Korea Herald's The Investor to co-host webinar on digital currencies in Asia

The Investor, the financial news platform run by The Korea Herald, is to jointly hold a webinar on government-backed digital currencies and the future of cryptocurrencies next week. As a co-host, The Investor joins with the Asia News Network, an alliance of 23 national media outlets in 20 Asian countries, to discuss the prospect of digital currencies and their role in decentralized finance in the post-COVID era. The Star of Malaysia, also an ANN member, participates as a co-host of the virtu

EconomyJuly 14, 2021

Korea to add W60tr more to tackle economic polarization by 2025

South Korea will scale up its “Korean New Deal” stimulus package by making additional investments worth 60 trillion won ($52.2 billion) to nurture human talents for future industries, and improve ill-functioning employment and the social safety net, the government said Wednesday. Marking the first anniversary of the launch of the Korean New Deal initiative, President Moon Jae-in unveiled an upgraded version focusing on responses to deepening social inequality and economic polar

EconomyJuly 14, 2021

Seoul stocks snap two-day winning streak on inflation woes

South Korean stocks edged down Wednesday, snapping a two-day winning streak as US losses amid renewed inflationary pressure weakened investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) dropped 6.57 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 3,264.81 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 896 million shares worth some 12.8 trillion won ($11.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 514 to 334. Foreigners sold a net 273 billio

MarketJuly 14, 2021

Revived Cyworld to feature immersive metaverse shops

Cyworld Z, the 2021 revival of the once-popular homegrown social networking service of the same name, will feature immersive virtual shops, utilizing its metaverse platform, in partnership with local retail giant GS Retail. GS Retail signed a business agreement with Cyworld Z at the GS Group headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday for the project. Cyworld Z is a consortium of five firms including Kosdaq-listed Intromedic and Sky E&M, which purchased Cyworld in January this year, in hopes of

TechnologyJuly 14, 2021

Hyundai Motor unveils Avante N, instills motorsports spirit in daily driving

Hyundai Motor unveiled its high-performance Avante N on Wednesday, expanding its N product lineup to present how the motorsports experience can be enjoyed in daily driving. The Avante N has been redesigned from the entry-level sedan Avante, released in April 2020, to a sports car that can be used in daily commutes and travels. Introduced under the name Elantra N for the global market, the new vehicle made its debut on the global stage in a YouTube video uploaded Wednesday morning, showing of

MobilityJuly 14, 2021

Cryptocurrencies in negative territory amid growing investor fear

Cryptocurrencies remained in negative territory for a second day on Wednesday, with investor sentiment indicators hinting fear amid toughened regulations by financial watchdogs across the globe. South Korea‘s digital asset exchange Upbit operator Dunamu’s Digital Asset Fear and Greed Index -- standing at 29.76 on Wednesday, the lowest in 18 days -- showed that investors were gripped by fear for the tenth consecutive day on Wednesday. An index figure between 20 and 40 means market

MarketJuly 14, 2021

LG Chem to invest W6tr in battery materials

LG Chem on Wednesday announced plans to invest 10 trillion won ($8.6 billion) over the next four years in battery materials, eco-friendly plastics and new drug development. “LG Chem is no longer a petrochemical company. More than 30 projects including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic investments are currently under review to reshuffle the business portfolio,” Vice Chairman Shin Hak-cheol said during an online press conference. Nearly 6 trillion won of the

IndustryJuly 14, 2021

Korea’s IPO subscription rate jumps 2.7 times in 2 years amid stock market rally

The book-building competition rate of initial public offerings in South Korea has intensified lately, as scores of investors with a growing appetite for expanding financial assets and abundant liquidity have flocked to make deposits for retail subscriptions, data showed Wednesday. Fueled by a recent bull run from the pandemic-hit market, new shares for IPOs were 1,376.9 times oversubscribed on average during retail tranches in the first half of this year, compared with 509.2 times in 2019, acco

MarketJuly 14, 2021

More convenience stores close after midnight amid rising labor costs

More South Korean convenience stores are staying closed or going cashierless in the hours between midnight and early morning -- a trend industry insiders say is being pushed by a rise in labor costs. According to industry sources, the number of GS25 stores closed between midnight and 6 a.m. accounted for 16.4 percent in 2020, up 2.8 percentage points from 13.6 percent in 2018. Just over 1 in 5 7-Eleven stores are opting to remain closed in the early hours, an increase from 2018 when the figure

ConsumerJuly 14, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding wins W725b order for offshore platform

