Korea’s potential growth rate may hit zero in following decade: report

With South Korea’s economic engine sputtering, the country’s potential growth rate may fall to zero in the following decade, a study showed Wednesday. According to research published by the Korea Economic Research Institute, most of the country’s macroeconomic indicators on production, consumption and investment cast a gloomy outlook. The country’s potential growth rate -- the maximum rate Asia’s fourth-largest economy could grow without triggering inflation --

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

Public buses to offer 5G Wi-Fi by 2023

Public Wi-Fi provided in intra-city buses will be getting four times faster as it will be upgraded to 5G network service from the current LTE. Starting with 100 pilot buses, which started boasting faster connections on Wednesday, 29,000 buses nationwide will have 5G connections by 2023, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The speed of Wi-Fi currently available on public buses has a maximum speed of 100Mbps as it relies on LTE networks. It will increase to 400Mbps with the rollout of

MobilityOct. 27, 2021

[News Focus] Outstanding mortgages may top 1,000 trillion won in 2022

SEJONG -- There is a possibility that the outstanding mortgages in the nation will surpass 1,000 trillion won ($856 billion) for the first time as early as in the first half of next year, given the current growth pace. The outstanding mortgage loans -- issued to households for home purchase by financial services firms or state-run agencies -- reached the record-high of 948 trillion won as of June, according to the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea. This was a 27 percent, or 207 trillion won,

MarketOct. 27, 2021

S&P raises Hanwha General Insurance credit outlook to stable

Global credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings said Wednesday it raised the credit outlook of Hanwha General Insurance from negative to stable, citing its prospects for future high earnings. The agency kept the insurance company’s credit rating at A, the same as estimates from last year. “We project Hanwha General Insurance, together with Hanwha Life Insurance, to strengthen their abilities to pay off debt through high earnings in the next two years. The affiliates will be abl

MarketOct. 27, 2021

Voices of caution as Cabinet endorses new emissions goal

South Korea’s Cabinet on Wednesday endorsed a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from the 2018 level by 2030, sharply increasing the previous goal, set last year, of a 26.3 percent cut.  In response to the new goal, conservative experts and industry insiders are voicing caution.  At a seminar hosted by the Federation of Korea Industries on Wednesday, Park Ju-heon, professor of economics at Dongduk Women’s University said the energy transition should be

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

AeroK to hire new staff without hair and makeup rules

South Korean low-cost carrier AeroK says it is hiring flight attendants and forgoing any hair and makeup requirements. The Cheongju-based airline, which launched its first scheduled flight earlier this year, said there are also no requirements in terms of academic background, appearance and age in its recent job postings. “We will not be asking for a photo during the document screening process and will only ask for foreign language skills and extracurricular activities during the first p

MobilityOct. 27, 2021

Kia Q3 net jumps on base effect, chip woes remain

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Wednesday its third-quarter net profit rose sharply due to a lack of one-off costs, but chip shortages remain a major concern for the carmaker. Net profit for the three months ended in September jumped more than eightfold to 1.135 trillion won ($970 million) from a net profit of 133.68 billion won in the year-ago period. Operating profit jumped more than six times to 1.327 trillion won in the third quarter from 195.23 billion won a year a

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

Oci Q3 net income up 2829.7% to W177.6b

  Oci Co. on Wednesday reported its third-quarter net profit of 177.6 billion won ($151.8 million), up 2829.7 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 194.6 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 18.1 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 89.9 percent to 888.7 billion won. (Yonhap)

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

South Korea’s housing market on verge of stabilization: fiscal chief

South Korea’s fiscal policy chief said Wednesday that the nation’s overheated housing market is showing signs of cooling down with the government’s tightened grip on ample liquidity amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well as its home supply plans.  “Affected by a series of government measures, including announcements of housing supply plans, benchmark interest rate hike and tougher household debt control measures, an upward trend in housing prices has slowed and changes

EconomyOct. 27, 2021

K-pop agencies likely to join W2tr club on hopes of returning stages

The market capitalization of K-pop powerhouses S.M. Entertainment and JYP Entertainment are anticipated to reach 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) for the first time at the closing bell, amid growing hopes of resuming in-person performances under the “living with COVID-19” scheme. At Wednesday’s closing, S.M. Entertainment’s market value stood at 1.97 trillion won, while JYP Entertainment came to 1.9 trillion won. The entertainment firms refreshed their 52-week high closings

