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

[Herald Interview] South Korean researchers first to discover cause of rare hearing loss

South Korean researchers became the world’s first to discover a gene variant that causes a rare type of hearing impairment whose origins had so far remained unknown. The newly identified gene will help doctors better treat patients with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder, or ANSD, and to find out if their condition can be improved through surgery, according to Dr. Choi Byung-yoon, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital’s otorhinolaryngology professor who led the research.

TechnologyJune 15, 2021

[Herald Interview] Saemangeum to be mecca of green industries in Korea

Saemangeum, located in the west of South Korea, is drawing wide attention under the government’s fresh vision to foster the area, where futuristic, eco-friendly industries as well as tour destinations can coexist. Saemangeum is a reclaimed area -- with the world’s longest seawall -- that stretches across parts of Gunsan, Gimje and Buan in North Jeolla Province. Earlier this year, the government shifted the area’s vision from the initial aims for a regional center of global t

EconomyJune 15, 2021

KDB's W100b investment in Toss Bank meant to stop unicorn exodus: chief

Korea Development Bank’s plan to invest 100 billion won ($89.4 million) in the nation’s latest internet-only bank backed by Viva Republica, the operator of fintech app Toss, is meant to keep local unicorns in the local market, the head of the state-run bank said. The announcement follows the nation’s financial regulator’s decision last week to grant final approval to a consortium led by Viva Republica to launch and operate the nation’s third internet-only bank. To

MarketJune 15, 2021

Portal giants’ valuations surge on pandemic-led industry shift

Fueled by the contactless boom across the country amid the ongoing pandemic, the market capitalization of South Korean internet giants Naver and Kakao soared over 44 trillion won ($39.35 billion) to surpass the 120 trillion-won-mark when combined this year. According to Korea Exchange on Tuesday, shares of Naver rose 3.89 percent to close at 387,000 won, while Kakao advanced 5.17 percent to 142,500 won at the closing bell a day earlier. Following the stock price jumps, the market valuations

MarketJune 15, 2021

Seoul stocks close at all-time high ahead of Fed meeting

South Korean renewed its all-time record for the second straight day Tuesday, backed by investors' optimism for the US Federal Reserve meeting this week. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.5 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 3,258.63 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.7 billion shares worth some 14.5 trillion won ($13 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 443 to 399. Foreigners sold a net 154 billion won

MarketJune 15, 2021

S.Korea’s 2030 carbon emissions target ‘extremely’ challenging: Wood Mackenzie

South Korea aims to reduce carbon emissions 24.4 percent by 2030 compared to 2017, but the target appears to be “extremely” ambitious, according to energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie on Tuesday. Prakash Sharma, Wood Mackenzie’s Asia Pacific head of markets and transitions, cited two reasons for the pessimism. “First, only 3 percent has been reduced in the last seven years. To reduce the remaining 20 percent over the next 10 years is extremely challenging,”

IndustryJune 15, 2021

SKT unveils world’s 1st keycard combined with quantum, biometrics tech

SK Telecom said Tuesday it has launched the world’s first keycard applied with both quantum technology and biometric identification technology. Together with Switzerland-based quantum safety solutions firm ID Quantique and a local biometric identification startup Octatco, SKT co-developed the “EzQuant” keycard equipped with a quantum random number generator. “EzQuant combines QRNG technology with FIDO-based fingerprint certification keycard,” a company officia

TechnologyJune 15, 2021

CU rolls out third collaboration beer

A new craft beer inspired by white sheep, a symbol of a local underwear brand, will hit CU convenience store shelves on Thursday. The Baik Yang BYC Vienna Lager is the third collaboration beer launched by CU, according to BGF Retail, the firm behind the convenience store chain. BYC is an underwear brand, established in 1946. The company is well known for its white undershirts, and it has used an image of a white sheep as its symbol from 1957, according to CU. The name of the beer and symbo

ConsumerJune 15, 2021

When key rate is up 1%p, housing prices likely to decline 3%: report

Economies with solid demand for home-backed lending, including South Korea, are likely to see housing prices decrease merely 3 percent in the event of a 1 percentage point hike in the benchmark interest rate, a report showed Tuesday.  Korea’s ratio of mortgage loans to gross domestic product came to 47.1 percent last year, up 14.7 percentage points from the 2010 estimate, according to a report from the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research on how monetary policy affects

