Kakao Q1 net swells by over fivefold on gains from Dunamu stock disposal

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Wednesday its first-quarter net profit jumped by more than fivefold from a year earlier, due to one-off gains from the disposal of its stocks in a local crypto exchange operator. Net income reached 1.32 trillion won ($1 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 239.8 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its fourth-quarter net profit in 2021 was 224 billion won. Operating p

IndustryMay 4, 2022

Samsung keeps No. 1 spot on S. Korea's top 500 firms' list

Global tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. retained the No. 1 spot on the list of South Korea's top 500 firms by sales, with 39 businesses newly making the list, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Samsung Electronics, the flagship unit of South Korea's leading family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, remained the biggest company last year, with its top line coming to 279.6 trillion won ($221 billion), according to CEO Score. Leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co., the marquee unit of automakin

IndustryMay 4, 2022

Hyundai, Kia's April US sales fall 18% amid chip shortages

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday their combined sales in the United States fell 18 percent last month from a year earlier due mainly to the prolonged chip shortages. Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 120,731 vehicles in the US in April from 147,700 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data. Hyundai's sales declined 20 percent on-year to 61,668 units last month from 77,523 a year ago, while Kia's dropped 16 percent to 59,063 from 70,177 during the same per

IndustryMay 4, 2022

Foreign reserves down in April for 2nd month on strong dollar

South Korea's foreign reserves shrank for the second straight month in April as the strong dollar resulted in a fall in converted value of non-dollar holdings and the government unloaded the greenback to defend the local currency, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves stood at $449.3 billion as of end-April, down $8.51 billion from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK). This marked the second straight month of on-month declines

MarketMay 4, 2022

Annual EV expo in Jeju kicks off; aims to add UAMs next year

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- The International Electric Vehicle Expo, an annual exhibition of green cars, kicked off Tuesday for its ninth run bringing around 200,000 industry experts and visitors from around 50 countries to the South Korean island of Jeju. While the expo preparation committee had promised to expand the participation of finished car brands this year, only two, Tesla and Polestar, took part in this year’s event. But the chairman stressed that they must also focus on giving S

IndustryMay 3, 2022

Korean Air president urges to scrap PCR testing upon departure, arrival

The president of South Korean flag carrier Korean Air on Tuesday called for lifting rules that obligate passengers to submit PCR test results before departure and on arrival here. Referring to other countries that have entirely scrapped COVID testing for travelers from April, Woo Ki-hong, the president of Korea Air, said the South Korean government has hampered local air carriers’ efforts in resuming their international operations. “Other airlines have expanded up to the 90 percent

IndustryMay 3, 2022

Consumer price growth hits 13-year high in April

SEJONG -- Korea’s consumer prices climbed the fastest in more than 13 years last month in the wake of a spike in international raw materials prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as sharply rising global demand for goods, state data showed Tuesday. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices rose 4.8 percent last month, compared to a year earlier. This marked the highest since October 2008, when the same figure of 4.8 percent was reported. The surge came despite a Ba

EconomyMay 3, 2022

New tech, new war: Naver, Kakao race for AI dominance

With digital technology becoming the key drivers for growth across industries, South Korea’s tech behemoths Naver and Kakao are going all-in to win the tech war using artificial intelligence through AI-powered search engines and logistics solutions businesses. Naver announced Tuesday it has made upgrades to its AI search engine, called “Airsearch,” now offering more optimized search results for users. “Since the Naver mobile app has access to users’ personal info

TechnologyMay 3, 2022

Seoul shares end slightly down amid market uncertainty ahead of Fed meeting

South Korean stocks finished slightly lower Tuesday amid inflation woes and uncertainty over this week's US Federal Reserve meeting. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 6.99 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 2,680.46. Trading volume was moderate at about 869 million shares worth some 9 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 475 to 368. Institutions sold a net 214 billion won, while foreign and reta

MarketMay 3, 2022

[Photo News] Bank while you shop

KB Kookmin Bank opened a unmanned branch within top retailer Emart‘s No Brand store in Express Bus Terminal in Seoul on Tuesday. The branch, launched in partnership with Emart, connects users with bank tellers through video calls and provides basic services including wiring, issuance of debit cards and more.

