S. Korea to focus on promoting economic cooperation with Russia, Mongolia

South Korea will focus on promoting economic cooperation this year with Russia, Mongolia and other countries located north of the Korean Peninsula in line with the diplomatic initiative of its New Northern Policy, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday. Hong made the remarks at a meeting with economy-related ministers earlier in the day. South Korea "will bolster economic cooperation with northern countries to pull off accomplishments from the New Northern Policy," Hong told the meet

EconomyJan. 20, 2020

[Graphic News] Exports of processed rice goods up 20% in 2019

　South Korea’s outbound shipments of processed rice products shot up last year, amid the booming popularity of Korean dramas, K-pop and other cultural content abroad, data showed.　Exports of these products reached $106 million in 2019, marking a sharp rise from $89 million posted a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The exports also nearly doubled from $55 million posted in 2015.　These products cover a wide range of food items, such as snacks, n

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

S. Korea breaks six-year winning streak on Bloomberg Innovation Index

South Korea ranked No. 2 on the Bloomberg Innovation Index this year, putting an abrupt halt to its six-year winning streak, government data showed Sunday.According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Korea scored 88.16 points this year, slipping a notch from last year, but has remained in the top three for nine consecutive years. Germany took the crown this year with a score of 88.21 points, switching places with Korea. Singapore was next, rebounding to No. 3. The annual Bloomberg Inno

EconomyJan. 19, 2020

Legendary Lotte founder passes away, leaving behind bitter sons

 Lotte Group founder and Honorary Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho passed away Sunday at age 97, leaving as his legacy a self-made business empire, although his later years were marred by a family feud.He was the last of the first-generation founders of the major conglomerates -- the other four being Samsung, Hyundai, LG and SK. Shin was a self-made entrepreneur who started Lotte as a maker of chewing gum and grew the business into the nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate, operating in the food,

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

D.Camp holds first startup pitching event for 2020

D.Camp, a leading South Korean startup accelerator, said Sunday that augmented reality solution startup Qrio and health tech startup 9to6 topped its first pitching competition of 2020, held last week in Seoul. The event was organized together with InvestHK, an agency responsible for foreign direct investment in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, a state-run trade organization.Qrio has developed a mobile AR application that helps users create their own virtual action figures

MarketJan. 19, 2020

Samsung likely to replace chiefs of most financial units

Samsung Group is expected to replace most of the chief executives at its financial units, including Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Card, according to news reports on Sunday.According to local business daily the Korea Economic Daily, the conglomerate is scheduled to carry out its annual reshuffle of C-level executives this week, starting with its flagship Samsung Electronics and other IT affiliates on Monday.Financial units, including Samsung Securities and Samsung Card, will follow suit on T

MarketJan. 19, 2020

[Monitor] Eco-friendly cars on rise in Korea

Amid growing interest in environmental issues in Korea, the number of eco-friendly cars registered here exceeded 600,000 vehicles for the first time, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport showed. The number of eco-friendly vehicles, including electric cars, hydrogen cars and hybrids, stood at 601,048 units as of the end of December last year. The share of the total number of registered vehicles increased from 2.0 percent in 2018 to 2.5 percent last year.The cumulativ

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

Bias toward tech firms flusters stock market investors

South Korea’s stock market was tepid in 2019 and continues to face uncertainties, rankling many investors who are complaining that technology firms are being preferred for listing on the secondary Kosdaq bourse.While the stock market operator has highlighted the system as a vital foothold for new promising and innovative business players, skeptics also suggest that it provides excessive benefits to underqualified rookies.The number of companies listed on Kosdaq through the preferential pro

MarketJan. 19, 2020

[News Focus] Galaxy phone users jolted by privacy concerns

Users of Samsung Galaxy smartphones and Samsung Cloud in South Korea are on high alert regarding personal security issues in the wake of private data thefts involving some celebrities. A growing number of Galaxy users here are checking on the security status of their gadgets to ensure they follow the recommended security guidelines. Samsung Electronics has notified users to enhance their phone’s security by activating the two-step verification mode that double-checks user authenticity when

TechnologyJan. 19, 2020

Banking chiefs edgy as they await final sanctions decision by authorities

The top executives of three major financial groups in South Korea are on the edge of their seats as they await a final decision by authorities on penalties regarding their malfeasance this week, which will impact governance and profitability.Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Young-byoung -- who is currently under trial over his alleged influence-peddling in the flagship Shinhan Bank’s recruiting scandal -- is facing the most pressure.The Seoul Eastern District Court is expected to annou

