Pan Ocean Q2 net profit up 146.8% to W224.8b

Pan Ocean Co., South Korea's leading bulk carrier, said Monday its second-quarter net profit rose nearly 2.5-fold from a year earlier on high freight rates. Net profit came to 224.8 billion won ($172.2 million) in the April-June period, up 146.8 percent from a year earlier, the shipper said in a regulatory filing. Sales jumped 52.4 percent on-year to 1.72 trillion won, with operating profit spiking 113.2 percent to 238.8 billion won. Pan Ocean's second-quarter earnings well exceeded ma

Aug. 1, 2022

BOK sees small incremental rate increases as 'appropriate'

South Korea's central bank said Monday it is "appropriate" to raise its key interest rate in small increments going forward as long as inflation and growth trends do not deviate much from the expected paths. The Bank of Korea (BOK) provided the broad guidance on the future trajectory of monetary policy in a report to the National Assembly after it delivered an unprecedented 0.5 percentage-point rate increase last month to rein in surging inflation. It was the sixth rate hike since

Aug. 1, 2022

[Graphic News] Vehicle registrations rise 0.6% in Q2 despite chip shortage

　The number of registered vehicles in South Korea rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter to over 25 million, with that of eco-friendly cars exceeding 1.36 million units, government data showed. 　Car registrations came to 25.22 million units as of end-June, up from 25.07 million units a quarter earlier despite a global chip shortage, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. 　Global carmakers have been struggling with the lack of semiconductor parts since late 202

Aug. 1, 2022

Seoul shares open lower as tech stocks decline

South Korean shares opened lower Monday on a decline in major tech stocks amid global recession woes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.14 points, or 0.33 percent, to trade at 2,443.36 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Eyes are on whether the Federal Reserve will become less aggressive in raising rates following an aggressive 0.75-percentage point hike in the benchmark interest rates. Institutions and foreigners sold a combined 132 billion won worth of stock

Aug. 1, 2022

SK, Tokuyama start off construction for semiconductor cleaning agent plant in S. Korea

SK Geocentric Co., a chemical unit of South Korea's SK Group, said Monday the construction began for the joint factory with Japan's Tokuyama Corp. to produce a high-purity cleaning agent for semiconductors. SK Geocentric CEO Na Kyung-soo, Hiroshi Yokota, president of Tokuyama, and other officials attended the groundbreaking ceremony that took place in the South Korean industrial city of Ulsan, about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, where SK runs its key chemical manufacturing complex

Aug. 1, 2022

Exports up 9.4% in July; trade deficit extended for 4th month

South Korea suffered a trade deficit for the fourth consecutive month in July over high global energy prices, though its exports rose 9.4 percent on-year on solid demand for chips, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments stood at $60.7 billion last month, up from $55.5 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It is the highest tally for any July since 1956, when the ministry began compiling related data. The previous record was set a ye

Aug. 1, 2022

FTC puts off plan to hold foreign CEO more responsible

South Korea’s antitrust regulator has decided to put a brake on its plan to hold foreign business leaders of large corporations here amid looming concerns it could trigger a trade dispute with the US. According to multiple sources at the government and local reports, the Fair Trade Commission has canceled its plan to make a preliminary announcement next week on the revision of the enforcement decree of the monopoly regulation and fair trade act that aimed at designating foreigners as the

July 31, 2022

[Market Eye] Will Samsung make cars again?

“Will Samsung make cars again?” is a decades-old question that has dogged the tech giant since it sold off its automotive business to France’s Renault Group during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Samsung has seen success in almost every sector it set sights on, but making and selling its own brand cars has remained a rare failure for the nation’s largest conglomerate. Despite repeated denials by the top brass, speculation has resurfaced about Samsun

July 31, 2022

GS Entec enters offshore wind power business

GS Entec -- South Korean equipment and facilities manufacturer of chemical and energy plants -- has signed a strategic partnership with Sif Netherlands BV to enter the offshore wind power business, the company said Sunday. GS Entec will introduce the Dutch firm’s monopile manufacturing technology under the partnership, according to the company. A monopile is a steel tube foundation that serves as a supporting pillar in the water. Monopiles are most commonly used for offshore wind turbi

July 31, 2022

Over 1% of cars in S. Korea are EVs: report

The accumulated number of electric vehicles in South Korea appears to have surpassed the 300,000-mark in July, taking 1.2 percent of the total number of registered vehicles in country, according to a report published by the Transport Ministry on Sunday. The report said South Korea had 298,633 EV registrations as of June. Industry insiders expect this number to have exceeded 300,000 last month. Nearly 70,000 EVs were sold in just the first half of this year, a 73.5 percent rise in sales compar