IndustryMay 3, 2022

Korean scientists develop world’s 1st photothermal filters that kill coronavirus

South Korean scientists have developed the world’s first photothermal-effect-based high efficiency particulate air filter -- also known as HEPA filter -- that can take out 99.9 percent of influenza and COVID-19 viruses, the Korea Institute of Energy Research said Tuesday. The photothermal effect, which refers to the mechanism of how a substance absorbs light energy and turns it into heat energy, is used in various areas such as drug delivery, cell death, sensor and solar battery. The re

TechnologyMay 3, 2022

NFTs: Korean companies' latest marketing tool

Non-fungible tokens have become the latest marketing tool by South Korean companies, as many of them are issuing the digital asset to garner attention from young customers. Hyundai Motor said Tuesday it will launch a new collection of 10,000 Shooting Star NFTs on May 9 through its NFT marketplace. The collection is a sequel to a short film released last month by the carmaker and Meta Kongz, a local blockchain technology platform company and the creator of an NFT brand of the same name. The la

TechnologyMay 3, 2022

Korea to tighten measures for ESS safety as batteries catch fire

The Energy Ministry on Tuesday proposed a new set of tightened measures to prevent lithium-ion batteries mounted on energy storage systems in South Korea from catching fire. The government will seek to revise the law to force battery vendors in Korea to make sure that the ESS field has ground-fault detectors to prevent current flow from running on the ground, a fire extinguishing system and devices to mitigate the internal pressure of a battery cell, in the event of a thermal runaway where the

TechnologyMay 3, 2022

Kakao Games Q1 net profit up 54% thanks to 'Odin,' better cost management

Kakao Games Corp., the gaming unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp., reported Tuesday its first-quarter net profit rose 54.2 percent on-year to 28.3 billion won ($22.3 million) thanks to the popularity of its mobile title "Odin Valhalla Rising" and improved cost management. Operating profit spiked 169.7 percent on-year to 42.1 billion won in the January-March period, while sales rose 104.7 percent to 266.3 billion won, according to a regulatory filing. A Kakao Games official sa

IndustryMay 3, 2022

Seoul shares edge higher amid market uncertainty ahead of Fed meeting

South Korean shares edged higher Tuesday, tracking a cue from overnight Wall Street gains, amid market uncertainty ahead of this week's US Federal Reserve meeting. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.20 points, or 0.01 percent, to trade at 2,687.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by half a percentage point this week, kicking off a series of aggressive rate hikes to tackle the highest inflation in decades. Overnig

MarketMay 3, 2022

KakaoBank's Q1 earnings jump 43.2% on increased customers

KakaoBank Corp., a South Korean internet-only bank, Tuesday reported a 43.2 percent jump in its first-quarter earnings as its customer base continued to expand amid the coronavirus pandemic. Net income came to 66.80 billion won (US$52.8 million) in the January-March period, compared with 46.66 billon won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit also surged 63.8 percent on-year to a record quarterly high of 88.41 billion won, with sales advancing 50.5 perc

IndustryMay 3, 2022

IT service provider LG CNS begins IPO process

South Korean information technology service provider LG CNS has kicked off the process of its initial public offering (IPO) that could take place as early as in the second half of this year, industry sources said Tuesday. LG CNS, a unit of South Korea's No. 4 conglomerate LG Group, sent a request for proposal to major domestic and overseas securities companies the previous day to choose the lead manager of the envisioned IPO. The company is known to have launched an in-house task force to prepar

IndustryMay 3, 2022

Inflation growth hits over 13-year high in April amid soaring fuel prices

South Korea's consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than 13 years in April amid soaring energy costs caused by Russia's war with Ukraine and a rebound in demand from the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Consumer prices spiked 4.8 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 4.1 percent on-year gain in March, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the fastest on-year rise since the same 4.8 percent increase in October 2008, when the country was in the midst

EconomyMay 3, 2022

Experts, businesses discuss building new reality, opportunity in metaverse

Experts and entrepreneurs got together in Seoul Monday to discuss the ways industries in South Korea and the US are enthusiastically embracing emerging technologies required for the metaverse, and the legal framework that is adapting to the new ecosystem in Korea. Taglined “The Rise of Metaverse and What It Holds for the Future,” the Metaverse Forum 2022, co-hosted by The Korea Herald, the nation’s largest English-language newspaper, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ko

TechnologyMay 2, 2022

Toss Bank becomes first Korean digital lender to allow foreigners to open accounts

Toss Bank is now the first South Korean internet-only bank to allow foreign residents here to open an online bank account, the lender said Monday. “Starting Monday, all foreigners here are able to open an account as long as they have their registration card,” Toss Bank said in a statement. Foreigners are offered the same service as locals, according to the bank, which was set up last year, four years after rivals Kbank and KakaoBank were launched in 2017. “For example, the d

IndustryMay 2, 2022