European biz advocacy group calls for clarity, flexibility in S. Korea's EV regulations

The European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) on Wednesday called for South Korea to consider revising regulations on electric vehicles and several other key sectors to provide more procedural clarity and flexibility in line with international standards. The ECCK made the recommendations to the South Korean government in its latest annual white paper for this year, which contains a total of 96 comments on the regulatory issues across 18 industries, including automotive, energy and environment

EconomySept. 28, 2022

S. Korea's global digital competitiveness ranking climbs to 8th spot: IMD

South Korea's global ranking in terms of digital technology competitiveness climbed to No. 8 this year, the science ministry said Wednesday, citing the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). According to the ministry, South Korea climbed four notches from last year's 12th spot in the 2022 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking report. The country ranked 19th in 2017 and later reached the 14th and 10th spots in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The IMD, a Switzerland-ba

EconomySept. 28, 2022

Seoul shares open lower on recession woes

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, amid lingering concerns over the impact of aggressive monetary tightening in major economies on growth momentum. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 11.98 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,211.88 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.43 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.25 percent. The market has been in disarray, wit

MarketSept. 28, 2022

Sales of top 500 firms jump 39% over 10 years

Sales of South Korea's top 500 firms have soared nearly 40 percent over the past 10 years with the information technology and electronics sector taking up the biggest share, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The combined top line of the leading businesses stood at 3,286 trillion won ($2.3 trillion) in 2021, up 39 percent from a decade earlier, according to CEO Score. The IT, electronics and electric industry accounted for the largest percentage of the total at 17.3 percent last year, up 3

EconomySept. 28, 2022

Recession fears raise concerns on shaky Kospi

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi tumbled to a fresh intraday low Tuesday in 26 months, led by a sell-off by foreign investors pricing in a sharp US downturn prompted by tighter policy to corral inflation. The index pared the losses later the day, adding 2.92 points or 0.13 percent to 2,223.86. In the afternoon, the main board slid to an intraday low of 2,197.90, the lowest level since July 24, 2020, when it reached 2,195.49. Institutional investors purchased net 245 billion won ($171 million)

MarketSept. 27, 2022

Experts talk about utilizing tech for business opportunities

User experience writing, or UX writing, should be an integral part of corporate digital strategies, as it offers an easy solution to produce more effective digital spaces, experts said Tuesday at a roundtable discussion held at Herald Design Forum 2022 in Seoul. UX writing uses easy words and expressions "to architect a comfortable digital interface which ensures users to accomplish what they want,” said Shinhan Card executive Park Kwang-hoon. “UX writing is not a big innovation

IndustrySept. 27, 2022

'Memory downcycle could last until 2025'

  SUWON, Gyeonggi Province -- The memory chip upcycle has already peaked this year, while the downcycle is projected to continue until 2025 in a worst-case scenario, an executive from the US-based market intelligence IDC said Tuesday. Kim Soo-kyoum, associate vice president of semiconductor at IDC, cited a sharp decline in consumer demand and the projected price drop over the course of three years with the introduction of new chip factories and the growing competition in NAND flash industry

TechnologySept. 27, 2022

GS E&C partners with BASF to modularize carbon capture solution

GS Engineering and Construction has partnered up with German chemical giant BASF to jointly modularize a carbon capture solution, which would work as the framework for their future projects, the South Korean firm said Tuesday. The latest deal would focus on co-developing and translating BASF’s OASE blue technology -- an optimized large-scale post-combustion capture technology -- into a modular carbon capture solution, according to GS E＆C. OASE blue enables its user to selectively capture

IndustrySept. 27, 2022

[Herald Design Forum 2022] From mobility to personal space, vehicle function continues to evolve

The key function of a car will continue to evolve from being a means of transportation to a personalized living space, said Yoon Il-hun, vice president of HMC Genesis Design Group at the Herald Design Forum 2022 held on Tuesday in Seoul. “As a car becomes a space for living, the purpose of a car will evolve infinitely without boundaries," said Yoon. "This is where we are seeing growing needs from our consumers, and we are focusing on such a key design pillar — the beauty

MobilitySept. 27, 2022

Saemaul Geumgo mulls new branches in Fiji

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives is expanding international cooperation to help alleviate poverty in developing countries by sharing Koreans’ experience of doing so through savings. Under the guidance of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, community credit cooperatives, known as Saemaul Geumgo, were set up in Myanmar in 2017, Uganda in 2018 and Laos in 2020. Currently, 53 branches in those countries have some 13,000 members. Recently, separate federations of co