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Wednesday it has secured a 725 billion-won ($630 million) order to build a fixed offshore facility from Qatar's oil and natural gas company North Oil Co. The fixed platform, a type of offshore platform used for the production of oil and gas, will be used to increase the production of oil in the Middle Eastern country's largest oil field, Al-Shaheen, Daewoo Shipbuilding said in an emailed statement. The shipbuilder plans to deliver th

IndustryJuly 14, 2021

Banks' household loans swing to upturn in June

South Korean banks' household loans swung to an upturn in June following the previous month's one-off decline, central bank data showed Thursday. Outstanding bank loans to local households came to 1,030.4 trillion won ($896 billion) as of end-June, up 6.3 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marks a turnaround from the 1.6 trillion-won on-month decline in May, which was attributed to repayments of loans by customers after the initial public

EconomyJuly 14, 2021

HanmiGlobal, Hewlett Packard Enterprise join forces to bring data centers to Korea

Construction project management firm HanmiGlobal will work with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a cloud service provider, to promote South Korea as the next data center hub of Asia, the two firms announced Wednesday. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on the marketing and management of data center construction projects, as political uncertainties in Hong Kong are prompting foreign companies to consider relocating their data centers in Asia. Under the agreement, HanmiGlobal w

IndustryJuly 14, 2021

S. Korea to expand investment in New Deal initiative, eyes more job creation

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to expand its investment in its signature New Deal policy projects in a bid to create more jobs and better prepare for the post-pandemic era. Under the "New Deal 2.0" initiative, the government will invest 220 trillion won ($191 billion) in pushing for digital and green energy projects and promoting inclusive economic growth by 2025, up from its earlier investment plan of 160 trillion won. It is an upgraded version of the New Deal 1.0 drive unveile

EconomyJuly 14, 2021

SKT unveils new metaverse platform Ifland

South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom on Wednesday launched a new metaverse platform dubbed “Ifland,” kick-starting its 5G virtual service business. The name signifies a virtual world where users can be anyone they wish, meet anyone they want to and make so many possibilities real. The platform is launched for Android devices first and will later be open to iOS and other virtual reality devices. With a goal of growing Ifland into a leading metaverse platform by drawing mille

TechnologyJuly 14, 2021

Banks' loan delinquency rate rises for 2nd month in May

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans rose for the second straight month in May due to an increase in overdue corporate and household loans, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.32 percent at the end of May, up from 0.3 percent the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Banks' loan delinquency rate hit a record low of 0.28 percent in March. Compared with a year earlier, t

EconomyJuly 14, 2021

Korea Shipbuilding wins W910b in orders for 4 LNG carriers

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Wednesday that it has signed deals worth a combined 911 billion won ($792 million) to build four LNG carriers. A 454 billion-won deal with a Bermudian company calls for Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a unit of KSOE, to build and deliver two LNG carriers by September 2025, KSOE said in a regulatory filing. Under a 458 billion-won deal with a European company, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., another subsidiary of KSOE, will build a

EconomyJuly 14, 2021

Hyundai Heavy workers end weeklong strike after tentative deal

Unionized workers at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., South Korea's top shipbuilder, stopped their weeklong walkout after a tentative deal was struck, the union said Wednesday. The workers started their strike on July 6, occupying a shipbuilding crane in Ulsan, 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to press the management to offer tangible proposals after the wage deal fell through. The tentative deal includes a basic pay raise of 41,000 won ($35.6) for 2020, reversing a wage freeze that was include

IndustryJuly 14, 2021

Airlines to resume flights to Saipan this month

South Korean airlines will resume flights to Saipan later this month as scheduled despite a recent surge in COVID-19 cases. The Seoul government recently signed a quarantine-free travel bubble agreement with Saipan to allow group tours of fully vaccinated Koreans to such holiday destinations. The government is in talks with Guam and Singapore to sign travel bubble deals in preparation for an increase in outbound travel demand as early as late this year. Among local carriers, Jeju Air Co. resu

EconomyJuly 14, 2021

S. Korea's ICT exports hit record high in June

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products reached a record high in June, data showed Wednesday, on the back of robust global demand for semiconductors and displays as the global economy picks up steam from the pandemic-induced slump. Outbound shipments of ICT products stood at $19.3 billion in June, up 29.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The figure marks the highest ever for the month and the 13th

EconomyJuly 14, 2021

LG Chem to invest W10tr by 2025 in battery materials, renewables

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical firm, said Wednesday it will invest 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) by 2025 to expand its battery material, renewable and bio businesses. The chemical unit under LG Group said it will speed up its transition to an eco-friendly business portfolio by expanding partnership with major industry players through mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic investments, saying over 30 projects are currently under review. The parent of battery maker

IndustryJuly 14, 2021