MarketJan. 19, 2020

JP Morgan 2020 closes, with deals hanging in air

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 38th JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 came to a close Thursday, with small and big deals still covered under wraps.Being the biggest annual gathering of pharmaceuticals companies presenting each of their pipelines’ research progress, JP Morgan conference in San Francisco has often concluded in mega deals that drew eyes. In 2015, Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical was invited to the conference, where it presented its major pipelines and ended up licensing out to big

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] GV80 packs in high-tech driving experience, with some unfamiliar functions

Hyundai Motor’s luxury brand Genesis unveiled its first sport utility vehicle GV80 last week, with a goal of selling 24,000 units in South Korea this year. The model will be launched in North America this summer.The Korea Herald had an opportunity to test drive GV80 in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, on the day of its launch on Wednesday. Genesis’ first vehicle based on a rear-wheel-drive platform -- runs on a six-cylinder diesel engine -- which exerts a maximum torque of 60 kilogram-meter

MobilityJan. 19, 2020

SK Biopharmaceuticals CEO promises new drug every other year

SAN FRANCISCO -- Korean central nervous system drug developer SK Biopharmaceuticals’ CEO Cho Jeong-woo vowed to acquire a novel drug approval every two years, speaking to reporters during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 in San Francisco on Wednesday. SK Biopharmaceuticals has so far received two approvals from US Food and Drug Administration; one for sleep disorder treatment Sunosi (solriamfetol), licensed out to Jazz Pharmaceutical and the other for partial onset epilepsy tr

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

[Herald Interview] S. Korea very lucrative market for Rolls-Royce: CEO

Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce sold a record 5,152 cars globally in 2019, up 25 percent on-year. And the South Korean market was “instrumental” in this achievement with the growing popularity of its SUV Cullinan, a top executive said Jan. 7. “It has been an excellent year for our brand, and the South Korean market has seen tremendous growth -- very solid, robust and successful -- and is a market that is very important for our business,” Torsten Muller-Otvos, CEO of Roll

MobilityJan. 19, 2020

Majority of big listed firms have no women on boards

Eight out of 10 listed Korean companies with assets of more than 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) were found to have no women on their boards of directors, showing that the invisible barrier to top management is still strong, data showed Sunday.Local corporate tracker Chaebol.com found that 114 of the 143 listed companies with total assets of more than 2 trillion won had no female directors based on the lists of executives submitted at general shareholders meetings last year. Hyundai Motor, SK

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

S. Korea to spend big on next-generation chip sector

South Korea said Sunday that it will invest 1 trillion won ($863 million) in the next 10 years to nurture the next-generation semiconductor sector.According to the science ministry, cutting edge artificial intelligent (AI) and system-on-chip (SoC) technology, low energy consumption, high performance new devices and ultrafine fabrication processing will help the country to overcome its heavy dependence on memory semiconductors. South Korea has already spent some 1 trillion won in the past five ye

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

Hyundai, Kia tipped to have logged improved earnings in 2019

South Korea's top two automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. -- are expected to deliver improved earnings results for 2019, aided by brisk sales of sport utility vehicles and the weak local currency, industry data showed on Sunday.According to earnings forecasts by brokerages compiled by Yonhap Infomax, Hyundai Motor is believed to have logged a net profit of 3.4 trillion won ($2.93 billion) on an operating income of 3.5 trillion won, which marks a 105 percent and a 46 percent rise

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

Court to check on Samsung’s fulfillment of compliance rules before sentencing Lee

The Seoul High Court said it will take into account the effectiveness of a new internal compliance committee at Samsung Electronics in its ruling on Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong’s jail term, during the fourth hearing of Lee’s retrial on Friday.  The court said it will designate third-party experts to check on the implementation of compliance rules at Samsung, and only successful results will be considered in its decision on the length of imprisonment for Lee in the bribery case inv

IndustryJan. 17, 2020

Korean Air says new loyalty program reflects global standards

Korean Air, the country’s biggest and national flag carrier, is trying to assuage customers ill at ease about a revised plan for the airline’s loyalty program, saying the latest changes reflect global standards, including reasonable benefits for customers in comparison to foreign carriers, according to the company on Friday. The airliner recently uploaded a notice to its homepage to clarify facts about the revision plan for the loyalty program amid strong backlash from customers, inc

MobilityJan. 17, 2020

Mahindra set to inject W230b into SsangYong Motor: sources

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. looks set to inject fresh cash into its cash-strapped South Korean unit SsangYong Motor Co. in a move to seek help from SsangYong's main creditor bank, industry sources said Friday. Mahindra & Mahindra Managing Director Pawan Goenka said the Indian carmaker will make a 230 billion-won ($198 million) investment after obtaining approval from its board during his meetings with SsangYong's labor union and Lee Dong-gull, chairman of the state-run Korea Development Ban

MobilityJan. 17, 2020