MarketSept. 27, 2022

SC Bank Korea offers 2.4% for new money market accounts

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said it will offer special interest rates of up to 2.4 percent for as long as 60 days to first-time SC customers who deposit 100 million won or more, up to 2 billion won, in money market deposit accounts. Money market deposit accounts pay interest based on the daily account balance. The bigger the deposit, the higher the interest. The promotional rate is offered to first-time customers of SC Bank Korea who open their accounts by Thursday. The promotion will end wh

MarketSept. 27, 2022

Celltrion’s anticancer biosimilar Vegzelma authorized for sales in Japan

Celltrion’s Vegzelma, a bevacizumab anticancer biosimilar referencing Avastin, has been approved for sales in Japan, the South Korean biopharmaceutical company said Tuesday. According to Celltrion, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Monday granted Vegzelma marketing approval for the treatment of multiple types of cancer including colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer. The latest sales authorization of Vegzelma came after the co

TechnologySept. 27, 2022

Bertis enters Singapore with breast cancer diagnosis product

South Korean biotechnology company Bertis has signed a contract with the Raffles Medical Group to supply its early stage breast cancer detection product Mastocheck, the world’s first proteomics-based blood diagnosis solution. According to Bertis, the two sides on Monday signed a deal to supply Mastocheck to about 30 medical institutions operated by the Raffles Medical Group in Singapore. Bertis said they will work to make Mastocheck available at the RMG’s overseas branches in China,

TechnologySept. 27, 2022

Posco goes all-out to stabilize stainless steel supply

Posco said Tuesday it is making an all-out effort to stabilize the supply chains for stainless steel products after production at its steel mills in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, was hit by a recent flood. In particular, the company plans to covert export-oriented products into those for the domestic market in an effort to prevent a glitch in local supply chains. Stainless steel products were among those hit hard by a recent typhoon, but the company predicted a limited impact, saying they

IndustrySept. 27, 2022

Seoul shares snap 4-day decline amid recession woes

Seoul stocks snapped their four-day losing streak Tuesday amid still persistent woes over aggressive monetary tightening moves in major economies that could lead to a recession. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 2.92 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 2,223.86. Trading volume was moderate at about 478 million shares worth some 7.8 trillion won ($5.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 481 to 381.

MarketSept. 27, 2022

[Herald Design Forum 2022] Former Jaguar designer urges to transform in thinking of cars

Ian Callum, the man behind the British carmaker Jaguar’s renaissance in recent decades, urged designers to transform the way they interpret transportation as a mere object for mobility, saying that the world that is rapidly changing and facing an array of problems that didn't exist before. “Design creates order out of chaos, but chaos is often required as a prerequisite to being creative,” he said, adding that designers today must come with ideas that not only reflect hu

IndustrySept. 27, 2022

Thailand's Line Man Wongnai snaps ups $265m in funding

Global messaging app provider Line Corp. said Tuesday that Line Man Wongnai, its delivery platform operated in Thailand, has raised $265 million in a funding round led by Line Corp. and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC. Other investors in the Series B funding include BRV Capital Management, PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Co., Bualuang Ventures and Taiwan Mobile. With the new investment, Line Man Wongnai's value topped $1 billion, becoming Thailand's largest tech startup unicorn. The

ConsumerSept. 27, 2022

SK chief renews commitment to shared growth with local community

SK Group on Monday launched the Ulsan Forum, a regional communication channel where SK companies, experts, academics and the local community talk about the future growth direction of the city and the provincial economy. The launch comes as SK Innovation marked the 60th anniversary of its Ulsan CLX, the nation’s first oil refinery built in the industrial city, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, back in 1962. Succeeding the annual Icheon Forum launched in 2017 in Icheon, Gyeonggi Provin

IndustrySept. 27, 2022

Brokerages earn W23.6b in short selling fees in H1: data

Brokerages in South Korea raked in a combined 23.61 billion won ($16.5 million) in fees from handling stock short selling in the first half of this year, data showed Tuesday. The amount compared with 29.28 billion won they earned from short selling-related fees throughout last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The Seoul branch of Morgan Stanley earned the largest amount at 6.44 billion won, while the Seoul office of Credit Suisse brought in 3.15 billion won in s

MarketSept. 27, 2022

Asiana to expand flights to Japan as visa-free travel resumes

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest carrier, said Tuesday it will expand flights to Japan from late October on Japan's decision to ease travel restrictions despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan announced last week it will lift the ban on the number of inbound passengers and resume visa-free travel for visitors from specific countries, including South Korea, from Oct. 11. Currently, Japan only allows package tours and requires visas for all visitors in a move to control th

IndustrySept. 27, 2022