Citibank Korea suggests voluntary retirement

Citibank Korea suggested its workers take voluntary retirement as an option in a recent e-mail sent to its employees, sources said Wednesday, as the firm has been gearing up to sell-off its consumer banking business. “Our executives understand your concerns due to the announcement concerning Citigroup’s pursuit of consumer banking business exit strategy here,” Citibank Korea CEO Yoo Myung-soon said in the email written in Korean. “We will make our best efforts to hold

MarketJune 16, 2021

MKIF acquires 2 gas utilities for W798b

Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund, which is listed on the Korea Exchange, has agreed to acquire the full 100 percent stake of two gas utilities for a combined 798 billion won ($714 million), a disclosure showed Wednesday. The gas utilities, Haeyang Energy and Seorabeol City Gas, distribute natural gas to ratepayers in South Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province, respectively. MKIF said it pinned hopes on an upshot in industrial usage of natural gas in line with the carbon

MarketJune 16, 2021

EU seeking to extend safeguard on S. Korean steel for 3 years

The European Union is seeking to extend its safeguard measures against South Korea steel products for another three-year period, industry sources said Wednesday. The European Commission has recently notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it plans to maintain its current level of tariffs on imported steel products, according to sources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The EU has been charging a 25 percent duty on imported

EconomyJune 16, 2021

Korea Investment to fully compensate losses from troubled funds

Korea Investment & Securities on Wednesday pledged to fully compensate the losses from problematic funds sold via the brokerage firm. “The decision came to protect financial consumers and restore our customers’ trust,” Jung Il-mun, chief executive officer of KIS told reporters during an online press briefing. “Both retail investors and institutional investors will be compensated for their losses.” The company sold 10 troubled funds, including Lime Fund, Disco

MarketJune 16, 2021

S. Korea's exports to stay brisk in H2: central bank

South Korea's exports are expected to remain resilient in the second half of the year on a series of positive external factors, the central bank said Wednesday. The upbeat forecast by the Bank of Korea (BOK) comes amid a recent surge in South Korea's overseas shipments on the back of a global economic recovery. "With the impact of IT sector's supply-side negative factors easing, major economies are likely to continue their rebound on an increase in global chip demand, the effect of US sti

EconomyJune 16, 2021

Krafton eyes W5.6tr in Korea’s largest IPO in history

South Korean game developer Krafton is looking to raise up to a record-high 5.6 trillion won ($5 billion) in an upcoming initial public offering on the Korea Exchange, which is likely to become the largest market debut here, a prospectus showed Wednesday.  Upon listing after the IPO, Krafton is expected to clinch the No. 1 spot among domestic gaming rivals with at least 23 trillion won market capitalization, exceeding the 18.6 trillion won of NCsoft and 11.3 trillion won of Netmarble on th

MarketJune 16, 2021

KT tests 5G-based autonomous cruise ship

KT Corp., a South Korean telecom giant, said Wednesday it has tested an autonomous cruise ship being remotely controlled hundreds of kilometers away on its high-speed 5G network. The telecom operator said a 12-person cruise ship navigated through the narrow 10-kilometer Pohang Canal in the port city, 302 kilometers southeast of Seoul, without a captain on board and with it being controlled from its offices in Gwacheon, just south of the capital. KT said it partnered with Avikus Corp., an auton

TechnologyJune 16, 2021

DataStreams donates big data platform TeraONE to Cyber University of Korea

DataStreams said Wednesday it has signed an agreement with the Cyber University of Korea to cultivate artificial intelligence and big data talents and donated its big data platform TeraONE worth 500 million won ($447,270) to the university. The signing ceremony, which was held at the university’s studio, was attended by CUK President Kim Jin-sung, CUK Research and Business Foundation chief Han Woon-young, DataStreams CEO Lee Young-sang and DataStreams director Lee Sang-ok. The agreeme

IndustryJune 16, 2021

Banks' loan delinquency rate rebounds in April

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans rebounded in April from a record low the previous month as lenders cleared smaller amounts of bad debts, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.3 percent at the end of April, up 0.02 percentage point from an all-time low of 0.28 percent the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the banks' loan delinquency r

EconomyJune 16, 2021

Residents' FX deposits fall in May

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea declined in May from a record high in the previous month as some companies withdrew their FX holdings, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $94.7 billion as of end-May, down $100 million from an all-time high of $94.8 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Residents include local citizens, foreigners staying here for more than six months an

EconomyJune 16, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding to develop cybersecurity for smart ships

