S. Korea needs to brace for spread of China’s digital currency: experts

As China accelerates the development of its sovereign digital currency, South Korea should prepare for looming changes that the new form of money may bring about to its largest trading partner, experts had said as of Sunday. China has been intensifying its efforts to introduce the digital yuan, known officially as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment, with the second round of its pilot program launched earlier this month for testing on major e-commerce platforms like JD.com, the country&rsq

Dec. 27, 2020

Samsung Group market capitalization rises above W700tr for first time

Boosted by the surge in stock prices of key affiliates, the combined market capitalization of Samsung Group’s listed firms exceeded 700 trillion won ($636 billion) for the first time, data from the Korea Exchange showed Sunday. As of Thursday, the market cap of 23 listed stocks of the nation’s telecom-to-chemicals conglomerate came to 719.13 trillion won, soaring over 200 trillion won within the year. It is also the first time that a local group’s total market valuation has to

Dec. 27, 2020

Corporations to skip in-person New Year’s meetings amid pandemic

South Korea’s major corporate groups are opting out of hosting New Year’s kickoff meetings in person this year, as the coronavirus outbreak shows no signs of abating, according to industry sources. Companies such as Samsung and Hyundai Motor typically host large-cale staff meetings at auditoriums on the first workday of January to mark the beginning of a new year. But the ongoing global pandemic has made the logistics of holding such an event difficult, forcing companies to go onli

Dec. 27, 2020

Chicken franchises entered 2020 on a high on strong demand for delivery

Fried chicken franchises marked the largest on-year sales increase last year on growing demand for takeout and delivery, data showed Thursday. According to Statistics Korea, fried chicken franchises saw their sales jumping 21.7 percent in 2019, with each branch selling about 200 million won of products and services on average. “Increased chicken prices, along with the inclusion of delivery fees in chicken prices, have boosted the overall revenue in the segment,” said Lee Jin-seok

Dec. 27, 2020

Galaxy S21 Ultra likely to support fastest Wi-Fi so far

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is expected to support the fastest Wi-Fi speeds among all mobile gadgets in the Korean market, according to news reports Sunday. The highest-end model of the upcoming Galaxy S21 series next month is likely to become the first mobile device to support Wi-Fi 6E, an extended standard technology using the 6-gigahertz band. Compared to the current Wi-Fi 6, the new standard technology enables twice faster transmission of data at the highest speed of 2.4 gigabits per

Dec. 27, 2020

LG set for record home appliance profits

LG Electronics is forecast to reap a record profit from its home appliance business this year, due to high sales of premium items at home and abroad, according to industry sources on Sunday. As of the third quarter of 2020, LG posted an accumulated operating profit of 2.5 trillion won ($2.27 billion). Some 2 trillion won of that amount was from the company’s home appliance and air solutions business, which sold premium products like the Tromm Styler clothing care system and the DIOS dish

Dec. 27, 2020

42 conglomerates earned W1.42tr in brand license fees from affiliates last year

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Sunday 42 large business groups earned a combined 1.42 trillion won ($1.29 billion) by selling brand licenses to their affiliates last year amid concerns conglomerate owners could glean profits from such transactions. The 2019 tally marked a 7.6 percent rise from the previous year's 1.32 trillion won, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). Of 64 business groups that are required to disclose such data, 42 conglomerates, or 65.6 percent, raised

Dec. 27, 2020

Will perovskite solar cells provide answer to Korea’s carbon neutrality?

Starting in 2030, all new buildings in South Korea, public or private, with a gross floor area of 500 square meters or more must be fully energy efficient, generating the power they need from renewable sources such as the sun, wind and water. Part of the country’s grand plan to go carbon neutral by 2050, the zero-energy building rule is widely expected to boost local demand for solar panels for building walls. Next-generation solar cells made from materials called perovskites are dra

Dec. 26, 2020

FSS chief apologizes for fund fiasco, urges banks to cut dividend payouts amid pandemic

The chief of South Korea’s financial market watchdog said Wednesday he feels sorry for causing public concern over the massive fiasco surrounding Lime Asset Management, which the regulator‘s employee was embroiled in. “As the head of FSS, I feel heavy responsibility for the issue and apologize for our employee’s involvement in the scandal. We will take the recent fiasco as an opportunity to enhance internal control over irregularities through measures to improve employ

Dec. 25, 2020

Mexico agrees to raise import quota of S. Korean cold-rolled steel products

Mexico has agreed to increase its import quota of South Korean cold-rolled steel products, South Korea's foreign ministry said Friday. Last month, Mexico said it will import 662,000 tons of cold-rolled steel sheets in 2023, up from 548,000 tons in 2019, according to the ministry. The move came after South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn made the request for an import quota hike of cold-rolled steel sheets during his visit to the Latin American country in October. Cold-rolled sheets a

