[News Focus] Korea in FTA talks with Asian, South American powerhouses

SEJONG -- South Korea has secured 16 free trade partners -- 12 countries and four trade blocs -- around the globe since it started pursuing bilateral free trade agreements two decades ago.The 12 countries include the US (the world’s largest economy), China (the second-largest) and India (the seventh-largest). The four trade blocs are the 28-member European Union, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the four-member European Free Trade Association and a five-member Central

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Carmakers to launch new models in first half of 2020 to recover sales

Carmakers are rushing to launch new models in the first half of the year -- mainly market-dominating sport utility vehicles -- seeking opportunities to recover sales, according to industry sources.Hyundai Motor’s first-ever Genesis SUV GV80 opens up this year’s new vehicle lineup. The automaker released images of the luxury SUV GV80 on New Year’s Day, raising market expectations for the model set to debut in mid-January.  The three-row SUV from Hyundai Motor’s l

MobilityJan. 2, 2020

Brokerages looking ahead to new growth engines, global markets

Amid a sluggish market and harsher business conditions in 2020, South Korea’s brokerages on Thursday stressed the need to seek new growth engines and market opportunities overseas.Choi Hyun-man, executive vice chairman and CEO of Mirae Asset Daewoo, urged the company’s staff to focus on strengthening global networks, saying globalization was not just about the physical expansion of portfolios but also about striking a solid balance in asset management.“Clients can manage their

MarketJan. 2, 2020

GS’ new chairman stresses corporate agility in 2020

An agile corporate culture and digital capability are key to overcoming economic uncertainties and adapting to new challenges, said Huh Tae-soo, the new chairman of GS Group, in his New Year’s address in Seoul on Thursday. Huh, who replaced his older brother Huh Chang-soo last month, was addressing 150 employees who gathered at his first face-to-face meeting.  In an ever-changing era of trade tensions and digitalization, Heo said that GS Group will focus on consumer needs, foster an a

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Korea's exports tipped to turn around in Feb.: analysts

South Korea's exports will likely rebound as early as February, analysts here said Thursday, citing a much-coveted global economic recovery and improving conditions in China.The country's outbound shipments have shown a turnaround since the fourth quarter of 2019, with the pace of decline slowing to 16 percent, 12.4 percent and 1.4 percent in October, November and December, respectively, according to data from the trade ministry.Overall, exports by Asia's fourth-largest economy fell 10.3 percent

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Samsung pledges to beef up compliance across group

Samsung Electronics on Thursday vowed to strengthen its compliance to related laws and regulations by forming a committee that will supervise its internal structure across subsidiaries.Former Supreme Court Justice Kim Ji-hyung -- who previously chaired a committee to settle a long-standing dispute over work environment and employee issues at the firm -- will lead the in-house committee. While Samsung has been operating an internal compliance system, it decided to reinforce its functions followin

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Time is ticking for KDB to sell life insurance arm

Shareholders of Seoul-based KDB Life Insurance are under intensifying pressure to find a new owner, potentially facing a host of new complex regulations next month when a 10-year grace period expires.　 State-run policy lender Korea Development Bank has yet to find a preferred bidder for the life insurance unit, although Chairman Lee Dong-gull anticipated finding one through an open tender by end-2019.The uncertainty casts doubt on the bank’s sell-off by February, which would otherwise resu

MarketJan. 2, 2020

[Monitor] More people buy food online: survey

More households in South Korea are buying processed food online, with about 80 percent of such families having bought food items at least once a month on average last year.According to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Korea Rural Economic Institute, 16.4 percent of the households bought processed food from online platforms at least once a week, compared to 6.7 percent in 2018. Some 43.3 percent purchased at least once in two weeks, compared to 24.3 per

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Banking groups vow to regain customers’ trust in 2020

With a new year stretching ahead, the chiefs of Korea’s top-tier banking groups underlined the urgent need to restore customers’ trust, defining the latest market situation as a “crisis.”While pointing to external factors such as slow economic growth and low interest rates, they also referred to disputed sales of derivatives-linked funds that led to extensive customer damages last year.“Shinhan should look beyond market ranking and aim for first class in the true se

MarketJan. 2, 2020

GM Korea's Dec. sales dip 8.5% on lower demand

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday its sales fell 8.5 percent last month from a year earlier due mainly to a slump at home and abroad. GM Korea sold 38,818 vehicles in December, down from 42,424 units the previous year, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales plunged 15 percent to 8,820 units last month from 10,428 a year ago. Exports declined 6.2 percent to 29,998 from 31,996 over the cited period, it said. GM Korea launched the US-made Equinox SUV

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Online shopping hits record high in Nov.