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Wednesday it will develop cybersecurity technologies for remote autonomous ships and smart ships. To that end, the shipbuilder will team up with local cybersecurity companies, including maritime cybersecurity startup DSLAP Company, and Korea University by 2022, it said. The project was also helped by the ocean ministry amid growing demand for cybersecurity for remote autonomous ships, smart ships and smart battleships that have been

IndustryJune 16, 2021

S. Korea tightens regulations on pet-related businesses

South Korea on Wednesday announced a new set of measures for pet-related businesses to better protect animal rights in line with the growing number of pets in the country. Under the measures, puppy farms are obligated to make the width and length of cages at least 2.5 times the size of caged animals, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Starting in 2023, the farms should also have at least one staff member for every 50 dogs or cats, compared with the previous 75.

IndustryJune 16, 2021

Hyundai Motor chief tests self-driving Ioniq 5 EV during US visit

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun has visited an autonomous vehicle joint venture in the United States and tested a vehicle under development as the South Korean automaking giant explores new business opportunities in future mobility solutions, the automaker said Wednesday. Chung tested a self-driving Ioniq 5 electric vehicle during his visit to Motional's Boston headquarters and discussed ways to expand the partnership with its senior executives, Hyundai Motor said. The chairman made

MobilityJune 16, 2021

Kia partners with Uber to supply EVs in Europe

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Wednesday it has partnered with US ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. to supply its electric vehicles in Europe. The strategic partnership is aimed at promoting the adoption of EVs and the expansion of the EV charging infrastructure in major European cities, Kia said in a statement. Kia will provide the Niro and other electrified models to Uber drivers at discounted prices in 20 European countries, the statement said. The partner

IndustryJune 16, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on techs, autos

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday after closing at a record-high level for two consecutive days through the previous session on the back of gains from technology and automobile shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) increased 8.52 points, or 0.26 percent, to 3,267.15 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Wednesday, the index reached an intraday-record of 3,269.42. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved down 0.27 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq

MarketJune 16, 2021

Seoul, Tokyo urged to allow special entry for vaccinated biz people

South Korean and Japanese businesspeople urged their governments Wednesday to issue special entry permits for fully vaccinated entrepreneurs in an effort to promote bilateral economic cooperation. The call was made at a meeting between Japanese Ambassador Koichi Aiboshi and South Korean and Japanese businessmen, which was hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries, the lobby for South Korea's family-controlled conglomerates. Citing bilateral travel restrictions as the biggest hurdle, busine

IndustryJune 16, 2021

Sales of big firms' Chinese units sink 28% over 4 years

Sales of South Korean large firms' Chinese units have tumbled nearly 28 percent over the past four years due to a bilateral row over the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system here and other reasons, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. According to CEO Score, 320 Chinese production units of 113 large corporations posted 103.98 trillion won ($93 billion) in combined sales in 2020, down 27.5 percent from four years earlier. The plunge resulted from the spat between Seoul and Beijing

IndustryJune 16, 2021

Hybe’s market value jumps on BTS’ new single ‘Butter’

The South Korean entertainment agency behind the global sensation BTS saw its market valuation exceed 10 trillion won ($8.95 billion) for the first time, as the boy band’s new single “Butter” swept global charts. After closing at 282,000 won per share on the nation’s main bourse Kospi Monday, Hybe’s market valuation exceeded 10 trillion won and continued its winning streak on Tuesday rising 2.48 percent to 289,000 won at close. The benchmark Kospi, the country&ls

MarketJune 15, 2021

Lawmakers, entrepreneurs, scientists establish joint ESG forum

Amid growing awareness of the importance of environmental, social and corporate governance principles, South Korea’s lawmakers, entrepreneurs and scientists gathered Tuesday to promote sustainable growth by launching an ESG forum. Attending the kickoff event were lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, including Reps. Lee Won-wook, Hong Ihk-pyo and Lee Yong-bin, and representatives of organizations such as the Korea Enterprises Federation, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and I

IndustryJune 15, 2021

Duty-free industry revs up for recovery

As South Korea is gearing up to restrictively allow free travel on the back of vaccination progress, duty free shop operators here have set to reorganizing their offline services in anticipation of business normalization, industry data showed Tuesday. Lotte Duty Free has recently renewed its website and mobile app, adding preorder functions for products that are out of stock, according to officials. It is also working on introducing an offline duty free store exclusively dedicated to a limi

IndustryJune 15, 2021