[#WeFace] EVs, green loans and less paper: S. Korean banks take baby steps toward ESG

This article is part of analysis and interviews by The Korea Herald’s finance desk staff exploring South Korea’s budding ESG investment market, as well as its potential, impact and challenges. -- Ed. Of all the changes stemming from the banking sector’s embrace of environmental, social and governance values in recent years, according to 53-year-old Shin Hae-jin, the one that stands out most is the absence of paper in “paperwork.” “Since last year, I’ve

MarketApril 1, 2021

[Newsmaker] Shinhan Bank employee shot in Myanmar, sends jitters across Korea’s finance sector

A Burmese employee at Shinhan Bank’s Yangon branch was shot amid an escalating bloodshed in Myanmar, the South Korean lender and a Burmese news outlet said Thursday. The female employee was shot while heading home in a company vehicle, at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, after work. According to reports, she was taken to a hospital in critical condition. The employee’s current condition is unknown. Shinhan has been operating a branch in Yangon with a minimum number of employees stationed at

MarketApril 1, 2021

Samsung lowers price of Galaxy Z Fold2 in S. Korea

Samsung Electronics Co. has lowered the price of its latest foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold2, industry insiders said Thursday, in an effort to popularize the foldable smartphone category. The ex-factory price for the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, which was launched last September, has been set at 1.892 million won ($1,675) here, down from 2.398 million won, according to people in the mobile industry. The ex-factory price, or list price, refers to the selling cost of goods from the manufacturer's p

IndustryApril 1, 2021

S. Korean individuals' stock holdings jump 58% in 2020

Stocks held by South Korean retail investors jumped nearly 60 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid their investment craze, data showed Thursday. Local individuals owned 662 trillion won ($586 billion) worth of listed shares as of the end of 2020, up 58 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The on-year increase in the value of retail investors' stock holdings accounted for nearly 38 percent of last year's rise in total market capitali

MarketApril 1, 2021

Exports of virus-related medical goods sharply up in 2020

South Korea's exports of test kits for the new coronavirus, protective masks and other virus-related goods sharply increased last year amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday, with the country planning to further expand outbound shipments of such goods down the road. Outbound shipments of such goods reached $5.9 billion in 2020, rising from $1.28 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In 2020, the country's overall exports

EconomyApril 1, 2021

S. Korea to speed up growth of power semiconductor industry

South Korea pledged Thursday to support the power semiconductor industry amid growing demand for energy-efficient chips with stronger durability. Under the goal, the country plans to develop at least five power semiconductor products by 2025, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea also plans to support local businesses to establish the production lines of six- to eight-inch foundry factories. Power semiconductors are used to convert, stabilize and distribute elect

IndustryApril 1, 2021

ICT companies spent over W40tr on R&D in 2019

South Korea's information and communication technology (ICT) companies spent more than 40 trillion won ($35.3 billion) on research and development in 2019, data showed Thursday, as the country focuses on developing new 5G and artificial intelligence technology. ICT companies' total R&D spending reached 41.4 trillion won in 2019, up 3 percent from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. By sector, 38.1 trillion won, or 91.9 percent of the total, was spent on informa

IndustryApril 1, 2021

Tax agency launches probes into property-related tax evasion

South Korea's tax agency said Thursday it has launched probes into suspected tax evasion by 165 people and entities that sought to take profit from speculative or illegal property transactions. The National Tax Service (NTS) said it has cracked down on 158 individuals and others over alleged tax evasion. The tax agency has been looking into land transactions made around six public housing development sites in satellite cities outside Seoul as part of the country's efforts to stem property spec

EconomyApril 1, 2021

S. Korea to encourage 5G competition through budget mobile providers

South Korea's ICT ministry said Thursday it aims to encourage more competition in the local 5G market through the release of affordable mobile data plans from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The ICT ministry said 10 MVNOs in the country, including Sejong Telecom Inc., will release new data plans starting this month that provide up to 30 gigabytes of data for around 40,000 won ($35). The country's major telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- do not currentl

TechnologyApril 1, 2021

Doosan Logistics Solutions offers sorting system to Vietnam Post

System integrator Doosan Logistics Solutions Co. (DLS) said Thursday that it has provided an automation sorting system to Vietnam Post, Vietnam's largest delivery company. The subsidiary wholly owned by Doosan Corp., a holding company of Doosan Group, plans to aggressively tap into the Vietnamese e-commerce market and delivery automation market with the latest provision of automation equipment to a center of the state-run Vietnam Post in Da Nang, a central port city of Vietnam, DLS said. The p

IndustryApril 1, 2021

LG Electronics launches new 17-inch laptop

LG Electronics Inc. on Thursday launched a new 17-inch laptop boasting high performance as the South Korean tech giant eyes boosting notebook sales amid the pandemic-induced remote working and distance learning trends. The new model in the LG UltraGear 17 series comes with a price tag of 2.24 million won ($1,980) here, according to LG. The new UltraGear 17 is equipped with a 17-inch Wide Quad Extended Graphics Array display that has a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels, according to the company.

