[KH Explains] Why do spinoff IPOs anger South Korean investors?

The market debut of LG Energy Solution last month was literally a festive event, with investors in and out of the country pouring in an astronomical sum of money to buy new shares of the company eyeing to be the world’s top battery maker. But shareholder rights activists in South Korea say that the mega deal was another case in which a split-off was done intentionally to take the battery subsidiary public, a process that undermined the interests of parent company shareholders.

MarketFeb. 4, 2022

Samsung Electronics may face first labor strike over collapsed wage talks

Samsung Electronics could see its first labor strike in the tech giant’s five decades of history after wage talks with labor unions fell apart. Despite months of back-and-forth deliberation, representatives of the unionized workers filed for an arbitration to Korea’s National Labor Relations Commission, a government agency under the Labor Ministry, on Friday at 3 p.m. The move pushes Samsung and its four labor unions to reach a wage agreement within 10 days, which could lead to a

TechnologyFeb. 4, 2022

Seoul stocks surge more than 1% on tech gains

South Korean stocks climbed more than 1 percent on Friday, rising for a three-day winning streak, on the back of tech gains, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 42.44 points, or 1.57 percent, to close at 2,750.26 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 527 million shares worth some 11.1 trillion won ($9.3 billion), with gainers far outnumbering losers 767 to 122. Institutions and

MarketFeb. 4, 2022

[Newsmaker] Consumer prices grow over 3 percent for 4 consecutive months

SEJONG -- The nation’s consumer prices climbed 3 percent or more for the fourth consecutive month, despite the Bank of Korea’s three interest rate hikes between August 2021 and January. Statistics Korea said Friday that consumer prices grew 3.6 percent in January, compared to a year earlier. After the growth breached a 3 percent threshold -- 3.2 percent -- for the first time in more than nine years in October, it rose to 3.8 percent in November and 3.7 percent in December. This mar

EconomyFeb. 4, 2022

Turkey renews SK Bioscience’s vaccine manufacturing certification

SK Bioscience, the vaccine unit of Korea’s SK Group, said Friday the Turkish health authority has renewed a certification for making and exporting vaccines for flu, chickenpox and shingles, paving the way for the company to participate in a vaccine deal bid in Turkey. The Good Manufacturing Practice certification was renewed for the firm’s vaccine manufacturing factory L House located in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, since it was first granted the certification in 2019. In the

IndustryFeb. 4, 2022

S. Korea to sell W4tr of Treasury bills in February

South Korea plans to sell 4 trillion won ($3.33 billion) worth of Treasury bills this month to support its fiscal policy, the finance ministry said Friday. The bills, which have a maturity of 63 days, will be sold in three separate auctions in February, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Treasury bills are usually floated to raise money to cover short-term financial shortfalls and are generally sold with a maturity of less than a year. (Yonhap)

EconomyFeb. 4, 2022

Renault Samsung's Jan. sales more than double on SUVs

Renault Samsung Motors Corp., the South Korean unit of Renault S.A., said Friday its vehicle sales more than doubled last month from a year earlier on robust sales of SUV models. Renault Samsung sold 13,314 vehicles in January, jumping from 6,152 units a year earlier, despite the extended COVID-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales rose 27 percent on-year to 4,477 units from 3,534, while exports more than tripled to 8,837 units from 2,618 on strong demand for its XM3 an

IndustryFeb. 4, 2022

Kia's Jan. sales fall 5.7% on chip shortage

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Friday its sales fell 5.7 percent last month from a year earlier as the global chip shortage continued to affect its production. Kia sold 212,819 vehicles in January, down from 225,733 units a year ago, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales declined 11 percent on-year to 37,038 units last month from 41,481, while exports were down 4.6 percent to 175,781 from 184,252 during the cited period, it said.  Continued chip short

IndustryFeb. 4, 2022

Card spending on course to surpass W1,000tr this year

South Korean consumers are ramping up credit and debit card balances and their spending could exceed 1,000 trillion won ($832 billion) for the first time this year, data showed Friday. South Koreans spent 977 trillion won on credit and debit cards last year, up 10 percent from the previous year. The uptrend in spending has been the norm since 2018, when it totaled at 810 trillion won, according to the Credit Finance Association, a group of local card companies. “COVID-19 is accelerating

EconomyFeb. 4, 2022

Seoul stocks open sharply higher despite Wall Street loss

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Friday, despite overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 33.06 points, or 1.22 percent, to 2,740.88 points in the first 30 minutes of trading. On Thursday (local time), US stocks closed sharply lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunging 3.7 percent amid worries over tightening monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5 percent, and the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.4 percent.

