LG Uplus to sell payment gateway biz for W365b

LG Uplus Corp., a major telecommunications company in South Korea, said Friday it has signed a deal to sell its payment gateway business to local fintech firm Viva Republica Ltd.Under the agreement, LG Uplus will first spin off its payment gateway business and sell its entire stake in the unit to Viva Republica by the first half of 2020. The company didn't disclose the value of the deal, but the deal is said to be worth some 365 billion won ($314 million).A payment gateway is an online payment s

IndustryDec. 20, 2019

KAI delivers two Surion helicopters to Coast Guard

Korea Aerospace Industries has delivered two KUH-1 helicopters developed based on the Surion to the Korea Coast Guard, the company said Friday. The police helicopters will be deployed to the East Sea and the Korea Coast Guard at Jeju Island on Tuesday and will enter into service early next year. The new helicopters have added a variety of advanced mission equipment to maintain maritime security to crack down on illegal fishing, search and rescue and prevent marine accidents, KAI said. For t

IndustryDec. 20, 2019

Huawei has no plan to do business in N. Korea: exec

Huawei Technologies Co. has no plan to do business in North Korea, a company executive said Friday, emphasizing that the Chinese tech firm is fully committed to complying with international laws and regulations. Karl Song Kai, Huawei's vice president who leads its corporate communications department, said the company has no business ties with North Korea and doesn't plan to start doing business there. "We are not considering doing business in North Korea," Song said at a media event in

IndustryDec. 20, 2019

Hyundai Motor to present new mobility road map at CES 2020

South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor will present its new mobility road map at the annual Consumer Electronics Show 2020, the world’s largest consumer technology conference to be held in Las Vegas next month, officials said Friday.Releasing the teaser image of the human-centered mobility vision, the company envisioned the innovative mobility and consequent changes for dynamic future cities. The upcoming mobility vision comprises three key pillars, Urban Air Mobility, Purpose

MobilityDec. 20, 2019

Grant Hyatt Seoul sold to joint Hong Kong-Korea consortium: JLL Korea

The ownership transition of Grand Hyatt Seoul, a landmark hotel located in central Seoul, has successfully been completed, Hyatt Hotel Corp.’s exclusive real estate selling agent Jones Lang LaSalle said Friday.Acquiring the 41-year-old, five-star hotel building was a consortium led by Hong Kong-based investment firm PAG and Seoul-based Inmark Asset Management.The duo had been picked as the preferred bidder by Hyatt Hotel Corp. in August and signed a stock purchase agreement in October. Bui

IndustryDec. 20, 2019

KT races ahead in 5G streaming games

Telecom firm KT said Friday it will launch a subscription-based 5G cloud gaming service in South Korea starting March, exclusive for its 5G users.The first 10,000 KT users to download the game streaming app will be given a two-month free trial period to play some 50 games on the app. A thumb-sized detachable mini joystick developed by Motion Queen, will be given out to them for free, allowing for an immersive gaming experience without requiring a Bluetooth connection, KT said. The company is the

IndustryDec. 20, 2019

Home transactions up 42.6% in November

Home sales in South Korea rose 42.6 percent in November from a year earlier amid a rise in housing prices, data showed Friday.The number of housing transactions across the country came to 92,413 in November, compared with 65,000 during the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number of home sales in Seoul jumped 85.7 percent on-year to 17,313 in November. It represents a 22.4 percent hike from October. Financial Services

EconomyDec. 20, 2019

BAT acquitted in tax evasion case

The South Korean unit of multinational cigarette maker British American Tobacco and its executives, all indicted on charges of tax evasion, were acquitted by a local court on Friday.The Seoul Central District Court acquitted BAT Korea and two of its executives of tax evasion, citing lack of evidence.BAT Korea, a local unit of the London-based BAT, and its two senior executives in charge of production and logistics, were indicted in April this year on charges of evading tax worth 50 billion won (

IndustryDec. 20, 2019

Huawei eyes more product purchases, investment in S. Korea amid US sanctions

Chinese telecommunications behemoth Huawei Technologies Co. on Friday vowed to beef up its business in South Korea by increasing the purchase of parts for its network equipment and smartphones amid continued US sanctions.Karl Song Kai, head of Huawei's global media and communications, said Huawei also plans to increase its investment in the country, although the company didn't specify target numbers. The Chinese tech firm, the No. 1 telecom gear maker and the No. 2 mobile phone manufacturer in t

IndustryDec. 20, 2019

FTC to closely monitor abuse of chipmakers next year

Korea’s antitrust watchdog plans to set up a chip division early next year to focus on the abuse of market dominance by chipmakers, the chief said Thursday. During a press briefing Thursday afternoon, Fair Trade Commission chief Joh Sung-wook said, “We will closely monitor a chipmaker’s blockade of competitors’ entry into markets that may occur during the transition process into 5G network.” A chipmaker’s blockade is, for instance, to exclude competitors

