Korean Air to submit self-rescue plan this month

Korean Air Lines Co., the country's top flag carrier, will draw up a 1.5 trillion won ($1.23 billion) self-rescue plan, including a 1 trillion won stock offering, this month in return for massive financial support from two state lenders, industry sources said Sunday. Last month, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Exim Bank) said they will inject 1.2 trillion won into the country's top airline to help the company weather the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. T

MobilityMay 3, 2020

Korean refiners suffer grim Q1 performance amid pandemic

South Korean major oil refiners suffered one of their worst quarters in the January-March period, data showed Sunday, as global oil output has far outpaced demand amid the new coronavirus pandemic. S-Oil Corp., the no. 3 oil refiner in South Korea, swung to a record loss of 1 trillion won ($816 million) in the first quarter due to inventory losses and falling refining margins. The loss was roughly 50 percent higher than earlier expectations. Another refiner, Hyundai Oilbank Co., reported an

EconomyMay 3, 2020

Koreans spend 20 hours a month on smartphones: report

South Koreans spend an average of 20 hours per month on their phones, and the peak time is from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., a survey showed. According to the report from the Korea Communications Commission, 95.5 percent of smartphone users watch videos on their devices. The average usage time per month was about 20 hours and 35 minutes. Time spent watching videos accounted for 17.9 percent of total smartphone time. Of those who own smartphones, 66.5 percent watched at least one broadcast per month.

TechnologyMay 1, 2020

Mercedes-Benz appoints new chief for Korea operations

Mercedes-Benz Korea Ltd. said Friday that Bjorn Hauber in charge of the German carmaker's Sweden and Denmark operations will replace the country's current chief in August. Mercedes-Benz Korea President and Chief Executive Dimitris Psillakis will complete his five-year tenure and begin his new position as head of sales and product management at Mercedes-Benz USA on Sept. 1, the company said in a statement. Hauber has contributed to the strategy development and sales increase of Mercedes-Benz

MobilityMay 1, 2020

Korea's April exports sink 24% over virus pandemic

South Korea's exports plunged 24.3 percent in April from a year earlier as the country suffered from a double whammy of the new coronavirus pandemic and the falling oil prices, data showed Friday. Outbound shipments came to $36.9 billion last month, compared with $48.7 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports moved down 15.9 percent on-year in April to $37.8 billion. The country suffered a trade deficit of $950 milli

IndustryMay 1, 2020

Large firms cut jobs by more than 10,000 over two months

The number of workers subscribed to the national pension program has dropped by more than 10,000 over the past two months in South Korea, as the global COVID-19 pandemic has dampened corporate business, according to a local corporate tracker on Wednesday. CEOScore surveyed 492 companies out of the nation’s top 500 companies on the number of their employees who joined the mandatory National Pension Service. According to the survey, the number of pension subscribers stood at around 1.6 mi

IndustryApril 30, 2020

KRX ditches 30% market cap rule

South Korea’s securities exchange operator, the Korea Exchange, said Wednesday that it had removed a market cap limit on the nation’s main bourse, Kospi, lifting a regulatory rule meant to prevent excessive reliance on a single stock. The 30 percent market cap rule requires securities funds, including exchange-traded funds, to reduce their holdings in stocks that account for more than 30 percent of the market value of the Kospi 200 and KRX 300 indexes. The regulation was introduced

MarketApril 30, 2020

[Monitor] Korea sees first on-year decline in corporate employment

The number of corporate employees in South Korea dropped on-year for the first time last month, according to data by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Hit hard by the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, local business entities with at least one employee had 18,278,000 employees as of the last working day of March. It marked a decrease by 1.2 percent from 18,503,000 recorded a year earlier. It is the first on-year drop of the figure since the ministry began collecting relevant dat

IndustryApril 30, 2020

Megabox to reopen 11 theaters on eased social distancing

Megabox, a South Korean multiplex operator, said Thursday that it will reopen 11 theaters this week after shutting them down for about a month due to the novel coronavirus. Its cinemas, including those in Pohang, Daegu, Daejeon and Ulsan, will resume operations from Friday, according to the company. Megabox, one of the three biggest theater chains, along with CGV and Lotte Cinema, has closed 11 out of 44 branches across the country since the end of March, citing a sharp drop in demand. With

IndustryApril 30, 2020

Public firms' debt rose by most ever last year: govt.

