Shinsegae shares plunge on vice chief’s anti-communist remarks

Retail giant Shinsegae Group saw its shares plunge on Monday as a controversial social media post from the group’s heir and Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin sparked investor jitters. The company’s stocks shed 6.8 percent to close at 233,000 won ($196.23) Monday against the benchmark KOSPI’s 0.95 percent decline. The plunge in stock value comes after Chung made several politically charged remarks in recent months criticizing communism alongside pictures of Chinese President Xi Ji

ConsumerJan. 10, 2022

LG battery arm vows to edge past Chinese rival

LG Energy Solution said Monday that it would soon outcompete its bigger Chinese rival in the global race to develop electric vehicle batteries, amid market anticipation that the South Korean battery maker’s market debut will set a record later this month. “We’ve received more orders. We'll be overtaking our rival. And the market capitalization gap between us -- LG Energy Solution and CATL -- will also shrink. I certainly see opportunities,” LG Energy

MarketJan. 10, 2022

Samsung Fire & Marine, Lotte Homeshopping, Yakult, Korea Post, gain customer satisfaction

  The year 2021 was a prolonged tug of war between struggles in our daily lives brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to return to pre-coronavirus life. But many Korean companies managed to enhance customer satisfaction amid the unprecedented pandemic situation, according to an annual survey by the Korea Productivity Center on Monday. The KPC’s National Customer Satisfaction Index, or NCSI, for 2021 logged 78.1 points, up 1.1 points from 2020 and the highest since th

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

Edison steps closer to SsangYong takeover with court’s approval

South Korean electric carmaker Edison Motors stepped closer to acquiring major stakes in debt-laden SsangYong Motor on Monday, after the two firms clinched a deal following the court’s approval on the same day.  What remains for Edison is the agreement from the two-thirds of SsangYong’s creditors on the financially troubled SUV maker’s rehabilitation plan, undergoing the same process as a decade earlier.  The carmaker has been under court receivership for the secon

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

Former Samsung patent head turns against tech giant

A former Samsung Electronics executive, who led patent prosecutions and litigations representing South Korea-based technology giant, was found to have turned against his previous employer with a patent suit. Synergy IP, founded by Samsung’s former vice president Ahn Seung-ho in 2020, was one of the plaintiffs that filed patent suits with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas since November last year, according to a report by local media outlet Electronic Times

TechnologyJan. 10, 2022

[CES 2022] First Hyundai-Boston Dynamics joint project to come by 2024

LAS VEGAS – Hyundai Motor’s first collaboration project with Boston Dynamics is expected to come by 2024, according to their executives, under the South Korean auto giant’s ambitious goal of creating a better future for humans. At the Consumer Electronics Show last week, Hyundai presented its vision for future mobility, with robots, not cars, taking center stage. Now keen attention is being paid to its collaboration work with Boston Dynamics, the robotics startup it acquired

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

Instant noodle exports break records again

  Korean instant noodle exports in the first 11 months of last year set a new record amid the prolonged pandemic and the popularity of “chapaguri,” a mix of two different instant noodle products featured in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite.” Exports of ramen, known locally as “ramyeon,” in January-November 2021 hit $607.9 million, up 10.6 percent from the same period a year prior. The 2020 total, which was then the highest ever annual figure, was $603.6

EconomyJan. 10, 2022

Seoul stocks retreat amid US rate hike concerns

South Korean stocks retreated Monday, weighed by concerns over the possibility of the US Federal Reserve's faster-than-expected tapering and rate hikes. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 28.17 points, or 0.95 percent, to close at 2,926.72 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 470 million shares worth some 10.2 trillion won ($8.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 615 to 259. Institutions sold a net 500 billio

MarketJan. 10, 2022

Celltrion unveils W100b buyback plan to stabilize stock prices

South Korean biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. on Monday announced a 100 billion-won ($83.3 million) share buyback plan to stabilize stock prices and increase its shareholders' value. Its affiliate, Celltrion Healthcare, which handles overseas business operations, will also repurchase 50 billion won of its shares. The buyback plans are scheduled to start Jan. 11 and run until April 10, the companies said, adding their boards of directors made the decisions. Currently, Celltrion owns 1.32

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

S. Korea to hold annual meeting with IMF on economy, financial policy

South Korea will begin its annual meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week on the country's overall economic situation as well as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said Monday. An IMF team, led by Martin Kaufman, Korea missions chief at the Washington-based organization, will hold a video conference with the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Tuesday before holding similar virtual meetings with officials of the central bank, and other financial and

