K-content tweets increase 546% over 10 years

The amount of tweets related to Korean content has grown 546 percent over the past 10 years, according to Twitter. “K-content’s growth on Twitter follows the explosive growth pattern of K-pop,” said Kim Yeong-jeong, Twitter’s head of global K-pop and K-contents partnership, Tuesday at the Content Marketing Summit 2022 held at the InterContinental Hotel in Seoul. “Twitter‘s strength, which allowed K-pop to expand its reach over the past few years, is expect

Aug. 24, 2022

Lotte Chemical becomes sole bidder for Iljin Materials

Lotte Chemical has emerged as the sole bidder in the sale of South Korea’s second-largest copper foil manufacturer Iljin Materials, according to a local report Wednesday. Global private equity fund operators and foreign strategic investors have pulled out during the bidding process due to Iljin Materials’ high prices and rate hikes, leaving Lotte Chemical as the only bidder, the Herald Business said in an exclusive report, citing investment bank sources. Lotte Chemical on Monday c

Aug. 24, 2022

Hyundai Motor invests in automotive semiconductor startup

Hyundai Motor Group said on Tuesday it has decided to invest in Bos Semiconductors, an automotive semiconductor startup. Bos Semiconductor is a fabless startup which specializes in manufacturing system semiconductors used in automotive software. The startup aims to design high-performance semiconductors that consume low amounts of power. It also aims to manufacture central processing units and high-speed interfaces that are essential for automotive semiconductors. Hyundai Motor’s inv

Aug. 24, 2022

Seoul stocks snap 5-day losing streak; local currency up for 1st in 7 sessions

South Korean stocks finished higher Wednesday, after five consecutive sessions of losses, as investors bought oversold issues. The Korean won also gained ground against the US dollar for the first time in seven sessions. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 12.11 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 2,447.45, breaking the five-day losing streak. Trading volume was moderate at 407.61 million shares worth 7.93 trillion won ($5.91 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 575 to 275.

Aug. 24, 2022

Samsung C&T wins W800b solar power plant project in Qatar

Samsung C&T said Wednesday it has inked an 800 billion won engineering, procurement and construction contract with QatarEnergy to build solar power plants with the capacity to generate 875 megawatts of electricity. The project involves building one solar power plant with 417 megawatt capacity in Mesaieed and another one in Ras Laffan with 458 megawatt capacity, which will start generating electricity by the end of 2024. Around 1.6 million solar panels will be installed in these power

Aug. 24, 2022

Resistance growing over big tech’s push into insurance agency biz

South Korean technology firms are gearing up to launch new services where users can compare different insurance products on their platforms, but the move has been met with strong resistance from traditional agents, sources said Wednesday. Financial authorities earlier this week approved local big tech firms such as Naver and Kakao to launch test-runs of their new “insurance agent” services starting from as early as October, according to the policymaking Financial Services

Aug. 24, 2022

[Newsmaker] Chung Euisun heads to US as inflation law puts Hyundai Motor EV strategy in peril

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun made an emergency trip to the US on Tuesday to seek ways to deal with the latest US tax credit bill that has scrapped subsidies for foreign-made electric vehicles. Amid looming concerns that the bill may jeopardize the carmaker’s EV strategy, Chung left for Washington, D.C., with Hyundai Motor President Gong Young-woon who is in charge of public relations, media outlets reported Wednesday, quoting unnamed sources. They plan to meet high-ra

Aug. 24, 2022

LG to launch AI ethics group for better transparency

LG Group said Wednesday it is launching a new artificial intelligence ethics group later this year with an aim to build more responsible AI systems and their deployment across all LG companies. Ahead of its official launch, LG AI Research, the group's AI research hub, recently set up a task force to be charged with educating LG employees to better understand AI ethics and evaluating ethical risks related to privacy, bias and fairness before product development. The upcoming ethics group

Aug. 24, 2022

S. Korea to announce comprehensive measures to boost exports

South Korea plans to come up with a set of measures this month to strengthen the competitiveness in exports amid the global economic downturn, the industry ministry said Wednesday. The envisioned plan comes as the country has seen a slowdown in the growth of exports, which account for half of the economy, and its trade deficit has widened in recent months due to high energy prices. In July, exports rose 9.4 percent on-year, marking the 21st consecutive month of growth. But they began to mark sin

Aug. 24, 2022

LG Uplus rebrands K-pop platform to Idol Plus with foreign language support

LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's third-largest mobile carrier, said Wednesday it has rebranded its K-pop content platform and has newly enabled official foreign language support for foreign users. The company's U+ Idol Live platform has been renamed as Idol Plus and its menu and subtitles now officially support English, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Indonesian, in addition to Korean. LG Uplus said it has analyzed overseas customer usage during its beta web service period since November in s