July 31, 2022

Apartment transactions plunge in H1 on lending curbs, rate hikes

Apartment transactions in South Korea fell more than 50 percent on-year in the first half of 2022 due mainly to the government's tough lending curbs and rising interest rates, data showed Sunday. The number of apartments traded nationwide stood at 184,134 units in the January-June period, down 50.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Real Estate Board. It is the lowest level since the agency began compiling the related data in 2006 and marked nearly a 60 percent

July 31, 2022

Foreign investors turn net buyers of South Korean stocks in July

Foreign investors were net buyers of South Korean stocks in July, reversing their selling spree for the last six months over recession worries and looking to step in and buy on the cheap amid signs of a market bottom. According to the Korea Exchange on Sunday, foreigners purchased net 2.3 trillion won ($1.7 billion) worth of shares on the benchmark Kospi, the highest monthly volume since a 3.3 trillion-won inflow in December last year. The main board rose to 2,451.50 Friday, up 5.1 percent from

July 31, 2022

[Test Drive] Facelifted Seltos upgrades compact SUV standards

Design-wise, the new Seltos is not much different from the old version but in terms of performance, Kia’s facelifted compact SUV has changed so remarkably that it almost seems like a complete reworking. From the front, it is hard to tell the difference between the new Seltos and the previous version launched in 2019, while the rear has an updated bumper and new tail lightening. The car’s signature Starmap lighting has been applied across the width of the car and combined with an LE

July 31, 2022

Hanwha revamps defense business, with aim to create ‘Korea Lockheed Martin’

South Korean defense-to-energy giant Hanwha Group said Friday that it is revamping its business structure to maximize synergy among defense units with an aim to mimic the success of Lockheed Martin, the US-based aerospace and defense company.  Under the scheme, Hanwha Aerospace, its largest defense arm that mainly produces aircraft engines, will take over the defense unit of Hanwha Corp., a de facto holding company of the group, and absorb its wholly owned subsidiary Hanwha Defense. 

July 29, 2022

Skepticism grows over Yoon’s war against illegal stock short selling

South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol administration has declared war on the nation’s “deep-rooted” practice of illegal short selling, but retail investors and onlookers are expressing skepticism on whether the practice could really be uprooted. On Thursday, financial authorities and top prosecutors warned that all profit and hidden money from illegal short selling will be confiscated if the prosecution’s recently revived Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Te

July 29, 2022

New visa program aims to attract more tech talent

The South Korean government will introduce a new visa category called E-7-S in October to attract more global professionals into the nation’s high-tech industries. The current E-7 visa is an employment visa for foreign nationals in white collar industries, but complaints have grown because only workers in 92 specified occupations were eligible for the visa. The new E-7-S visa will be issued regardless of job type, as long as the applicants are evaluated as professionals working in high

July 29, 2022

Krafton’s popular battle-royale game banned in India

South Korean gaming giant Krafton’s popular battle-royale format game Battleground Mobile India, the Indian version of its global smash hit PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, has been slapped with a download ban in India, its Seoul headquarters confirmed Friday. Both Google and Apple removed the gaming app from their respective app stores on Thursday, citing the Indian government’s ban order. “We are still checking on the situation with the local authorities,” a Kr

July 29, 2022

Seoul shares extend winning streak to 5th day on hope for Fed's less aggressive rake hikes

South Korean stocks advanced for the fifth consecutive session Friday as investors speculated that a second consecutive quarterly contraction in the US economy may prod the US Federal Reserve to take rate hikes that are less aggressive than previously expected. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 16.23 points, or 0.67 percent, from the previous session to close at 2,451.5 points. The figure is up 2.44 percent from a week ago. T

July 29, 2022

Posco secures $1b through overseas debt sale

Posco said Friday that it has raised $1 billion by selling debts overseas, the largest corporate bond issuance by a South Korean company this year.  According to the South Korean steel giant, the two-tranche debt consists of three-year bonds worth $700 million and five-year bonds worth $300 million.  The decision was made a day after the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by 0.75 percentage point for the second consecutive time to fight inflation fears.  It

July 29, 2022

Yoon to slash payroll at public firms in 2023

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration on Friday unveiled a policy scaling back payrolls at 350 public firms nationwide next year, as part of its effort to raise overall productivity and eradicate negligent management of some state-run agencies. It also plans to revamp the wage payment structure for workers in the public agency sector, by slashing taxpayer funding injected from the central government for operation of their businesses. This marks the first time that the government has cut p

July 29, 2022