Bank of Korea flags growth, credit fears as it reins in interest rate hike

The Bank of Korea raised its policy rate by 25 basis points Thursday, returning to its usual pace of tightening as growth and credit markets falter in the face of 24-year-high inflation running close to three times the central bank’s 2 percent target. The unanimous decision the seven-member board reached to put the current rate at 3.25 percent -- a rise of 275 basis points since August last year -- underscored the central bank’s commitment to more increases despite their impact on gr

Nov. 24, 2022

Hyundai to revive Pony Coupe with legendary designer Giorgetto Giugiaro

Hyundai Motor will re-create the Pony Coupe Concept with the model’s original designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and unveil it in the coming spring, the carmaker announced Thursday at a design talk in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The Pony Coupe Concept is a car lost to history, as despite being unveiled at the 1974 Turin Motor Show with its prototype ready for mass production, the carmaker could not start production due to the domestic economic situation. Almost 50 years later, Hyundai Motor contac

Nov. 24, 2022

[From the scene] Posco goes all-out to salvage typhoon-hit plant

POHANG, North Gyeongsang Province -- It was as silent as a graveyard inside the dark, dusty No. 2 rolled steel manufacturing plant at Posco’s steel mill in the southeastern city of Pohang on Wednesday, unlike three months ago when it was churning out steel products like those for EV motors. The plant is responsible for more than one-third of Posco’s some 13.5 million metric tons of steel products produced annually. Several workers wearing bright orange safety vests, helmets and goggl

Nov. 24, 2022

Luxembourg's crown prince to visit Seoul for economic ties

Luxembourg’s Crown Prince Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie is set to arrive in Seoul on Monday for a three-day visit, leading a delegation of 87 representatives from public and private institutions in the space and ICT industry, the European country said. The Crown Prince and Luxembourg Minister of Economy Franz Fayot will hold several bilateral meetings with South Korean officials to seek cooperation in the development of the space industry, startups, smart cities and environmental technology.

Nov. 24, 2022

[Newsmaker] Long-awaited insurance bill reignites debate on Samsung’s ownership structure

The long-awaited bill to revise the Insurance Business Act is reigniting debate over Samsung’s ownership structure, under which its insurance arm is the largest shareholder of Samsung Electronics. The National Assembly on Tuesday for the first time put forward the revision bills in the parliament's National Policy Committee. The bills, proposed in June 2020 respectively by main opposition Democratic Party lawmakers such as Rep. Park Yong-jin and Rep. Lee Yong-woo, were the first bills to b

Nov. 24, 2022

Seoul shares open higher ahead of BOK rate decision

Seoul shares opened higher Thursday as investors await a rate hike decision by the Bank of Korea later in the day. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index had added 18.14 points, or 0.75 percent, to 2,436.15 as of 9:15 a.m. The central bank is widely expected to raise its policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent, slowing its tightening pace as the economy shows signs of losing momentum. Overnight, US stocks finished higher, buoyed by a dovish stance by US Federal Reserve officials

Nov. 24, 2022

Corporate direct financing dives 49% in October amid rate hikes

Corporate direct financing in South Korea fell 49 percent in October from the previous month as rate hikes weighed on corporate activities, data showed Thursday. Local companies raised a combined 8.79 trillion won ($6.51 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, sharply down from 17.2 trillion won a month earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks or o

Nov. 24, 2022

[Photo News] Starbucks for the community

CEO of Starbucks Korea Sohn Jeong-hyun (third from left) poses with Starbucks employees and Han Chan-hee (fourth from left), chairman of Beautiful Fund, during an opening ceremony Wednesday held for the launch of the fourth Starbucks Community Store in the country. The store will support young adults to stand on their feet by providing them with a maximum of 5.5 million won ($4,113) per year.

Nov. 24, 2022

Production of S. Korea’s first COVID-19 vaccine suspended

The production of the country's first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine was indefinitely suspended Tuesday, amid the slowdown in demand for vaccines tailored to combat SARS-CoV-2, the original strain of coronavirus. According to industry insiders, South Korean vaccine maker SK Bioscience suspended the production of finished SKYCovione products. However, despite the suspension of final products, the vaccine bulk -- the liquid base materials used as main ingredient of vaccines -- are still in produc

Nov. 23, 2022

Will Korea host Tesla 'gigafactory'?

