[HERALD INTERVIEW] Public Procurement Service supports SMEs through expo

Some 460 small- and medium-sized enterprises are participating in an annual expo to market their technologies and products to large companies, public institutions and foreign buyers from Wednesday through Friday. The Korea Public Procurement Expo 2022, organized by the Public Procurement Service and held at Halls 3, 4 and 5 of the Korea International Exhibition Center 1 at Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, will help Korean companies that suffered amid the pandemic stretch their wings in the market tha

IndustryApril 12, 2022

Samsung's financial affiliates to launch integrated platform, brand

Financial affiliates of Samsung Group, South Korea's top conglomerate, on Tuesday said they will launch a new integrated brand and unified platform to secure a larger pool of customers from the MZ generation. Named Monimo, the single platform, which will house five financial affiliates, including Samsung Life Insurance Co. and Samsung Securities Co., will provide various services. The platform will go into operation Thursday. Additionally, the affiliates said they will launch a new and unified b

IndustryApril 12, 2022

AMRO maintains 2022 growth outlook for S. Korean economy at 3%

An economic surveillance organization in Asia on Tuesday maintained its 2022 growth outlook for the South Korean economy at 3 percent, citing improving private spending despite heightened external economic risks. The projection by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) remains unchanged from its January estimate and is in line with the 3 percent growth estimates by the Bank of Korea and the International Monetary Fund. The Singapore-based international organization forecast Asia's four

EconomyApril 12, 2022

Market watchers divided over BOK's rate-setting meeting this week: poll

Market watchers are sharply divided over whether the Bank of Korea (BOK) will raise its key policy rate this week amid persistent worries over inflation that has been under growing upward pressure from surging oil and commodity prices, a poll showed Tuesday. The BOK is set to hold a rate-setting meeting Thursday. In February, the central bank froze its policy interest rate at 1.25 percent after hiking it by a combined 0.75 percentage point since August last year. According to the poll of 100 b

EconomyApril 12, 2022

Hankook Tire supplies tires for Mercedes-Benz's S-Class sedan

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, said Tuesday it started supplying tires for Mercedes-Benz's S-Class sedan last year. Hankook Tire has been providing the high-performance tires, including Ventus S1 Evo3 and Ventus S1 Evo3 run-flat products, since early last year in the form of original equipment (OE) products for the luxury sedan, the company said in a statement. To enhance its global brand image, the tiremaker has provided its OE tire products for

IndustryApril 12, 2022

Hyundai Glovis wins LNG shipping deal from Australia

Hyundai Glovis Co., the logistics unit of Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday it has signed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping deal with Australian energy firm Woodside. Hyundai Glovis has ordered a local shipbuilder to build an LNG ship to transport LNG for Woodside. Once the ship is delivered in late 2024, the company will begin shipping, a company spokesman said. Hyundai Glovis is the first Asian shipping company to sign an LNG shipping deal with Woodside. The company said it will

IndustryApril 12, 2022

Seoul stocks open lower amid rate hike, China's economic slowdown woes

South Korean shares opened lower Tuesday as investors remain wary over the US central bank's hawkish monetary tightening stance and China's economic slowdown amid its COVID-19 lockdown. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 9.6 points, or 0.36 percent, to reach 2,683.5 as of 9:15 a.m. Investors fret over potential rapid rate hikes as the US Federal Reserve repeatedly signaled at an aggressive tightening policy to counter inflation. China's continued lockdown in Shanghai ov

MarketApril 12, 2022

Asiana to resume Incheon-Rome route in June

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest carrier, said Monday it will resume the Incheon-Rome route in June to meet pent-up demand amid eased virus curbs. Asiana plans to offer two flights a week to Rome from June 18 and gradually increase the number depending on demand, a company spokesperson said over the phone. The carrier suspended the Rome route two years and three months ago as countries strengthened entry restrictions to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asiana used

MobilityApril 11, 2022

Seoul shares end lower on rate hike, China woes

South Korean stocks ended lower Monday, as investors were worried about the US central bank's aggressive monetary tightening and China's growth momentum amid high inflation and the protracted COVID-19 pandemic. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 7.29 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 2,693.10 points. Trading volume was moderate at around 730.81 million shares worth some 8.71 trillion won ($7.06 billion), with losers outnumbe

MarketApril 11, 2022

Food firms flustered over resurgent kimchi feud

Korean companies exporting kimchi or food containing the Korean spicy cabbage are on high alert after a decades-long cultural feud over its origin has resurfaced online. Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul and a cultural heritage activist, blasted a local bakery chain on Monday for using Chinese word “pao cai,” in the Chinese translation of the name of one of its breads. Starting in March, the bakery has written the Chinese translation of its k