South Korean public firms' debt rose by the largest amount ever last year amid an economic slowdown, with their debt-to-capital ratio rebounding for the first time in seven years, the finance ministry said Wednesday. The combined debt of 337 public institutions reached 525.1 trillion won ($430.9 billion) at the end of last year, up 21.4 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The tally did not include data by three state-run banks, including Kor

EconomyApril 29, 2020

S. Korea’s first trade balance deficit in 99 months likely

South Korea’s trade balance in April could swing to its first deficit in 99 months due to an exports slump amid the global coronavirus pandemic, according to officials on Wednesday. “It is a bit early to predict, but the chances are high that April’s trade balance will see a deficit, (which marks the first time) in 99 months since January 2012,” said Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom during a press briefing. “A drop in exports was much bigger than that of imp

EconomyApril 29, 2020

S. Korea to lend extra W10tr to cash-strapped small businesses

South Korea will kick off an emergency loan program worth 10 trillion won ($8.2 billion) in May, allowing novel coronavirus-hit small-business owners to borrow up to 10 million won from six commercial banks here, according to the nation’s chief fiscal policymaker. The action comes in the wake of an earlier lending program that had caused a major bottleneck due to the limited range of loan screening channels despite skyrocketing borrowing demand. “(The government) has designed a se

EconomyApril 29, 2020

‘Itaewon Class’ collaborates with Nexon shooting game ‘Sudden Attack’

Nexon Korea is upping its game by bringing actors and actresses who starred in “Itaewon Class” -- a webcomic-turned-TV drama -- into first-person shooter game Sudden Attack. Nexon Korea said Wednesday it has introduced game characters modeled on Park Seo-joon, Yoo Jae-myung, Kim Dong-hee, Kim Da-mi and Kwon Nara, who play Park Sae-ro-yi, Jang Dae-hee, Jang Geun-soo, Jo Yi-seo and Oh Soo-ah in “Itaewon Class,” respectively. The final episode of “Itaewon Class&r

IndustryApril 29, 2020

Government sends cargo flights for exports to China, Indonesia

The South Korean government said Wednesday it had arranged two chartered cargo flights to help businesses facing difficulties in sending or receiving deliveries to and from China and Indonesia. The flights were each assigned for delivery to Chongquig in China and Jakarta in Indonesia, the routes of which have been disrupted amidst the coronavirus outbreak. The measure was jointly prepared by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association. The roundt

IndustryApril 29, 2020

LG, Samsung gain in Q1 but brace for tougher Q2

Korean tech titans on Wednesday reported better-than-expected earnings results for the first three months of the year, with LG Electronics achieving the largest-ever first-quarter operating margin and Samsung Electronics posting 21.9 percent on-year rise in semiconductor sales. But both expressed grave concerns about the upcoming quarters, anticipating sharper falls in sales as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. According to its earnings announcement, LG Electronics obtained 1.09 trillion won

TechnologyApril 29, 2020

Hyundai Mobis establishes second R&D facility in India for self-driving cars

Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis said Wednesday its second research and development center in India has begun full operation, working on the development of automotive software for driverless vehicles. According to Hyundai Mobis, the second R&D center has been established in a new IT industrial complex adjacent to the company’s existing R&D center in Hyderabad, India, to focus on the development of a control system for self-driving cars and recognition algorithms for sensor techno

IndustryApril 29, 2020

SK Innovation injects $727m for second EV battery plant in US

South Korea’s SK Innovation said Tuesday it will invest $727 million for the construction of its second battery plant in Georgia. The battery maker will begin construction of its second electric vehicle battery plant with 11.7-gigawatt-hour capacity in Georgia in July and initiate mass production starting 2023, it said. “While the global community faces challenging times, SK Innovation believes it is important to continue making strategic investments to drive economic growth and

IndustryApril 29, 2020

LG Electronics files suit against home appliance firm Beko

LG Electronics said Wednesday it has filed a lawsuit against Turkish home appliance maker Beko over allegedly infringing on an LG Electronics patent related to its laundry machine. The complaints were filed Monday with the Mannheim District Court in Germany, claiming that the subsidiary of Turkey’s largest consumer electronics company Arcelik has infringed on the patent related to its TrueSteam technology. According to LG Electronics, the Turkish home appliance firm has made unauthoriz

IndustryApril 29, 2020

KAI donates 10,000 test kits to Indonesia

Korea Aerospace Industries said Wednesday it has donated 10,000 coronavirus test kits to Indonesia as a sign of solidarity amid the global pandemic. The defense company and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering together donated 10,000 coronavirus test kits to Indonesia, which was the first export destination of KAI’s KT-1 and T-50 trainer aircraft. Also, it is the first country DSME exported submarines to. “Korea and Indonesia maintain an amicable relationship in various

IndustryApril 29, 2020

Coupang launches same-day delivery for fresh groceries

South Korean e-commerce platform Coupang launched a same-day Rocket Fresh service Wednesday. The service will allow customers who order fresh food items before 10 a.m. to receive them by 6 p.m. The Rocket Fresh service has been operating its dawn overnight deliveries since October 2018. Coupang said the same-day service has been offered in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak as demands for online groceries shopping soared over the past months. Coupang said it offers 8,500 fresh food options,

ConsumerApril 29, 2020