Soccer legends impress fans at 2024 Nexon Icons Match

More than 4 million fans gathered to watch a match featuring legendary soccer players hosted by Nexon, the game developer that published the FIFA Online series, the firm said Friday. For the Nexon Icons Match event, held at Seoul World Cup Stadium from Oct. 19-20, players were split into two teams -- former forwards played for FC Spear while defenders joined Shield UTD. A total of 64,210 fans attended the event, many of whom wore the players’ classic uniforms. The event drew an online view

Oct. 25, 2024

Seoul shares end tad higher; won at nearly 4-month low

Seoul shares closed slightly higher Friday on retail buying amid waning bets on the Federal Reserve's rate cuts. The Korean won fell to the lowest point in almost four months against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 2.24 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,583.27. The main index has fallen 0.4 percent this week. Trade volume was moderate at 454.58 million shares worth 10.14 trillion won ($7.3 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 617 to 258. Institutions and i

Oct. 25, 2024

NCSoft adopts multistudio system in development push

South Korean gaming giant NCSoft said Friday it has decided to separate three of its intellectual properties and establish an independent game development studio system. This move is part of its efforts to strengthen its global competitiveness by adopting a multistudio system. In a bold move to accelerate change, NCSoft separated its in-house IP -- new game series -- into independent studios: TL, LLL and Tactan. The new system will allow each studio to maximize creativity and innovation in game

Oct. 25, 2024

Korea to regulate cross-border trading of crypto

The Korean government is to tighten the monitoring of cross-border trading of virtual assets, including cryptocurrency, through a revised law set for enactment by the latter half of 2025. "The government will push for the revision of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act related to virtual assets through discussions with relevant departments and legislation, with the aim to implement the changed measures within the latter half of next year,” Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said at a pr

Oct. 25, 2024

Lulumedic explores digital health collaboration with Russia

Lulumedic, a leading South Korean health care IT company, met with Alexey Sapetko, the Russian Trade Representative in Korea, to discuss promising opportunities for collaboration in digital health, the company said Thursday. The discussion focused on the growing interest among Russian patients in seeking high-quality medical care in South Korea, especially for health checkups, according to the company. Sapetko highlighted that many Russians now prioritize regular checkups, recognizing the import

Oct. 25, 2024

Seoul shares open higher after US tech gains

Seoul shares opened higher Friday following tech gains on Wall Street, although investors remained concerned about a potential slower pace of the Federal Reserve's rate cuts. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 25.4 points, or 0.98 percent, to 2,606.43 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.33 percent to 42,374.36, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.76 percent to 18,415.49. In Seoul, tech stock

Oct. 25, 2024

KB posts record Q3 earnings, vows higher shareholder returns

KB Financial Group reported record third-quarter profits driven by increased interest revenues from expanded loans while announcing a plan to enhance shareholder returns linked to its financial stability. The group posted a net profit of 1.61 trillion won ($1.17 billion), a 17.5 percent on-year increase, marking its best performance for the third quarter to date. Cumulatively, the year-to-date net profit reached 4.4 trillion won, up 0.4 percent from the previous year. However, compared to the

Oct. 24, 2024

South Korea to lead Japan, Taiwan in GDP per capita: IMF

South Korea’s gross domestic product per capita is projected to continue its lead over Japan and Taiwan in 2024, according to International Monetary Fund data. In its “World Economic Outlook,” released on Monday, the IMF forecasted Korea's GDP per capita to rise this year to $36,132, which would be an increase of 1.6 percent from last year’s $35,563. The figure for Japan is expected to decline from last year by 3.1 percent to $32,859, while Taiwan is forecast to reco

Oct. 24, 2024

[Contribution] Future-oriented partnership between Korea, Singapore

By Lee Seong-woo, Vice president of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Living up to its reputation as a “small but mighty” country, Singapore has been an economic hub of Asia and is home to the Asian headquarters of many global companies. Its business-friendly investment environment, talented workforce and strategic location have made it a center of the Asian economy. The government of Singapore offers nondiscriminatory investment incentives to both local and foreign companies,

Oct. 24, 2024

[From the scene] How a Mercedes plant is turning dead EV batteries into fresh materials

KUPPENHEIM, Germany -- A two-hour drive southwest of Mercedes-Benz’s Stuttgart headquarters, a new facility in the small town of Kuppenheim is poised to play a big role in the auto giant’s sustainability efforts. On Monday, brightly lit tanks, each glowing with a different hue, lined the walls of the 6,800-square-meter space, labeled with symbols for essential elements: lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. This is not a scene from a sci-fi movie, but a staged media presentation -

