Samsung C&T wins $448m deal from Singapore

Samsung C&T Corp., the construction unit of Samsung Group, said Friday it has won a $604 million ($448) deal to build a section of Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. Under the deal with the Land Transport Authority, Samsung C&T will build Hougang interchange station and tunnels for the Cross Island Line, the city state's eighth MRT line. The Land Transport Authority said the deal also covers the construction of additional and alteration works to the existing Hougang station a

IndustryMarch 26, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding establishes shipyard simulation system with game engine

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering said Friday it launched a shipyard simulation system based on a game engine for optimized operations. According to DSME, it utilized the Unity game engine and constructed a 3D version of its actual shipyard. Inside the simulated space, DSME developed an algorithm that provides optimized transporter routes and block assembly. DSME aims to further advance the simulation system by applying cloud computing and machine learning technologies. Also, th

IndustryMarch 26, 2021

Home transactions tumble 24.5% in Feb.

Home transactions in South Korea sank nearly 25 percent in February amid government measures to rein in rising prices, data showed Friday. The number of homes changing hands nationwide stood at 87,021 last month, down 24.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The February reading was also down 4 percent from the previous month. The number of home transactions in the Seoul metropolitan area, which includes the western port

EconomyMarch 26, 2021

Korean automotive LED makers up presence in 2020 despite market decline: report

South Korea's two major automotive light-emitting diode (LED) makers saw their revenues increase last year despite an overall market slump amid the pandemic, a report showed Friday. Seoul Semiconductor Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. maintained their status as the world's fifth- and seventh-largest automotive LED suppliers, respectively, in 2020, but their market shares and sales grew, according to market researcher TrendForce. Seoul Semiconductor's revenue jumped 3.2 percent to $130 million

IndustryMarch 26, 2021

Doosan Heavy completes 2nd wind power generator plant

South Korean power plant builder Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. said Friday it has completed the construction of its second plant for wind power generators in the country. The plant in Changwon, 398 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will assemble and test 5.5-megawatt wind power generators, Doosan Heavy said. With the plant, Doosan Heavy will be able to produce 30 wind power generators annually, the company said. With its wind power business starting in 2005, Doosan Heavy has b

IndustryMarch 26, 2021

Over 80% of extra budget-funded relief aid to be offered by May

South Korea plans to provide more than 80 percent of another extra budget-funded relief aid to pandemic-hit smaller merchants by May, a senior government official said Friday. The National Assembly on Thursday approved the 15 trillion-won ($13 billion) extra budget designed to finance the 20.7 trillion-won aid package for the self-employed and vulnerable groups battered by the pandemic. Second Vice Finance Minister An Il-whan said more than 80 percent of the 7.3 trillion-won budget set aside t

EconomyMarch 26, 2021

Korea Shipbuilding wins W637b order for 5 container ships

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Friday it has clinched a 637 billion-won ($562 million) order from a Taiwanese company to build five container carriers. The deal signed with Wan Hai Lines calls for Korea Shipbuilding to start delivering the 13,200-twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels in the first half of 2023, Korea Shipbuilding said in a regulatory filing. The container carriers will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the company said. Hopes for a

IndustryMarch 26, 2021

Samsung Heavy bags W2.8tr order for 20 container carriers

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Friday it has obtained a 2.8 trillion-won ($2.5 billion) order from a Panamanian company to build 20 container carriers. Under the deal, Samsung Heavy Industries will deliver the 15,000-TEU vessels, on which energy saving devices will be mounted, by June 2025, the shipbuilder said in a regulatory filing. Samsung Heavy Industries has won a combined $5.1 billion in orders to build 42 ships so far this year, achieving 65 percent of its annual order target of $7.8

IndustryMarch 26, 2021

S. Korea to ease inflation pressure amid rising raw material prices

South Korea will step up efforts to ease growing inflationary pressure as hikes in global grain prices have jacked up prices of processed products, a senior government official said Friday. Vice First Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom also said the government plans to consider measures to ease financial burdens of businesses that have suffered from hikes in raw material prices. "People have felt higher price pressures as prices of processed goods, such as ready-to-eat steamed rice, bread and

EconomyMarch 26, 2021

Samsung, Marvell develops new System-on-a-Chip for 5G networks

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it has developed a new System-on-a-Chip (SoC) that can improve the performance of 5G networks in collaboration with US chip designer Marvell Technology Ltd. The South Korean tech giant said the new SoC will be used in the company's network equipment, such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and other radios, and plans to introduce the product in the second quarter of the year. An SoC refers to an integrated circuit that integrates entire or most

