FSS raids Kakao founder's office over suspected stock manipulation of SM Entertainment

Korea's financial regulator raided the office of tech giant Kakao's founder Thursday in connection with allegations Kakao's executives were involved in manipulating stock prices of SM Entertainment, sources said. According to the sources, a special investigation unit under the Financial Supervisory Service searched Kim Beom-su's office at Kakao headquarters in Pangyo, just south of Seoul. Kakao has been suspected of manipulating stock prices of SM Entertainment earlier this y

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

Worker dies following accident at bakery factory

A worker in her 50s who was injured earlier this week while working at a bakery factory in Seongnam, south of Seoul, died at a hospital Thursday, police said. The accident occurred Tuesday at a bread-making facility operated by Shani, a subsidiary of food and beverage conglomerate SPC. The worker became trapped in a dough machine at the bakery factory after a colleague operated the machinery without proper safety confirmation, according to police. She was promptly transported to a hospital in a

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

[Photo News] World premiere of all-new Santa Fe

Hyundai Motor on Thursday held its world premiere of the all-new Santa Fe via the automaker's YouTube channel. The new SUV underwent a full change from the previous model released in 2018. The H-shaped headlamps and rear lights reflect the carmaker's emblem. The vehicle comes in two types of powertrains -- 2.5-turbo gasoline and 1.6-hybrid engines -- with a maximum of 281 horsepower. (Hyundai Motor Group)

MobilityAug. 10, 2023

Industries upbeat about return of Chinese tourists

The Chinese government has decided to allow group tours to South Korea after a six-year hiatus instigated by diplomatic bickering between Seoul and Beijing, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Thursday said it would lift restrictions on its nationals to travel in groups to 78 countries around the world, including Korea, the United States and Japan. The ban on Chinese group tours to Korea was removed for the first time since it was put in place as

EconomyAug. 10, 2023

Seoul shares finish lower ahead of US consumer price data

South Korean stocks closed a tad lower Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of US consumer price index data that would influence the Fed's rate-setting decision. The local currency fell slightly against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 3.56 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,601.56. Trading volume was moderate at 560.4 million shares worth 11.2 trillion won ($8.5 billion), with winners outpacing losers 486 to 393. Offshore invest

MarketAug. 10, 2023

[KH Explains] Why Nexon shines alone in Q2

Nexon has come out on top in second quarter earnings among major Korean game developers, becoming the only company to post on-year growth in both sales and operating profits during the period. Nexon on Wednesday reported 902.8 billion won ($685.3 million) in sales and 264 billion won in operating profit in the April-to-June period, up 12 percent and 22 percent on year, respectively. The game maker thrived in the second quarter thanks to the success of strong intellectual properties and new title

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

Behind jamboree's halal food efforts

South Korea has bolstered efforts to offer diverse catering services for the World Scout Jamboree, taking particular care to offer adequate halal food options for Muslim Scouts. "Currently, we are aiming to create a halal ecosystem for the remaining 2,160 scouts in North Jeolla Province," said Lee Kwan-youn, the president of the Certified New Halal Industry Association and the CEO of Pacific Korea, a Korean textile retailer. Together with Wonkwang University, a university in North Jeol

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

Doubts deepen over LK-99 superconductor

Skepticism among scientists has been deepening in the past few days over a Korean research team’s discovery of the room-temperature superconductor known as LK-99, after a slew of replication efforts have fallen short. The University of Maryland’s Condensed Matter Theory Center on Tuesday said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, “With a great deal of sadness, we now believe that the game is over. LK-99 is not a superconductor, not even at room temperatures or at ve

TechnologyAug. 10, 2023

[Herald Interview] ‘Empowering women goes beyond representation’

Achieving diversity and inclusion within a company goes beyond merely increasing the quantity and presence of female employees, said Tanuj Kapilashrami, the head of human resources at Standard Chartered Bank. In a country that often ranks near the bottom of global gender equality indices, SC Bank Korea has achieved approximately 30 percent representation of senior female leaders. “In Korea, we've made great progress. I'm incredibly proud of the fact that 30 percent of our senio

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

Hana teams up with Incheon, FSS to support SMEs on ESG efforts

Hana Financial Group said Thursday it signed a fresh agreement with the city government of Incheon and the Financial Supervisory Service to support small- and medium-sized businesses to better respond to calls for environmental, social and governance management. The signing ceremony was held at Hana Global Campus, the financial group’s human resource development center, in Incheon. Chairman Ham Young-joo, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok and FSS Governor Lee Bok-hyun attended the event. "A

