Extra budget allocation amid virus outbreak to top W11.6tr

South Korea’s upcoming supplementary state budget to fight the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus is anticipated to exceed 11.6 trillion won ($9.7 billion), according to a senior policymaker Tuesday. “In addition to the already announced set of comprehensive measures, (the government) has drafted an extra budget bill that exceeds 11 trillion won in volume,” said Lee Nak-yon on Facebook. Former Prime Minister Lee presently serves as chairman of the ruling Democratic Par

EconomyMarch 3, 2020

[Photo News] PARTITIONED LUNCH

LG employees eat lunch at partitioned tables as a precaution to prevent the spread of COVID-19, at the group’s Twin Towers headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, Tuesday. (LG Corp.)

IndustryMarch 3, 2020

Cape Industries faces proxy war over directors, dividends

South Korea’s ship engine parts maker Cape Industries is facing a proxy fight as its activist shareholders are opposing the firm’s excessive compensation to executives despite piling losses. The investor group, led by KH Investment, has proposed a cut on Cape’s four executives pay to half -- 1.5 billion won ($1.3 million) maximum if combined -- and recommended candidates for outside directors and auditors. The alliance is also demanding the first dividend payout of the group

MarketMarch 3, 2020

Korean exporters on edge as COVID-19 disrupts overseas operations

South Korean companies, including Samsung and LG, are on edge about the possibility of critical production setbacks at key manufacturing bases in Vietnam and China as a result of coronavirus fears. The nation’s largest tech firms, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, produce smartphones and home appliances in Vietnam. In China, Samsung and SK hynix produce chips, LG Display makes organic light-emitting diode panels, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors manufacture automobiles and LG Chem pro

IndustryMarch 3, 2020

Demand for personal credit loan grows, home loans falls

The amount of personal credit loans grew while mortgage loans fell last month, data showed Tuesday, apparently due to the South Korean government’s tighter mortgage restrictions since last year. Outstanding credit loans stood at 110.9 trillion won, up 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) last month from 109.7 trillion won in January. The nation saw the figure drop 225 billion won on-month in the first month this year. Meanwhile, mortgages owed by Korean households increased 956.3 billion wo

MarketMarch 3, 2020

Hyundai Motor chief encourages employees amid coronavirus crisis

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun sent a letter to employees Tuesday highlighting the group’s all-out efforts to secure safety and minimize business risk under its contingency plan. Chung said in an email that the group has been “actively cooperating with the government-led measures,” vowing to fully support employees’ safety with “all available resources.” He added that the group’s affiliates have been monitoring the COVID-19 o

MobilityMarch 3, 2020

Korea sends protest letter to Vietnam over plane forced to turn back

South Korea’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mi contacted her Vietnamese counterpart to express regret over a recent incident where a Korean air carrier was denied permission to land in Hanoi and was forced to turn back, government sources said Tuesday. In a letter to the Vietnamese aviation authorities, Kim wrote that it presented “a serious safety issue to order a plane to land in an unfamiliar airport while it is in flight.”  She reportedly also

MobilityMarch 3, 2020

Increase of 5G users in Korea slows down

South Korean mobile carriers are struggling to entice more customers for 5G services amid the new coronavirus outbreak, according to latest data Tuesday. In January, the number of 5G network users here increased by 290,000 to 4.95 million in a month, the lowest amount of increase since local mobile carriers launched 5G services in April last year, as per ICT Ministry data. Since April last year, local telecom firms saw the number of new 5G network subscribers increase by more than half a mill

IndustryMarch 3, 2020

[Feature] Amid market transition, Korea’s bank unions want bigger role, power

The new chief executive officer of state-run Industrial Bank of Korea was unable to enter his office for nearly a month, and there was an obvious reason. Facing agitating unionized workers in January, IBK CEO Yoon Jong-won turned back, without a word, and headed home every morning. But the doors opened at the end of the month, after Yoon agreed to three key concessions, including the provision that labor would be allowed to recommend a board member. The 27-day protest, when workers blocked

EconomyMarch 3, 2020

Samsung's Q4 smartphone share rises in Europe

Samsung Electronics Co.'s share of the European smartphone market advanced slightly in the fourth quarter of last year, benefiting from rival Huawei Technologies Co.'s struggle with a US trade ban, data showed Tuesday. Samsung had a 27 percent market share in Europe in the fourth quarter, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, apparently enlarged its presence after Huawei was barred fr