MarketOct. 27, 2021

Fundraising via IPO hits $10b in Korea’s record year

Fundraising activities via a company’s initial public offering rose sixfold by volume in South Korea‘s capital market during the first three quarters of this year over investors’ growing appetite for debutants on the stock market here, data showed Wednesday. The combined IPO proceeds of Korean companies, including special purpose acquisition companies, through the newly-issued shares between January and September came to 11.9 trillion won ($10.2 billion), up 478.3 percent fro

MarketOct. 27, 2021

Non-financial firms see 2020 sales drop for first time in 10 years amid pandemic

Non-financial companies in South Korea saw their combined sales shrink for the first time in 10 years in 2020 affected by an overall slump in consumption amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) analyzed 2020 business performances of about 800,000 non-financial companies, including some 170,000 manufacturers, and found that their total sales contracted 1 percent from a year earlier. This marked the first contraction since the central bank bega

EconomyOct. 27, 2021

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Q3 net profit up 47.3% to W353.5b

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. on Wednesday reported its third-quarter net income of 353.5 billion won ($302 million), up 47.3 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 457.8 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 307.4 billion won a year ago. Revenue rose 20.6 percent to 2.68 trillion won. The operating profit was 5.6 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

S. Korea expected to face longer-than-predicted period of inflationary pressure: BOK

South Korea is expected to be under rising inflationary pressure for a longer-than-predicted period due to the ongoing global supply disruptions and recovering consumption backed by eased antivirus rules, the country's central bank said Wednesday. "Our country needs to closely watch the possibility of a longer-than-expected period of an upward trend in high prices due to the local ramifications from the global supply bottleneck, an increase in consumption from changes in antivirus measures

EconomyOct. 27, 2021

[Herald Interview] 'We send rockets to the moon, why can’t we make plastic-free pads?'

A woman gets through roughly 14,000 period pads over the course of her life, if that’s the menstrual product she chooses.  These disposable pads are about 90 percent polyester -- a type of plastic that is also used to make other everyday items like fishnets, plastic bottles and face masks. As a material, it is versatile and cheap, but it also takes around 450 years to decompose. With more women becoming aware of the global plastic waste problem, more options are being made availabl

ConsumerOct. 27, 2021

8 Harim affiliates fined W3.8b for providing undue biz favors to Orpum

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has imposed a combined fine of 3.8 billion won ($3.3 million) on eight affiliates of Harim Co. for providing undue business favors to Orpum Co., wholly owned by the poultry-processing firm. Those affiliates, including Farmsco, Sunjin, Jeilfeed and other livestock companies, had provided "excessive economic profits" to Orpum by purchasing livestock-related drugs solely from the Harim subsidiary at higher prices than the market price f

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

Population mobility falls for 9th month in September

The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country fell for the ninth straight month in September, data showed Wednesday, as housing transactions decreased amid rising prices. The number of people who changed their residences dropped 8.9 percent on-year to 566,000 last month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The population mobility rate -- the number of those relocating per 100 people -- also went down 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier to co

EconomyOct. 27, 2021

Number of women execs at major firms tops 300 this year

The number of female executives at South Korea's top 100 firms increased in 2021 from a year earlier to surpass the 300 mark for the first time, data showed Wednesday. Those leading companies in Asia's fourth-largest economy had a combined 322 women executives as of end-June this year, up 36 from last year, according to the data from local headhunter UnicoSearch. The figure accounts for 4.83 percent of all high-level seats offered by the major companies. The number of those firms' female exec

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

Govt. to introduce 5G-equipped buses nationwide by 2023

The government said Wednesday that it plans to introduce 5G-equipped buses across the country by 2023, giving citizens access to free wireless internet that is up to four times faster. The Ministry of Science and ICT said 29,100 out of 35,000 city buses across the country will be upgraded with fifth-generation (5G) network service by 2023. The upcoming service will offer an internet speed of 400 megabits per second (Mbps), which is up to four times faster than the LTE Wi-Fi connection currently

TechnologyOct. 27, 2021

S. Korea to take 'all possible' steps to stabilize housing market

South Korea will take "all possible" measures to stabilize the real estate market as it sees the pace of home price growth slowing down, the finance ministry said Wednesday. The government has announced dozens of comprehensive packages to supply homes, curb speculative home transactions and stabilize rising property prices over the past four years. Still, the regulations failed to tame runaway home prices. The average price of an apartment in Seoul doubled to 1.21 billion won ($1.03

EconomyOct. 27, 2021