Major firms' economic contribution jumps 20% over past 9 years

Major companies in South Korea have seen their total economic contribution soar 20 percent over the past nine years thanks to their robust growth, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The value of economic contribution created by the country's top 100 firms by sales came to 1,238 trillion won ($950 billion) last year, up 206.5 trillion won from 2012, according to CEO Score. Economic contribution refers to the economic value of a corporation's business activities shared among such interested parti

EconomyJuly 20, 2022

S. Korea's dependence on Japanese materials hits all-time low in H1

South Korea's dependence on Japanese materials and parts fell to an all-time low in the first half of this year, three years after Tokyo's control of exports of key materials bound for Seoul, data showed Wednesday. Imports of Japanese materials, parts and equipment came to US$20.07 billion during the January-June period, accounting for 15.4 percent of South Korea's overall purchase of those goods, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It is the low

EconomyJuly 20, 2022

Work-life balance key to women leadership: Yellen

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said work-life balance plays a key role in shaping a work environment that is appealing to women, who she described as still underrepresented in workplaces, at a meeting with the Bank of Korea’s female workers held Tuesday in Seoul. “Work-life balance is a tremendous problem. I guess it’s a huge problem here, too,” Yellen said, describing having a family while working in challenging jobs as a hurdle for women pursuing a career. The meet

EconomyJuly 19, 2022

Boys go for delivery food, girls go for coffee: report

Among Korean teenagers, female students made purchases mostly at coffee shops while male students spent their money on food delivery and late-night snack shops the most, data showed Tuesday. According to KB Kookmin‘s card analysis of debit card sales, 14 percent of male middle and high school students holding KB debit cards, paid for food delivery and late-night snacks, while 11 percent spent their allowances at hamburger restaurants and coffee shops. The analysis further showed that 19

July 19, 2022

Hyundai Motor, Rolls-Royce team up for air mobility

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday that it would collaborate with global aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce to deliver all-electric propulsion and hydrogen fuel cell technology for advanced air mobility (AAM). AAM is a future mobility concept that integrates transformational aircraft design and flying tech. It has been the Korean carmaker’s recent focus for future mobility business. It created Supernal, an AAM-dedicated company based in US, last year.  According to H

MobilityJuly 19, 2022

Seoul shares edge down amid recession woes

South Korean stocks snapped their two-day winning streak Tuesday, weighed down by concerns about rate hikes and slower economic growth. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 4.28 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 2,370.97 points. Trading volume was relatively small at about 332 million shares worth some 6.3 trillion won ($4.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 573 to 271. Institutions sold a net 145 billion won, wh

MarketJuly 19, 2022

Low-calorie foods show surge in sales

With the fast-growing appetite for low-calorie and healthy food sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, South Korean retailers have seen a spike in their “low-food” products. Low-food refers to low-calorie, gluten-free or non-alcohol food and beverage with fewer artificial additives. E-commerce platform WeMakePrice said on Tuesday that its zero-calorie soft drink sales surged 396 percent as of June. Sales of caffeine-free drinks increased by 96 percent. Among them, barley coffee, a

ConsumerJuly 19, 2022

SK hynix delays decision on W4tr plant expansion

Chaebol groups in South Korea are looking to rethink their ambitious investment plans that were announced earlier this year as fears of a global recession are clouding their business outlook. According to industry sources on Monday, SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, recently delayed a decision on its 4 trillion won ($3 billion) expansion plan for local production facilities. The company had planned to build a new plant, called M17, within its chip-making complex i

IndustryJuly 19, 2022

[From the Scene] Where have all the taxis gone? Seoul's taxi shortage intensifies

A 24-year-old office employee surnamed Park stands with his coworker on the sidewalk next to Tehaeranro in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, after leaving a company dinner at midnight on Tuesday. They both whip out their phones to order a cab on two of South Korea‘s most used taxi reservation apps, Kakao T and UT, but have little luck. A few taxis race past them, but are occupied or blinking with a green display that reads “reserved.” “Using a taxi is almost the only way to get home pa

MobilityJuly 19, 2022

SK Bioscience upgrades vaccine deal with Novavax

SK Bioscience has renewed a contract manufacturing organization deal with US biotech Novavax to produce COVID-19 vaccines targeted at preventing the spread of highly contagious variants such as BA.5, officials said Tuesday. The two firms had signed a CMO deal to produce Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine last year. According to the South Korean company, the renewal will allow the transfer of Novavax’s technology to SK Bioscience, which will then manufacture Novavax’s undiluted COVI

