[Graphic News] Exports of fishery goods down 7.4% in 2020 amid pandemic fallout

　South Korea’s exports of fishery products moved down 7.4 percent on-year in 2020, data showed, as people around the globe refrained from dining out amid the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a weaker demand for tuna and other popular goods. 　Outbound shipments of fishery goods reached $2.3 billion last year, down from $2.5 billion posted in 2019, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. 　The decrease was largely attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, which limi

BusinessJan. 19, 2021

S. Korea to monitor market volatility amid widening bond yield spreads

South Korea will closely monitor a potential increase in volatility of the financial markets as the yield spread between short and long-term state bonds is increasing, the vice finance minister said Tuesday. First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom also said rising US Treasury yields are serving as the main factor that has recently driven the dollar higher against major currencies. Yields on 10-year government bonds recently jumped on anticipation for an economic recovery and expected bond sa

MarketJan. 19, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on auto gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on strong advances by auto-related shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 10.02 points, or 0.33 percent, to 3,023.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI rebounded on foreign and institutional buying. The key index slumped over 4 percent in total in the previous two sessions. Top automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 4.56 percent, with its smaller affiliates Kia Motors and Hyundai Mobis hiking 4.9 percent and 4.95 percent, resp

MarketJan. 19, 2021

S. Korea's data industry grows 14% in 2020

South Korea's data industry expanded more than 14 percent in 2020 from a year earlier to exceed the 19 trillion won level, a survey showed Tuesday. The local market for data stood at 19.3 trillion won ($17.4 billion) last year, up 14.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the survey by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Data Agency. Last year's growth rate was much higher than the 8.3 percent on-year increase posted a year earlier. Data sales and provision accounted for the la

EconomyJan. 19, 2021

S. Korean exports to Japan dip 11.7% in 2020 on pandemic

South Korean exports to Japan shrank nearly 12 percent in 2020 from a year earlier due to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Overseas shipments to the neighboring country came to $25.09 billion last year, down 11.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Japan thus accounted for 4.9 percent of South Korea's overall exports last year, dropping below the 5 percent level for the first time in three years.

EconomyJan. 19, 2021

Chaebol and prison: a quick look at chiefs who served jail terms

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for bribing former President Park Geun-hye on Monday, joining a long list of conglomerate owners who have been charged with a similar offense in the past. While Lee is the first Samsung chief to be imprisoned and has been sentenced twice -- in a retrial Monday as well as in February 2017 -- Lee Byung-chul, the late founder of Samsung Group, was similarly investigated though without being indicted. Lee Jae-yong’s late father

IndustryJan. 18, 2021

Samsung Electronics launches smart tracking tag

Samsung Electronics will introduce a smart tracking tag this week to help users find lost items, the company announced Monday. Dubbed the Galaxy SmartTag, the product will go on sale here Tuesday for a retail price of 29,700 won, the company said. The brand-new Bluetooth tracker is designed to help users locate lost items such as their keys, phones, pets and anything that they could misplace. By attaching the dongle to your personal belongings, SmartTag will emit an alarm sound when you

TechnologyJan. 18, 2021

[Herald Interview] Hard lessons from COVID-19 will equip Korea better for next pandemic

This interview is the second installment in a three-part series in conversations with the former directors of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- now the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency -- as the country looks back on a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. -- Ed. A former head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says South Korea weathered the novel coronavirus relatively unscathed in the initial stages, but that the winter serves as a reminder of

TechnologyJan. 18, 2021

Celltrion’s COVID drug given green light in 1st of 3-step review

Celltrion’s proposed COVID-19 treatment has won an OK in the first of the three-leg review by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the agency said Monday. The Korean drugmaker last week sought conditional use approval for its anti-COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment candidate regdanvimab, or CT-P59, becoming the first local firm to reach that stage in the race for a COVID-19 cure. A panel of experts, comprising eight outside experts and four from the ministry, advised that the auth

IndustryJan. 18, 2021

Court ruling on Samsung heir adds to stock woes

South Korea’s stock market was dealt a further blow following a conviction of Samsung group heir apparent Lee Jae-yong on Monday, with large-cap stocks posting bigger losses. This comes as a recent rally, largely driven by massive retail investor participation since late 2020, has been followed by a stock market correction in the last two trading days. 　 The Korea Exchange’s main board Kospi closed at 3,013.93 points, down 2.3 percent from Friday, despite retail investors’ c