EconomyJan. 10, 2022

[Newsmaker] Kakao CEO nominee resigns over stock selling

Amid mounting criticism over Kakao executives forging a block deal to sell massive stakes they received as stock options, the IT giant’s next CEO stepped down voluntarily on Monday, leaving the company‘s management ethics in question. Ryu Young-joon, the appointee for Kakao’s next CEO, expressed his will to resign amid escalating criticism over the mass sale of his Kakao Pay shares, the IT giant said Monday. Kakao Pay is a payment platform which made a market debut in November

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

Lee Jae-myung’s pledge to beef up FSS’ power on insurance disputes raises eyebrows

A campaign pledge by ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has sent jitters through the finance sector as he vowed to hand the nation’s financial watchdog stronger legal authority to side with consumers when settling disputes with insurers. The ruling party’s presidential election campaign committee on Friday announced that Lee seeks to ban insurers from not conceding to orders from the Financial Supervisory Service to financially compensate their customers without a &ld

MarketJan. 10, 2022

S. Korea edges rivals in customer satisfaction

South Korea consumers were found to be more satisfied with local goods and services on average last year than their peers in the US, Japan and Singapore, according to the National Consumer Satisfaction Index annually published by the Korea Productivity Center. The index -- an indicator of not only user satisfaction but economic performance of companies, government agencies and the macroeconomy as a whole -- is adopted by a little over 30 countries globally, which use the same metrics to identif

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

Korea outstrips OECD average in per capita GDP for 1st time

SEJONG -- South Korea has surpassed the average of members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in gross domestic product per capita, for the first time, data showed Monday. According to the French-based organization, Korea ranked 18th among the 38 members in GDP per capita with $45,363 in 2020. This exceeded the estimate of the OECD average at $45,182, while the nation had continued to stay under the average for decades. Figures for Korea and the OECD average were $18,

EconomyJan. 10, 2022

KT's IPTV services suffer disruption due to power supply glitch

KT Corp., a major South Korean mobile carrier, said Monday its internet protocol television (IPTV) services were disrupted for nearly an hour, just three months after the company suffered a major network outage. The company's Olleh TV services were interrupted from 10:42 p.m. to 11:40 p.m. on Sunday due to a technical glitch in the power supply device of the signal distributor, according to KT and the Ministry of Science and ICT. Among 304 channels, 205 channels -- including the state-funded b

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

LG joins IBM Quantum Network

LG Electronics said Monday it has joined the IBM Quantum Network as a member to further explore its applications for quantum computing required in the field of artificial intelligence, connected cars, internet of things and robotics. LG Electronics, an electronics arm of South Korea‘s fourth-largest conglomerate, was the latest to take part in the alliance of over 170 entities. Those taking part in the community as a member, partner or quantum hub are given access to IBM‘s quantum c

TechnologyJan. 10, 2022

Samsung’s QD-OLED display certified by SGS

Samsung Display, the display panel maker arm of Samsung Electronics, said Monday its latest quantum-dot organic light emitting diode display technology was certified by evaluation services provider SGS. The QD-OLED, touted as the technology to support next-generation TV picture quality, had received three certifications for True Color Tones, Pure RGB Luminance and Ultrawide Viewing Angle upon performance testing by the Switzerland-based SGS. Samsung Display said in a statement the certificati

TechnologyJan. 10, 2022

Korea Shipbuilding wins ship orders worth W1.3tr

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Monday it has received 1.33 trillion won ($1.1 billion) worth of ship orders. Korea Shipbuilding obtained three separate orders from shippers in Europe and Latin America to build four 16,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container carriers, four 2,500-TEU container ships and one liquefied natural gas carrier, the company said in a statement. The 2,500-TEU and 16,000-TEU container ships will be delivered to the unidentified clien

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

SK Geocentric to build plastic waste recycling factory in S. Korea with US startup

SK Geocentric Co., a chemical materials unit of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Monday it will build a plastic waste recycling factory in South Korea jointly with a U.S. startup as part of efforts to advance its green business. SK Geocentric said it signed an initial terms agreement with Purecycle Technologies Inc., a Florida-based plastic recycling company, to construct a polypropylene recycling factory in the industrial city of Ulsan, about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The sig

IndustryJan. 10, 2022

Sales of short-term bonds swell 20.6% in 2021

Sales of short-term corporate bonds in South Korea jumped more than 20 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Local companies issued 1,243.7 trillion won ($1.04 trillion) worth of short-term bonds, up 20.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). Short-term bonds refer to those that come due within one year, with the minimum amount of 100 million won or more per issue. Sales of general short-

EconomyJan. 10, 2022