Coupang announces early stock lockup agreement release; employees allowed to sell stocks

About a week into its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, Coupang is allowing some of its workers to sell their shares. Coupang announced an early stock lockup agreement release for about 34 million shares held by employees, which became eligible for sale at the opening of trading Thursday US time. According to the South Korean e-commerce platform company, the condition of the release -- that its stocks must close at or above the initial public offering price, $35 -- was satisfied as of th

ConsumerMarch 19, 2021

Seoul stocks retreat on US Treasury yields hike

South Korean stocks retreated Friday amid inflation uncertainties, as investor sentiment weakened from an overnight hike in long-term US Treasury yields. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 26.48 points, or 0.86 percent, to close at 3,039.53 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 15.9 trillion won ($14.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 447 to 378. Foreigners sold a net 584 billio

MarketMarch 19, 2021

Money supply reaches all-time high in January

The money supply in the market has reached a record high, with companies increasingly issuing corporate bonds amid lower interest rates, data released by the Bank of Korea showed Friday. The nation’s M2 money supply increased by 41.9 trillion won ($37 billion), or 1.3 percent, to an all-time high of 3,233.4 trillion won in January, according to the BOK. The 41.9 trillion won increase also marked the largest monthly growth since the central bank began compiling related data in 2001.

MarketMarch 19, 2021

Samsung ranks 5th in 2020 smartphone AP market: report

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's fifth-largest smartphone application processor (AP) vendor last year, a report showed Friday, as the South Korean tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the mobile microprocessor sector with more sales of its Galaxy devices. Samsung, which makes the Exynos chipsets, represented 9 percent of the global smartphone AP market in terms of revenue in 2020, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. "The company's in-house customer's underperfo

IndustryMarch 19, 2021

Vice finance minister says global oil prices to see limited rise

It is unlikely that global oil prices will rise further, South Korea’s first vice minister of finance said Friday, citing the supply capacity of major oil producers as well as the recent surge in US Treasury bond yields. “Prices of the country’s benchmark Dubai crude, which stood at $42 per barrel last year, surged to more than $60 per barrel this month,” said Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom during an economic meeting. “Oil prices, however, are less likely

EconomyMarch 19, 2021

S. Korea set to launch next-generation observation satellite over weekend

South Korea will launch its next-generation midsized observation satellite this week, the latest in the country's efforts to boost its space industry and develop its own space technologies. The 540-kilogram satellite loaded on Russia's Soyuz 2.1a will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday morning (local time) and contact the Svalbard Satellite Station in Norway after reaching its target orbit, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Equipped with an imaging sens

TechnologyMarch 19, 2021

LG Group looks to improve governance with ESG initiative

LG Corp., LG Group’s holding company, said Friday that its board had launched an exclusive committee to deal with environmental, social and governance issues as part of its efforts to reinforce self-monitoring by listed affiliates for governance and compliance issues. The ESG Committee, which will be the top decision-making body on ESG management, will report policies to the board concerning environment and safety, corporate social responsibility, customer value, shareholder value and

IndustryMarch 19, 2021

NPS denies rumors of adjusting targets of domestic equity allocation

South Korea’s largest public pension body, the National Pension Service, on Friday denied local news reports that it was considering reweighting its investment portfolio and raising its domestic stock allocation in contrast with an earlier pledge to cut its exposure. “The NPS Investment Management Committee does not plan to discuss readjusting its target asset allocation with regards to the hike of domestic equity exposure,” the NPS said in a statement. The statement rebutt

MarketMarch 19, 2021

Samyang Foods tops W600b in sales in 2020, setting record

Samyang Foods achieved record sales of 648.5 billion won ($572 million) and an operating profit of 95.3 billion won in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Korean food company said Friday. Samyang Foods, which produces the globally popular Buldak Spicy Chicken Noodle, said both its sales and operating profit jumped last year from a year earlier, by 19.3 percent and 21.9 percent, respectively. Sales from overseas backed the sales growth, having increased 35.8 percent on-year to reco

ConsumerMarch 19, 2021

S. Korea, IDB agree to expand loan program for Latin America

South Korea said Friday it has agreed to expand a joint loan facility program with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in a bid to support infrastructure development in Latin America. The finance ministry and the IDB signed a letter of intent to extend the cooperative loan program between the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), the country's lower-interest loan scheme with emerging countries, and the regional development bank, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. T

