Electricity bills to rise to cover Kepco’s snowballing debt

A family of four in South Korea will see electricity bills rise as much as 2,000 won ($1.69) per month in 2022 as Korea Electric Power Corp. decided to raise utility prices 5.6 percent to mitigate its soaring debt accumulated due in part to its aggressive pursuit of renewable energy. According to NH Investment & Securities on Tuesday, the state-run utility will charge 11.8 won more per kilowatt-hour next year, which would allow the company to save costs worth 3 trillion won annually. Des

IndustryDec. 28, 2021

870,000 small business owners quit amid pandemic

Some 870,000 small business owners failed to see out the pandemic in 2020, while their companies’ operating profits nearly halved in the same period, government data showed Tuesday. According to data from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Startups, the number of people working as small business owners fell 13.5 percent, or 871,000, on-year to 5.5 million as of end-2020. The government throughout last year adopted strict quarantine and social di

EconomyDec. 28, 2021

State pensions offload over W10tr Samsung Electronics shares

State pension operators, including the National Pension Service, have offloaded more than 10 trillion won ($8.4 billion) worth of top-cap Samsung Electronics shares so far this year, and instead bought stakes in Kakao Pay, Krafton and Samsung Biologics, data from the Korea Exchange showed Tuesday. They dumped a combined 24.5 trillion won of local shares from the beginning of the year to Monday. This compares to 25.7 trillion won worth of shares offloaded by foreigners in the cited period. Of

IndustryDec. 28, 2021

Companies shift to online kickoff meeting for 2022 amid pandemic

An increasing number of South Korean companies are moving their 2022 kickoff meetings online or replacing them by releasing the CEO‘s message virtually, adapting to the continued coronavirus pandemic.  Before the pandemic, local conglomerates typically held year-end or kickoff meetings by gathering executive members at a large auditorium, with the CEO addressing the company’s new vision for the next year.  But with strengthened social distancing rules as well as transfor

IndustryDec. 28, 2021

Apple hints at submitting compliance plans on in-app payment law

Apple could submit its compliance plans for a new South Korean law that bans app store operators from forcing in-app payment systems on developers, industry sources said Tuesday. The new law went into effect in September, making South Korea the first country in the world to introduce such curbs on in-app billing policies of Apple and Google. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) requested Apple to turn in its compliance plans within this year as it drafted an enforcement decree of the revi

TechnologyDec. 28, 2021

Samsung to showcase startup projects at CES

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will showcase 13 startup projects at the CES trade show next month to introduce their innovations to a global audience and gauge marketability. The Korean tech giant has nurtured in-house ventures under the C Lab Inside program since 2012. In 2018, the firm launched the C Lab Outside program to support outside startups as well. A total of 406 startups have been accelerated under the programs. For the upcoming CES, four in-house ventures are making their deb

TechnologyDec. 28, 2021

Number of small firms rises 4.7% in 2020 despite pandemic

SEJONG -- The number of small companies in South Korea expanded nearly 5 percent in 2020 from a year earlier despite the pandemic, but their profit fell sharply, government data showed Tuesday. The country had 2,902,000 companies with fewer than five workers as of the end of 2020, up 4.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups. The largest number of such companies were retailers and who

EconomyDec. 28, 2021

Number of businesses gains 17.8% over 5 years

SEJONG -- The number of businesses in South Korea rose nearly 18 percent over the past five years as almost all industrial sectors posted gains, data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had a total of 6,013,000 businesses as of the end of 2020, up 17.8 percent from five years earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. One-man operations accounted for the biggest proportion of the total with 79 percent, followed by corporations with 15.4 percent and other establishments wit

EconomyDec. 28, 2021

Seoul court rules in favor of Kyobo Life in legal battle with Hong Kong-based PEF

A Seoul court has rejected a Hong Kong-based private equity firm's request for Kyobo Life Insurance Co. to carry out its obligation with regard to a put option that it has been trying to exercise, the South Korean insurer said Tuesday. The ruling appears to have removed a major hurdle for Kyobo Life's push to list shares on the local stock bourse in the first half of next year, according to company officials. In October 2018, Affinity Equity Partners exercised a put option on 6 million shares

EconomyDec. 28, 2021

S. Korea's oldest coal-fired plant to shut down

South Korea's oldest coal-powered plant will be shut down for good this week, the energy ministry said Tuesday, in line with the government's plan to shift toward renewable energy and to reduce fine dust. Honam Coal Power Plant, located in Yeosu, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, will stop operations Friday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The plant has been in operation since 1973. The closure is part of the Moon Jae-in administration's plan to phase out 10 aging coal po

IndustryDec. 28, 2021

Govt. to lift restrictions on urea solution sales as supply stabilizes

The government will lift restrictions on sales of urea solution as the supply of the essential fluid used in diesel vehicles to cut emissions has been stabilized, the finance ministry said Tuesday. South Korea had struggled to cope with a shortage of urea solution after China imposed export curbs on urea to ease domestic supply bottlenecks. The government has imposed curbs on where and how much of the solution can be sold in a way to ease its shortage. Those restrictions will be lifted starti

EconomyDec. 28, 2021

[Interactive] S. Korean exports of kimchi up 13.8% in Jan.-Aug.

