Seoul stocks open lower on US tech fall

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, tracking an overnight stock plunge on Wall Street as investors digest the US Fed's recent monetary policy decision. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) declined 4.92 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,001.49 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite shed 2.47 percent over the Fed's move to double the pace of its stimulus withdrawal and projections of three rate hikes next year. The Dow Jones Ind

MarketDec. 17, 2021

[Herald Interview] Korea leads international cooperation on forestry issues

Forests are increasingly seen as the fundamental answer to resolve the environmental problems the Earth is facing. The 26th United Nations Climate Change conference held in Glasgow, Scotland, last month dealt with forests as a major agenda. As countries around the world scramble to reduce carbon emission to tackle global warming, the Korea Forest Service is playing a leading role in the worldwide efforts to save and develop forests, preparing to host the 15th World Forestry Congress in May nex

IndustryDec. 16, 2021

Posco to build lithium hydroxide plant in Argentina

South Korean steelmaker Posco Group is pushing for commercialization of lithium hydroxide with saline water in the lake of Hombre Muerto, Argentina. Posco announced Thursday that it got an approval from the board of executives for an investment project to commercialize lithium hydroxide production with the salt lithium of Hombre Muerto, a salt lake in Argentina last Friday. A total of 950 billion won ($830 million) will be invested for infrastructure and operation of the lithium hydroxide plan

IndustryDec. 16, 2021

Discussion under way for ‘trusted’ 5G network between S. Korea, US: US diplomat

South Korea and the US are discussing ways to cooperate on 5G network establishments for a “trusted” network, said Jose W. Fernandez, the US undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment, on Thursday in Seoul. Touting Korea as a leader in the 5G sector, Fernandez said the US is currently discussing establishing 5G networks with various countries and that South Korean companies will have more opportunities to take part. The remark from the top official came after

IndustryDec. 16, 2021

Hyundai Motor unveils new platform for small mobility

Hyundai Motor Group unveiled its Mobile Eccentric Droid, or MobED, a small mobility platform using cutting-edge robotics technologies, Thursday. MobED has a flat rectangular body with four wheels that can each move independently so its body can remain stable even on slopes and bumpy roads. One of its features is the independent suspension of the wheels, which allows them to navigate a narrow and complex urban environment. MobED’s “Eccentric Wheel” system has three motors att

MobilityDec. 16, 2021

Kia launches localized MPV model in India

Kia Corp., a smaller affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., on Thursday launched the Carens multi-purpose vehicle in India to gain a share in the local family car market. The seven-seat Carens MPV comes with a 1.5-liter diesel engine, a 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine or a 1.6-liter gasoline engine model, the company said in a statement. The 1.6 gasoline model is equipped with a six-speed manual transmission, with the 1.4 gasoline turbo model mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission or

IndustryDec. 16, 2021

Fed’s move to have limited impact on Korean market: officials

SEJONG -- The local financial market will not face a high-level volatility despite the news that US monetary policymakers will accelerate their exit from quantitative-easing, Korea’s senior officials expected Thursday. At a meeting for macro economy and finance in Seoul, officials clarified that their prediction was based on Korea’s preemptive measures, involving hikes in the benchmark interest rate earlier this year. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said that the possibil

MarketDec. 16, 2021

Amorepacific shifts China strategy for sales rebound

South Korean beauty giant Amorepacific is mulling drastically reducing the number of its Chinese stores amid faltering sales, while also ramping up efforts to expand its luxury portfolio and online sales. President Kim Seung-hwan reportedly hinted at a strategic shift in the company’s China business in a meeting with local analysts this week. As of 2019, Amorepacific operated 1,280 stores of five budget brands -- Hera, IOPE, Mamonde, Etude and Laneige -- in China. In 2020 that number fe

ConsumerDec. 16, 2021

[GBF] ‘Metaverse stands as biggest challenge for finance sector’

Integrating the world of finance and the virtual space of metaverse is currently the biggest challenge for the global finance sector, among other tasks in the path towards digital transformation, the chief strategist for Shinhan Financial Group’s digitalization said Wednesday. “The biggest issue at hand for the global finance sector is metaverse,” said Sunny Yi, chief digital officer of Shinhan Financial Group, at The Korea Herald’s Eurasian Economic & Cult

MarketDec. 16, 2021

’High inflation could hinder Korea’s sustainable economic growth': BOK chief

South Korea’s central bank chief expressed concerns of high inflation Thursday, saying it could pose as a major hurdle for the economy’s sustainable growth. “If the sentiment surrounding inflation expectations continues to sour, the ties between wages and inflation could drive up inflationary pressure, as observed in other economies,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a press briefing. “The longstanding high inflation could hinder households’ purchasin

