FSC chief says HAAH still considering in SsangYong Motor

Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo said Monday that SsangYong Motor’s likely investor, US automotive distributor HAAH Automotive, asked the government to give more time before it makes a decision on whether to submit a binding offer to invest in the cash-strapped commercial vehicle maker. “We have not yet received an investment proposal from HAAH Automotive, but it doesn‘t mean the company officially declined to salvage SsangYong. The company said it needs m

MarketApril 5, 2021

Concerns rise as South Korea’s household debt nears GDP

Household debt in South Korea surged to nearly 100 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, raising concerns that the central bank’s rate hikes may be placing a heavy burden on the household sector, a report showed Monday. The proportion of Korea’s household debt to its GDP -- the market value of all final goods and services produced in an economy during a certain period -- came to 98.6 percent at the end of June last year, according to the report from the Korea Inst

MarketApril 5, 2021

Posco Chemical to supply key EV battery materials to LG-GM JV

Posco Chemical said Monday it would supply anodes to Ultium Cells, a joint venture established by LG Energy Solution and General Motors in 2019. The refractory and secondary battery materials arm of South Korean steel giant Posco, it will provide anodes to Ultium Cells’ electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Ohio, which is set to begin the mass production of NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) batteries that contain 90 percent nickel starting this year. “Thanks

IndustryApril 5, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 3rd day on US infrastructure plan

South Korean stocks advanced for the third straight session on Monday as investors weigh the $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal in the United States. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.03 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 3,120.83 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.8 trillion won ($11.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 511 to 343. Foreigners

MarketApril 5, 2021

S. Korean Drug Ministry minimizes steps for biologic agent imports

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of South Korea announced Monday that it has minimized the steps required for the import of new biologic agents, such as COVID-19 vaccines. According to the revised rules, the government will no longer require foreign drug developers wishing to export their products to Korea to present certificates from their respective country. This would speed up the approval process here for foreign-developed biologic agents that are urgently needed to counter public h

TechnologyApril 5, 2021

Kumho introduces new all-season tire SOLUS TA51

Kumho Tire announced Monday that the company has launched the new all-season tire model SOLUS TA51 in South Korea. SOLUS TA51 is the tire maker’s first new product in three years, and comes in 34 different sizes, ranging from 16 inches (41 centimeters) to 19 inches. The tire product will be compatible with most car models in the local market, the company explained. It is a Korean market-only model. It is specially designed to be suitable for use in different weather conditions across

IndustryApril 5, 2021

Hyundai Card rolls out credit card with plentiful benefits

South Korean credit card issuer Hyundai Card has launched new credit cards which offer what the company says "ultimate rewards," for customers. The new credit cards under the Hyundai Card Z brand is the latest edition of the company’s credit card series named with alphabet letters. The new cards named after the last letter of the English alphabet comes with a range of cream-of-the-crop benefits, such as discounts at online streaming services, like Netflix, and retail ma

MarketApril 5, 2021

South Korea considering longer mortgage terms

With South Korea’s financial authorities gearing up to launch the nation’s first 40-year mortgage this year, as of Monday there was talk of longer-term options ahead -- as well as concern about whether longer-term mortgages are appropriate for the local housing market. The policymaking Financial Services Commission said Sunday that the state-backed 40-year option would be introduced for younger people and newly married borrowers as early as July. The FSC is jointly planning the mor

EconomyApril 5, 2021

Big tech may outsmart banks in data-driven credit scoring: report

With abundant data and digital analytics tools, big tech firms could conduct a more accurate assessment of a company‘s creditworthiness than conventional banks, giving them the upper hand in providing lending services in terms of allocative efficiency, a think tank said Monday. Amid accelerating digitization in the financial industry, big tech firms are capitalizing on their platforms and growing user databases to expand their financial services from basic payment system to financial in

MarketApril 5, 2021

Department stores mark highest sales jump in 25 years

Sales at department stores increased 34 percent year-on-year in February in the biggest jump in 25 years since 1996, the latest data from Statistics Korea showed Monday. The retail sales index, which is designed to reflect consumption trends, appears to have recovered to near pre-pandemic levels during February, as it stood at 115.2 after adjustments for seasonal factors. The figure stood at 116.2 in December 2019. The first case of coronavirus was detected in Korea the following month. Februa

