Naver Webtoon aims to lead global content market with Wattpad

The Korean digital comics platform Naver Webtoon plans to fortify its foothold in the North American and ASEAN video content market, capitalizing on an extended IP value chain that now encompasses web novel giant Wattpad and the recently launched Wattpad Webtoon Studios. While Naver Webtoon has long developed expertise in adapting Korean webtoons into films, teaming up with Wattpad is expected to expand its presence to the web novel sector. Wattpad, North America’s largest web novel platf

IndustryJan. 27, 2022

Companies brace for new industrial safety law

With the nation’s new industrial safety law taking effect Thursday, companies across industries are bolstering their safety management systems to avoid being the first punished under the enhanced rules.  Under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, business owners or executives at companies with more than 50 employees could face a criminal penalty of a minimum one-year prison term or fines of up to 1 billion won ($835,000) for fatal industrial accidents under circumstances where safet

IndustryJan. 27, 2022

Currency, stocks lose amid Fed’s remarks on rate hike

SEJONG -- South Korea’s stock index plunged and the currency lost its ground versus the US dollar on Thursday, following US policymakers’ stance overnight signaling an interest rate hike in March. The weaker position in the financial indices comes after senior officials from the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Korea forecasted earlier in the day that the hawkish position of the US Federal Reserve on the local capital market would bring limited effects. Fed chair Jerome Powell clar

MarketJan. 27, 2022

KB, Hana, Shinhan recognized in 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index

South Korea’s top banking groups KB, Hana and Shinhan are included in this year’s Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, which recognizes businesses committed to transparency in gender reporting and promoting women’s rights, the firms said Thursday. This marks KB and Shinhan’s fourth consecutive year, and Hana’s first time to be recognized by the GEI. The GEI was expanded in 2022 to represent 45 countries and regions, and 418 public companies across various sectors, inc

MarketJan. 27, 2022

S. Korea's rice consumption hits another low in 2021

South Koreans' consumption of rice hit an all-time low in 2021, but the decreasing rate slowed on the back of a growing demand for home meals amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday. The average South Korean consumed 56.9 kilograms of rice last year, down 1.4 percent or 0.8 kilograms from the previous year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Rice is a key staple food for Koreans, but its consumption has been on a steady decline since 1980 due mainly to changes in diet

EconomyJan. 27, 2022

Retail sales rise over 11% in 2021 amid pandemic

Retail sales in South Korea rose 11.3 percent on-year in 2021 on the back of strong appetite for consumption and growing online transactions amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the industry ministry said Thursday. The combined sales of local offline retailers climbed 7.5 percent on-year from the previous year, and those of online stores grew 15.7 percent, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Department stores showed stellar performance, with their sal

ConsumerJan. 27, 2022

RCEP pact to take effect for S. Korea next month

The mega free trade pact of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will take effect for South Korea next month, the industry ministry said Thursday. In November 2020, South Korea inked the trade deal with 14 other countries -- 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- and the National Assembly ratified the pact in December last year. It will come into force on Feb. 1, 60 days after the government submitte

EconomyJan. 27, 2022

Hyundai Mobis invests $4m in US radar startup

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker, said Thursday it has invested $4 million in US radar startup Zendar to develop autonomous driving technologies. Through the stake investment, Hyundai Mobis aims to develop imaging radar optimized for Level 4 autonomous driving technology, the company said in a statement. Imaging radar extends existing radar's ability beyond detecting bulky objects to recognizing a vehicle's environment more precisely by processing data from radars on t

IndustryJan. 27, 2022

[EXCLUSIVE] Hyundai Motor developing ‘marine’ mobility platform powered by seawater

Hyundai Motor will develop a marine mobility platform powered by seawater by 2023 to replace small and mid-sized diesel ships polluting the sea. The project has been directly reported to Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Euisun. According to industry sources Thursday, the automaker is developing a 15-20 meter-long yacht powered by the firm’s hydrogen fuel cells. The trimaran yacht has three hulls, each of which is installed with equipment to break seawater into hydrogen. Then, hydrogen fuel

IndustryJan. 27, 2022

Taxi sharing to be revived in Seoul after 40 years

Taxi sharing, banned in South Korea for the past four decades, will be revived in a new way in Seoul this week thanks to the development of IT technology, the city government said Thursday. The Seoul government said cab ride-sharing services can be offered legally in the capital starting Friday, when a revision of the taxi industry development law approved last July takes effect. The new law allows only voluntary taxi sharing arranged through online transportation platforms, the government sai

