMay 14, 2020

Yuanta Korea offers access to US stock reports

Yuanta Securities Korea said Thursday it has partnered with multinational financial market data provider Refinitiv to mount a new stock search engine function on its trading system for investors in US stocks. The service, dubbed “Reuters tRadar,” will allow users to access Refinitiv’s stock reports related to US stocks and their forecasts on the company performance based on its Institutional Brokers’ Estimate System database, which comprise the combined estimates of som

MarketMay 14, 2020

Seoul stocks end lower on grim economic outlook

South Korean stocks closed lower Thursday as investor sentiment was dented by a grim forecast for global economic recovery amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 15.46 points, or 0.80 percent, to close at 1,924.96 Trading volume was high at 744 million shares worth 9.3 trillion won ($7.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 638 to 229. The index never moved above the flatline through

MarketMay 14, 2020

Hanmi may sue Sanofi for withdrawing from diabetes drug research

　South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical may consider legal action against global biopharma Sanofi, as the French company abruptly decided to halt participation in further research on efpeglenatide, a potential treatment for Type 2 diabetes. The two have been jointly developing efpeglenatide, discovered by Hanmi.   　The Korean pharma issued a notice to shareholders Thursday, saying there were still 120 days to renegotiate and that it might take legal action against Sanofi if circumstances

IndustryMay 14, 2020