GS Engineering ordered to halt operations for 8 months over parking garage collapse

The government on Thursday imposed an eight-month business suspension on GS Engineering & Construction Corp. over the collapse of a parking garage at an apartment construction site in Incheon last year. The land ministry said GS Engineering, along with four smaller consortium partner builders, will be subject to business suspensions over the underground parking garage collapse at the apartment complex site in Geomdan-dong in Incheon, west of Seoul, in April 2023. GS Engineering and its partn

EconomyFeb. 1, 2024

BOK chief voices need to keep restrictive monetary policy for long time

Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong said Thursday that monetary policy needs to stay restrictive for a long time, reaffirming the central bank's commitment to bringing inflation down. Rhee said the BOK's "tightening stance needs to be maintained for a sufficiently long time, checking the monetary policy, inflation and financial stability data of major countries." In a forum hosted by a business lobby for employers, Rhee said a "half-baked" rate cut may provide stimulus to sent

EconomyFeb. 1, 2024

Seoul shares open higher despite overnight Wall Street losses

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday despite overnight Wall Street losses from the US Federal Reserve's indication that it won't likely cut interest rates next month against the hopes of many investors. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 9.56 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,506.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the US Fed held its benchmark lending rate steady for the fourth consecutive time. After the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeti

MarketFeb. 1, 2024

Exports rise for 4th month in January on semiconductor recovery

South Korea's exports moved up for the fourth consecutive month in January as exports of chips rose at the sharpest rate in around six years, data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments advanced 18 percent on-year to $54.6 billion last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports fell 7.8 percent on-year to $54.3 billion last month, resulting in a trade surplus of $300 million. South Korea has been maintaining a monthly trade surplus since June 2

EconomyFeb. 1, 2024

Stage X picked as new operator of 5th-generation network

A local consortium was selected as the new operator of the 28 gigahertz band of the fifth-generation network in South Korea on Wednesday, the science ministry said, becoming the country's fourth mobile carrier. Stage X, a consortium of Stage Five, a communications affiliate of tech giant Kakao Corp., and other unidentified companies, will be the fourth operator of the 5G network. Currently, three major mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- are the country's

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

Samsung C&T 2023 net profit up on construction, resort business

Samsung C&T said Wednesday its 2023 net profit gained 6.8 percent from a year earlier, driven by the strong performance of its construction and resort business. The net profit came to 2.71 trillion won ($2 billion) in the three months ended in December, compared with 2.54 trillion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit was 2.87 trillion won, compared with 2.52 trillion from the previous year, and annual sales fell 2.9 percent to 41.89 trillion won. The trad

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

Integrated labor union of 4 Samsung units to set sail

A labor union comprising workers of four Samsung Group affiliates will officially set sail next month, industry sources said Wednesday. The unionized workers held their first intercompany labor union meeting earlier in the day to make an internal announcement of the union's establishment, according to the sources. The Samsung affiliates are Samsung Electronics's device experience (DX) division, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Display and Samsung Biologics. The integrated u

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

Korean Air merger gets green light from Japan

Korean Air said Wednesday that its planned merger with smaller domestic rival Asiana Airlines has gained approval from Japan’s antitrust regulator, with only two crucial decisions left to come from the European Union and the US. According to the airline, the Japan Fair Trade Commission approved the deal worth 1.8 trillion won ($1.34 billion), the process of which has been being delayed for over three years amid monopoly concerns by foreign authorities. The high-profile merger has receive

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

Samyang Foods posts record sales of W1tr in 2023

South Korean food manufacturer Samyang Foods said Wednesday it posted 1.19 trillion won ($893 million) in sales and 146.8 billion won in operating profit last year -- the highest figures in the company's history. According to the company, its sales and operating profit rose by 31 percent and 62 percent, respectively, while its net profit increased by 56 percent to 124.9 billion won. Samyang Foods attributed the upbeat sales to its bestselling Buldak Spicy Chicken Ramen series in overseas ma

CompaniesJan. 31, 2024

Posco, ADNOC to produce blue hydrogen in Gwangyang

Posco Group and the United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi National Oil Company will collaborate on blue hydrogen production facilities in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, Posco International said Wednesday. Posco International, Posco Holdings and ADNOC signed a three-way strategic collaboration agreement at the UAE energy group’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Under the agreement, the three companies will build blue hydrogen production facilities at Posco International’s liquefied natura

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

Posco Future M hits record sales in 2023

Posco Future M said Wednesday it broke the record in revenue last year, driven by large-scale supply deals of electric vehicle battery materials. According to the company’s earnings report, annual sales revenue soared 44.2 percent on-year to 4.76 trillion won ($3.57 billion). In particular, sales of the battery materials business skyrocketed 73.4 percent to 3.36 trillion won, with an increase in the supply of cathode products, largely consisting of premium high-nickel products. Anode bat

