Yoon & Yang partners with Cadmus to meet new demand for legal services

South Korean full-service law firm Yoon & Yang said Monday it has partnered with US-based consulting service company Cadmus Group to address the new demand for legal services in the wake of Korea’s toughening regulation over occupational safety. The partnership will allow Yoon & Yang to assist Korean companies with identifying risks and help them be better prepared for their disaster response mechanism, Yoon & Yang said in a statement. Under a memorandum of understanding si

MarketNov. 8, 2021

S. Korean minister to discuss cooperation on chips with US

South Korea’s Industry and Trade Minister Moon Sung-wook will discuss measures to strengthen the country’s cooperation with the United States on ongoing supply chain issues, at a time when the US is asking chipmakers to reveal their trade secrets. Minister Moon is scheduled to depart for Washington, DC, on Tuesday, to meet with his US counterpart, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the government said Monday. The list of agenda items includes issues like supply chains, reduction

TechnologyNov. 8, 2021

Amid fast-growing national debt, potential GDP growth to hit near zero

South Korea is expected to see its national debt grow at the fastest clip relative to the size of the economy among major countries, while its growth rate of potential output per capita will fall to the near-zero range without policy changes, according to economic reports Monday. Sparking concerns over a further loss of momentum for the country’s economy, the International Monetary Fund estimated that Korea’s general government gross debt to gross domestic product would increase t

EconomyNov. 8, 2021

S. Korea, Singapore aim to strike digital trade deal this year

South Korea and Singapore agreed Monday to conclude their digital trade pact this year in a move to deepen broader trade and economic ties, Seoul's trade ministry said. The agreement was made during the meeting between Seoul's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and Singaporean Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng held in Seoul. "The two sides agreed to speed up working-level negotiations with a goal to conclude the Digital Partnership Agreement (DPA) within this year, as their talk

EconomyNov. 8, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 2nd day on bio losses

South Korean stocks lost for the second straight session Monday as financial, bio and tech stocks plunged. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 9.07 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 2,960.2 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 551 million shares worth some 10.2 trillion won ($8.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 502 to 352. Foreigners sold a net 122 billion won, while retail investors bought 366 billion w

MarketNov. 8, 2021

[Herald Interview] KidsLoop aims to personalize learning for every kid

Artificial intelligence is on track to fundamentally change education, making personalized learning possible for every child, said Robert Hardman, chief technology officer of KidsLoop. In a recent interview with The Korea Herald, he also said artificial intelligence would be a necessity, not a luxury, in education in just a matter of five years. Hardman cited the example of medicine to explain the process of how AI can personalize education. “Medicine decoded the human genome that the

IndustryNov. 8, 2021

Let automakers enter used car market: consumer group

　A consumer group said on Monday that large automakers should be allowed to enter the secondhand car market where consumers are suffering due to opaque pricing and insufficient after-sales maintenance service. 　Nearly 2.52 million used cars are sold annually in South Korea -- 1.32 times the sales volume of new cars -- and over 55 percent of those sales are direct transactions between individuals. 　The reason direct sales account for a huge chunk of the market is because there is no competitive

IndustryNov. 8, 2021

75% of restaurant owners face labor shortage

Some three-quarters of restaurants say they are experiencing a labor shortage, as young people continue to shun jobs in the service industry while COVID-19 has limited foreign workers from entering the country. According to a report on the labor shortage in the restaurant industry by the Korea Foodservice Industry Research Institute on Monday, 74.9 percent of 207 restaurant owners polled in a September survey said the worker crunch has worsened. Only 4.8 percent said the situation had improved

IndustryNov. 8, 2021

Korbit adopts P2E scheme to upgrade metaverse platform

Korbit, a local cryptocurrency exchange, said Monday that it adopted a “play to earn” scheme as part of efforts to upgrade its nascent metaverse platform. Play to Earn, commonly known as P2E, is a system in which players can gain rewards for playing games within the platform. Korbit’s attempt to incorporate P2E is a move meant to attract not only cryptocurrency traders, but also to reflect growing interest in the metaverse. “In Korbit Town, people without any exposur

MarketNov. 8, 2021

The hits keep coming: 2022 set for parade of blockbuster IPOs

South Korea’s initial public offering market is expected to regain momentum as a number of big players are set to go public next year. But the stock market needs to gain its upward momentum first to revive investor interest, according to investment banking sources and market experts Monday. Some mega deals, such as lithium-ion battery maker LG Energy Solution, local builder Hyundai Engineering, and online grocery delivery platforms SSG.com and Market Kurly, are getting ready for listings