EconomyJune 15, 2021

Financially troubled SsangYong Motor to launch first EV in Europe

Financially troubled SsangYong Motor Co. said Tuesday it will launch its first electric vehicle (EV) in Europe later this year as it seeks to speed up its sales process and survive in the changing business environment. SsangYong said it named the EV variant of the Korando EV the Korando Emotion and has begun domestic production to first target the European market in October. SsangYong said it has also been developing an all-electric SUV with a goal of launching it next year to join the global

MobilityJune 15, 2021

Money supply continues to grow in April

South Korea's money supply continued to grow in April, as loans to households and firms increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's M2 stood at 3,363.7 trillion won ($3 trillion) as of end-April, up 1.5 percent from a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, M2 jumped 11.4 percent, the BOK said. A key economic indicator closely monitored by authorities, M2 is a measure of the money supply that

EconomyJune 15, 2021

Exports of strawberries up 25% in Jan.-May period

South Korea's exports of strawberries rose nearly 25 percent on-year in the first five months of this year on the back of robust output and rising demand amid the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The country's exports of strawberries reached $49 million in the January-May period, up 24.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The gain was mainly attributable to an increase in strawberry output and the use of chartered flights for outbound s

EconomyJune 15, 2021

Samsung releases new multi-chip package for 5G smartphones

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday released a new multi-chip package (MCP) memory product for use in 5G smartphones as the South Korean tech giant tries to better target the fast-growing handset market. The world's largest memory chip producer said it has begun mass-producing low-power double data rate 5 (LPDDR5) universal flash storage (UFS) MCP that integrates high-performance DRAM and NAND flash memory chips in a single compact package. The latest MCP comes with Samsung's LPDDR5 mobile DR

TechnologyJune 15, 2021

S. Korea to increase R&D investment in key future technologies

South Korea plans to expand investment in research and development (R&D) of key future technologies, such as system semiconductors, as part of the country's key digital policy projects, a senior government official said Tuesday. Without elaborating on the amount of the investment, First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said the country will focus on sharpening its competitive edge in new industries, including artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors and super high speed computers. Sou

EconomyJune 15, 2021

LG Uplus launches AI call center biz

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean mobile carrier, said Tuesday it has joined hands with IT affiliate LG CNS Co. to develop call center services that use artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The service incorporates AI technology, such as speech recognition and synthesis as well as natural language processing, to respond to user questions and requests and can replace simple, repetitive tasks handled by call center agents. LG Uplus said it has accumulated the technology through its automa

TechnologyJune 15, 2021

LG researcher to head working group in Next G Alliance for 6G tech

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday one of its senior researchers will head a working group in a North American mobile technology alliance for 6G technology development. Lee Ki-dong, a principal researcher at LG, was elected the chair of the Applications working group in the Next G Alliance earlier this month, the company said. He has been given a two-year term to lead the working group that will address 6G-related application needs. The Next G Alliance was launched by the US-based Alliance for

IndustryJune 15, 2021

BTS agency's market value tops W10tr on band's global popularity

Hybe Co., the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS, has seen its market capitalization exceed the 10 trillion-won ($8.95 billion) mark amid the boy band's global popularity, data showed Tuesday. Shares in Hybe closed at 282,000 won on Monday, up 2.36 percent from the prior session and marking a three-day winning streak. Monday's tally was well above the 258,000 won ($252) closing price recorded on Oct. 15 last year, or the day of its debut on South Korea's main stock market. The current price is nearl

MarketJune 15, 2021

Samsung likely to unveil new foldable smartphones in August

Samsung Electronics Co. is likely to unveil its new foldable smartphone in August, industry insiders said Tuesday, amid its push to popularize the foldable category. The South Korean tech giant is expected to hold its Galaxy Unpacked online event in early August to introduce the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip3 before officially launching those products later that month, according to the sources. Foreign tech reviewers have predicted that the event may take place on Aug. 3, but the sour

TechnologyJune 15, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher as investors await Fed meeting

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday ahead of the upcoming US Federal Reserve meeting this week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.82 points, or 0.27 percent, to trade at 3,260.95 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI started off with mild gains as investors are awaiting clues about when the world's largest economy will start tapering its asset-buying policy. The Federal Open Market Committee rate decision comes on Wednesday (US time). Overnig

MarketJune 15, 2021