South Korea’s exports of kimchi climbed nearly 14 percent in the first eight months of 2021 on growing overseas demand for healthier food amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed. Outbound shipments of kimchi reached $111.5 million in the January-August period, up 13.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the food industry. In contrast, imports of kimchi shrank 9.7 percent on-year to $86.1 million over the cited period, resulting in

EconomyDec. 28, 2021

S. Korea to cut tariff rates on 90 products in 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea will lower tariff rates on a total of 90 products next year to strengthen competitiveness of small businesses and stabilize prices of key materials, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The number is higher than the 83 items subject to temporary tariff cuts under a tariff quota system this year, according to the ministry. Those products include crude oil, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, sugar, corn, chicken eggs and materials needed to produce batteries, the

EconomyDec. 28, 2021

Seoul shares open lower despite US gains

South Korean shares opened lower Tuesday, bucking the overnight advance on Wall Street amid concerns over the spread of the omicron variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.20 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,994.35 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. US shares advanced on optimism that the global economy can ride out the COVID-19 pandemic and tightening monetary policy. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.98 percent to 36,302.38 and the tech

MarketDec. 28, 2021

Consumer sentiment worsens in December amid virus resurgence

South Korea's consumer sentiment index dropped for the first time in four months in December due to concerns over the resurgence of the coronavirus, central bank data showed Tuesday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came to 103.9 in December, down 3.7 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. This marked the first decline since August when the index fell to 102.5 from the previous month's 103.2. A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pe

EconomyDec. 28, 2021

Electricity demand hits new wintertime high

South Korea‘s electricity demand set a new wintertime high Monday, as the country was gripped by the coldest weather so far this season, the Energy Ministry said.　 Peak power demand had reached 90,708 megawatts as of 5 p.m., as lower-than-normal temperatures led to increased electricity use for heating, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. This season’s first cold wave warning was issued in Greater Seoul and many other parts of the country over the weekend, wi

IndustryDec. 27, 2021

60% of locals say K-fried chicken ‘not Korean’: survey

Six out of 10 Koreans do not think fried chicken is Korean food, or hansik, according to a survey from a public institution released Monday. The results come from a survey conducted by the Korea Food Promotion Institution in October on 1,500 Korean nationals aged between 19 to 69. Respondents were shown 30 dishes commonly enjoyed by locals and asked whether they thought the dish was “Korean” or not. Only 36.1 percent of respondents answered Korean style fried chicken -- without

ConsumerDec. 27, 2021

S. Korea to sell W13tr worth of state bonds in Jan.

South Korea plans to sell 13 trillion won ($11 billion) in government bonds in January, the finance ministry said Monday. The ministry will issue 900 billion won in Treasurys with a two-year maturity, 2.5 trillion won with a maturity of three years, 2.5 trillion won in five-year government bonds and 2.6 trillion won with a maturity of 10 years, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Sales of longer-dated bonds will include 3.3 trillion won in 30-year Treasury notes and 400 billion w

EconomyDec. 27, 2021

EVs not future car anymore -- registration grow 200%

Registrations for electric vehicles jumped to 91,575 units, up 202.8 percent from the same period a year prior by November this year, data showed Monday, suggesting the quick expansion of their presence in the market. Riding on the sustainability bandwagon, more than 100,000 electric vehicles were sold in South Korea and more than 150,000 domestic electric vehicles were exported as of this month, according to Carisyou Data Lab. The Trade Ministry expects registrations to surpass 100,000 when D

IndustryDec. 27, 2021

Online-only banks not accessible for non-Koreans

  For Hiram Piskitel, a 49-year-old American IT project manager at an international company in Seoul, the launch of South Korea’s third internet-only lender Toss Bank in October signaled a change in his personal finance routine. The online bank, operated by Viva Republica, had vowed to offer non-face-to-face banking services to foreign residents. If realized, it would be the first accessible online bank for the roughly 2 million non-Koreans residing in Korea. Hiram’s hopes, h

MarketDec. 27, 2021