Hyundai resumes plant after brief halt over part shortage

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday it has resumed operations of a local plant following a one-day suspension due to lack of semiconductors. Hyundai halted the Asan plant, which produces the Grandeur sedan, on Wednesday, causing production losses of 1,027 vehicles, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company has temporarily halted some of its domestic plants on a chip shortage. It has seven domestic plants -- five in Ulsan, one in Asan and one in Jeonju -- and 10 overseas plants -- four

MobilityJune 17, 2021

S. Korea vigilant over market volatility after Fed's hawkish stance

South Korea will closely monitor the financial market as market volatility could increase following the Federal Reserve's signal of an earlier-than-expected rate hike, a senior government official said Thursday. After freezing its key rate at near zero at a policy meeting, the Fed signaled an earlier-than-expected rate increase in 2023 as US inflation is rising amid an economic recovery. The US central bank also hinted it began discussing when to taper bond-buying programs. Bearing the Fed's s

EconomyJune 17, 2021

LG Energy completes battery supply to world's largest ESS project

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Thursday it has completed the supply of its battery system to the world's largest energy storage system (ESS) that has come online in the United States. LG Energy, a battery unit under LG Chem Ltd., said its lithium-ion batteries are now running on US power generation firm Vistra Energy's 1.2 gigawatt-hour (GWh) ESS facility in California. In December, Vistra connected the ESS facility to its 1,020-MW combined cycle gas turbine power pla

IndustryJune 17, 2021

S. Korea, US extend $60b currency swap deal until Dec.

South Korea and the United States have agreed to extend their $60 billion currency swap agreement by another three months through Dec. 31, which was signed to help ease market uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday. The BOK and the Federal Reserve reached an agreement to extend the bilateral currency swap deal, which was due to expire on Sept. 30, after extending it twice since it went effect in March 2020 to ease financial jitters caused by the pan

EconomyJune 17, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on Fed's hawkish comment

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as the Federal Reserve made comments about an earlier-than-expected timeline for a rate hike. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.61 points, or 0.6 percent, to trade at 3,259.07 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stock prices fell after the key stock index finished at an all-time high the previous session, taking a cue from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comment that the Fed began discussing measures to sca

MarketJune 17, 2021

Samsung ranks 2nd in European wearables market in Q1: report

Samsung Electronics Co. was the second-largest vendor of wearable devices in Europe in the first quarter of the year, although its market share declined as archrival Apple Inc. expanded its presence. Samsung posted a 16.1 percent market share in the January-March period in the European market, down from a 16.8 percent share a year earlier, according to the latest report from market researcher International Data Corp. (IDC). The South Korean tech giant shipped 3.5 million wearable products in

IndustryJune 17, 2021

Memory chip market to grow 32% in 2021, Korean chipmakers set to bask in boom

The global memory chip market is forecast to increase 32 percent this year, a report showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the sector. Sales growth for the DRAM market is expected to reach 41 percent in 2021, the second largest among 33 integrated circuit (IC) products, while that of NAND flash is projected to be 22 percent, according to the latest McClean report released by market researcher IC Insights. "It is expected that the price per bit of DRAM wi

EconomyJune 17, 2021

S. Korea to place policy priority on increasing home supply: minister

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday the government will focus on increasing the housing supply in a bid to curb market expectations for continued rises in home prices. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the supply of homes is expected to increase after 2022 as the construction of new properties has increased since May. Amid sluggish housing transactions, the growth of home prices has picked up in recent months in Seoul on expectations for eased rules on the reconstruction of ol

EconomyJune 17, 2021

Top steelmaker Posco estimated to log record earnings for Q2

South Korea's leading steelmaker Posco is likely to post a record operating income for the second quarter of the year on a recovery in global demand, according to market forecasts Thursday. Eight local brokerages' median estimate for Posco's operating profit stands at 1.93 trillion won ($1.73 billion) for the April-June, up more than 10 times from a year earlier, according to an analysis of their forecasts by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The figure marks the la

IndustryJune 17, 2021

Large companies prefer year-round hiring of experienced workers

South Korean conglomerates appear to be gradually changing their recruitment methods in favor of experienced workers and year-round recruitment of new employees. A public organization said Wednesday that major domestic companies are planning to fill about 40 percent of their new job openings with experienced workers, as opposed to fresh university graduates, in the second quarter of this year. According to the Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS), 137 out of the nation's top 500 compani