TechnologyJan. 27, 2022

Samsung outpaces Intel in chip sales

Samsung Electronics saw revenue of 94.16 trillion won ($78.36 billion) in its semiconductor chip business alone for 2021, up 29 percent from the previous year, its earnings call showed Thursday, beating its US chipmaking rival Intel‘s full-year $74.7 billion in revenue, released a day prior. It was an all-time high sales record from the chipmaking operation by the Suwon, Gyeonggi Province-based tech giant, outdoing the 86.29 trillion won it earned in 2018. Memory chips alone earned 72.6

TechnologyJan. 27, 2022

Auto exports hit 7-year high in 2021

South Korea's exports of autos rose to the highest point in seven years last year due to the low base effect and strong demand for eco-friendly cars, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments of cars came to $42.6 billion last year, up 23 percent from the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. It marked the largest amount since 2014, when auto exports were valued at $44 billion. The brisk exports came even as Korean automakers suffered

EconomyJan. 27, 2022

Seoul stocks open steeply lower on FOMC results, Russia-Ukraine risk

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Thursday as investors digest the US central bank's policy meeting results and the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 26.94 points, or 0.99 percent, to 2,682.3 points as of 9:18 a.m. Stocks came off to a weak start after the US Federal Reserve chief signaled rate hikes in March. The escalating Russia-Ukraine political tensions also sapped the investor appetite for risky assets.

MarketJan. 27, 2022

Naver 2021 net surges 20 times amid pandemic

South Korea's top internet portal operator, Naver Corp., said Thursday its net profit jumped nearly 20 times in 2021 from the previous year on the back of the non-contact trend amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Naver's net profit reached 16.41 trillion won ($13.7 billion) last year, compared with a net profit of 836.2 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating income reached 1.32 trillion won for all of 2021, up 9.1 percent from the year before. Sales reached a

IndustryJan. 27, 2022

S. Korea to take market-stabilizing steps if needed: official

South Korea plans to take measures to stabilize the country's financial market when needed, a senior government official said, after the Federal Reserve signaled at a rate hike in March to tame inflation. The finance ministry assessed the Fed's monetary policy stance as hawkish, but it said the outcome of the US central bank's latest rate-setting meeting is expected to have a limited impact on the South Korean market. Fed chief Jerome Powell said Wednesday (US time) that it has "quite a b

EconomyJan. 27, 2022

Exports of cars, oil products forecast to be brisk this year

South Korea's exports of cars and petroleum products are expected to grow solidly this year, but the outlook for steel, ships and other key items is gloomy, a poll showed Thursday. According to the survey taken by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), outbound shipments of cars are projected to expand 6.2 percent this year from last year's $46.5 billion. The lobby for South Korea's family-controlled conglomerates attributed its upbeat prediction to improving consumer confidence across the

EconomyJan. 27, 2022

Manufacturers' biz sentiment down for February

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment worsened for February amid worries over sluggish demand from video, communication and equipment sectors, central bank data showed Thursday. The business sentiment index (BSI) for local manufacturers came to 90 for February, down from 92 for this month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers' prospects for business conditions in the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimis

EconomyJan. 27, 2022

Court blocks Namyang Dairy boss from pursuing side deal

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday granted an injunction to local private equity firm Hahn & Co. to stop Namyang Dairy Products from selling a majority stake to a third company. 　 The court ruled that Namyang should cut all ties to Dayou Winia Group. It had attempted to sell a majority stake in a deal reached with Dayou in November last year, effectively freezing out Hahn & Co., with which it had previously agreed to sell the stake. Namyang had tried to fill its key position

EconomyJan. 26, 2022

LG Display says high OLED sales dwarf 2021 market slump

LG Display turned around to profit in 2021 for the first time in three years, buttressed by strong sales of OLED panels for large TV sets, officials said in a conference call Wednesday. The company logged a 2.23 trillion won ($1.86 billion) operating profit for 2021, turning around from 36.47 billion won losses. The figure was slightly lower than the consensus estimate provided by market intelligence firm FnGuide. Its annual sales came to 29.88 trillion won, up 23.1 percent from the previous ye

TechnologyJan. 26, 2022

Hyundai Steel develops premium steel plate for EVs

Hyundai Steel said Wednesday it has developed a premium 1.5 GPa martensitic steel plate to be used on electric vehicles. According to South Korea’s No. 2 steelmaker, the new plate is flatter and has higher crack resistance than any other in the same product category, allowing it to be used on battery containers for EVs, bumpers, and roof sides. Usually, a 1.5 GPa martensitic steel plate is not flat enough and cracks easily due to hydrogen penetration. But Hyundai Steel used a heat tec

IndustryJan. 26, 2022