Oct. 24, 2024

Seoul shares end lower amid weak GDP data, rate woes

Seoul shares closed lower Thursday on tech losses amid concerns over weak economic growth and diminishing expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Korean won, however, snapped its 8-day losing streak against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.59 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 2,581.03. Trade volume was moderate, with 336.43 million shares worth 9.47 trillion won ($6.9 billion) changing hands, and losers outnumbering gainers 613 to 256. Institutio

Oct. 24, 2024

Korea's economic growth slows in Q3 on weaker exports

South Korea’s economy has grown by 0.1 percent in the third quarter from the prior quarter, undershooting forecasts by big margins due to unexpectedly slowed exports, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea on Thursday. The country's real gross domestic product -- a key measure of economic growth -- expanded 0.1 percent on-quarter in the July-September period, missing the 0.5 increase forecast by the central bank in August. This is a red flag for Asia’s fourth-large

Oct. 24, 2024

SK Innovation replaces heads of key subsidiaries

SK Innovation said Thursday that three of its key subsidiaries -- SK Energy, SK Geocentric and SK IE Technology -- have appointed new company heads with technological expertise to tackle business uncertainties and strengthen core competitiveness. The announcement comes eight days before the mega-merger of SK Innovation and SK E&S, two major energy affiliates of SK Group, which will create Korea’s largest energy giant with combined assets of 100 trillion won ($723.6 billion). The newly

Oct. 24, 2024

Korea Zinc shares soar 30% amid prolonged ownership fight

Shares of Korea Zinc, the world’s largest zinc smelter, jumped almost 30 percent on Thursday amid speculation that the prolonged power struggle between the current management and the MBK Partners-Young Poong coalition could push the share price up further in the coming weeks. The shares of Korea Zinc closed at 1.13 million won ($825), up 262,000 won or 29.91 percent from the previous day, hitting the upper circuit limit. The uptick comes after the tender offer of the current management clo

Oct. 24, 2024

Samsung mobile chief upbeat on Galaxy S24 sales

Samsung Electronics's mobile business chief Roh Tae-moon has pinned high hopes on the latest flagship Galaxy S24 series to drive up the company's smartphone business this year overall. Speaking to the employees in a regular town hall meeting on Wednesday, Roh reiterated the company's goal of creating an "ecosystem of Galaxy AI" to introduce the artificial intelligence model to all of its mobile devices, according to industry sources. "Galaxy has led the way into the

Oct. 24, 2024

SK hynix reports earnings surprise in Q3 on AI chip boom

SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker by revenue, said Thursday it logged all-time high profit, sales and net income in the July-September period this year, riding on the robust demand for its artificial intelligence chips. The company reported a quarterly operating profit of 7.03 trillion won ($5.1 billion), compared with a loss of 1.79 trillion won a year ago. The figure is higher than the consensus of 6.76 trillion won by local analysts provided by market intelligence F

Oct. 24, 2024

Hyundai Motor's Q3 profit missses estimates

Hyundai Motor Company reported 3.58 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in third-quarter operating profit Thursday, down 6.5 percent from the same quarter last year and missing the market consensus of 3.9 trillion won. The automaker explained in a conference call that a proactive warranty extension for the North American Grand Santa Fe, a sport utility vehicle, caused a provision of about 320 billion won and affected the lower-than-expected operating profit for the July to Sept. period. Despite the dip

Oct. 24, 2024

Hyundai Glovis adopts fire control system for safer EV shipping

Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai Motor Group's logistics and distribution subsidiary, said Thursday that it has equipped its automobile carriers with a fire suppression system to prevent potential incidents while delivering electric vehicles. The EV-Drill Lance system is designed to quench electric vehicle fires. High-pressure water flowing from a fire hydrant spins turbines, enabling the drill to pierce to the bottom of a car. Water can then flow into the battery pack and fully extinguish the fire

Oct. 24, 2024

Why ex-Elliott activist fund is building stake in SK

London-based hedge fund Palliser Capital was recently found to have held a stake of more than 1 percent in SK Square, the investment arm of SK Group, for years, triggering speculation about another round of activist campaigns against the nation’s second-largest conglomerate. According to industry sources on Thursday, the fund -- founded by Chief Investment Officer James Smith, who previously worked at Elliott Investment Management -- held several meetings with SK Square executives recently

Oct. 24, 2024

Doosan Enerbility to support Kazakhstan's energy modernization

Doosan Enerbility has signed an agreement with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy to help modernize the country’s power infrastructure, the Korean nuclear power plant builder announced Thursday. The memorandum of understanding was formalized during a Wednesday visit by Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev to Doosan’s headquarters in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. Accompanying the minister were senior officials, including the heads of Kazakhstan’s nu

Oct. 24, 2024