Aug. 24, 2022

Regulator OKs KG Group's takeover of SsangYong Motor

SEJONG -- South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has approved a deal by chemical-to-steel business group KG Group to buy the debt-ridden SsangYong Motor Co., as the takeover does not hurt market competition. In July, KG asked the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to review its deal to acquire some 61 percent stake in SsangYong Motor for 950 billion won ($ 708 million). The FTC said it has given the green light to the deal, saying that the acquisition is not likely to hamper competiti

Aug. 24, 2022

Hyundai Motor chief visits US amid new tax break law

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday its Chairman Chung Euisun is visiting the United States amid growing concerns over a new US law excluding electric vehicles (EVs) built outside the US from tax breaks. The South Korean carmaker didn't provide any details about Chung's US schedule. Chung is expected to meet US government officials and business leaders to ask them to "help improve an unreasonable part" of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), auto industry officia

Aug. 24, 2022

Seoul shares open higher as investors brace for monetary tightening

South Korea's stock market opened higher Wednesday amid uncertainty over the direction of the global economy and monetary policy at home and abroad. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 17.27 points, or 0.71 percent, to trade at 2,452.61 as of 9:15 a.m. Investors are bracing for more monetary tightening policy at home, along with the possibility of hawkish remarks from the United States later this week. The Bank of Korea is widely expected to raise its interest rate

Aug. 24, 2022

Individual bond buying soars amid flight to safety

South Korean retail investors' bond purchases have surged this year as they seek safe-haven assets amid rising interest rates and a bearish stock market, data showed Wednesday. Local individual investors had bought a net 10.2 trillion won (US$7.6 billion) worth of bonds over the counter this year as of Monday, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. The amount is more than double their net buying of 4.6 trillion won for all of last year. By type, corporate bon

Aug. 24, 2022

Won weakens further despite warning against speculation

The South Korean won weakened to 1,345.5 won per US dollar on Tuesday, marking a fresh 13-year low, despite a warning that authorities would rein in speculative trading seen as behind the depreciation. The verbal warning, coming for a fourth time for the year, reflects growing volatility gripping the currency markets amid the persistent hawkish outlook on a US rate hike in September boosting the dollar’s safe-haven appeal. The key psychological threshold of 1,300 won is considered

Aug. 23, 2022

LG Innotek’s thermoelectric system gets green tech certificate

Electronic component manufacturer LG Innotek said Tuesday that its key material for thermoelectric generators, which allow vessels to reuse waste heat and cut carbon emissions, has won a green technology certificate by the government. Powered by the nano-polycrystalline semiconductor material developed by LG Innotek, the thermoelectric system uses the heat flux due to temperature differences within the semiconductor to generate electrical energy, according to the company. Its nano-polycristal

Aug. 23, 2022

KRX, Busan to launch professional ping pong team

The Korea Exchange said Tuesday it signed an agreement with the city on Friday to launch a Busan-based professional table tennis team by next month. The envisioned team will take part in the Korea Table Tennis League in the upcoming regular season, which begins in late January. The KRX, South Korea’s bourse operator, said it will help find new talent, foster professionals and contribute to the local community as it runs the Busan-based team. “We will support outstanding players t

Aug. 23, 2022

Big businesses in Korea see 50% surge in inventory

SEJONG -- Big Korean businesses saw their inventory surge by about 50 percent in the first half on-year, sparking concerns that the piling products left unsold is maybe a sign that South Korea is entering a fog of economic uncertainty. According to the corporate research institute Leaders Index, the inventory assets held by 192 conglomerates came to 147.6 trillion won ($110 billion) in the first half of the year, a 49.6 percent increase from 98.6 trillion won in the first half of 2021. While b

Aug. 23, 2022

Seoul stocks tumble more than 1% on rate hike woes; Korean won continues decline

South Korean stocks fell more than 1 percent Tuesday as investors shunned risky assets amid concerns over further aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. The Korean won continued to weaken against the US dollar following a sharp drop in the previous session. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 27.16 points, or 1.10 percent, to close at 2,435.34, extending the losing streak to a fifth session. Trading volume was moderate at 460.02 million shares worth 7.34 trillion won ($5

Aug. 23, 2022

Hanwha Aerospace bags $165m order from UK’s Vertical

South Korean aircraft engine manufacturer Hanwha Aerospace established a $165 million supply deal with British air taxi developer Vertical Aerospace last month, according to a regulatory filing released on Tuesday. Under the deal, which follows a development agreement announced in July, Hanwha Aerospace is set to exclusively supply three types of electromechanical actuators to Vertical for its VX4 air taxi from 2025 to 2035. The four-seater VX4 is currently under development for commercializat

Aug. 23, 2022