Hana Financial chief attends CES for inspiration

Hana Financial Group said Sunday that Chairman Ham Young-joo took time to look around different booths at the Consumer Electronics Show 2023 in Las Vegas on Thursday. Along with more than 20 young managers from the group’s affiliates, Ham tried out different products at booths of local conglomerates such as SK and LG Electronics, as well as global firms, according to Hana Financial Group. “It is meaningful to be able to attend the world's largest innovative future technology e

Jan. 8, 2023

[NCSI] Samsung C&T, Samsung Fire & Marine, Kumkang Shoe, Lotte Duty Free top customer satisfaction rankings

Korean companies have achieved a higher level of customer satisfaction despite the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that placed a prolonged drag on economic activity and daily lives in 2022, according to an annual survey by the Korea Productivity Center. The KPC’s National Customer Satisfaction Index, or NCSI, for 2022 logged 78.4 points, up 0.3 point from 2021 and the highest since the survey began in 1998. The survey was conducted on 91,556 customers in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daej

Jan. 8, 2023

[NCSI] S. Korea outranks rival countries in consumer satisfaction

South Korean customers were more satisfied with their goods and services in 2022, compared to those in the US, Japan and Singapore, according to the National Consumer Satisfaction Index published annually by the Korea Productivity Center. The index is not only a measure of consumer satisfaction, but an indicator of the economic performance by companies, government agencies, and the macroeconomy as a whole. Similar standards are adopted by over 30 countries worldwide which use the same metrics

Jan. 8, 2023

[CES 2023] LG CEO seeks breakthrough with car tech

LAS VEGAS -- LG Electronics CEO Cho Joo-wan pinned high hopes on the South Korean tech giant’s burgeoning automotive solutions business, pledging to diversify its business portfolio to tackle challenges this year. “Our automotive solutions business has made a turnaround 10 years since the launch. Now that the business is on the highway, what is left to do is to step on the accelerator,” Cho said during a press conference held Friday on the sidelines of the CES trade show in Las

Jan. 8, 2023

[CES 2023] [From the Scene] SK intrigues attendees with carbon-reducing tech

LAS VEGAS -- The exhibition of SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, drew the eyes of visitors and participants at CES 2023 held in Las Vegas from Thursday to Sunday. “They set up these black walls. I can’t really see what’s inside there,” said Chris Tomlin, an auto mechanic based in Los Angeles, as he stood in line to enter the exhibition area. There were others getting in the waiting line as the inside of the exhibition was not entirely visible from

Jan. 8, 2023

[CES 2023] [From the Scene] Bodyfriend combines health care with massage chair

LAS VEGAS -- Dozens of people lined up in front of Bodyfriend’s exhibition at CES 2023 on Friday morning, waiting to try out the latest products of the South Korean massage chair maker. “I feel like it’s another world. It’s amazing. I did a lower body workout a couple of days ago and it really helped ease my muscle,” Halah Ramzi, an electric engineer from San Diego, told The Korea Herald after her 10-minute experience with Quantum Rovo which features Bodyfriend&rsqu

Jan. 8, 2023

[CES 2023] Samsung CEO braces for rough year

LAS VEGAS – Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and co-CEO Han Jong-hee said the South Korean tech giant was bracing for a rough year ahead, renewing his commitment to seeking new growth drivers in futuristic technologies such as robots and the metaverse. “Overlapping crises, including the prolonged economic recession, geopolitical tension, supply chain risks and climate change, have drastically increased uncertainty in the market,” Han said at a press conference Friday held on

Jan. 8, 2023

[CES 2023] KSOE to test large ship’s autonomous sailing in 2024

LAS VEGAS -- Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering on Friday signed a partnership with the American Bureau of Shipping to accelerate the development of unmanned large ships. “The cooperation with the ABS will be a great help for HD Hyundai to lead the development and commercialization of autonomous navigation,” said Kim Sung-joon, head of KSOE’s future technology research center. KSOE, the world’s largest shipbuilder and a sub-holding company of HD Hyundai, said t

Jan. 8, 2023

CheongKwanJang tops global ginseng sales for 10 years straight

Sales of red ginseng health supplement brand CheongKwanJang held the largest market share in the global ginseng market for 10 years in a row, Korea Ginseng Corp. said Sunday. According a report published by market research firm Euromonitor International, the global ginseng retail market was valued at about 3.13 trillion won ($2.5 billion) last year. Among them, sales of CheongKwanJang, a brand under KGC, logged 1.31 trillion won with a 41.9 percent market share. It is the 10th year in a row that

Jan. 8, 2023

Jeju Air's int'l flights back to 70% of pre-pandemic levels

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's leading budget carrier, said Sunday the number of its flights on international routes bounced back to 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels last month. Jeju Air offered 3,057 flights on its international routes to carry 485,000 passengers in December, accounting for 70 percent of the 4,362 flights and 694,016 passengers in December 2019, the company said in a statement. Airlines were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic as many countries shut down their borders or adopt

