BMW, Mercedes-Benz in tight race for top importer title in Korea

Two German carmakers are in a tight race to take the top spot in South Korea’s imported car market this year, with BMW chasing its rival Mercedes-Benz closely to dethrone it from its seven-year run in the No. 1 position. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association on Thursday, BMW sold a total of 5,490 units last month, outpacing Mercedes-Benz which sold 5,456 units in the same period. This was the third month this year after January and June that BMW has sol

Aug. 4, 2022

Wealth transfers to Koreans aged under 30 up 106% in 2021

SEJONG -- The tally for cases of wealth transfers to Koreans aged under 30 surged by 106 percent last year, compared to the previous year, after a gradual increase between 2017 and 2020, data from the national tax agency showed Thursday. According to the National Tax Service’s data, given to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae of the Democratic Party of Korea, the number of Koreans aged under 30 who reported capital transfers from their parents, grandparents, or others came to 70,115 last year, a 106 percen

Aug. 4, 2022

KOREAN NFT to hold networking event ‘HY NET SEOUL’

Non-fungible token solution company KOREAN NFT will hold a networking event titled ‘HY NET SEOUL’ on Saturday, the company said on Thursday. The event will bring blockchain leaders, influencers, artists, collectors, and community members in Seoul together, it added. “We are going to create an NFT market ecosystem by supporting the domestic and foreign projects of Korean artists, planning new businesses and developing talent,“ said KOREAN NFT’s CEO Donglee Han.

Aug. 4, 2022

3 new zones selected to boost mobility business

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Thursday it has designated three new regions -- South Jeolla, North Gyeongsang and South Gyeongsang Provinces -- as regional vanguards to boost South Korea’s eco-friendly mobility business. According to the ministry, the three selected zones will be exempt from a number of regulations that might hinder the growth-engine sector for four years from September this year to August 2026. They will also be given the opportunity to attract investment and cr

Aug. 4, 2022

Telcos to launch first-ever JV for thin filers’ financial accessibility

South Korean mobile carriers are set to launch a joint venture for the first time to join forces in enhancing financial accessibility and realizing ESG management values. The joint venture will be using non-financial credit evaluation services based on the three telecom carriers’ collected data, to mainly help the financially disadvantaged. Non-financial credit evaluation services will evaluate a person‘s credits by analyzing the customer‘s check card usage, shopping histor

Aug. 4, 2022

LocknLock outlines ESG strategy in sustainability report

Global food container maker LocknLock said Thursday it has released its first-ever sustainability report, introducing the firm’s environmental, social and corporate governance-related strategies. In the report, the company said it will decrease electricity use by implementing renewable energy and high-efficiency power units in its domestic and international manufacturing facilities. The company hopes to replace 30 percent of its electricity consumption with green energy by 2031 and to ach

Aug. 4, 2022

Korea’s work flexibility still far more rigid than advanced economies

Despite changes in corporate culture that place more value on the quality of work environments, South Korea still has a more rigid working hour system compared to advanced economies, according to a report by the business lobby organization Federation of Korean Industries released Thursday. The report suggests companies give workers the option to work more when they need to, and take longer breaks in return. The statutory working hours in Korea are eight hours per day and 40 hours per week, unli

Aug. 4, 2022

[Newsmaker] Korea to shoot for the moon Friday

South Korea’s first lunar mission Danuri is all set to be launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon rocket on Friday morning, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday. According to the ministry, the SpaceX Falcon rocket has been erected at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as of 11:15 a.m., Korea time. Danuri, formally known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, will blast off at 8:08 a.m. on Friday, Korea time, or 7:08 p.m. on Thursday, local Eastern Standard time.

Aug. 4, 2022

Kakao Q2 net income down 68% to W101.2b

Kakao Corp. on Thursday reported its second-quarter net income of 101.2 billion won ($77.2 million), down 68 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that operating income for the April-June period rose 5.2 percent on-year to 171 billion won. Revenue increased 34.8 percent to 1.82 trillion won. The earnings failed to meet market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 145 billion won, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financi

Aug. 4, 2022

Seoul shares open higher on US gains

Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as jitters over US-China tension, caused by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit, eased somewhat. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.91 points, or 0.36 percent, to trade at 2,470.36 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.29 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.59 percent on firm economic data showing the world's largest eco

