Seoul stocks hit new high on US stimulus hopes

South Korean stocks rose slightly to reach a record high Friday, buoyed by optimism over US stimulus talks despite a spike in local COVID-19 cases. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.75 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,772.18. Trading volume was high at about 1.05 billion shares worth some 18.9 trillion won ($17.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 491 to 342. Foreigners sold a net 192.4 billion won, while in

MarketDec. 18, 2020

Lemonex wins Innovation Winner 2020 with DegradaBALL

Lemonex, a South Korean biotherapeutics and biotech company, was acknowledged with an Industry and Energy Ministerial prize for technology innovation at the Innovation Winner 2020 awards. The Innovation Winner 2020 was hosted by Herald Corp. in collaboration with monthly magazine PowerKorea on Thursday. Lemonex won for its original drug delivery technology called DegradaBALL. “DegradaBALL enables effective delivery of various new drug candidates into cultured cells or lesions by loading

IndustryDec. 18, 2020

Most expensive house in Korea: Shinsegae chairwoman’s W30b residence

A Hannam-dong residence in central Seoul owned by Shinsegae Group’s chief retained its top position as the most expensive house in Korea, data showed Friday. The value of Shinsegae chairwoman Lee Myeong-hee’s 2,862-square-meter house, as assessed by the government, was 29.53 billion won ($26.88 million), up 6.6 percent from this year. Lee is the younger sister of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Previously, the house’s declared price surged by 59.7 percent on-year fro

MarketDec. 18, 2020

S. Korea's exports dip at fastest pace in 2019 on weak chip demand

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports dropped at the fastest clip in 2019 due to sluggish overseas demand for semiconductors, government data showed Friday. The country's overseas shipments stood at $541.2 billion last year, down 10.3 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea and the Korea Customs Service. Large companies in Asia's fourth-largest economy suffered bigger declines than smaller businesses. Combined exports of 857 large corporations sank 13.5 percent

EconomyDec. 18, 2020

Hyundai Motor seeks to up stake in Turkey plant

Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it seeks to raise its stake in its plant in Turkey by acquiring a 27 percent stake held by Kibar Holding in preparation for the post-coronavirus recovery. Early this month, Hyundai Motor submitted documents to the Turkish authorities to buy most of Kibar's stake in its local factory, a company spokesman said over the phone. The South Korean carmaker currently holds a 70 percent stake in the 230,000-unit-a-year plant in the northwestern city of Izmit, and Kibar ow

MobilityDec. 18, 2020

Celltrion inks supply agreement for COVID-19 test kit in US

South Korean biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Friday it has signed an agreement worth 240 billion won ($220 million) to supply a diagnostic kit for the novel coronavirus in the United States. Under the agreement, Celltrion's rapid antibody diagnostic test (RDT) kit for the new coronavirus, named DiaTrust, will be distributed by Prime Healthcare Distributors. The kit was co-developed by the South Korean in-vitro diagnostic company Humasis. The new antibody detection test is most sui

IndustryDec. 18, 2020

S. Korea, France vow to support multilateralism to overcome pandemic fallout

South Korea and France on Friday agreed to continue to support multilateralism over protectionism to overcome the economic fallout from the virus pandemic, and to expand cooperation in various areas from vaccines to green cars. "This year, the two countries have worked deeply together in multilateral frameworks, such as the Group of 20 and the OECD, to promote the travel of products, services and workforces despite the COVID-19 pandemic," Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said during her m

EconomyDec. 18, 2020

S. Korea inks free trade pact with Indonesia

South Korea formally inked a comprehensive trade deal with Indonesia on Friday, paving the way for local exporters to penetrate deeper into the Southeast Asian market. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo met his Indonesian counterpart Agus Suparmanto here to sign the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The pact now needs a parliamentary approval. The two countries resumed their talks in 2019 after a five-year hiatus. The CEP

EconomyDec. 18, 2020

S. Korea's Q3 overseas direct investment dips 24% on pandemic

SEJONG -- South Korea's overseas direct investment tumbled 24 percent in the third quarter of the year as the coronavirus pandemic dented global investment flows, government data showed Friday.  The value of investments made by South Korean companies came to $10.77 billion in the July-September period, down 23.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It marked the third consecutive quarterly decline. Overseas direct investment fell 4 p

EconomyDec. 18, 2020

Daewoo Shipbuilding halts Okpo shipyard over virus infections

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Friday it has suspended its Okpo shipyard for three days due to COVID-19 infections among its workers. Three workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, the company said. "The work suspension will have a limited impact on the construction of ships as it applies for just the one business day of Friday and the other two days are the weekend," Yoon Yohan, a company spokesman, told Yonhap News Agency. The shipyard is located

