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

South Korea’s exports to China jump 162-fold over 30 years

South Korean exports to China has jumped 162 times since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1992, far more than the overall outbound shipments of Asia’s fourth-largest economy that grew ninefold in the same period, data showed Tuesday. The data comes amid growing concerns of Korea’s increasing trade dependence on the world’s No. 2 economy, with the demand for memory chips having become a strong driving force behind Korea’s overall export growth. Korea’s

Aug. 23, 2022

LS Cable & System launches system for remote-control cable management

LS Cable & System will commercialize a remote-control cable management system that detects operational abnormalities, prevents power outages and sends online alerts, said the company on Tuesday. The new system called i-check allows IoT sensors attached to cables to detect malfunctions such as electricity leakages and overheating, to prevent power outages and fires. Users will be able to check the status of the cable in real time on the web and mobile devices, and receive push notificatio

Aug. 23, 2022

SK Networks invests W4b in metaverse developer Com2Verse

SK Networks has invested 4 billion won ($3 million) in Com2Verse, a metaverse-specialized subsidiary of South Korean game developer Com2uS, to explore business opportunities in the world of metaverse, officials said Tuesday. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to join forces in setting up and strengthening a metaverse ecosystem. The signing ceremony took place in the Com2Verse metaverse platform’s virtual auditorium on the previous day. According to officials, SK Net

Aug. 23, 2022

LG Display to release mid-sized OLED panels for gaming monitors

South Korean flat-panel display manufacturer LG Display is set to launch mid-sized organic light emitting diode panels designed for gaming monitors, according to the company Tuesday. “LG Display will release a new flat-panel display using OLED technology by the end of this year, at a size of over 20 inches and no larger than 30 inches,” an LG Display spokesperson told The Korea Herald, adding the company has yet to determine which plant -- among one in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, or o

Aug. 23, 2022

Nearly one-third TVs sold worldwide are from Samsung

Samsung Electronics continued its winning streak in global TV sales, selling nearly one-third of TVs across the world in the first half, according to market tracker Omdia on Tuesday. In the first six months of this year, 92.6 million units of TVs, worth $475 million, were sold globally. The sales figure was down 6.6 percent compared to a year ago. Omdia cited the Russia-Ukraine war, protracted lockdowns in China’s major cities and inflation fears as the key reasons behind the slowing T

Aug. 23, 2022

[Contribution] Delivery unit price indexation system to benefit both small, big companies

Latest issues such as the COVID-19 outbreak and the Russia-Ukraine war have prompted active discussions about the introduction of an interlocking system for cost of goods delivered. The small and medium-sized enterprises have long been calling for the introduction of this system, and the legislation of delivery unit price indexation system is one of the agenda items for the Special Committee on People’s Livelihood and Economic Stability, which was launched in July 2022. Alongside this, the

Aug. 23, 2022

Volkswagen Korea to bring ID.4 next month

Volkswagen Korea will launch its first pure electric sports utility vehicle next month as the first overseas branch of the German carmaker outside of Europe, its CEO said Tuesday. “ID.4, Volkswagen’s first pure electric SUV, will be launched in Korea and we will be the first country in the world for export market outside of Europe,” said Sacha Askidjian, the executive director of Volkswagen Korea at a launching ceremony for the new Tiguan Allspace, a seven-seater family SUV eq

Aug. 23, 2022

[Test Drive] Maserati’s first hybrid powerful yet traditional

The Maserati Ghibli GT Hybrid is a car that can satisfy those who love the sound of a combustion engine, but want to make a more fuel-efficient choice. The Ghibli GT Hybrid is the first ever electrified Maserati model, with which the luxury brand makes an attempt to keep up with the trends of the automobile industry. Maserati uses a 2.0-liter, four-cylindrical gas turbo engine boosted by a 48-volt battery and offers a maximum torque of 45.9 kilogram-meters. In a 245-kilometer test drive sessi

Aug. 23, 2022

No. of Ioniq 6 preorders hits new record on 1st day

Hyundai Motor received 37,446 EV preorders for its Ioniq 6 on the first day of presales, the highest day one preorder sales figure in the company‘s history. The carmaker said the number is far higher than Ioniq 5’s first-day preorders number of 23,760 units set last year. “Ioniq 6’s innovative interior and exterior design, along with the industry’s top-level traveling distance and driving performance incorporated with latest technology appear to have attracted po