EconomyMarch 19, 2021

LG unveils measures to improve corporate governance, transparency

LG Group, South Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate, on Friday unveiled measures to improve its corporate governance and transparency in management. LG said its listed affiliates will establish an environmental, social and governance (ESG) committee and an in-house trading committee within their boards. The newly established ESG committee will comprise of outside directors, with the company's CEO also participating as a member to better execute its plans. LG said the committee, which will cov

IndustryMarch 19, 2021

Domestic demand suffers extended slumps amid pandemic: finance ministry

The South Korean economy is on a recovery track on robust exports and investment, but domestic demand remains sluggish amid the pandemic, the finance ministry said Friday. But the government did not say in its monthly economic assessment report that economic uncertainty persists. "The Korean economy is seeing an improvement in exports and investment and the country's job losses eased, but domestic demand has slackened amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases," the Ministry of Economy and

EconomyMarch 19, 2021

Genesis GV80 SUV earns IIHS top crash safety award

The Genesis GV80 sport utility vehicle earned the highest crash safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday. The South Korean carmaker produces the luxury SUV and high-end sedans under its independent Genesis brand. The IIHS has added its own seal of approval to the GV80 only a few weeks after golf great Tiger Woods unintentionally put the flagship SUV in the spotlight by demonstrating its crashworthiness. The GV80 earned the Top Safet

MobilityMarch 19, 2021

S. Korea sees limited chance of sharp rise in oil prices

Oil prices are not likely to sharply rise down the road, given oil producing nations' output capacity and rising US bond yields, a senior government official said Friday. First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said the government will take actions to stabilize inflation, if needed, amid concerns that an uptrend in oil costs would exert upward pressure on prices amid an economic slowdown. "A rise in oil prices could increase burdens on households and companies. But as the current hike i

EconomyMarch 19, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on US bond yields

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, tracking an overnight tech plunge on Wall Street that stemmed from a hike in the long-term US Treasury yields. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 40.99 points, or 1.34 percent, to 3.025.02 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech stocks, sensitive to inflation, dropped as spiking yield rates fueled concerns over earlier-than-expected post-pandemic inflation. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 3.02 perce

MarketMarch 19, 2021

Samsung ranks 5th in 2020 PC monitor market: report

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's fifth-largest PC monitor vendor last year, a report showed Friday, after posting robust growth in sales amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. The South Korean tech giant shipped 11.7 million units of monitors in 2020, up 30.6 percent from a year ago, according to the report from market tracker International Data Corp. (IDC), with its market share increasing to 8.6 percent from 7.1 percent a year earlier. Samsung posted the biggest yearly growth a

IndustryMarch 19, 2021

ITC delays preliminary ruling on LG-SK battery patent suit

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) said Friday it has delayed the preliminary decision on the battery patent infringement suit between LG Energy Solution Ltd. and SK Innovation Co. to next month. The US trade panel was due to deliver the initial ruling on the battery patent suit between the South Korean rivals Friday (US time) but postponed the date by two weeks to April 2. "Additional time will be needed to complete the initial determination, which will require an extension of t

IndustryMarch 19, 2021

Number of health & beauty shops dips for 1st time in 2020 amid pandemic

The number of big-name retailers' beauty stores in South Korea declined for the first time in 2020 as more customers turned to online shopping amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Friday. The country's three major health and beauty (H&B) chains -- Olive Young, lalavla and LOHB's -- had a combined 1,484 outlets across the nation as of end-December last year, down 31 from a year earlier, according to the data posted on the electronic disclosure system of the Financial Supervisory Servic

IndustryMarch 19, 2021

Ioniq 5 bedazzles with futuristic silhouette, expanded interior space

For South Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor, the game changer for this year’s business is the launch of Ioniq 5, its first all-electric vehicle built on their exclusive EV platform. While vying against global competitors such as Tesla, the new model is expected to serve as a key barometer on whether Hyundai Motor Group manages to accommodate to the post-coronavirus market changes and transform into a sustainable, comprehensive mobility operator. Set to kick off mass production

IndustryMarch 19, 2021

[News Focus] LG Group’s spinoff decision to take center stage at shareholders meeting

At the annual shareholders meeting set for next Friday, LG Group’s plans to spin off business units and create a new holding company for them are expected to take center stage. As the meeting approaches, market experts and advisory institutions are releasing their assessments of the restructuring plan, which the group says it has had in the works since the leadership change in 2018. LG Corp., the current holding company of LG Group, announced in November that the group would spin off

TechnologyMarch 18, 2021