Samsung, 5 other S. Korean firms to work with Malaysian energy firm for carbon capture storage project

Samsung Engineering Co. and five other South Korean companies have teamed up with Malaysia's state energy company Petroliam Nasional Berhad to work on a project to capture, transport and store carbon dioxide, an emerging technology for emissions reduction. Under a memorandum of understanding signed in a virtual meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, the companies said they plan to carry out a feasibility study to assess the practicality of the project. The five South Korean companies are SK En

Aug. 3, 2022

Daughter of late Samsung chairman tapped as advisor to Samsung Global Research

A daughter of late Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee was tapped as an advisor to Samsung's global research center, sources said Wednesday. Lee Seo-hyun, Lee Kun-hee's second daughter, will work as an advisor to the corporate social responsibility team at Samsung Global Research. The CSR team is dedicated to developing policies to fulfill Samsung's social responsibilities. She is currently overseeing the Samsung Welfare Foundation, founded by her father, and leads the adviso

Aug. 3, 2022

[Graphic News] Korea’s ICT exports climb 18.9% in H1 to set fresh six-month record

　South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology products in the first half of 2022 soared 18.9 percent on-year to set a new semiannual record tally, thanks to brisk overseas demand for chips and computer products, data showed. 　Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $122.6 billion in the January-June period, up from the $103 billion tally a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. 　It marked the highest-ever semiannual tally sin

Aug. 3, 2022

Hybe Q2 net income up 358.1% to W93b

Hybe Co. on Wednesday reported its second-quarter net profit of 93 billion won ($70.8 million), up 358.1 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 88.3 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 28 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 83.8 percent to 512.2 billion won. The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 61.7 billion won, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial

Aug. 3, 2022

LG Energy Solution to run global operations only on renewable energy from 2025

LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Wednesday it will run its global production sites only on renewable energy starting in 2025 as part of efforts to achieve the goals for sustainable growth. All battery production facilities in South Korea, North America, Europe and China will operate on 100 percent renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, the world's second-largest battery maker said in the latest report on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). It also plans to turn non-pr

Aug. 3, 2022

Seoul shares open higher despite US losses

Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday, bucking overnight losses on Wall Street, with investors staying wary of any ripple effect of US House speaker's trip to Taiwan on the financial markets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.48 point, or 0.02 percent, to trade at 2,440.10 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Escalating tension between China and the United States over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan on Tuesday could further weigh on inv

Aug. 3, 2022

Kakao Bank's Q2 net declines 18% on increased loan-loss reserves

Kakao Bank, a major internet-only lender in South Korea, said Wednesday its earnings shrank 17.7 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, citing an increase in its loan-loss reserves. Net income came to 57 billion won ($43.3 million) in the April-June period, down from a net profit of 69.3 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Operating profit fell 6.8 percent on-year to 74.4 billion won, and its revenue surged 46 percent to 371 billion won over the cited period. The

Aug. 3, 2022

Big firms' payrolls increase 1.5% in H1 on eased pandemic curbs

The combined workforce of large South Korean companies expanded 1.5 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier amid eased COVID-19 restrictions, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The number of workers hired by 459 out of the country's top 500 firms by sales totaled 1.55 million as of end-June this year, up around 12,500, from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The tally excludes 41 out of the country's leading 500 companies, which reported changes of 10 percent or

Aug. 3, 2022

Busan Port's cargo handling dips 2.1% in H1

Cargo processed at South Korea's largest port of Busan fell more than 2 percent in the first half of the year on slowing global consumption and other negatives, data showed Wednesday. Container cargo handled at the southeastern port came to 11.21 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in the January-June period, down 2.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Busan Port Authority and the Korea Maritime Institute. The decline was blamed on a slowdown in global consu

Aug. 3, 2022

Foreign reserves grow for 1st time in 5 months in July

South Korea's foreign reserves increased for the first time in five months in July, thanks to increased operation profits and expanded deposits in foreign currency, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves came to $438.61 billion as of end-July, up $330 million from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund re

Aug. 3, 2022

Hyundai, Kia's July US sales fall 11 pct amid chip shortage

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday their combined sales in the United States fell 11 percent last month from a year earlier amid the prolonged global chip shortage. Hyundai and Kia sold 123,080 vehicles in the world's most important automobile market in July compared with 138,599 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data. Hyundai's sales declined 11 percent to 60,631 units last month from 68,500 a year ago, while Kia's were also down 1

