[News Focus] Seoul moves to enact its own ‘chip act’

With a growing sense of crisis amid an unfolding global power struggle involving chips, South Korea is moving to legislate its first special bill on the local semiconductor industry. If enacted, it would mark the first time that the country, home to world’s No. 1 and 2 memory chip producers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, acts to provide practical support and benefits, including tax credits, to chipmakers and the local chip ecosystem. It would also be a signal that Korea won’

TechnologyApril 18, 2021

[Herald Interview] Avellino Labs balances focus between COVID tests, gene therapy ahead of IPO

After achieving a strong earnings growth last year, biotech firm Avellino Labs is seeking to refocus on its pipeline with gene editing technology ahead of its planned market debut on South Korea’s secondary Kosdaq market. Unaudited financial results of the firm, born in Korea but now headquartered in the US, showed its sales shot up from $2.6 million in 2019 to $122 million in 2020 with a net income of $56 million, due to the exploding demand for its COVID-19 diagnostic testing se

MarketApril 18, 2021

Locally developed vaccines still far out of reach

South Korea, which is struggling to secure COVID-19 vaccines developed by foreign firms like Pfizer and Moderna, can’t expect local alternatives anytime soon, as Korean drugmakers are not making speedy progress as hoped in their vaccine development, industry sources said Sunday. Even firms that have reached the clinical trial stage are having difficulties in securing volunteers with the vaccination campaign underway, the sources said. South Korean drugmakers Genexine and Cellid are cu

TechnologyApril 18, 2021

[#WeFACE] How ESG is changing the ratings game for financial giants

Financial soundness, capital size, and business potential have long been the criteria of measuring the value of financial companies here, but a new method, though subjective and somewhat abstract, is changing the assessment game. Since the pandemic, financial firms have been expanding services and products conscious of environmental, social and governance values while investors keep a close eye on whether business decisions of banking firms, stock brokers, card issuers or insurance firms run

MarketApril 18, 2021

[From the Scene] Posco Chemical bets future on battery materials

GWANGYANG, South Jeolla Province -- The moment reporters stepped inside Posco Chemical’s battery materials plant the size of 20 football fields, they were immediately overwhelmed by a howling sound echoing inside the facility every 30 seconds. The mysterious noise emitting from the beige-painted equipment sounded as if whales were crying in pain. “It’s the ultrasound carving cathode particles,” Kim Woo-joong, a safety manager of the plant, shouted over the din, throu

IndustryApril 18, 2021

Coway’s ad featuring BTS racks up over 10 million views

South Korean home appliance maker Coway has said its new advertisements featuring K-pop group BTS have racked up over 10 million views on YouTube. In yet another sign of the group’s commercial success in the advertisement industry, the septet’s commercials promoting the company’s products, including a water purifier and a mattress, were met with millions of views and over 25,000 comments within 17 days, Coway said. The ads, which are available on the company’s official

ConsumerApril 18, 2021

After Coupang Eats’ success, other food delivery apps rush to speed up delivery

South Korean food delivery apps are rushing to offer speedier delivery services by making riders deliver just one order at a time, rather than multiple orders, to ensure the freshness of the food – a move borne out of growing competition in the industry. WeMakePrice O, food delivery app operated by e-commerce platform WeMakePrice, became the latest to adopt the “one order per trip” system this week, as it announced a memorandum of understanding with LK ICT, a company that

ConsumerApril 18, 2021

What will Citibank’s consumer banking exit strategy be?

Citigroup has yet to announce the details of its retail banking exit strategy from South Korea as of Sunday, but the most probable scenario is that the firm will break up its consumer business here before selling, according to industry watchers. On Friday, Citigroup decided to exit retail banking in Korea and other 12 markets across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa as part of reorganization plans. The move signals a significant downsizing for Citibank Korea, a wholly owned subsidiary o

MarketApril 18, 2021

State pension cashes in W2tr of Samsung Electronics profits

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s largest institutional investor, has gained nearly 2 trillion won ($1.79 billion) worth of profits after selling a 1.2 percent stake in top-cap Samsung Electronics over the past year and a half, data showed Sunday. According to DART, the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board, the NPS’ stake has dropped to 9.99 percent, now owning some 596 million shares, by trading the tech giant’s common shares 738 times f

MarketApril 18, 2021

2 medical device firms ordered to correct unfair biz practice

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Sunday it has decided to order two importers of medical devices to take corrective actions over their unfair business practice. Abbott Korea Co. and Medtronic Korea Co. provided financial support to doctors for their participation in overseas seminars between 2014 and 2019 in a bid to encourage them to use their imported cardiovascular stent, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The commission also decided to fine Abbott Korea 16 million w