IndustryDec. 20, 2019

Finance minister vows to boost recovery momentum next year

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that South Korea will spare no efforts to boost economic recovery next year as it seeks to boost corporate investment and consumer spending. "There should be an economic rebound next year to put the economy on a growth track," Hong told a KBS radio program earlier in the day. The nation's economy is expected to grow 2.4 percent next year, following this year's estimated 2 percent expansion, on the back of an anticipated recovery in the memory ch

EconomyDec. 20, 2019

Korea's overseas direct investment falls 5.8% in Q3

S. Korea's overseas direct investment fell 5.8 percent on year in the third quarter due to sluggish investment by the manufacturing sector, data showed Friday.The value of investments made by South Korean companies came to a total of $12.7 billion in the July-September period, compared with $13.5 billion for the same quarter last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The US accounted for the largest share of South Korea's overseas investments, with $2.85 bi

EconomyDec. 20, 2019

S. Korean firm shortlisted for Bulgarian nuclear plant project

The state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. has been selected as one of three potential investors for a nuclear plant project in Bulgaria, according to the Balkan nation's energy ministry on Friday.The South Korean energy firm, along with Russia's Rosatom and the China National Nuclear Corporation, were selected as strategic candidates for the new nuclear energy plant project in northern Bulgaria, its ministry said.The decision was based on the candidates' experience in building nuclear pl

EconomyDec. 20, 2019

S. Korea, China, Japan to hold trade ministers‘ talks ahead of next week’s trilateral summit

TOKYO -- South Korea, China and Japan will hold a trade ministers‘ meeting in Beijing over the weekend ahead of their trilateral summit in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu next week, reports said Thursday.China’s Assistant Commerce Minister Li Chenggang told a press conference that the ministers‘ meeting was set to take place in the Chinese capital on Sunday, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.   South Korea‘s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung

EconomyDec. 19, 2019

Officialdom pressed to join housing bubble-busting drive

Soaring housing prices in South Korea have emerged as the biggest headache for policymakers, and now the country‘s officialdom is under growing pressure to actively join the Moon Jae-in administration’s drive to rein in a hike in home prices.On Wednesday, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said it is desirable for high-ranking officials to sell extra homes they own in Seoul and all but one neighboring areas in order to help stabilize home prices. His remarks came two days after the governm

EconomyDec. 19, 2019

Chief financial regulator urges insurance firms to bolster capital base

South Korea's chief financial regulator on Thursday called on insurance companies to restructure their assets and liabilities while bolstering their capital base ahead of the introduction of tougher global accounting standards for insurers. Under the new rules, set to begin in 2022, insurers' liabilities will be assessed on the basis of their market value rather than book value. This is aimed at enabling a fairer assessment of insurers' ability to withstand stress and to have a larger capital ba

IndustryDec. 19, 2019

[News Focus] Korea clings to record-low rate despite unfavorable indices

SEJONG -- South Korea’s benchmark interest rate ranged between 3 percent and 5.25 percent per annum from 2000 to 2008.Though the monetary policy committee of the Bank of Korea cut the key rate to 2 percent in 2009 in the wake of the 2008-09 global financial crisis, the figure went into normalization in the early 2010s to reach 3.25 percent during the 2011-2012 period.Most analysts shared the view that the Korean economy had been resilient to negative external factors on the back of its rob

EconomyDec. 19, 2019

GS E&C to develop solar power plant in India

South Korean builder GS Engineering & Construction is set to develop a 300-megawatt solar power plant in Rajasthan state, northwest India, as an independent power producer, the firm said Thursday. An IPP is an entity that builds power plants, runs them for a certain period and recoups its investment.GS E&C said the investment will be made by acquiring a stake in the ISTS-IV 300-megawatt photovoltaic project implemented by Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd., which was founded by India

IndustryDec. 19, 2019

Demand for safer debt still high on hope for further rate cut

Bond prices in South Korea remain relatively strong on expectations that the country's central bank may further cut its policy rate early next year, data showed on Thursday. From Friday through Wednesday, bond yields, which move inversely to prices, fell despite Washington's Friday announcement of the phase-one trade deal with China, which cleared one of the major drags on the global economy as well as the world's financial markets.Over the four trading sessions, the benchmark three-year Treasur

EconomyDec. 19, 2019

S. Korea to sell more long-dated Treasurys next year

South Korea's finance ministry is planning to float more long-dated Treasurys next year, in a bid to finance an increase in state spending, a senior government official said on Thursday.Vice Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said the issuance of long-term state bonds is expected to be raised by about 10 trillion won ($8.6 billion) next year. Koo made the remarks at a meeting with senior economic officials to discuss plans on next year's Treasury bond sales.  "As the supply of long-term bo

EconomyDec. 19, 2019