IndustryJune 16, 2021

Kospi hits new high in 5 months ahead of FOMC decision

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi hit a fresh high during intraday trading Wednesday, with foreign and institutional investors returning to the market ahead of a US Fed meeting that could signal a market moving stance. It extended a winning streak for a whopping fifth session in a row. The Kospi closed at 3,278.68, replacing an all-time high closing for a third consecutive session. The index once touched as high as 3,281.96 in the morning trade, breaking its previous record high of 3,266.23 s

MarketJune 16, 2021

Small firms to face 52-hour workweek in July without grace period

Small businesses with five to 49 employees will be required to enforce a 52-hour workweek next month as planned by the government, the labor ministry said Wednesday, rejecting industry demands for a grace period. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said it commissioned a survey of 1,300 small businesses in April and 93 percent of them responded that they were ready to implement the system starting July 1 as scheduled. Around 82 percent said they had already begun. In the manufacturing sector

IndustryJune 16, 2021

The ‘impossible’ race for leftover vaccines

In South Korea, real-time information on leftover COVID-19 vaccines is available to everyone on the country’s No. 1 portal Naver and No. 1 messenger app KakaoTalk. Thanks to the easy access and people’s zeal to get vaccinated early, the no-show vaccine slots have become nearly impossible to grab, many Koreans complain. “I was able to find a local hospital in Suwon with six does of AstraZeneca this morning on the reservation system on KakaoTalk. I hesitated for about one s

TechnologyJune 16, 2021

LG Display readies new offensive with innovative OLED solutions

Poised for a turnaround after years of restructuring efforts, LG Display is rolling out new innovative OLED products, including transparent panels. The world’s largest provider of organic light-emitting diode display panels said Wednesday it will be taking part in the Korea Railways & Logistics Fair 2021 that kicked off a three-day run on Wednesday in Busan to showcase its transparent OLED technology. Transparent OLED panels are what the company believes could be a new cash cow in

TechnologyJune 16, 2021

Seoul stocks set fresh high for 3rd day ahead of FOMC results

South Korean stocks set a fresh high for three consecutive sessions on Wednesday as investors scooped up blue-chip shares ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's meeting results. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) gained 20.5 points, or 0.62 percent, to finish at 3,278.68. Trading volume was moderate at 2.2 billion shares worth 15.9 trillion won ($14.23 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 519 to 324. The index also extended its winning streak to a whopping five s

MarketJune 16, 2021

LG Energy Solution to host 1st battery forum with Nobel laureate

LG Energy Solution will host an international battery forum on June 22 to discuss next-generation batteries with renowned scholars including Nobel laureate Michael Stanley Whittingham. The “LG Energy Solution Innovation Forum 2021,” which will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is the first such event to be held by LGES after its split-off from LG Chem in December, the company said Wednesday. The forum will be held online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and is open to the g

IndustryJune 16, 2021

Samsung Display labor union set to go on 1st-ever strike next week

The labor union of major display maker Samsung Display Co. said Wednesday its union leadership plans to go on strike next week, as the union and the management failed to narrow differences in wage talks, marking the first-ever walkout for the company and any Samsung Group affiliate. The labor union said its six officials will first stage a walkout on Monday and will encourage more members to join the move. It will be the first strike for any Samsung affiliate since Samsung Electronics Vice Cha

TechnologyJune 16, 2021

Shinsegae-Naver consortium likely winner of eBay Korea takeover bid: report

A consortium of South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group and internet behemoth Naver is expected to win a bid to take over eBay Korea, local media reported Wednesday. If materialized, the deal would set off a major shake-up in the country’s e-commerce retail segment. No official announcement had been made as of Wednesday afternoon. In a regulatory filing Wednesday afternoon, E-mart, Shinsegae Group’s retail affiliate, said it was participating in the tender and in discussions

ConsumerJune 16, 2021

Eastar Jet acquisition race hangs on SJ budget plan

The acquisition of South Korea’s low-cost carrier Eastar Jet continues to face uncertainties, with two major bidders vying neck-and-neck as of Wednesday after rivals dropped out earlier in the week. The two bidders are local construction firm SJ Co. and a consortium led by underwear manufacturer Ssang Bang Wool and equipment maker Kanglim, according to sources. SJ’s bidding price is estimated to stand at 80 billion won ($71.6 million), falling short of the estimated 100 billion

IndustryJune 16, 2021

Hyundai Motor chief underlines self-driving, robotics vision during US trip

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun visited an autonomous vehicle venture and a robotics firm during his trip to the US, as part of the group’s vision to grow through future mobility solutions, the automaker said Wednesday. Chung, who left for the US on Sunday, headed for Motional, a $4 billion, Boston-based joint venture kicked off in March last year by Hyundai Motor and US mobility startup Aptiv. After meeting with Motional’s executive members to discuss the technology dev

IndustryJune 16, 2021