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

Korea sees W50tr tax shortfall

The Korean government saw its tax revenue fall by more than 50 trillion won ($37.5 billion) in 2023 compared with a year earlier due to a slowdown in the chip industry and a contraction in the property market, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. Korea’s tax revenue totaled 344.1 trillion won for 2023, down 13.1 percent or 51.9 trillion won, from the previous year's 395.9 trillion won, according to preliminary figures suggested by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It was the first

EconomyJan. 31, 2024

Seoul shares fall as chipmakers weighed down after Samsung Electronics earnings

South Korean stocks closed slightly lower Wednesday, hurt by declines in semiconductor stocks after chip giant Samsung Electronics reported its fourth-quarter earnings. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 1.72 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,497.09. Trade volume was moderate at 443.1 million shares worth 8.69 trillion won ($6.50 billion), with losers outpacing winners 525 to 350. Market watchers cited the mixed performance of overnight Wa

MarketJan. 31, 2024

Samsung reduces chip deficit in Q4 on DRAM recovery

Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it narrowed the size of the semiconductor deficit in the October-December period, as a result of its ongoing chip production cut efforts. “As we revised down (the chip output), the chip inventories decreased rapidly in the fourth quarter, especially for DRAM memory chips,” Kim Jae-june, executive vice president in charge of memory marketing strategy, said in the fourth-quarter earnings call. He also said the tech giant will continue cutting its m

TechnologyJan. 31, 2024

[Herald Interview] Almonty to boost security of key mineral supply with Sangdong mine

Almonty Industries, a multinational mining company headquartered in Toronto, expects to reopen the Sangdong Mine in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, and begin operations before the end of the year to offer an alternative source for tungsten, a critical material, according to the firm’s CEO Lewis Black. "I think now we’ve finally got a clear path to reopen the world’s largest tungsten mine,” Black said in an interview with The Korea Herald at the office of Almonty Korea Tu

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

Daewoo E&C, Nigerian Petroleum reaffirm joint project goals

Daewoo Engineering & Construction CEO Baek Jung-wan and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s Group General Manager Mele Kolo Kyari reaffirmed their commitment to their ongoing joint oil and gas projects in Nigeria, a sector vital to the African country's economy, during a meeting at Daewoo's Seoul headquarters on Monday. Daewoo E&C Chairman Jung Won-joo and Nigdel Oil Chairman Joseph T. Penawou were also present at the meeting. Daewoo E&C, with a history in Niger

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

[KH Explains] What’s behind unusual popularity of imported milk in Korea?

Imported milk has been enjoying unexpected popularity in Korea recently, with the import volume more than tripling over the past three years alone. According to the Korea Customs Service, imports of pasteurized milk totaled 3.74 metric tons, worth 41.5 billion won ($31.1 million), last year, up 32 percent from a year prior and a threefold surge from 2020. Almost 90 percent of the imports came from Poland, followed by Australia (4.1 percent), Germany (3.9 percent) and France (2.2 percent). Despit

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

Doosan Bobcat debuts Korea's first hydrogen-powered forklift

Doosan Bobcat, a South Korean compact equipment manufacturer, has commercialized the country's first hydrogen-powered forklift. The development was marked by a first shipment ceremony on Tuesday at the company's Incheon forklift plant. Korea Zinc, which operates the world's largest zinc smelter, is set to be the first customer for the forklift, in alignment with their 2050 decarbonization goals under the RE100 initiative. The 3-ton model hydrogen forklift, equipped with a 20-kW fu

IndustryJan. 31, 2024

LG CNS builds LLM for code generation

South Korean IT solutions provider LG CNS on Wednesday unveiled its own large language model for code generation, enabling developers to mitigate the possible security risks of artificial intelligence. In June 2023, LG CNS first launched "AI Coding,” a ChatGPT-based service that supports code generation for a system, application or service. Developers can ask AI Coding to convert, generate, recommend, and check the errors of codes in line with their requirements. The company had appli

TechnologyJan. 31, 2024

Citibank Korea sponsors climate action conference

Citibank Korea said Wednesday it sponsored the ninth Climate Action Conference, held on the previous day at a hotel in central Seoul. The event was jointly hosted by the Korean chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature, United Nations Global Compact Network Korea and Korea Sustainability Investing Forum. According to the bank, this year's conference was devoted to providing practical guidance for the local companies trying to engage in the global Science-Based Targets Initiative, while intr

IndustryJan. 31, 2024