Purchases made using the internet and mobile devices in South Korea hit an all-time high in November last year, data showed Thursday, thanks to the popularity of fast delivery and convenient payment options with local shoppers.The total value of transactions made with computers, smartphones and tablets reached 12.7 trillion won ($11 billion) in November last year, up 20.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.It was the first time that the monthly value of onli

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

BOK chief sees modest economic recovery in 2020

South Korea's economy is expected to experience a modest recovery this year, helped by the easing of trade tensions between the United States and China and rising global demand, the country's central bank chief said Thursday."I anticipate that growth and inflation could rebound this year, compared with last year," Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol told reporters, while adding that a sharp increase is unlikely due to global economic uncertainties.Hit by a lengthy US-China trade war and a c

EconomyJan. 2, 2020

[Best Brand] Setting the ‘emotion’: A new approach to branding

Consumers tend to stick to regimens when making purchases. Once satisfied, they remain loyal to a certain product or service, although they might stray from time to time.Consumer loyalty is based on, or goes on to create, brand power, which is representative of the quality, credibility and reputation of the product and ultimately the company. Once a certain brand is continually preferred and consumed, the company seizes a dominant position in the market.Brand equity is the commercial value of co

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

Hyundai Mobis to select outside director for shareholders' rights

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker and a key affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said Thursday it will select an outside director dedicated to enhancing shareholder value.Hyundai Mobis plans to have shareholders recommend potential outside directors and select one of them who will be in charge of protecting shareholders' rights and interests, the company said in a statement. The move is aimed at strengthening the transparency of Hyundai Motor Group's governance structure and

EconomyJan. 2, 2020

Samsung, LG to unveil TVs with new designs, slim sizes at CES

South Korea's top two electronics giants -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. -- are set to introduce TVs with new form factors at the world's biggest tech expo next week as they continue to up the ante to lead the global TV market, industry sources said Thursday. Samsung and LG will exhibit their future TV products at the annual four-day Consumer Electronics Show that kicks off on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada, where more than 4,500 firms from around the globe will showcase their l

IndustryJan. 2, 2020

[Graphic News] Industrial materials, nanotech investments to jump 136% in 2020

　Korea’s public investment in future industrial materials and nanotech will jump 136 percent on-year in 2020, as the country moves to enhance its global competitiveness in cutting edge sectors, the government said.　The sum of 233.6 billion won ($201.2 million), approved by policymakers and experts, follows the passage of this year’s budget by the National Assembly. The focus will be on acquiring original technologies, expanding research and development infrastructure and the creation

TechnologyJan. 1, 2020

Samsung, LG to unveil upgraded AI-equipped fridges at CES 2020

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics said Wednesday they will showcase their new editions of refrigerators equipped with enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, slated to kick off next Tuesday in Las Vegas, US.It is not the first time that they are displaying their smart fridges at the show. But this year, backed by improvements in AI technologies, some upgrades and more convenient features will be highlighted.The most notable change that they h

TechnologyJan. 1, 2020

Korea’s largest messaging app runs into server failure on New Year’s Day

KakaoTalk, Korea’s most widely used messaging app, had a server slowdown around midnight on New Year’s Eve, with some of its users unable to send out New Year’s greetings, according to the app’s operator on Wednesday.  The system error in the KakaoTalk server lasted for some two hours from around midnight. Upon identifying the problem, the company immediately took recovery action, it said. The server was fully restored at 2:15 a.m.During the year-end period, the mess

TechnologyJan. 1, 2020

[News Focus] Will S. Korea’s stock market recover vitality in 2020?

Bucking the trend of major global stock markets which saw some of their best gains in decades, South Korea’s main bourse Kospi remained flat on the last trading day of 2019, unable to pierce the 2,200 points mark. For a decade now, many market watchers expected Kospi to surpass the 3,000 mark, after it topped 2,000 in 2009. Now as we enter a new year, all eyes are on whether it will gain new growth momentum. According to experts, the main bourse is expected to gain vitality this year backe

MarketJan. 1, 2020

Seoul City’s Zero Pay app has zero impact

After its launch in Dec. 2018, Seoul City’s own mobile payment app Zero Pay is now in a very fragile situation and is struggling to make a mark in the local payment industry, data showed on Wednesday. As of Dec. 16, the transactions made through Zero Pay reached 69.6 billion won ($60 million), a mere 0.0076 percent of the entire transaction volume of some 910 trillion won paid via noncash payments. The actual transaction volume of the city’s own payment solution i

MarketJan. 1, 2020