EconomyDec. 16, 2021

Seoul stocks advance for 2nd session on eased FOMC uncertainties

South Korean stocks advanced for a second straight session Thursday amid eased uncertainties from the FOMC meeting results. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 17.02 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 3,006.41 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 397 million shares worth some 8.4 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 416 to 406. Foreigners bought a net 183 billion won, while institutions sold

MarketDec. 16, 2021

Dabang launches non-contact real estate contract service

South Korean mobile realtor app operator Dabang said Thursday it has unveiled a contact-free signing service for real estate contracts, accelerating innovation in the country’s property technology industry. According to the property technology company, the mobile signing service, Dabang Sign, offers users the ability to sign real estate contracts via Dabang’s app. If landlords request to register their houses or apartments with Dabang Sign, the company’s inspection team chec

MarketDec. 16, 2021

SK Inc. invests $50m in US waste-to-fuels company Fulcrum

SK Inc. said Thursday it has joined in on a $50 million investment into Fulcrum BioEnergy, a US-based firm that turns household waste into low-carbon transportation fuels including those for airplanes. According to the holdings company of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, the investment will allow SK Inc. to make a foray into the Korean bioenergy market. SK Inc. is jointly investing in Fulcrum with a Korean private equity fund and did not disclose the exact amount it h

IndustryDec. 16, 2021

Who gets the blame for iPhone 13 call malfunction?

Concerns reignited among iPhone 13 users subscribed to telecoms service provider LG Uplus on Thursday as they were still unable to receive calls or had calls disconnected despite the latest but a belated software update. Angry customers blamed Apple on online communities for posting a notice about its latest software update -- the iOS 15.2 -- more than a month after they demanded fixing the problem. Both the manufacturer and the mobile carrier have also been silent over the defects for over a m

IndustryDec. 16, 2021

[Global Business Forum] ESG, metaverse key to sustainable capitalism: Mirae Asset

Expanding environmental, social and governance investment and building digital businesses make capitalism sustainable, the research chief of Mirae Asset Securities said Wednesday. “It’s all about quality, not quantity, when it comes to growth in capitalism. ESG offers a fresh perspective, while metaverse makes possible a digital world built on private property and a free market, which is the essence of capitalism,” said Seo Cheol-soo, head of research at South Korea’s la

MarketDec. 16, 2021

Samsung rolls out chips for self-driving cars

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has begun mass-producing cutting-edge memory chips for an undisclosed auto manufacturer to power a range of connected features including autonomous driving. The newest lineup of chips includes 2-gigabyte GDDR6 graphic dynamic random access memory chips, as well as 128-gigabyte universal flash storage. Both products are designed to support autonomous driving features, including advanced driver assistance systems. Samsung unveiled the industry‘s first u

TechnologyDec. 16, 2021

Builders' 2020 sales fall for first time in 21 years on pandemic

South Korean construction companies' sales dropped on-year in 2020 for the first time in 21 years due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. The combined top line of local builders reached 396.9 trillion won ($336 billion) last year, down 1.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marks the first on-year decline since the 11.1 percent decrease recorded in 1999 in the wake of the country's foreign exchange crisis. Their domestic s

EconomyDec. 16, 2021

Income gap narrows to record low in 2020 on emergency cash handouts

The income gap between the haves and have-nots in South Korea narrowed to a record low in 2020 on the back of the government's provision of emergency cash handouts amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday. The Gini coefficient measured with disposable income, a gauge of income inequality, came in at 0.331 last year, down from 0.339 the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. A reading of zero means complete income equality, while higher numbers nearing one indicate a widenin

EconomyDec. 16, 2021

Once-popular Cyworld aims to revive past glory with metaverse

Long before the metaverse and cryptocurrency craze, South Korea had Cyworld, the microblogging platform where people used “dotori” digital money to decorate their personal avatars. It didn’t just exist. It was rabidly popular, counting 32 million users out of the country’s population of 50 million at one point. The once-mighty homegrown platform, however, became a relic of the past with the rise of Facebook, Twitter and the like. It suffered a similar fate to MySpace

TechnologyDec. 16, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on eased FOMC uncertainties

South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Thursday, backed by eased uncertainties from the FOMC meeting results. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 25.88 points, or 0.87 percent, to 3,015.27 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks advanced, largely as the FOMC results, particularly the Fed's stimulus withdrawal and interest rate hike, stayed within the market expectation. The Fed said it would double the speed of its tapering of bond purchasing program and

MarketDec. 16, 2021