Seoul shares open higher amid Fed's rate pause hopes

Seoul shares opened higher Monday, tracking Wall Street gains, as investors expect the US Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates this month due to signs of US labor market slackening. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.34 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,614.70 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On June 2, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.1 percent to 33,762.76, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1 percent to 13,240.77. The May US jobs report cemented bets for the

June 5, 2023

Foreign reserves down in May on strong dollar

South Korea's foreign reserves fell in May as the dollar's ascent cut the conversion value of holdings in other currencies, central bank data showed Monday. The country's foreign reserves came to $420.98 billion as of end-May, down $5.7 billion from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The dollar's rise last month boosted the converted value of holdings denominated in other currencies, the Bank of Korea explained. The dollar index that gauges the

June 5, 2023

Korean Air CEO wins ATW leadership award

Hanjin Group Chairman and Korean Air CEO Walter Cho received the Excellence in Leadership Award by Air Transport World, the company said Sunday. The award ceremony was held at the Grand Cevahir Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Korean Air said. The award was established in 1974 by ATW, a publication covering global air transportation, and is one of the most prominent awards in the industry, Korean Air said. Cho has expanded his presence in the global aviation industry since 2019 when he took

June 4, 2023

Posco launches new low-emission steel product

Posco has launched the country’s first low-carbon steel product in line with the steelmaker’s ambitious goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the company said Sunday. LG Electronics has become the first client to purchase the newly-launched low-emission steel product for the company’s home appliances production, the company added. Posco’s new steel product, named Greenate certified steel, uses mass balance methodology by which steelmakers allocate their carbon emissi

June 4, 2023

K-pop stock rally proves strong despite BTS hiatus

With strong global demand for K-pop, share prices of major entertainment agencies are on a robust rally this year. The added market value of the four major K-pop agencies -- Hybe, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment and SM Entertainment -- has increased by some 8 trillion ($6.16 billion) won this year, nearing 20 trillion won. Shares of Hybe, the K-pop company behind the global boy group BTS, closed at 270,000 won on Friday. Though it is lower than the peak of 303,000 won on May 3, it marks a st

June 4, 2023

Shinhan Card to expand presence in Kazakhstan

Shinhan Card looks to expand its business in Kazakhstan through its affiliate Shinhan Finance, joining hands with the local automobile dealership industry and stepping up its digital transformation efforts. Since its founding in November 2014, Shinhan Finance, Shinhan Card's subsidiary in Kazakhstan, has been focusing on microfinance products such as auto loans and credit loans. Shinhan Card CEO Moon Dong-kwon, who took office earlier this year, recently visited Kazakhstan to meet with th

June 4, 2023

Hyundai-backed 42dot to set up global software center

42dot, a self-driving mobility unit under Hyundai Motor Group, is setting up a global software center for software defined vehicles, or SDVs, aiming to create a foothold in the burgeoning future mobility business. Users can manage operations and acquire new features for SDVs primarily through software updates. According to a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the company received a first-phase investment worth 346.2 billion won ($265.1 million) from the carmaker, who vowed to inject total of 1.5

June 4, 2023

SK Group creates W20.5tr in social impact in 2022

SK Group announced Sunday that the total social value generated by its key affiliates last year was 20.5 trillion won ($15.6 billion), up 1.6 trillion won or 8.6 percent from the previous year. Social value refers to the degree to which companies have contributed to solving or alleviating social problems facing stakeholders. The nation’s second-largest conglomerate has unveiled the value of its social impact every year since 2018. Economic contribution, consisting of employment, dividends

June 4, 2023

[KH Explains] Hyundai, hit by subsidy cuts in US, bolsters ties with China’s CATL

Hyundai Motor Group seems to be further bolstering its ties with China’s CATL, the world’s largest battery maker for electric vehicles, as part of its renewed strategy to diversify battery suppliers amid increasingly protectionist policies in the US and Europe, according to industry sources Sunday. The latest development comes after the world’s third-largest carmaker by sales has recently been stripped of EV subsidies in the all-important US market under the Inflation Reducti

June 4, 2023

Korea Herald charity golf tournament held to promote Hangeul

The Korea Herald, South Korea’s largest English daily, on Thursday held a charity golf tournament to celebrate its 70th anniversary and renew its commitment to boosting the global potential of Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. About 250 participants, consisting of CEOs across industries, celebrities and sports stars, joined the event held at Serenity Golf Club in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. “Based on your support and affection today, The Korea Herald will ramp up efforts for Ha

June 4, 2023

[Photo News] Rooting for Busan's Expo bid

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin (sixth from left) joins the group’s promotional activities to support Busan’s 2030 World Expo bid during the 2023 Lotte Open of the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association’s Tour held at Bear’s Best Golf Club in Cheong-na, Incheon, on Saturday.