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

Hyundai Elevator vows to boost market share in China

Shanghai Hyundai Elevator, the Chinese affiliate of South Korea’s largest elevator manufacturer, has pledged to achieve a 5.9 percent market share in China by 2030, the company announced during its 30th anniversary ceremony held in Shanghai, China earlier today. The anniversary was held in the Smart Campus auditorium located in Geumsan Industrial District, Shanghai, China, with top executives, including Hyundai Group Chairperson Hyun Jeong-eun and Hyundai Elevator CEO Cho Jae-chun, in att

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

Nvidia’s new AI chip to offer boon for Korean chip giants’ HBM business

Nvidia’s newest AI chip utilizing the world’s first HBM3e processor is expected to boost growth for SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, the two chipmakers dominating the still-nascent High Bandwidth Memory market. Nvidia, a leading producer of GPUs based in the US, unveiled Tuesday its next-generation NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper platform at this year's SIGGRAPH Conference, an annual event on computer graphics, held from Sunday to Thursday in the US. The latest chip has been built

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

Posco-backed Senex Energy wins 7 gas supply deals

Posco International, a trading and energy firm under Posco Group, said Thursday that its Australian subsidiary Senex Energy has signed seven consecutive supply deals for natural gas with multiple international companies. Senex Energy has agreed to provide some 133 petajoules of natural gas -- an amount that can produce about 250 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas -- to seven companies, including Australia's leading energy firm AGL Energy, Australian steel supplier BlueScope Steel,

IndustryAug. 10, 2023

S. Korea's fiscal deficit narrows on-year through June

South Korea's fiscal deficit narrowed on-year over the first six months of 2023, data showed Thursday, amid lower revenue and expenditures. The managed fiscal balance, a key gauge of fiscal health calculated on a stricter term, posted a deficit of 83 trillion won ($63.9 billion) through June, compared with 101.9 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. South Korea's tax revenue came to 178.5 trillion won during the cited period, down 39.7 t

EconomyAug. 10, 2023

Seoul shares open lower on Wall Street losses

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 11.42 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,593.7 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.54 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2 percent as investors were cautious ahead of the release of the US consumer price index, slated for Thursday. In Seoul, most big-cap shares declined across the board. Market bellweth

MarketAug. 10, 2023

US policy on restricting China investment to have limited impact on S. Korea: govt.

South Korea said Thursday the latest executive order limiting US investment in some Chinese technology sectors is expected to have only a limited impact on South Korean companies. On Wednesday, the White House vowed to restrict investment in "countries of concern" in certain technology sectors that could pose threats to its national security while adding only China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to the list. The areas include "sensitive technologies and products in the semiconduc

EconomyAug. 10, 2023

SK hynix unveils world’s first 321-layer NAND

SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, unveiled samples of the world’s first 321-layer NAND and next-generation memory solutions for AI demand at a global industry conference in the US on Wednesday. At the Flash Memory Summit, the world’s biggest annual conference for the NAND flash industry running from Tuesday to Thursday, SK hynix showcased its latest NAND flash chips and made public the progress on its development of the industry’s first NAND with mor

IndustryAug. 9, 2023

Korea to unveil medical care plans for pets in Oct.

The South Korean government plans to propose new policies to improve its medical care system for pets amid a growing pet population in the country. The number of households with dogs or cats in Korea came to 6.02 million last year, rising sharply by 65.4 percent from 3.64 million in 2012, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' report at an intergovernmental meeting held Wednesday. According to the ministry, local households spend an average of 60,000 won ($45) p

IndustryAug. 9, 2023

Hyundai Mobis to supply battery systems to VW

Hyundai Mobis, an automotive parts maker under South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group, said Wednesday that it secured a large-scale order for battery system assembly from Volkswagen Group. Although the exact terms of the contract were not disclosed, the Korean car parts maker said the order signifies Hyundai Mobis’ global competitive edge in technology and mass production of electric vehicle parts. The announcement marks Hyundai Mobis’ first overseas contract disclosed to the

MobilityAug. 9, 2023

Seoul shares end 5-day losing streak on dovish hopes for interest rates

South Korean stocks finished more than 1 percent higher Wednesday, snapping the five-day losing streak on hopes that the Federal Reserve's further rate hikes could be over. The Korean won stayed unchanged against the US greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 31.14 points, or 1.21 percent, to 2,605.12, marking the first daily gain since Aug. 2. Trading volume was slim at 460.8 million shares worth 10.2 trillion won ($7.75 billion), with winners beating losers 563 to

MarketAug. 9, 2023