IndustryApril 18, 2021

S. Korea to invest W42b in illegal drone response tech by 2025

South Korea said Sunday it will spend 42 billion won ($37.6 million) by 2025 to develop a response system against illegal drones amid growing security threats from the fast-developing technology. A consortium of 23 companies and research institutes -- which includes the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and aerospace and defense firm LIG Nex1 Co. -- will develop a response system that spots and neutralizes the illegal unmanned aircraft, according to

TechnologyApril 18, 2021

[Newsmaker] S. Korea to allow three more airports to run 'flights to nowhere'

South Korea will allow three more airports to run international "flights to nowhere" to help the pandemic-hit airline and duty-free industry ride out the prolonged crisis, the transport ministry said Sunday. Flights to nowhere start and end at the same airport and offer tax-free sales, while passengers are exempted from mandatory COVID-19 testing and the quarantine process after arrival. Starting from May, airlines will be allowed to operate international flights without destinations

IndustryApril 18, 2021

Seoul Botanic Park attracts over 10m visitors since opening

The Seoul Botanic Park has attracted more than 10 million visitors since its opening 30 months ago, the city government said Sunday. Located in western Seoul, the park began to accept visitors in October 2018 before formally opening in May 2019. It is the country's first botanic park built inside a city, with a forest, lake, wetlands and greenhouses laid across 500,000 square meters of land, according to the city government. A total of 10.04 million people have visited the park since October

IndustryApril 18, 2021

S. Korea's 2020 ODA down 8.7 percent on-year amid COVID-19 pandemic

South Korea's official development assistance for foreign countries fell 8.7 percent to $2.25 billion last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has shown. According to the data on the tentative tally of 29 members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee released Tuesday, South Korea's bilateral ODA for 2020 stood at $1.76 billion, down 5 percent from a year ago, while its multilateral contributions slumped 19.9 percen

EconomyApril 17, 2021

Seoul stocks to continue rise on earnings hope next week

South Korean stocks are likely to maintain their upward momentum next week as expectations of estimate-beating first-quarter corporate earnings run high, although investors may be attempted to cash in recent gains.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 3,198.62 points on Friday, up 2.13 percent from a week before. The index gained for the five sessions since Monday, with brokerages predicting the index may stay above the 3,200-point threshold despite the increased val

MarketApril 17, 2021

LG-GM joint venture to build $2.3 bln battery factory in Tennessee

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution said Saturday its joint venture with American automaker General Motors will build a $2.3 billion (2.58 trillion won) electric vehicle battery factory in Tennessee.  Ultium Cells, the joint venture between LG and GM, will build a second US factory with an annual capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours, similar to the first one under construction in Ohio, LG Energy said. "With the joint venture's factory construction, LG Energy Solutio

TechnologyApril 17, 2021

LG Energy to chip in W1tr for EV battery plant with GM

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Friday it will spend 1.06 trillion won ($950 million) to build a battery factory in the United States with American automaker General Motors Corp. In a regulatory filing, LG Energy, wholly owned by LG Chem Ltd., said that it and GM will each invest the same amount in their joint venture, Ultium Cells, to step up electric vehicle (EV) battery production in the US. Together with 600 billion won worth of loans, the total investment for the

TechnologyApril 16, 2021

[Exclusive] Korea stops financing infra projects in Myanmar amid deepening crisis

Responding to the prolonged crisis in Myanmar, the South Korean government has decided to halt financing for government infrastructure projects there until next year, a source told The Korea Herald on Friday. “The Ministry of Economy and Finance has temporarily suspended financial support through the Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund for any new infrastructure projects by the military government,” said an official at the Export-Import Bank of Korea, who requested anonymity

EconomyApril 16, 2021

Govt. meets with business tycoons, steps up support for chip industry

South Korea’s top fiscal policymaker and conglomerate leaders meet Friday to promote public-private cooperation amid the post-coronavirus economy and pending market challenges including the semiconductor supply shortage. “We are now facing a watershed moment in which the industrial circles and the government have to join forces in order to overcome incumbent challenges,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki. During his meeting with the chiefs of domesti

IndustryApril 16, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 5th session on economic rebound hope

South Korean shares advanced for the fifth day Friday, finishing just shy of the 3,200-point mark, as expectations of a global economic rebound and sound corporate earnings boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 4.29 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 3,198.62 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 961 million shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($13.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering loser

MarketApril 16, 2021