IndustryMarch 3, 2020

Chip industry rebounds despite coronavirus woes

The semiconductor industry, bellwether for the South Korean economy, showed signs of recovery last month, despite the aggravating coronavirus woes, according to various indicators Tuesday. The country’s total chip exports grew 9.4 percent to $7.42 billion in February compared to the same month last year, data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed. It was the first on-year growth in silicon exports in 15 months. In spite of the extended Chinese Lunar New Year holiday l

TechnologyMarch 3, 2020

Korea halts flights to Italy for first time in 29 years

Amid the continued spike in COVID-19 cases in South Korea and Italy, Korean air carriers said Tuesday that they would temporarily halt service to Italian cities.  According to the full-service carrier Korean Air, it has canceled all flights on its Incheon-Rome route from March 5 to April 25. This is the first time all flights on that route have been canceled, since its launch in 1991.  Another full-service carrier, Asiana Airlines, decided to halt its Incheon-Rome flights March 8-28

MobilityMarch 3, 2020

[Video] Old-fashioned yet effective tips to prevent coronavirus infection

The abrupt outbreak of the novel coronavirus, officially named as COVID-19, has been dominating headlines around the world. The virus, widely believed to have originated from China’s Hubei province last year, has sparked global concerns outside the mainland ever since. Moreover, the epidemic has disrupted the everyday lives of many South Koreans in many ways. Concerns and fears are mounting here that the virus might escalate much more than SARS and MERS outbreaks in the past. The dema

TechnologyMarch 3, 2020

Korea's Q4 economic expansion faster than expected, annual growth unchanged

South Korea's economy grew slightly faster than expected in the fourth quarter of 2019, although this had no effect on the overall economic expansion for last year, central bank data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter from three months earlier, 0.1 percentage point higher than earlier expected, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The country's annual growth, however, remained unchanged at 2 percent. The annual growth w

EconomyMarch 3, 2020

Korea's consumer prices up 1.1% on-year in Feb.

South Korea's headline inflation rose 1.1 percent in February from a year earlier, marking an increase of over 1 percent for the second straight month, the statistics agency said Tuesday. The inflation rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy increased 1.5 percent in January, the highest in 14 months, Statistics Korea said. South Korea's headline inflation was below 1 percent every month in 2019. Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and petroleum products, increased 0.6 percent from a ye

EconomyMarch 3, 2020

Car sales fall 11% in February on virus-caused supply disruptions

South Korea's car sales fell 11 percent last month from a year earlier as supply disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak resulted in reduced production.     The country's five carmakers -- Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and SsangYong Motor  -- sold a combined 505,212 vehicles in February, down from 565,568 units a year ago, according to data from the companies.    The lower sales largely resulted from shortages of auto compone

MobilityMarch 2, 2020

OECD cuts outlook for S. Korea amid coronavirus impact

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has cut its outlook for South Korea’s growth this year by 0.3 percentage point, reflecting the fallout from the new coronavirus, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Monday. In its biannual Interim Economic Outlook, the OECD forecast that the world economy would expand 2.4 percent this year, down 0.5 percentage point from its earlier prediction in November last year. The outlook for next year, in contrast, was raised 0.3 per

EconomyMarch 2, 2020

Celltrion gives W1b to help coronavirus efforts

Celltrion said Monday it gave 1 billion won ($841,000) to areas hit hard with COVID-19 to help curb the spread. The donation has been divided to areas most affected and which had strong links to Celltrion. Daegu, the city with the highest number of affected COVID-19 patients in Korea at 3,081 as of Monday afternoon, was given 400 million won, while North Gyeongsang Province, the second-heaviest hit region with 624 patients, received 200 million won. Incheon and North Chungcheong Province we

IndustryMarch 2, 2020

Amorepacific’s contract to sell Gangnam building falls through

South Korea’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific said Monday it will seek a new buyer for its office building in Nonhyun, southern Seoul, as the preferred bidder has backed out. According to the firm, Hanyang Construction -- which was chosen as the preferred bidder -- canceled the contract to buy Sungam Building for 160 billion won ($131.2 million). Amorepacific had said it decided to sell its building to secure liquidity and to improve solvency. The contracted price accounted for about 2 per

IndustryMarch 2, 2020

[Monitor] Consumption drops rapidly upon coronavirus

With the vast spread of COD-19 across the nation, consumption rapidly dropped in February, particularly among offline businesses. According to data provided by the Finance Ministry, lodges nationwide saw their revenue drop by 17.7 percent, 10.8 percent and 24.5 percent in the first, second and third week of last month, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Restaurants saw their revenue drop 9.6 percent, 2.0 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively. Sales at department stores als

IndustryMarch 2, 2020