Aug. 3, 2022

SK hynix unveils 238-layer 4D NAND flash memory

SK hynix said Tuesday that it had unveiled plans to mass-produce the industry‘s first 238-layer four-dimensional NAND flash memory in the first half of 2023. At the Flash Memory Summit of 2022 held in Santa Clara, California, Choi Jung-dal, head of NAND development at SK hynix, said the newest NAND flash, which boasts the highest layer count and highest triple-level cell density in the industry, has been sampled by clients after the development was complete in July. The technological br

Aug. 3, 2022

Minutes show BOK board members call for swift rate hike to neutral level

Board members of South Korea's central bank underlined the need for raising the policy interest rate to a neutral level as quickly as possible to curb fast-rising inflation pressure as they delivered a first-ever "big-step" rate increase last month, minutes from their latest rate-setting meeting showed Tuesday. In the meeting on July 13, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) voted unanimously to hike the policy rate by half a percentage point to 2.25 percent. That re

Aug. 2, 2022

Samsung Biologics succeeds in producing mRNA drug substance

Contract manufacturing giant Samsung Biologics said Tuesday it has successfully completed the first commercial-scale engineering run of the drug substance for COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccines. With the latest completion, the company added that now it is equipped to provide end-to-end mRNA production for clients. In November last year, the company signed a contract manufacturing organization partnership deal with US biotech firm GreenLights Biosciences. After months of technology transfer, the

Aug. 2, 2022

[Photo News] Not cool

An environmental activist displays the radiation level of a portable fan at a civic group’s office in Seoul on Tuesday. The group, called Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health, claimed handheld fans emitted harmful levels of electromagnetic radiation, a day after the Ministry of Science and ICT concluded that the fans met international safety standards after reviewing 20 different small portable fans on the market.

Aug. 2, 2022

Prices keep surging amid growth woes

Consumer prices in July accelerated to an almost 24-year high of 6.3 percent on higher energy and food prices, as South Korea battles soaring inflation dragging down the export-led economy. According to Statistics Korea data released Tuesday, the July consumer price index edged 0.3 percentage point higher than in June. The last time the annual price gain neared such a level was in November 1998, when it reached 6.8 percent amid the Asian financial crisis. But the pace of monthly inflation sho

Aug. 2, 2022

Seoul shares snap 6-day winning streak amid recession woes

Seoul shares ended lower Tuesday, snapping a six-day winning streak, as investors remain watchful on escalating US-China tension over Taiwan amid global recession worries. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 12.63 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 2,451.5 points. Trading volume was moderate at 539.85 million shares worth 7.2 trillion won ($5.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 615 to 240. To get a cue, investors are keeping

Aug. 2, 2022

Researchers develop mass production technology for biodegradable microrobots

Scientists have developed a new technology to allow mass production of biodegradable microrobots that are likely to contribute to improving the efficacy of regenerative medicine such as stem cell therapy, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology said Tuesday. A joint research team composed of scientists at DGIST, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital of The Catholic University of Korea and Swiss public university ETH Zurich came up with a method to produce over 100 biodegradable microrobo

Aug. 2, 2022

Lawmakers float bill to triple tax benefits for chipmakers

South Korean lawmakers are poised to propose a new bill aimed at providing domestic chipmakers with more extensive tax benefits in return for facility investment, a step toward its own version of the US-passed CHIPS Act to be effective Thursday. The new bill, unveiled Tuesday by a group of lawmakers led by independent lawmaker Rep. Yang Hyang-ja, is designed to triple the tax incentives for chipmakers, an apparent move to encourage more investment from semiconductor players. At least 20 perce

Aug. 2, 2022

Korea to scrutinize tax evasion via virtual assets

SEJONG -- The nation’s tax agency has pledged to take stern actions against tax evasion practices via virtual assets, including cryptocurrency, and online platforms. The National Tax Service, in its policy briefing before the strategy and finance committee of the National Assembly on Monday, clarified that the kind of new tax evasion is hampering justice in the market as well as fairness in taxation. More and more people are reportedly seeking to dodge taxes by investing in virtual asset

Aug. 2, 2022