Aug. 4, 2022

‘Big hike’ could drag down housing prices by 2.8%: BOK

Home prices could drop as much as 2.8 percent in two years once the Bank of Korea raises its policy rate by a full percentage point or 100 basis points, the central bank said in a report Wednesday. The report, which focused on analyzing how a rate change affects home prices without studying factors like mortgage rules and new supply, comes as Seoul apartment prices kept falling for the last nine weeks. Last week Seoul saw its largest weekly drop since April 2020, according to the Korea Real Est

Aug. 3, 2022

6 Korean firms join cross-border carbon capture, storage project

Six Korean energy companies will join hands with Malaysia’s state-run energy company, Petroliam Nasional Berhad, to launch a cross-border project that transports carbon captured in South Korea to Malaysia for storage, the firms said Wednesday. For the project named Shepherd CCS, the six companies, SK Energy, SK Earthon, Samsung Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, Lotte Chemical and GS Energy, signed a memorandum of understanding with Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as Petron

Aug. 3, 2022

Top Korean banks face flak for profiting from surging rates

Top commercial banks have come under fire for increasingly denying customer requests to lower their interest rate repayments, while profiting heavily from of their lending programs, data showed Wednesday. The growing criticism comes as borrowers have been facing heavier debt repayment burdens in recent months, with lenders keeping their borrowing rates in pace with the central bank’s aggressive rate hikes. Last year, the top five commercial banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and

Aug. 3, 2022

Middle East contributes most to Korea’s trade deficit

SEJONG -- The Middle East was found to have contributed the most to South Korea’s all-time high trade deficit for the first seven months of the year, state data showed Wednesday, reflecting the export-driven economy’s ongoing high reliance on crude oil.　 According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea suffered a cumulative deficit of $51.7 billion in trade with countries in the Middle East during the period of January-July. The figure was higher by 244 percent, compa

Aug. 3, 2022

LG Energy Solution to produce 100% with renewable energy from 2025

LG Energy Solution said Wednesday it will run its production facilities around the world 100 percent with renewable energy from 2025 as part of efforts to meet its 2050 carbon neutrality goals. The world’s second-largest battery maker for electric vehicles renewed its commitment to the RE100 initiative in its recent report on environment, social and corporate governance. As of 2020, the company’s renewable energy transition rate stood at 33 percent, the highest among a total 14 S

Aug. 3, 2022

Seoul shares end higher amid woes over fallout from Pelosi's Taiwan visit

Seoul shares ended higher on gains in automakers and battery makers on Wednesday, with investors eyeing the fallout from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan amid global recession worries. The South Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 21.83 points, or 0.89 percent, to close at 2,461.45 points. Trading volume was moderate at 463.71 million shares worth 6.6 trillion won ($5.03 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers

Aug. 3, 2022

[Photo News] It's going down

A signboard at a gas station in Seoul shows decreased gasoline and diesel prices on Wednesday. The nationwide barometer fell on Tuesday to 1,881.75 won ($1.44) and 1,969.64 won per liter, respectively, according to data provided on the Korea National Oil Corporation‘s Oil Price Information Network. South Korea saw a 12.2 percent and 9.1 percent decrease in gasoline and diesel prices, respectively, from its peak price of 2,144.90 won and 2,167.66 won in late June.

Aug. 3, 2022

Car-sharing platform SoCar to go public this month

South Korean car-sharing company SoCar said Wednesday it planned to debut in the nation‘s benchmark Kospi to expand its footing in the mobility industry worth 350 trillion won (267.6 billion) and growing. The company will decide soon whether to float 4.55 million shares or not on Aug. 22 after testing the water with the two-day preliminary proceedings scheduled on Thursday and Friday. The preferred share price is set between 34,000 won and 45,000 won. The main underwriter is Mirae A

Aug. 3, 2022

Carmakers expand reach to e-bikes

Global carmakers are penetrating the electric bicycle market, taking advantage of its value as a test bed for the future technology of electric vehicles while rounding out their e-mobility portfolios. Experts note that both e-bikes and EVs have motors and batteries as their core parts, and also shared parts of their design structure. This gives carmakers a great leg up in the e-bike market, which is still in its nascent stage with no clear market leader.  “When the finished carmake

Aug. 3, 2022

Samsung rolls out futuristic memory, storage tech tailored to big data

Memory chip giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it unveiled a set of next-generation memory and storage technologies to better address various client demands for handling big data. Choi Jin-hyeok, executive vice president of memory solution and product development at Samsung Electronics, told an audience at the Flash Memory Summit 2022 that the array of technologies, including “perabyte storage,” “memory-semantic solid state drive” and “telemetry” is cru

Aug. 3, 2022