TechnologyJuly 19, 2022

Yellen spends jam-packed day in Korea for stronger economic alliance, wider investment

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged her South Korean counterparts and businesspeople to build stable supply chains with allies and to expand investment during her jam-packed visit to Korea on Tuesday, which buoyed market expectations on forging stronger bilateral ties to fight against economic uncertainty. Starting the day by visiting LG Science Park in western Seoul, Yellen had separate meetings with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho and Bank of Korea G

IndustryJuly 19, 2022

FSC to review removing hurdles on companies owning banks

South Korea’s top financial regulator pledged Tuesday to review lowering the regulatory barriers that limit the industrial sector from owning banks, to accelerate digitalization of the economy and global growth. “The goal of our financial regulatory overhaul is to create a new field, so that leading global players like (K-pop band) BTS can be born in our financial industry,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyeon told a regulatory reform meeting. “We will

MarketJuly 19, 2022

Han Sung Motor promotes online ESG campaign with environmental personality quiz

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, an introspective self-report questionnaire that divides people into 16 types, has been a popular topic of conversation or pastime among millennials and Generation Z in South Korea, as the pandemic gave them more time to introspect. It’s not uncommon to see the young cohort -- those born between the 1980s up to the 2010s -- start conversations with people they meet for the first time by asking each other about their MBTI types – a combination of extra

MobilityJuly 19, 2022

Youth employment jumps over past year amid pandemic

South Korea's youth employment rose sharply in May from a year earlier despite the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Tuesday. The number of employed young people aged 15-29 reached 4.1 million in May, up 196,000 from a year earlier, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. Their employment rate came to 47.8 percent, up 3.4 percentage points from a year earlier. Of the country's youth population of 8.59 million, 51.5 percent were economically active in May, up 2.5

EconomyJuly 19, 2022

DLS sales in S. Korea plunge 40% in H1

The issuance of derivatives-linked securities (DLS) in South Korea tumbled more than 40 percent on-year in the first half of the year, data showed Tuesday, amid new regulations, rising interest rates and a bearish stock market. The country's DLS sales came to 5.7 trillion won ($4.3 billion) in the January-June period, down 40.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository. The amount was also down 25.4 percent from the previous quarter. DLS tracks

IndustryJuly 19, 2022

Yellen tours LG battery facility amid US push for resilient supply chains

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen toured an LG Chem battery facility on Tuesday as the United States is seeking to build resilient supply chains with its allies in an effort to address supply disruptions and tackle high inflation. Yellen visited LG Science Park, a research and development campus of LG Group's eight affiliates, in western Seoul on her first stop of a three-day trip to South Korea. It marked her first trip to Seoul since she took office last year. Accompanied by LG Chem CEO

IndustryJuly 19, 2022

FSC chief highlights need to ease restrictions preventing industrial businesses from owning banks

South Korea's top financial regulator said Tuesday it is necessary to ease a rule that restricts industrial businesses from owning banks, saying that such deregulation could generate mega players like BTS in the financial sector. The government restricts industrial capital from being used to purchase stakes in banks and financial institutions in a bid to make it hard for business owners to take advantage of them as private coffers. Under the rule, businesses can own up to a 4 percent stake

EconomyJuly 19, 2022

Seoul shares open lower on recession woes

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight falls on Wall Street amid concerns about rate hikes and slower economic growth. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 12 points, or 0.51 percent, to trade at 2,363.25 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks retreated on spreading concerns about the aggressive monetary tightening, fanned by Apple Inc.'s decision to narrow hiring and cut costs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.81 percent,

MarketJuly 19, 2022

Regulator holds firm on debt relief plan

South Korea’s top financial regulator said Monday that its plan to help low-income earners reduce their debt burdens does not encourage reckless investments in stocks or real estate, amid criticism that young Koreans who have made losses from such investments could repay debts with taxpayers’ money. “We’re not helping those who have had to cut their losses on stocks and cryptocurrencies to pay for loans (taken out for investment),” Kim Joo-hyun, chairman of the Fin

EconomyJuly 18, 2022

SK E&S to invest W33b in turquoise hydrogen producer in US

SK E&S, an energy unit of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Monday it would invest 33 billion won ($25 million) in a clean hydrogen and materials company in US. Headquartered in Nebraska, Monolith Materials is currently the only company to have successfully commercialized turquoise hydrogen, according to SK. Turquoise hydrogen is a new addition in the hydrogen color charts that emits zero carbon dioxide during its production. Through the investment, SK aims to manage the production

IndustryJuly 18, 2022