TechnologyMarch 26, 2021

Samsung Display dominates 2020 smartphone panel market with 50% share

Samsung Display Co. dominated the global smartphone display panel market last year, a report showed Friday, as it posted record revenue amid the pandemic. The affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone producer, represented half of the worldwide smartphone panel market last year in terms of revenue, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. The global smartphone display panel market grew 7 percent on-year to $43 billion in 2020. Samsung Display was follow

TechnologyMarch 26, 2021

[Graphic News] China’s imports of South Korean goods unfazed by pandemic

　China’s imports of South Korean products last year stayed nearly the same as the previous year despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, a report showed, as the world’s second-largest economy bought more consumer goods like cosmetics. 　China imported $173.5 billion worth of goods from South Korea in 2020, only 0.03 percent down from 2019, according to the report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. 　China spent $10 million or more on each of 59 items from South Ko

BusinessMarch 26, 2021

S. Korea to unveil measures to stem property speculation by civil servants

South Korea plans to unveil a set of measures next week to root out property speculation by public officials amid a mounting public outcry over a land speculation scandal by public officials, the finance minister said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki stressed the government is preparing to come up with measures to eradicate property speculation and illegal practices, and prevent the recurrence of similar cases. "(With the measures), the government plans to apply very strict standards

EconomyMarch 26, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.34 points, or 0.44 percent, to 3,021.67 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.62 percent on improved jobless data, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 adding 0.12 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics gained 0.37 percent, and N

MarketMarch 26, 2021

Consumer sentiment gains for 3rd month in March

South Korea's consumer sentiment rose for a third consecutive month in March, as exports showed signs of a modest recovery amid the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, central bank data showed Friday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came in at 100.5 for March, up 3.1 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The latest reading marks the third on-month gain following a drop in December las

EconomyMarch 26, 2021

IMF sharply ups 2021 growth outlook for S. Korea to 3.6%

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday sharply raised its growth outlook for South Korea this year, citing robust exports and the country's fiscal policy support amid the pandemic. The IMF forecast the South Korean economy to grow 3.6 percent this year, up from its estimate in January of 3.1 percent. The upward revision came as the IMF issued a report on the outcome of its annual consultation with South Korea held in January. The IMF said Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to

EconomyMarch 26, 2021

Implications of Intel's foundry bid on Asia: 'US is getting back its chips'

Intel’s plan to reenter the foundry business could be an indication of reshoring chip manufacturing back to the US, a key strategic move that would have ramifications on the local economy, which depends largely on chip sales. After announcing the plan to spend $20 billion on building two new fabrication plants in Arizona, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told BBC, “Having 80 percent of all supply in Asia simply isn’t a palatable manner for the world to have its view of the most crit

TechnologyMarch 25, 2021

LG Chem chief vows to get due compensation from SK

Shin Hak-cheol, chief executive and vice chairman of LG Chem, on Thursday vowed to get proper compensation from SK Innovation for stealing its battery technologies. “We can’t easily let go of this case for the general good of global companies that are developing technologies on the belief of fair competition and clients who make purchases on the belief they were lawfully made,” Shin said at the company’s general shareholders meeting held at the headquarters building in

TechnologyMarch 25, 2021

GC Wellbeing drug material for cancer cachexia shows efficacy

GC Wellbeing announced Thursday that GCWB204, its new drug material for treating cancer cachexia, has shown efficacy in preventing muscle reduction. GC Wellbeing, jointly with the convergence medical team led by professor Woo Dong-cheol of Asan Medical Center, published the results of the research in global academic journal Metabolomics, according to the company. The joint research team focused on analyzing the effects of GCWB204 on main biomarkers from animal samples that underwent muscle

TechnologyMarch 25, 2021

[Newsmaker] ‘Imprisoned Samsung chief Lee hospitalized for burst appendix’

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong had part of his large intestine removed after his appendix burst, local reports said Thursday. The de facto chief of the nation’s largest conglomerate, who is currently in jail for bribing former President Park Geun-hye, had a partial colorectal resection last week, the reports said, after a case of acute appendicitis was diagnosed too late and resulted in complications. They said Lee, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, endured th

IndustryMarch 25, 2021