ConsumerApril 5, 2021

LG's departure from mobile biz to boost bigger rivals' presence

LG Electronics Inc.'s withdrawal from the mobile business is likely to help its bigger rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. expand their presence in the sector at home and abroad, industry observers said Monday, as there are limited alternatives for local consumers. After years of money-losing performance, LG said it will close its mobile business by July 31. The decision came two months after the company hinted at exiting from its loss-making mobile communications (MC) unit. LG's departur

IndustryApril 5, 2021

Homeplus fined W468m for unfair biz activity

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Monday it has decided to fine discount store chain Homeplus 468 million won ($414,500) for unfairly passing on sales promotion costs to its contractors. Homeplus violated the large retailer business act by making multiple suppliers shoulder the costs worth around 720 million won in 2017 without prior signing of related contracts, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The KFTC also ordered the company to take corrective measures. (Yonhap)

EconomyApril 5, 2021

Daily transactions of internet banking up 21% last year amid pandemic

Daily transactions of internet banking services in South Korea rose 20.6 percent last year as customers preferred using financial services in a non-contact manner amid the pandemic, central bank data showed Monday. The value of daily transactions via online banking, including mobile banking, reached 58.7 trillion won ($52 billion) last year, compared with 48.6 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The daily use of online banking services reached 13

MarketApril 5, 2021

Samsung adopts new ERP system for efficient operation

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday said the company adopted a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to enhance efficiency and productivity in its global operations. The South Korean tech giant said the system, which the company developed over the last 30 months, has been first used by its offices in China and Southeast Asian countries. Samsung said the new ERP system, called N-ERP, will be used by all of its overseas branches by January 2022. The world's largest memory chip and smartpho

IndustryApril 5, 2021

FDI pledges to S. Korea up 44.6% in Q1 on post-COVID recovery hope

Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges to South Korea shot up 44.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Monday, as investors gradually resumed their business activities amid signs of the recovery in the global economy. Asia's No. 4 economy received $4.74 billion worth of FDI commitments in the January-March period, compared with $3.28 billion logged a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount of investment that actually arrived

EconomyApril 5, 2021

LG bows out of handset business, bets on mobile solutions

  After 26 years of ups and downs, LG Electronics is putting an end to its money-losing handset segment and shifting its focus to future mobile solutions for bigger industries, the company announced Monday. LG’s board of directors decided to officially terminate the handset business by July 31 after trying, and failing, to sell it off in the past two months. “LG has failed to respond well to the intensifying competition with the top two players in the mid-range smartphone ma

TechnologyApril 5, 2021

Hankook Tire supplies tires for Chinese EV maker

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's seventh-largest tiremaker by sales, said Monday it has been supplying tires for Chinese EV company NIO's models since last year. Hankook Tire has provided the high-performance Ventus S1 evo 2 tires for NIO's ES6 and EC6 SUV models since 2020, the company said in a statement. The company didn't provide an exact time frame for the supply deal or the value of the deal. Hankook Tire has supplied original equipment (OE) tires to Audi models, such as

IndustryApril 5, 2021

Imported auto sales jump 34% in March despite pandemic

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 34 percent in March from a year earlier on robust sales of German cars, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 27,297 units last month from 20,304 a year ago despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were the Mercedes-Benz E 250 sedan, Audi A6 45 TFSI sedan and Mercedes-B

EconomyApril 5, 2021

S. Korean casinos log big losses in 2020 on pandemic fallout

Casino operators in South Korea chalked up huge losses in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic sent the number of visitors plunging, data showed Monday. State-run casino operator Kangwon Land Inc. registered an operating loss of 431.6 billion won ($382 million) last year, a sharp turnaround from an operating profit of 501.2 billion won a year earlier. Kangwon Land, the country's only casino open to locals, is located in Jeongseon, some 200 kilometers east of Seoul. Another state-run casino operat

IndustryApril 5, 2021

Samsung to fund W46.4b for 27 research projects

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will provide support of more than 46.4 billion won ($41 million) for 27 research projects in the areas of basic science, materials engineering and ICT solutions. The South Korean tech giant confirmed the research projects chosen for funding in the first half of 2021, which include studies related to machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and DNA sequencing. Since 2013, Samsung has been helping to strengthen the development of basic science and f

IndustryApril 5, 2021