Job growth continues for 8 months, signaling labor market recovery: data

The number of employed people in South Korea grew for the eighth straight month in October, marking the lowest unemployment rate in eight years and signaling a gradual recovery in the country’s labor market from the effects of the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. According to the data from Statistics Korea, the number of hired workers surged by 652,000 on-year to 27.7 million, showing a continual increase since March. Unemployment was 2.8 percent, down from 3.7 percent last year -- the l

EconomyNov. 10, 2021

[Photo News] New Black Badge Ghost

Rolls-Royce’s latest model in its bespoke cars lineup, the Black Badge Ghost, is unveiled in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, Wednesday.  The new model is a redesign of the New Ghost released last year. It is topped with a 6.75-liter twin turbo V12 engine and boasts a maximum 600 horsepower.  Retail prices start at 550 million won ($423,000).

MobilityNov. 10, 2021

Hugel says will fight Drug Ministry on botulinum toxin case

T he Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday it will revoke licenses of six botulinum toxin products manufactured by Hugel and Pharma Research Bio for failing to obtain due authorization. Hugel, South Korea’s leading botulinum toxin products maker, however, said it would fight the ministry’s move, saying their products, produced for overseas sales, were not subject to the regulation. Under the Drug Ministry’s order, the six botulinum toxin products -- two types of P

TechnologyNov. 10, 2021

Unity to acquire Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital for metaverse opportunities

Unity Technologies, creator of 3D game engine Unity, said Wednesday it will acquire Weta Digital, a visual effects company co-founded by director Peter Jackson, to prepare for the global metaverse transition. Weta Digital worked on movies including “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “Avatar” and “Black Widow.” Under the $1.6 billion deal, Unity will obtain the firm’s technology division, including its artist tools and engineering ta

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

Efforts needed to improve ESG disclosure system: report

   In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea’s financial groups have been gearing up for the so-called “sustainable financing,” centered on environmental, social and governance factors, or ESG, but global ESG experts urged them to make their ESG disclosure system more sophisticated, according to research shared with the Korea Herald report Wednesday. Sustainable financing refers to a bank’s financial services like loans for companies’ sustaina

MarketNov. 10, 2021

GS Caltex to livestream entire auto inspection process to customers

GS Caltex on Wednesday kicked off a livestreaming service where customers can check out in real-time how their cars are being fixed. According to the South Korean total energy company, the service, dubbed Kixx Live, will broadcast auto inspections live through a YouTube channel open exclusively for each customer. Customers can communicate with mechanics on the channel and watch the video again at any time. “Through Kixx Live, GS Caltex mechanics will communicate live with customers,

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

Kepco, six subsidiaries announce complete exit from coal by 2050

Korea Electric Power Corp. and its six power generation subsidiaries on Wednesday announced a gradual but complete exit from coal by 2050. Kepco and the six subsidiaries -- Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Korea South-East Power, Korea Midland Power, Korea Western Power, Korea Southern Power and Korea East-West Power -- together discharged 269.6 million tons of carbon in 2018, accounting for a whopping 37 percent of South Korea‘s total emissions. The seven companies’ carbon neut

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

Seoul stocks dip over 1% amid inflation concerns

South Korean stocks slumped more than 1 percent Wednesday amid concerns about the rising inflation pressure. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) decreased 32.29 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 2,930.17 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 559 million shares worth some 9.5 trillion won ($8 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 807 to 86. Institutions sold net 236 billion won, while retail investors bought 235 bill

MarketNov. 10, 2021

BOK chief to meet economic experts to exchange views on economic conditions

South Korea's central bank chief will hold a meeting with economic experts this week to exchange views on recent economic trends, officials said Wednesday. Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol will meet seven economic experts from major think tanks, including the Samsung Economic Research Institute, at a Seoul hotel Thursday, according to the bank officials. Lee occasionally held the "discussion on economic trends" with experts from various economic sectors, but no such meetings have been

EconomyNov. 10, 2021

Local companies given fewer corporate tax breaks than US, Japanese firms

South Korean companies are given far fewer tax breaks compared to their counterparts in Japan and the US, a report said Wednesday. According to an analysis by the Korea Economic Research Institute, the corporate tax deduction rate in South Korea in 2019 was 8.4 percent, while the rate in Japan was 24.8 percent and 18.6 percent in the US. This means that for every 100 won of tax paid, firms in the US get 18.6 won back and 24.8 won back in Japan, while in South Korea, corporations only get 8.4

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

Posco to create 25,000 youth jobs over next 3 years: govt.