MarketNov. 8, 2021

[Herald Interview] Landmark Seoul hotels become homes, offices

Reeling from diminishing demand for cross-border business and tourism in the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea’s hotel industry has been undergoing a drastic transition in recent months. Landmark hotels in Seoul are turning into residential apartments and offices through redevelopment projects as owners look for a more lucrative business. At the same time, others are looking to upgrade their accomadations to ultraluxury brands, both foreign and local, according to a local real estate profe

MarketNov. 8, 2021

S. Korea to bring in urea from Vietnam

In a bid to ease its urea shortage, South Korea said Monday it plans to import 200 metric tons of the main component of diesel exhaust fluid from Vietnam next week, and fly in an additional supply from Australia. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the government has decided on how much powdered urea it plans to import from the Southeast Asian nation, while adding 7,000 liters to the initial 20,000 liters of solution it seeks to fly in from Australia. On top of all that, it is cu

EconomyNov. 8, 2021

Would insurers pay out if ‘Squid Game’ happened in real life?

The megahit Netflix series “Squid Game” depicts a dystopian world where 456 people compete in a series of extreme survival games on a remote island. The sole winner takes all the prize money, while everyone else bites the dust. In the real world, all the “Squid Game” deaths would be eligible for insurance coverage, according to a local insurance company. The question is whether those death benefits would differ depending on how the player died, it added. According to a

MarketNov. 8, 2021

Korea has sharpest wage growth among midlevel employees in OECD: report

In Korea, wage goes sharply up between the 10th year to the 20th year in employment, due to a widespread seniority-based salary system, a report said Monday. According to an analysis by professor Lee Sang-hee of Korea Polytechnic University, South Korea saw the sharpest hike in one’s salary of 15.1 percent in the 10-year period, compared to other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  The OECD average was a 5.9 percent increase.  Professor Lee

IndustryNov. 8, 2021

Automotive chip shortage to continue until 2023: think tank

The automotive semiconductor shortage is expected to continue until 2023, and the government and related industries should be prepared to handle rising demand, an automotive think tank said Monday. According to the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, or Katech, the global shortage of automotive semiconductors that started around the end of 2020 will continue to affect the global car industry for the first half of 2022. Even after 2023, some companies may still feel its effects. This year

MobilityNov. 8, 2021

Meritz Securities Q3 net swells 17.7% on more fee income

Major South Korean brokerage house Meritz Securities Co. said Monday its third-quarter earnings rose nearly 18 percent from a year ago on increased fee income. Net profit stood at 191.2 billion won ($161.3 million) in the July-September period, up 17.7 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its operating income expanded 15.4 percent on-year to 240.2 billion won in the quarter, and revenue soared 81.4 percent to 6.14 trillion won. Meritz Securities said its third

IndustryNov. 8, 2021

Korea Aerospace wins $360m maintenance deal in Iraq

Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, said Monday it has received a US$360 million repair and maintenance deal for trainer jets in Iraq. In the three-year deal signed with the Iraqi defense ministry, KAI will provide repair and maintenance services for the T-50IQ advanced trainer jets operated by the Iraqi air force as well as training programs for pilots and engineers, the company said in a statement. KAI exported 24 T-50IQ trainer jets to Iraq in 201

IndustryNov. 8, 2021

Asiana to increase flights to Singapore on travel bubble deal

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest airline, said Monday it will increase the number of flights to Singapore starting this month as the two countries recently signed a travel bubble agreement. A travel bubble refers to a quarantine-free travel partnership between two or more cities or countries with similar levels of COVID-19 cases. Asiana has been operating three flights a week -- on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays -- on the Singapore route, and passengers are required to unde

IndustryNov. 8, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on tech, financial slump

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday on losses in financial, bio and tech stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 23.41 points, or 0.79 percent, to 2,945.86 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a weak start amid foreign and institutional sell-offs. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 0.14 percent to 70,300 won, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 2.34 percent to 104,500 won. Hyundai Motor, the country's largest carmaker,

MarketNov. 8, 2021

S. Korea's debt-GDP ratio likely to rise fastest over 5 years: report

South Korea's national debt ratio is expected to gain at the fastest clip among 35 advanced nations over the next five years despite its high financial soundness, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report said Monday. Seoul's ratio of national debt to its gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to reach 66.7 percent in 2026, up 15.4 percentage points from the end of this year, according to the IMF report. The expected growth pace is the highest among 35 nations that the Washington-based inter

EconomyNov. 8, 2021