Air traffic rises 16% last year but still below pre-pandemic levels

South Korea's air traffic rose 16 percent in 2022 from a year earlier on unleashed pent-up demand for travel amid eased COVID-19 virus curbs, the transport ministry said Wednesday. Airlines, domestic and foreign, made a total of 539,788 flights over South Korea last year, up from 465,469 flights a year ago, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The ministry said the 2022 number of flights still stood at 65 percent of the pre-pandemic levels. Air traffic in

Jan. 18, 2023

[Herald Interview] BOK likely to turn attention to growth: SC Bank strategist

Arup Ghosh, Standard Chartered Bank’s co-head of Asia (excluding China) rates research and global research, sees that the Bank of Korea now has room to pause its rate hike and focus more on reviving the Korean economy. “Now, the domestic economy -- particularly the housing market, private consumption and falling exports -- matters more to the BOK,” Ghosh said during an interview with The Korea Herald on Friday. The Singapore-based researcher was in Korea to take part in the Glo

Jan. 17, 2023

Samsung Biologics to go full throttle during Seollal holiday

Samsung Biologics, the country's largest contract manufacturing company, will run its production lines at full throttle during the upcoming Lunar New Year's holiday to ensure timely delivery of pouring orders, industry sources said Tuesday. An official from Samsung Biologics also noted the company has been operating 24/7, 365 days a year to meet its goals in regards to promised delivery times. Samsung Biologics also maintained its production level during the Chuseok holiday last year a

Jan. 17, 2023

SK Innovation donates W3.6b for shared growth

South Korea’s largest energy company SK Innovation said Tuesday it has delivered a total of 3.6 billion won ($2.9 million) to seek shared growth with smaller partner companies, as part of a corporatewide campaign now in its sixth year. Of the fund, 3.2 billion won came from the 1 Percent Happiness Sharing Fund, which is created by collecting 1 percent of the base salaries of employees, while the remainder was raised by collecting contributions from the government and a welfare fund for par

Jan. 17, 2023

Seoul shares snap nine-day rise on profit-taking; won declines

South Korean stocks snapped their nine-day winning streak Tuesday, as investors took a breather from recent rallies and went on a profit-taking dive, analysts said. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 20.47 points, or 0.85 percent, to finish at 2,379.39. Trading volume was moderate at 529.4 million shares worth 6.2 trillion won ($5.04 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 618 to 250. "Investors opted to make a prof

Jan. 17, 2023

[Photo News] Coming soon

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will open Galaxy experience zones in 24 cities around the world, including San Francisco, London, Paris, Singapore and Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, next month. It is the follow-up event to its annual unpacking event for its new flagship Galaxy devices, which is slated to take place in San Francisco on Feb. 1. The venues will allow visitors to explore Samsung's newly unveiled devices and innovations such as its exciting new camera features. The Galax

Jan. 17, 2023

Kia to build first new Korean factory in 26 years

Kia, an affiliate under the leading carmaker Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday it has decided to build a new car plant in South Korea, an outcome of yearslong negotiations with its labor union. With the construction set to start in the first quarter of this year, the upcoming plant will become Kia’s first new factory to be built in Korea in 26 years. Kia and the labor union agreed on producing 200,000 electrified purpose-built vehicles a year in the long term, gradually expanding productio

Jan. 17, 2023

Korea, UAE ink $6.1b in business deals

Upon Yoon's state visit, 23 memorandums of understanding signed to boost mutual ties South Korea and the United Arab Emirates are to further strengthen ties for joint growth, agreeing to $6.1 billion worth of cooperation on energy, defense and new industry businesses, according to Seoul officials on Tuesday. A total of 23 memorandums of understanding and a contract were signed between the two countries during a business forum held in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of President Yoon Suk Yeol&#

Jan. 17, 2023

Apple Watch may offer ovulation tracking in Korea

Apple is seeking ways to make the cycle tracking application featured in its latest Apple Watch series available for users in Korea. The US tech giant recently reached out to South Korean authorities to ask for a regulatory sandbox approval, according to industry sources Tuesday. Apple Korea inquired with the Ministry of Science and ICT about the process of using a regulatory sandbox system, a measure that temporarily exempts the enforcement of regulations on new products or services for a certa

Jan. 17, 2023

Ex-Gucci CFO named head of Shinsegae International

Fashion and cosmetics retailer Shinsegae International said Tuesday it appointed a luxury fashion expert William Kim as its new CEO, in a bid to strengthen the company's luxury fashion business and sharpen the company's digital edge. Kim's previous career includes having served as a chief financial officer at Gucci, where he worked in teams with partners including Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and a number of luxury timepiece brands including Bedat & Co. According to Shi