ConsumerApril 11, 2022

Korean Air joins UAM surveillance research project

National flag carrier Korean Air announced Monday that it is taking part in a government-led research and development project of an urban air mobility surveillance information acquisition system. Under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s project, Korean Air will be developing the operating control system and operation simulating system needed for UAM operators, the airline said. The operating control system allows operators to plan, monitor, and schedule flights as well

MobilityApril 11, 2022

Automotive market faces inflation risks

Inflation concerns are growing in the automotive market, raising prices of both new and used cars here. According to a report by the Korea Automotive Technology Institute released Monday, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is adding to ongoing chip supply shortages and resulting in a continuous price surge in cars worldwide. The report predicted that the current inflation in the car industry could be prolonged, as carmakers are likely to face difficulty in securing semiconductors -- among ot

MobilityApril 11, 2022

Samsung Biologics secures W3.2tr via new shares issued

Contract manufacturing giant Samsung Biologics has raised 3.2 trillion won ($2.6 billion) through issuing new shares, allowing the company to secure capital needed for the buyout of Samsung Bioepis’ stake and construction of its fourth plant, officials said Monday. According to the firm’s regulatory filing, some 2 trillion won out of the 3.2 trillion won will be used for buying out Biogen’s stake in Samsung Bioepis and cover expenses of building its fourth manufacturing plant

MarketApril 11, 2022

Fed’s rate hikes to weaken S. Korea’s exports: report

South Korea’s exports, which account for half of the nation’s economy, will likely weaken once the US Federal Reserve starts carrying out additional and steeper rate hikes, a think tank report showed Monday. The report came after minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting released last week indicated officials initially preferred a 50-basis-point rate hike, but instead settled on 25 points, considering the Ukraine crisis. The Fed raised the benchmark rate by 25 bas

EconomyApril 11, 2022

Samsung hires governance specialist in renewed ESG push

Samsung Electronics has recently hired Daniel Oh, a corporate governance specialist who worked for Institutional Shareholder Services and BlackRock, as an executive vice president at its global investor relations team. According to the tech giant’s business report Monday, Oh, 48, started working at Samsung in February, becoming the No. 2 man on the investor relations team. Oh who studied economics at MIT has more than 19 years of experience in investor relations and corporate governance

TechnologyApril 11, 2022

Kumho Tire launches ultra-high performance tire MajestyX Solus

South Korean tire maker Kumho Tire said Monday that it has launched MajestyX Solus, a new ultra-high performance tire targeting the premium vehicle market. The latest tire is a luxury sequel to the existing Majesty Solus, and will be marketed as the tire maker’s flagship product lineup for luxury cars. 　 The tire maximizes brake performance and tread durability by utilizing precise high-dispersion silica compounds, according to the company. This technology minimizes abrasions and allows

MobilityApril 11, 2022

Samsung resumes in-person gatherings, business trips as COVID rules eased

Samsung Electronics said Monday it has eased a set of coronavirus rules for its office in South Korea as COVID-19 infections are on a steady decline. Effective Monday, the tech titan, dedicated to smartphones, consumer electronic goods and semiconductor chips, will no longer be discouraging its staff from going on business trips at home and overseas, holding in-house gatherings and after-work dinners. The new rule will affect over 110,000 employees in Korea. Under the eased rules, up to 299

IndustryApril 11, 2022

Sales of short-term corporate bonds swell 26.8% in Q1

Sales of corporate bonds with maturity of one year or below in South Korea grew 26.8 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Local companies issued 326.2 trillion won ($265.1 billion) worth of such debts, compared with 257.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). But the issuance decreased 5.1 percent from a quarter ago. Short-term bonds refer to those that come due within one year. Sales

IndustryApril 11, 2022

Bond issuance in S. Korea gains in March

Bond issuance in South Korea rose solidly in March from the previous month thanks largely to increased state debt sale, industry data showed Monday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 71.3 trillion won ($58.1 billion) last month, up 4.7 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Sales of government bonds jumped by 8.9 trillion won to 28.9 trillion won in March, with those of special bonds rising by 971 b

EconomyApril 11, 2022

[Graphic News] National brand positively impacts foreign buyers‘ purchases of Korean goods: poll

　Nearly 7 in 10 foreign buyers think that South Korea’s national brand is having a positive impact on their purchases of products from Asia‘s fourth-largest economy, a poll showed. 　According to the survey of 213 foreign buyers, 72.9 percent of the respondents replied that their imports of South Korean goods have been affected positively by the country’s national brand. 　Slightly over 25.4 percent said South Korean products remind them of high quality, followed by reasonable

BusinessApril 11, 2022