IndustryApril 1, 2021

Samsung to log robust Q1 earnings on robust mobile biz: analysts

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to report robust earnings in the first quarter of the year, analysts here said Thursday, as its mobile business has apparently offset relatively sluggish performance from its semiconductor unit. The South Korean tech titan was projected to log 60.64 trillion won (US$53.7 billion) in sales in the first three months of 2021, up 10.9 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit was estimated to surge 38.8 percent on-year to 8.95 trillion won over the peri

IndustryApril 1, 2021

Online lender K-Bank enjoys rapid growth in Q1

K-Bank, South Korea's first internet-only bank, said Thursday its customers and deposits grew exponentially in the first quarter of the year amid the coronavirus outbreak. The number of customers stood at 3.91 million as of the end of March, 1.72 million more than three months earlier, said the lender, which is led by telecom giant KT Corp. The number of new customers is far more than the number it had attracted in the three years since its inception. Outstanding customer deposits came to 8.7

MarketApril 1, 2021

Hyundai teases Santa Cruz ahead of US launch this month

Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday released a teaser for the Santa Cruz pickup ahead of its unveiling in the United States this month. The Santa Cruz sport adventure vehicle (SAV), a model that sits between a sport utility vehicle and a pickup truck, boasts a bold yet sophisticated design, advanced connectivity and an all-wheel drive platform, the company said in a statement. "Santa Cruz, with its bold styling, breaks open all-new segment territory, both for Hyundai and the industry as a whole

MobilityApril 1, 2021

Korea Shipbuilding wins W566b in orders for 7 ships

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Thursday it has signed deals worth 566 billion won ($502 million) with companies from Asia, Europe and Africa to build seven ships. Under a 247 billion-won deal with an Asian company, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a unit of KSOE, will deliver two 98,000-cubic-meter ethanol carriers by January 2023, KSOE said. The vessels, which are 230 meters long, 36.6 meters wide and 22.8 meters high, were ordered for the first time this year acro

IndustryApril 1, 2021

Convenience store chain CU opens 1st outlet in Malaysia

CU has opened its first outlet in Malaysia as part of its overseas push, the operator of South Korea's top convenience store chain said Thursday. The 165-square-meter outlet started operations at a shopping mall in a middle-class neighborhood in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, according to BGF Retail Co. South Korean goods account for 60 percent of all products it carries. The store also sells CU's popular private-label products and such "Korean street foods" as "tteokbok

ConsumerApril 1, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on US stimulus plan

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as investor sentiment was boosted by a massive infrastructure project by the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 26.6 points, or 0.87 percent, to 3,088.02 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the US President Joe Biden announced a $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal that is expected to quicken the global economic rebound and benefit local exporters. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics adde

MarketApril 1, 2021

5 firms to recall nearly 230,000 vehicles over faulty parts

Hyundai Motor Co., BMW Korea and three other companies will voluntarily recall nearly 240,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Thursday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components. The five companies, including Kia Corp., Ford Sales & Service Korea Inc. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) Korea, are recalling a combined 238,914 units due to faulty components

MobilityApril 1, 2021

Exports up for 5 months in Feb., recovery likely to be further extended

South Korea's exports advanced 16.6 percent in March from a year earlier on the back of solid demand for chips and autos to extend their gains for the fifth consecutive month, data showed Thursday, stoking speculation that recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy is gathering pace. Outbound shipments came to US$53.8 billion last month, compared with $46.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports rose 18.8 percent to $49.6 bi

EconomyApril 1, 2021

SK IE Technology to go public on Seoul bourse in May

SK IE Technology Co., a battery materials subsidiary of SK Innovation Co., said Wednesday it will commence the initial public offering process for its Seoul bourse debut in May. SKIET, which makes lithium-ion battery separators, said it will float 21.4 million shares on the KOSPI market at prices between 78,000 won and 105,000 won, which would make its market value up to 7.5 trillion won ($6.6 billion). SKIET will issue 8.5 million new shares and SK Innovation will sell 12.8 million shares i

MarketMarch 31, 2021