MarketFeb. 4, 2022

Card spending gains 10.3% in 2021 amid pandemic

Card spending in South Korea rose more than 10 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed Friday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards stood at about 977 trillion won ($811 billion) last year, up 10.3 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association. Card spending in Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on a steady increase in recent years with the annualized growth rate r

EconomyFeb. 4, 2022

Inflation growth hits over 3% for fourth straight month in January

South Korea's consumer prices rose more than 3 percent for the fourth consecutive month in January due mainly to high prices of oil products and dining out amid soaring energy prices and a global supply chain crisis, data showed Friday. The consumer prices advanced 3.6 percent on-year last month, compared with a 3.7 percent gain in December, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The country's consumer inflation has increased more than 3 percent every month since October last year

EconomyFeb. 4, 2022

Coffee drinkers get less buzz for their buck as chains up prices

From Seoul to Seattle, the soaring cost of coffee beans is trickling into the cups of consumers. Some of the world’s biggest roasters and sellers of coffee are upping menu prices, having flagged that customers would be paying more as beans began to surge last year. Higher wages and other costs have also added to the rising charge for a daily cup, which is in turn increasing the inflationary pressures coursing through the global economy. Futures for arabica coffee jumped 76% in 2021, hitt

ConsumerFeb. 3, 2022

Lotte, GM bet $11m in EV battery materials startup Soelect

A consortium led by Lotte Ventures, a startup investment unit of South Korea’s No. 5 conglomerate Lotte Group, injected $11 million into Soelect, a North Carolina-based firm that manufactures next-generation materials for electric vehicle batteries. According to the Soelect Thursday, the consortium, comprised of Lotte Ventures, General Motors Ventures and KTB Network, will support the US startup to commercialize its EV battery technology. The startup develops materials that go inside

IndustryFeb. 3, 2022

Tax probe launched over irregular asset transfers to children

SEJONG -- The nation’s tax authority said Thursday that it has launched a full-fledged investigation into people engaging in irregular transfers of assets to their children. The action is aimed at turning up the heat on people, who sought to evade gift taxes by transferring their homes to children at prices lower than those on the trading market, according to the National Tax Service. Over the past several years, more and more homeowners were found to have chosen to give their homes to t

MarketFeb. 3, 2022

Hanwha to supply K9 howitzers to Egypt in record deal

Hanwha Defense announced Thursday that it will export the K9 self-propelled howitzer and other support vehicles to Egypt in a 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion) deal, the largest-ever supply deal for the locally-developed weapons system. Under the deal, the firm plans to supply the K9 howitzers, the K10 ammunition resupply vehicles and the K11 fire control vehicles. Technology transfer is also included in the deal for the local production of the K9. The firm said the first batch of K9 howitzers w

IndustryFeb. 3, 2022

[Subway Stories] Passengers down by 25% last year amid pandemic

Seoul Metro saw the number of passengers drop by 25 percent last year compared to pre-pandemic levels, new data revealed on Thursday. The subway operator said some 1.95 billion passengers used the city’s subway system in 2021, which also connects to neighboring areas such as Incheon and Gyeonggi. The figure stood at 2.67 billion in 2019 and 1.93 billion in 2020, based on the subway lines operated by Seoul Metro. This highlights the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on one of the largest s

MobilityFeb. 3, 2022

Will Sampyo become first to get punished under new industry safety law?

Following a deadly landslide accident on Saturday, the industry is keenly focused on whether Sampyo Industry will become the first company to get punished under the new industry safety law that came into effect last week.  The accident occurred at Sampyo’s quarry in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, on the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday. All three missing workers who were making holes for demolition work were discovered dead this week.  Sampyo is the local manufacturer of con

IndustryFeb. 3, 2022

2 in 3 young Koreans positive about meat alternatives: survey

More than two out of three Koreans in their 20s and 30s feel positive about plant-based meat alternatives and believe that they are better for the environment than animal meat, a survey showed Thursday. According to a survey conducted by Shinsaege Food, 67.6 percent of 1,000 respondents aged between 20 and 39 said they feel good about consuming meat replacements. Some 71 percent said meat alternatives are necessary because they take up less land and water, and produce less greenhouse gas than

ConsumerFeb. 3, 2022

[Newsmaker] Celltrion to supply COVID-19 self-test kits to US

Celltrion USA, the US subsidiary of the Korean biotech firm, said Thursday it signed multiple deals to supply COVID-19 self-test kits worth 400 billion won ($330 million) in the US by the first quarter of this year. The latest deals involve some 10 government agencies and companies, including the Defense Logistics Agency and the e-commerce giant Amazon. Two kinds of test packs will be supplied: DiaTrust COVID-19 Ag Home Test and DiaTrust COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test, both developed in partnership

BusinessFeb. 3, 2022