Dec. 25, 2020

BOK to keep monetary easing in 2021 to support economic recovery

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday it will maintain an accommodative monetary policy next year to help the nation's economic recovery from the pandemic, but it will closely watch the side-effects of monetary easing. "Under the direction of its monetary policy in 2021, the Bank of Korea will maintain the easing stance of its monetary policy to support the recovery in growth and to ensure the rise in consumer prices will be stabilized at around the target level," the BOK said in a stat

Dec. 25, 2020

Kospi crosses 2,800 mark on chip rally

South Korea‘s stock market hit a new all-time high Thursday as the Korea Exchange’s main board Kospi crossed the 2,800 mark on massive institutional buying of chip shares. The Kospi rose 1.7 percent to 2,806.86 on Thursday, pushing its total market cap to reach 1,936.5 trillion won ($1.8 trillion). Kospi crossing the 2,800 mark came three weeks after it passed the previous threshold of 2,700 on Dec. 4, which was then a fresh high. Institutions net purchased 628.2 billion won worth

Dec. 24, 2020

[News Focus] More Koreans giving up looking for jobs

SEJONG -- A growing number of South Koreans have abandoned looking for jobs as the pandemic worsens a hiring market that was already tightening for several years. According to a survey on the working age population -- those aged 15 or over -- by Statistics Korea, the number of discouraged workers stood at 534,000 in December 2019, the month before the novel coronavirus first arrived in Korea. The tally counts people who had looked unsuccessfully for a job in the previous year but not in the m

Dec. 24, 2020

[Women in Finance 6] Breaking the gender mold for diverse thinking, healthy finance

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. This is the final installment. -- Ed. Gender discrimination in the finance sector has long been

Dec. 24, 2020

SK Innovation to inject W1tr into Georgia battery plants using green capital

SK Innovation said Thursday it will finance 1.09 trillion won ($986 million) to its battery manufacturing plants in Georgia through green bonds. According to the South Korean refinery-to-battery giant, it will guarantee the bonds to be issued by its US subsidiary SK Battery America in January next year. The fund will be used for the US unit‘s two battery plants currently under construction. Scheduled for completion in 2023, the two factories will offer a combined annual production cap

Dec. 24, 2020

LG Chem sets course to new drug technologies after battery biz split-off

LG Chem has recently purchased a series of new drug technologies from South Korean bio companies, as part of an effort to seek a new growth engine after it split-off of its battery business. The company has signed two technology transfer agreements with local bio firms Medipost and ICM this month, the company said Thursday, with an aim to introduce two global new drugs within 10 years. The technology transferred from Medipost can grow mesenchymal stem cells in large quantities. LG Chem aims t

Dec. 24, 2020

S. Korean stocks break 2,800 ceiling to fresh high on vaccine deals

South Korean stocks broke the 2,800 mark for the first time Thursday to close at an all-time high, as the country's additional deals to purchase COVID-19 vaccines boosted hopes for a faster-than-expected economic recovery. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 47.04 points, or 1.7 percent, to close at 2,806.86. Trading volume was moderate at about 1 billion shares worth some 20 trillion won ($18.1 billion), with gainers outnumbe

Dec. 24, 2020

Cash-strapped Ssangyong Motor partially solves its parts supply deadlock

SsangYong Motor, which recently filed for court receivership due to a liquidity crunch, said Thursday that its parts delivery deadlock is showing signs of alleviating as one of the key partners resumed supply. “Hyundai Mobis has announced that it will start supplying head lamps again, starting Dec. 29,” said an official of the company. The cash-strapped automaker had announced Wednesday that it will suspend the operation of its Pyeongtaek factory on Dec. 24 and 28 after its suppli

Dec. 24, 2020

[Newsmaker] Coupang offers streaming for premium subscribers

South Korea’s major e-commerce platform operator Coupang said Thursday that it has launched Coupang Play, an over-the-top service that provides unlimited streaming to premium membership holders. Vying with global players such as Netflix and incoming Disney Plus, as well as a number of domestic rivals, Coupang Play will tap the video content market by bundling it with their Rocket Wow Club service at the existing price of 2,900 won ($2.63) per month. The application for Android mobile ph

Dec. 24, 2020

Korea's financial market faces risks over surging debts, virus resurgence: BOK

  South Korea's central bank on Thursday raised alert about escalating risks to the financial system, pointing out household and corporate loans that have continued to surge in the wake of a protracted economic slump. As of end-September, outstanding loans of local households rose 7 percent on-year to 1,682.1 trillion won ($1.52 trillion). Their debt burden sharply increased with the households’ debt to disposable income ratio reaching 171.3 percent, up 10.7 percentage points from th

Dec. 24, 2020