Business tycoon Elon Musk's confirmation that South Korea is among the top candidates for Tesla's second electric vehicle production plant in Asia highlights the robust automotive parts ecosystem in Korea for cutting-edge autonomous driving technology, as well as the brand's popularity here. All eyes are on whether the fourth-largest economy in Asia could outdo other regional candidates such as Japan and Indonesia, which have richer EV consumer bases than Korea. On Wednesday, President Yoon Suk-

Nov. 23, 2022

Market manipulation probe could dent MSCI hopes

The latest probe by the Korea Exchange into alleged market manipulation by two foreign investment banks in South Korea is creating friction between the bourse operator and global investment banks, amid Seoul’s push for recognition in the Morgan Stanley Capital International developed market index. According to sources Wednesday, the KRX is looking to fine the Seoul offices of Morgan Stanley and CLSA, a Hong Kong-based investment bank, for having failed to warn investors in advance when a r

Nov. 23, 2022

[Herald Interview] New markets, startups can counter crisis: Arthur D. Little CEO

As colliding shocks prompted by inflation rocks the global economy, policymakers are managing their expectations for growth while companies are searching for ways to ride out the disruptions following a potential global recession. The pace of recovery will be as much different as the size of the impact and there is no universal way of preventing and mitigating such a crisis in coming years. For South Korea, however, the antidote lies in finding new markets to avoid overdependence and launching s

Nov. 23, 2022

Seoul stocks end higher amid eased concerns over rate hikes

Seoul stocks closed higher Wednesday amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve might ease aggressive monetary tightening in the coming months. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 12.74 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 2,418.01. Trading volume was moderate at 466.1 million shares worth 7.37 trillion won ($ 5.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 663 to 215. Foreign investors bought a net 83.3 billion won worth of shares,

Nov. 23, 2022

Apple succumbs to antitrust pressure

US smartphone giant Apple said Tuesday it will voluntarily correct its unfair policy of charging greater commission fees to Korean app developers than in other markets by January next year. The decision comes after South Korea’s antitrust watchdog began a probe into the iPhone maker over its Korea-exclusive charging system that is based on consumer prices, including value-added tax. This means Korean developers are forced to pay a 33 percent commission to Apple, above the 30 percent rate i

Nov. 23, 2022

HanmiGlobal, Bryden Wood team up to innovate construction methods

South Korean construction management firm HanmiGlobal said Wednesday it signed a business agreement with British architecture-to-engineering firm Bryden Wood to innovate its construction methods. Through the memorandum of understanding, the two companies will jointly develop and implement modern methods of construction (MMC) and a design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) in Korea. MMC is a construction method in which structures or components of buildings are constructed at external facilities

Nov. 23, 2022

Saudi wealth fund eyes investment in Kakao Entertainment

Kakao Entertainment, the content subsidiary of South Korean IT giant Kakao, may receive up to 800 billion won ($592 million) in investment from Saudi Arabia, following the kingdom's crown prince's visit to Seoul last week. The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is reportedly in discussion with its Singaporean counterpart, GIC Private Limited, about investing in the entertainment firm, according to news reports on Wednesday. PIF is one of the world'

Nov. 23, 2022

Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains on eased inflation concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 18.58 points, or 0.77 percent, to 2,423.85 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, US stocks finished higher, as investors bet that the US Fed may not take aggressive monetary tightening down the road, with inflation data showing signs of peaking, while shrugging off China's recent upticks in COVID-19 cases and possibility of tightening virus restr

Nov. 23, 2022

Retailers brace for gloomy 2023

Business leaders and experts gathered Tuesday at the headquarters of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss the current bearings of South Korean retail industries and plans they should undertake going forward. Woo Tae-hee, executive vice chairman of the KCCI, said that according to a survey conducted by the KCCI, "worsening consumer confidence" was chosen by some 300 retail industries in the country as the top issue to tackle for the years ahead. "Consumer confidenc

Nov. 22, 2022

[Herald Interview] Global talent can expand K-pop’s reach, entrepreneur says

With the global success of BTS reaching new heights, there are some who think this might be a high-water mark for K-pop. But a Singaporean entrepreneur who has himself debuted as a singer in South Korea is more optimistic, saying embracing global talent is one way to expand K-pop’s reach. “As K-pop is widely loved globally, it would be to its advantage to be even more globally inclusive to talents worldwide,” David Yong, chief executive of Evergreen Group Holdings, said in an i

Nov. 22, 2022

When gummies, Coke and ice cream become art

To enter “Haribo World,” you'll pass through multiple gates shaped like the brand's famous gummy bears. Inside a room at the end of the passage, the signature Goldbears come alive via media art that covers the entire wall, ceiling to floor. At this exhibition, currently underway at Annyeong Insa-dong's Insa Central Museum in central Seoul, the inspiration obviously is children’s and many adults’ favorite gummy -- Haribo Goldbears. Opened in October this yea

Nov. 22, 2022