June 4, 2023

Banks' Q1 net up 24 pct on higher interest income

South Korean banks saw their first-quarter net profit rise 24 percent from a year earlier on higher interest and non-interest income, preliminary data showed Friday. Their combined net profit came to 7 trillion won ($5.4 billion) in the January-March period, up from 5.6 trillion won tallied a year ago, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The figure was up 55.9 percent from 4.5 trillion won three months ago. Local banks' interest income totaled 14.7 trillion won in the

June 2, 2023

Hyundai Oilbank boosts ESG performance

Hyundai Oilbank is ramping up efforts to fulfill its environmental, social and governance goals by accelerating its sustainable businesses and contributing to social enrichment, the company said Friday. As part of the efforts, the company is set to build an eco-friendly power plant that uses both liquefied natural gas and blue hydrogen as fuel. Hyundai E&F, the oil company's power generation affiliate, will build a power plant with a capacity of 230 metric tons of steam per hour and 2

June 2, 2023

Kakao Pay VP joins US brokerage board

Shin Ho-cheol, the vice president of Kakao Pay also known as Simon Shin, has been appointed as a board member of the US brokerage firm Siebert Financial. This appointment follows the online payment unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp.'s recent announcement of its intention to acquire a majority stake of up to 51 percent in Siebert with a total investment of approximately $77.38 million. Siebert, listed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, offers a range of brokerage and financial advisory servi

June 2, 2023

Seoul shares at 1-year high on hopes Fed pauses rate hikes

South Korean stocks closed at a one-year high Friday, led by large-cap tech gains, on hopes the Federal Reserve will pause its aggressive monetary tightening and the United States' debt ceiling deal will pass. The local currency rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 32.19 points, or 1.25 percent, to close at 2,601.36. It was the first time for the index to surpass the 2,600 level since June 9, 2022. Trading volume was moderate at 559.56 million sh

June 2, 2023

LG Chem chief travels to Japan to find talent

LG Chem CEO Shin Hak-cheol traveled to Japan to host a recruitment event, as the company seeks talent to boost its material, biotechnology and equipment sectors, the chemical firm said Friday. Shin hosted the “Business and Campus Tour” at the Intercontinental Tokyo Bay Hotel on Thursday, which invited some 40 doctoral candidates and master's students in science and engineering from seven major universities in Japan, including the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University. “

June 2, 2023

Meta unveils Quest 3 VR headset before Apple

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Quest 3, his company’s latest virtual and mixed reality headset, via social media on Thursday, teasing the product before rival Apple’s similar launch expected next week. In a video on Instagram, Zuckerberg showed the Quest 3, which releases in fall. Meta said the latest headset features higher resolution, stronger performance with Meta Reality technology and is slimmer with a more comfortable form factor than the previous iteration. The latest d

June 2, 2023

Samsung, Naver Cloud team up to provide private 5G network at construction site

Samsung Electronics said Friday it is joining hands with Naver Cloud to launch a private 5G network for Hoban Construction, bringing the private 5G network in the construction sector for the first time. Samsung said it will be developing the 5G network for Hoban Construction, a mid-tier local builder to enhance worksite safety and efficiency. The 5G network will support new construction industry-specific 5G applications to help reduce on-site hazards and errors, including drone-based high-resolu

June 2, 2023

Shinhan Bank suffers overseas remittance service outage

Shinhan Bank encountered a currency exchange system error around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. As a result, currency-related services, including overseas remittances, were temporarily suspended for approximately 2 1/2 hours until the system was restored at around noon. "We made sure that for clients who requested overseas remittances during the service outage, we apply the exchange rate at the time of their request to minimize any potential customer losses from exchange rate fluctuations," a

June 2, 2023

Samsung signals unveiling new foldable phones in Seoul for 1st time

Samsung Electronics’ marketing chief on Thursday hinted that the tech giant’s Galaxy Unpacked event could be held in South Korea for the first time this summer. “South Korea is an important market and Seoul is a meaningful place,” Lee Young-hee, president of global marketing at Samsung’s mobile business division, told reporters last week at the Samsung Ho-Am Prize award ceremony when she was asked about the possibility of Samsung unveiling its new foldable phones in

June 2, 2023