Jan. 17, 2023

Korea tops Bentley’s Asia-Pacific sales

South Korea topped Bentley’s Asia-Pacific market in 2022 as Korean customers purchased almost 40 percent of all Bentley vehicles sold in the region last year, Bentley Motors Korea said Tuesday. Citing the data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the high-end automaker said Korean customers bought a total of 775 Bentleys, about a 53 percent increase on year. It marked the country’s second consecutive year to have posted its best sales figure after 506 Ben

Jan. 17, 2023

KSOE wins W971b order for 3 LNG carriers

South Korea’s top shipbuilder Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering said Tuesday it has landed its first contract of the year worth 971 billion won ($784 million). The company said it sealed the deal with a shipping company in Oceania to build three large liquefied natural gas carriers, each measuring 200,000 cubic meters in size. The company declined to reveal the name of the client, citing contract conditions. The carriers will be manufactured by Hyundai Heavy Industries, one of

Jan. 17, 2023

Samsung unveils new high-end image sensor for smartphones

Samsung Electronics unveiled Tuesday its latest 200-megapixel image sensor, the Isocell HP2, with significantly improved resolution and upgraded picture quality for premium smartphones. The new image sensor packs 200 million 0.6-micrometer pixels in a 1/1.3-inch optical format, a sensor size that is widely used in 108MP main smartphone cameras, according to Samsung. This enables the latest high-end smartphones to create higher resolutions, while minimizing the camera bumps on the devices. &ldquo

Jan. 17, 2023

US beef takes up over half of S. Korea's total imports in 2022

US beef accounted for more than 50 percent of South Korea's total imports of the meat in 2022, taking up the top spot for six years, industry data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy imported 256,910 tons of American beef last year, or 54.1 percent of its total beef imports of 474,511 tons, according to the data from the US Meat Export Federation. The proportion was up 2.8 percentage points from a year earlier. Last year's volume and market share of US beef imports marke

Jan. 17, 2023

Seoul shares open slightly higher ahead of earnings season

South Korean stocks opened marginally higher Tuesday, as investors took a breather from recent rallies ahead of the earnings reports. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 3.22 points, or 0.13 percent, to trade at 2,403.08 in the first 15 minutes of trading. After opening higher, the main index had briefly turned lower before reverting to the green, in line with analysts' prediction that trading will likely remain choppy for the day. Large-cap tech and auto stocks gathered

Jan. 17, 2023

Corporate Korea pins high hopes on $30b UAE investment

South Korea's high-tech industries such as nuclear power plant operators, mobility, aerospace, materials and parts and biotechnologies are expected to benefit heavily from United Arab Emirates' 30 billion dollars’ worth of investment, according to industry insiders Monday. According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday held a meeting, during which the two leaders signed total

Jan. 16, 2023

[Herald Interview] After Sanofi deal, ABL Bio seeks to license out oncology treatment candidates

Korea Herald correspondent SAN FRANCISCO -- ABL Bio will release the results of early stage clinical trials regarding the company's oncology treatment candidates in this year, with hopes in license-out opportunities. “ABL Bio expects to introduce favorable clinical data regarding the company’s oncology treatment candidates,” ABL Bio CEO Lee Sang-hoon said on Thursday during an interview held on the sidelines of the 41th JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. ABL

Jan. 16, 2023

Seoul shares extend winning streak to ninth day on eased US inflation outlook

South Korean stocks closed 0.58 percent higher Monday, extending their rally to a ninth session, as eased US inflation outlook boosted investor appetite for risky assets ahead of the earnings season. The local currency rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 13.77 points to close at 2,399.86. Trading volume was moderate at 509.6 million shares worth 6.46 trillion won ($5.23 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 499 to 350. "US stocks closed

Jan. 16, 2023

LG Energy Solution, Hanwha bolster ties on batteries

LG Energy Solution, South Korea’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, and Hanwha Group, a defense and energy giant, are teaming up to seek business synergy in the burgeoning battery market, they said in a statement on Monday. According to the statement, LG Energy Solution and three Hanwha companies – Hanwha Q Cells, Hanwha Momentum, and Hanwha Aerospace – signed a memorandum of understanding earlier in the day to bolster bilateral ties. Under the MOU, the two agreed to secu

Jan. 16, 2023

Hyundai promotes Busan's Expo bid at Davos

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it would operate 58 vehicles during the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos this week to promote South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan. As a means to echo Busan’s sustainability vision for the World Expo, the carmaker offered 45 EV models. The list includes the luxury brand Genesis’ 18 Electrified G80, 8 Electrified GV60, 4 Electrified GV70 and Hyundai’s 15 Santa Fe Plugin Hybrid models. The cars, wrapped wi

Jan. 16, 2023