Jan. 8, 2023

[CES 2023] SK chief makes surprise appearance at CES

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won appeared at CES on Friday, reversing the earlier announcement that he was canceling his visit to the tech show after one of his aides tested positive for COVID-19. This is the first time Chey has visited the four-day exhibition in person. He is also the only chief among those of the South Korean conglomerates participating in CES to be attending the show. "Being here for the first time, I could see various new technologies that I have heard so much about,&qu

Jan. 7, 2023

[Weekender] Still looking for a calendar? Don't bank on it

Kim Min-ju, a woman living in Mapo-gu, Seoul, visited two local banks -- KB Kookmin Bank and Woori Bank -- for a printed calendar in mid-December, but she could not find one. "I should have lined up at a bank on Dec. 1 when they started distributing them,” Kim said. Kim is among those who regret their hesitation. Many people on Naver's blogs have shared a similar experience of leaving banks empty-handed and also asked for information on local banks with calendars in stock. &l

Jan. 7, 2023

LG Electronics’ Q4 operating profit estimated to nose-dive 91%

LG Electronics said Friday it expected its 2022 fourth-quarter operating earnings tumbled more than 91 percent from a year prior, amid its home appliance unit’s sluggish performance coupled with global recession woes. LG estimated operating profit for the October-December period came in at 65.5 billion won ($51.6 million), down 91.2 percent from the same period a year before, according to the company’s earnings guidance. It would be the first time in four years for South Korea’

Jan. 6, 2023

Unicorn startup Kurly fizzles with IPO withdrawal

Once regarded among South Korea's most successful startups, Kurly, operator of fresh food delivery platform Market Kurly, is losing steam with signs of weakening investor appetite for the loss-making firm. Kurly on Thursday officially called off its long-awaited market debut on the country's benchmark Kospi "for the time being." "Considering the worsened investor sentiment amid the global recession, we have decided to postpone the listing on the Korea Exchange," the

Jan. 6, 2023

Seoul stocks close up over 1% on chip, battery gains

Seoul stocks closed over 1 percent higher Friday, continuing a three-day winning streak, as foreign and institutional investors picked up Samsung Electronics and other large caps. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 25.32 points, or 1.12 percent, to close at 2,289.97 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 388.2 million shares worth some 6.6 trillion won ($5.2 billion). Winners outnumbered losers 602 to 262. The Kospi got off to

Jan. 6, 2023

Naver closes acquisition of US e-commerce firm Poshmark

Korean internet portal giant Naver announced Friday that the company has completed its acquisition of Poshmark, a US social commerce marketplace for fashion, a move to penetrate into the global consumer-to-consumer market. Naver's special purpose company Proton Parent acquired all shares and its assets of Poshmark for $1.31 billion. Its enterprise value stands at about $1.2 billion. With the transaction, Poshmark withdrew its plan to go public on the US Nasdaq, Naver said. Naver first decid

Jan. 6, 2023

[CES 2023] SK hynix chief says merger of Western Digital, Kioxia will 'not be easy'

LAS VEGAS -- SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho said Thursday the merger of two memory competitors -- US’ Western Digital Corp. and Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp. -- "will not be easy," shrugging off the possibility of the two chipmakers' tie-up that could transform the business landscape. Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported that Western Digital and Kioxia are considering merging into one publicly traded company, citing unnamed sources. The structure of the potent

Jan. 6, 2023

[CES 2023] Hyundai Mobis to work with Qualcomm to develop self-driving control unit

LAS VEGAS -- South Korean auto parts and mobility solutions provider Hyundai Mobis on Thursday said it will cooperate with global semiconductor developer Qualcomm to develop autonomous driving control unit technology. According to Hyundai Mobis, the two companies will work together on developing control technology for Level 3 autonomous driving, which refers to conditional driving automation that allows drivers to hand over control to the vehicle, but requires them to be ready to take the wheel

Jan. 6, 2023

Samsung Electronics' Q4 operating profit set to plunge nearly 70%

Samsung Electronics predicted Friday that its 2022 fourth-quarter operating profit would plummet 69 percent from a year earlier, as its main semiconductors business faced major headwinds from weakening demand for chips and home appliances amid recession woes. In its earnings guidance, the South Korean tech giant estimated its October-December operating profit to be 4.3 trillion won ($3.4 billion), down from 13.87 trillion won a year prior. The figure was lower than the consensus 6.93 trillion wo

Jan. 6, 2023

Seoul stocks open slightly higher despite Wall Street falls

Seoul stocks opened a tad higher Friday despite overnight falls on Wall Street and fresh US job data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index traded up 0.72 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,265.37 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Major indices on Wall Street fell over 1 percent overnight amid concerns that the country's strong labor market data released Thursday could push the Federal Reserve to continue to raise interest rates. The S&P 500 dropped 1.16 percent, the Dow J

Jan. 6, 2023