The steelmaking conglomerate Posco has promised to create 25,000 new jobs over the next three years as part of the government's youth job and education support project, the Prime Minister's Office said Wednesday. Posco and its affiliates will hire 14,000 people annually for three consecutive years and run support programs for partners and startups to recruit 11,000 people over that period. The plan was revealed during a partnership announcement event between Posco and the Prime Minister's Offi

EconomyNov. 10, 2021

Hollys Coffee CFO promoted CEO, hints at IPO

Hollys Coffee’s Chief Financial Officer Lee Jong-hyun has been named the new CEO of the coffee chain, its operator KG Hollys F&B announced Wednesday. Lee was named the brand’s CFO last year, when KG Group acquired the franchise to bring it under its food and beverages unit, which is now KG Hollys F&B. “Our goal is not to become the brand with the most stores, but a coffee franchise with a low closure rate. We will strengthen our dessert and deli menus, as well as f

ConsumerNov. 10, 2021

Park Yong-maan retires from his last remaining role at Doosan

Park Yong-maan is stepping down from his last remaining post at Doosan Group, bringing official closure to an era for the country’s 15th largest conglomerate.  According to Doosan, the 66-year-old tycoon has recently tendered his resignation as chairman of the group’s think tank, the Doosan Business Research Institute. It was his last remaining link to the conglomerate, which he ran as chief from 2012 until March 2016.  His two sons who are incumbent executives at Doosan

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

Foreign ownership of Seoul stocks plunges below 28%

South Korea has suffered continuous capital outflows of foreign stock funds amid the recent lackluster performance of the domestic market. Thanks to their selling spree, Asia’s fourth-largest economy has seen a further decrease in foreign ownership, data showed Wednesday. Offshore investors sold a net 31 trillion won ($26.2 billion) of local stocks from January to October, having already surpassed last year’s combined net sales of 24.3 trillion won, according to data from the Financ

MarketNov. 10, 2021

Posco Chemical buys stake in Chinese EV battery material producer

Posco Chemical Co., a unit of South Korean steel giant Posco, said Wednesday it plans to acquire a 15 percent stake in a Chinese manufacturer of artificial graphite anode material as part of efforts to bolster its battery materials business. The decision, reached at a board meeting earlier in the day, enables Posco Chemical to invest 26.1 billion ($22.1 million) in Inner Mongolia Sinuo New Material Technology Co. and participate in the management of the company, the company said in a regulatory

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

S. Korea’s household debt growth slows down, Treasury yields surge in Oct.

The pace of household debt growth in South Korea slowed down in October, while the yields on both short-term 3-year and benchmark 10-year Treasury notes saw gains in the same period, data showed Wednesday. The outstanding household loans extended by banks here gained 5.2 trillion won ($4.3 billion) on-month to 1,057.9 trillion won, Bank of Korea data showed. The gain was less sharper compared with a 6.4 trillion won on-month gain observed in September, an on-year increase of 10.6 trillion won

EconomyNov. 10, 2021

KCCI warns S. Korea’s potential growth rate to drop amid low birth rates

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned on Wednesday that South Korea’s potential growth rate could drop to the mid-one percent range as a result of low birth rates and a drop in labor productivity. In a report released on Wednesday, the chamber’s sustainable growth initiative division said South Korea’s total fertility rate hit a record low of 0.84 last year as it has been also hit with the fastest aging population among OECD members. Combined with a drop in labor

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

HHIH to launch W34b fund for digital health care and biotechnology

Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH), the world's largest shipbuilding group, said Wednesday it will launch a 34 billion-won ($28.8 million) fund to support promising startups in the digital health care and bio industries. The fund will help the company advance into the digital health care market and seek new business opportunities, HHIH said in an emailed statement. HHIH will invest in telemedicine, digital therapeutics, artificial intelligence-based diagnostics and new biomedicine de

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

SHK Smarter 7 develops varnish that inactivates COVID-19

　SHK Smarter 7 said it has developed a varnish that inactivates, or virtually kills, more than 99 percent of the novel coronavirus. 　The eco-friendly paint and varnish producer said that when its Dr. Virus varnish is painted on walls and ceilings, repeated air circulation allows it to inactivate the COVID-19 virus and bacteria in the air. 　The anti-COVID-19 test of the new product was conducted at a bioveterinary research lab of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, which is an internation

IndustryNov. 10, 2021

Tobacco harm reduction policy in spotlight

　The US Food and Drug Administration recently authorized for the first time an electronic cigarette to be sold in the US, drawing attention to a harm reduction policy, which is designed to lessen the negative social or physical impacts associated with tobacco use. 　The US FDA last month issued marketing granted orders to vapor company R. J. Reynolds for its electronic nicotine delivery device and accompanying tobacco-flavored e-liquid pods through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA

IndustryNov. 10, 2021