MarketJan. 18, 2021

Hyundai Motor chairman sees March stock buy triple in value

Stocks in carmaker Hyundai Motor and its auto parts-making affiliate Hyundai Mobis that Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun bought during the peak of the coronavirus crisis last year have tripled in value, according to data on Monday. When Hyundai Motor Group stocks hit the rock bottom in March last year, Chung purchased stocks valued more than 80 billion won. The purchase price of a Hyundai Motor share was 69,793 won and 135,294 won for a share in Hyundai Mobis. Based on the closing pri

MarketJan. 18, 2021

SK hynix to launch consumer SSDs

SK hynix will launch consumer solid state drives here for the first time, the company said Monday, as the remote working trend boosted demand for personal storage devices. The chipmaker will introduce two models -- Gold P31 and Gold S31 – which were launched in the US market in 2020 and 2019, respectively, and received positive reviews. Gold P31 is an PCI Express SSD model, the world‘s first consumer SSD with 128-layer NAND, that can be used for any motherboard that has an availab

TechnologyJan. 18, 2021

Korea's ICT exports grow 3.8% in 2020

South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology products in 2020 increased 3.8 percent on-year, data showed. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on Monday, exports of ICT products reached $183.6 billion for the whole of 2020, the third-highest amount ever. Shipments had declined in the first half of the year due to a sharp contraction in global demand during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but bounced back in the following half, largely driven by semicon

TechnologyJan. 18, 2021

[Feature] Fear of missing out: Psychology behind Kospi rally

　The nickname “ants” has been used to describe South Korean retail investors, as a diligent but minor group seeking profit from the market with little in the way of knowledge or funds. The recent stock craze that pushed up the nation‘s main bourse Kospi, however, shows how those minor players are transforming. Armed with abundant funds and wider access to limited information thanks to advanced technology, the ants are marching toward the territory of the institutional and for

MarketJan. 18, 2021

Korea’s battery industry powers through pandemic

South Korea is projected to set a new record in rechargeable battery exports this year. Overseas shipment of rechargeable batteries is expected to grow 5.7 percent from a year earlier to reach a record high of $7 billion, according to a projection by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Battery Industry Association on Monday. In 2020, the country’s battery exports increased 2.9 percent year-on-year to $6.57 billion, marking a fifth consecutive year of growth. By

IndustryJan. 18, 2021

Tesla’s Model Y SUV to feature Hankook Tire’s tires

Hankook Tire, the world’s seventh-largest tire maker by sales, will be one of the tire suppliers for Tesla’s electric sport utility vehicle Model Y, industry officials said Monday. The Korean tire manufacturer’s 19-inch tires are currently fitted on Model Y vehicles that are produced in Tesla’s Shanghai plant, which accounts for the Chinese market and other countries around the world. The Korean market, however, is likely to be excluded from the Hankook Tire production

IndustryJan. 18, 2021

[Newsmaker] Blow for Samsung as heir Lee sent back to prison for bribery

South Korea’s largest conglomerate, Samsung Group, is facing another watershed as chief Lee Jae-yong was once again taken into custody Monday after receiving a jail term for bribery and embezzlement. The departure of Lee from the helm of the group comes at a time when the IT giant is seeking to make progress on its long-pending management succession and to press forward amid the post-coronavirus economic recovery. “Lee should be held responsible for the suggested bribery and embez

IndustryJan. 18, 2021

[Gadget Review] This time, Galaxy S21 over Galaxy S21 Ultra?

Entry models are often a compromise for consumers, second-best to the fancy and expensive premium models. When it comes to Samsung Electronics’ latest smartphone lineup, however, that may not be the case. With its sleeker design and slashed price tag, the Galaxy S21, the entry model in the latest series, immediately caught my attention. Then after getting my hands on it and the premium Ultra model over the weekend, I came to favor the cheaper phone over the extra-premium one. The two

TechnologyJan. 18, 2021

Seoul stocks dip over 2% on Samsung, bio stocks

South Korean stocks tumbled more than 2 percent Monday amid strong profit-taking sell-offs and a plunge in Samsung affiliates. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dipped 71.97 points, or 2.33 percent, to close at 3,013.93 points. Trading volume was high at about 1.5 billion shares worth around 22.8 trillion won ($20.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 715 to 164. Foreigners sold a net 220 billion won, while retail investo

MarketJan. 18, 2021

Hanmi touts production capacity for COVID-19 vaccines

Hanmi Pharmaceutical on Monday said it has enough production capacity to contract manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. “Hanmi Pharmaceutical has various capabilities and facilities where we can produce nucleic acid vaccines as a contract manufacturing/development organization,” said CEO Kwon Se-chang. 　 “We are open to potential collaboration with various companies to contribute to ending the global pandemic.” Among others, the executive pointed to its newly built Bio Plant

IndustryJan. 18, 2021