IndustryDec. 18, 2020

Seoul stocks open tad higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid hopes of a new US stimulus deal and the possible rollout of US biotech company Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.65 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,772.08 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49 percent to reach a record high of 30,303.37 points, while the Nasdaq composite al

MarketDec. 18, 2020

Samsung releases new Galaxy Book laptops

Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday introduced new models of its Galaxy Book laptop series as the South Korean tech aims to boost personal computer (PC) sales amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic. Samsung said the Galaxy Book Flex2, Galaxy Book Flex2 5G and Galaxy Book Ion2 will be launched on Jan. 1, 2021. Preorders for the latest laptops, all powered by Intel Corp.'s 11th generation processor, will be available from Monday to Dec. 31 in South Korea. The Galaxy Book Flex2 is a 2

TechnologyDec. 18, 2020

Bourse operator grants Kolon TissueGene 1-year period to improve management

South Korea's bourse operator on Thursday decided to grant the scandal-ridden drugmaker Kolon TissueGene Inc. a one-year period to improve its management. In a meeting to decide whether to delist the drugmaker, the KOSDAQ market committee under the Korea Exchange (KRX) decided to give the company, an affiliate of Kolon Life Science, a one-year grace period to enhance its management. Kolon TissueGene was listed on the secondary KOSDAQ market in 2017. The trading of Kolon TissueGene has been sus

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

LG U+ demonstrates autonomous parking technology

Telecommunications firm LG U+ introduced a 5G network-based autonomous parking solution, during a closed demonstration held in Seoul, Thursday. 　 In an online video demonstration, the carrier tested the self-driving vehicle, which traveled about five minutes on roads and managed to park itself in a public parking lot. 　 The test car, a Genesis GV80 SUV equipped with lidar and radar sensors, started off on a road 800 meters from the parking lot, followed traffic signals on the way and parked i

TechnologyDec. 17, 2020

[Women in Finance 4] Pandemic highlights power of gender diversity to improve decision-making

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of special reports on the glass ceiling in the financial industry, focusing on South Korea’s market compared to other major economies. Funded by The Korea Press Foundation, the series will evaluate where Asia’s fourth-largest economy stands in terms of gender equality, reflect on changes being made, and explore ways to boost inclusion in the sector. -- Ed. The COVID-19 pandemic has been both an opportunity and a crisis for the world of financ

MarketDec. 17, 2020

SK Bioscience receives positive results from phase 3 trial of typhoid vaccine

SK Bioscience announced Thursday that the typhoid conjugate vaccine it is developing jointly with the International Vaccine Institute has garnered positive results from phase 3 clinical trials. The phase 3 clinical trials of vaccine material NBP618 were conducted on 1,350 people aged between 6 months and 45 years old. The company said the test subject group has shown immune responses as effective as existing typhoid vaccines. There was no side effect found, the company added. SK Bioscience n

TechnologyDec. 17, 2020

FSS orders Kakao Bank to improve contingency plan

Financial regulator Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday that it has ordered online-only bank Kakao Bank to beef up its plans to deal with emergent situations, such as shortage of capital. The watchdog regularly assesses financial companies’ capital adequacy and risk management schemes, and it orders them to fix inefficient emergency measures if there is any. It was the first time for the online bank to be reviewed by the financial authority over its contingency plan. The nation&

MarketDec. 17, 2020

Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s Nabota banned in US for 21 months

A US trade court ruled Wednesday in favor of Medytox in its 5-year-old legal battle with Daewoong Pharmaceutical over botulinum toxin products. In its final decision, the US International Trade Commission slapped Daewoong with a 21-month ban on the sale of its botulinum toxin product, Nabota, in the US. Daewoong’s US partner, Evolus, issued an investors’ notice saying the company “plans to fund a bond to allow for the continued sales and marketing of Jeuveau in the United S

IndustryDec. 17, 2020

New mobile processors to draw attention in 2021

What determines a fair portion of success of new smartphones is the brain of the devices: the mobile application processor. With the news of an upcoming January launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, attention is moving to what will be the core AP of the upcoming gadgets. According to various industry sources on Thursday, Samsung is highly likely to adopt the latest edition of its in-house chipset, supposedly called Exynos 2100, for the highest-end model of the Galaxy S21 series. Throu

TechnologyDec. 17, 2020

S. Korea's consumer prices tipped to rise faster down the road: BOK

South Korea's consumer prices are expected to grow at a faster pace in the next two years due to an economic recovery and rising rent, a central bank report said Thursday. South Korea's consumer inflation is forecast to reach 1 percent in 2021 and 1.5 percent the next year, according to the report from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The country's core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, is projected to come to 1 percent and 1.3 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The BOK said

EconomyDec. 17, 2020