Aug. 23, 2022

Most S. Korean bond experts eye rate hike in Aug.: poll

An absolute majority of bond mavens in South Korea expect the country's central bank to raise its key interest by a quarter point in August in line with the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance, a poll showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 100 bond experts by the Korea Financial Investment Association, 97 of the respondents forecast the Bank of Korea (BOK) to jack up its policy rate at a policy meeting slated for Thursday. Of the total, 91 percent predicted a 0.25 percentage-point

Aug. 23, 2022

Global TV sales slip more than 6% on-year in H1, with Samsung being top seller: data

Global TV sales fell more than 6 percent from a year ago in the first half of this year on slow demand and macroeconomic woes, research showed Tuesday, as Samsung Electronics remained the top player in the TV segment. In global markets, 92.6 million units of TVs were sold, down 6.6 percent from a year earlier. By value, the decrease was sharper at 12.5 percent, according to industry tracker Omdia. Consumer electronics companies have been struggling to combat lackluster demand after two years of

Aug. 23, 2022

Seoul shares open lower on worries over Fed's tightening; won further down

South Korea's stock market opened lower Tuesday as foreigners and institutions unloaded shares following overnight losses amid concerns over the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening. The Korean won continued to lose ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 15.39 points, or 0.62 percent, to trade at 2,447.11 points as of 9:15 a.m. Investors are awaiting Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments on inflation and rate increases at the annua

Aug. 23, 2022

Inflation expectations mark 1st fall in 8 months in August: BOK data

South Korea's inflation expectations declined for the first time in eight months in August, amid hopes that the country's fast-rising inflation hike may peak later this year, a central bank survey showed Tuesday. Ordinary people expected consumer prices will grow 4.3 percent over the next year, which was down from an all-time high of 4.7 percent a month ago, according to the poll conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK). This marked the first monthly decline since December 2021. "Consumer senti

Aug. 23, 2022

Korea to review WTO complaint on Biden’s IRA

The South Korean government will review launching a complaint to the World Trade Organization over a new US bill regarding tax credits that immediately scrapped subsidies for electric vehicles made outside the US, South Korean Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang said Monday. Last week, US President Joe Biden signed the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which would allow up to $7,500 of tax credits for “Made in US” EVs only, as part of the scheme to lift the portion of eco-friendly

Aug. 22, 2022

Won slips anew as investors reassess US rate hike

The South Korean won breached the key psychological threshold of 1,300 won per US dollar, weakening to 1,340.2 won before closing at 1,339.8 won in onshore trading Monday -- a new low in 13 years prompted by a hawkish outlook on a US Federal Reserve’s rate hike in September. The 1,300 mark -- last crossed in April 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis before June 2022 when it was touched again -- is considered a red flag for the economy. The benchmark Kospi lost 1

Aug. 22, 2022

Battery material firm L&F to spend W650b on expansion in Daegu

South Korean cathode active material supplier L&F is poised to invest 650 billion won ($483.1 million) in the next two years in a new line of production in Daegu, a filing showed Monday. Once the construction is complete, tentatively by August 2024, the new factory of L&F in Dalseong County, around 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will produce nickel-rich cathode active materials for batteries made of nickel, cobalt, manganese and aluminum, with their nickel content comprising at lea

Aug. 22, 2022

Korea seeks to curb fiscal deficit from 2023

EJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration would drastically reduce South Korea’s fiscal deficit starting from next year by restricting expansionary policies to improve the nation‘s fiscal soundness. According to government officials on Monday, the Ministry of Economy and Finance has set the goal of slashing the ratio of fiscal deficit to gross domestic product to 3 percent or under -- the first time in four years -- in its national budget plan for 2023. In addition, the Finance Mi

Aug. 22, 2022

On rising rates, Seoul’s housing market seen entering recession

The housing market in Seoul appears to have entered a period of stagnation not only with the prices of apartments -- the major residential type in the city –dropping, but also the number of transactions falling due to increased interest rates on loans, data showed Monday. According to Zigbang, a local property technology firm, the number of apartment units in Seoul that traded at lower prices than before has surpassed that of apartments that traded at higher prices. Separate data from t

Aug. 22, 2022

Pulmuone’s tofu sales up 11% in US

Pulmuone’s wholly owned US subsidiary Pulmuone Foods USA said on Monday that sales of its tofu have increased 11 percent this year from last year. The South Korean food giant attributed its sales performance to the construction of its tofu production line at Pulmuone Fullerton plant. The production facility established in November in California contributed to increasing the total production of tofu in the US by 38 percent, according to the company. Pulmuone Foods USA is currently ope

Aug. 22, 2022