Seoul shares open higher on Fed minutes

South Korean stocks open higher Thursday, as the US central bank signaled room for flexibility in aggressive interest rates hike plans. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.21 points, or 0.62 percent, to trade at 2,633.43 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks closed higher after the US Federal Reserve released minutes of its May meeting, which showed support for a 50-basis point increase in key rates over the next couple of meetings to tame inflation. The minu

May 26, 2022

Inflation growth may exceed 5% in May: govt. official

South Korea plans to announce a set of measures to tame inflationary pressure and stabilize people's livelihoods next week amid the prospect that the growth of consumer prices could top 5 percent, a senior government official said Thursday. The country faces the urgency to stabilize prices of food and other items closely linked to people's lives, according to First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun. "Some experts forecast consumer inflation could exceed 5 percent in May, accelerat

May 26, 2022

Number of startup businesses falls 3.4% in Q1

The number of startups in South Korea dropped 3.4 percent in the first quarter of the year due largely to a one-off factor, government data showed Thursday. A total of 348,732 startup businesses were set up in the January-March period, compared with 360,846 a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups. The ministry attributed the decline mainly to a base effect as there had been a sharp increase in the number of newly set-up re

May 26, 2022

Korea mulls 50-year mortgages for newlyweds

The Yoon Suk-yeol government is considering extending mortgage loan maturity terms for newlyweds and young Koreans aged 19-39 as part of efforts to follow through on a pledge to help young people acquire their homes, amid runaway housing prices in the Seoul metropolitan area. Under the new plan, young people would be able to repay their loan over 50 years, instead of 40 years, the longest repayment period currently offered to newlyweds and Koreans in that age group. “The 50-year loan sc

May 25, 2022

Yoon vows bold infrastructure investment for SMEs' innovative growth

President Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday the government will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with bold infrastructure investment that will enhance their competitiveness and innovation. Yoon also vowed to make efforts to create "fair" market environments for the co-existence of large firms and SMEs, during his speech at an SMEs event organized by the Korea Federation of SMEs at the presidential complex in Seoul. "The government will help SMEs with bold infrastructure

May 25, 2022

Seoul shares end higher on bio, chemicals amid inflation woes

Seoul shares ended higher on Wednesday as investors remain cautious about surging inflation and a global economic slowdown. The South Korean won rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 11.35 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,617.22. Trading volume was light at 698.94 million shares worth 8.2 trillion won ($6.5 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 485 to 360. Institutions bought a net 507 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting foreig

May 25, 2022

5 local airports to resume operating 22 international routes in June

Starting next month, South Korea and Japan will resume flight services between Seoul’s Gimpo and Tokyo’s Haneda airports. Korea Airports Corp. said during its regular briefing Tuesday that it is currently discussing the exact date and immigration procedures with the Japanese government before reopening flights between Gimpo and Haneda. Once resumed, there will be 16 flights provided every week by Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. The air route ha

May 25, 2022

[Photo News] Canvas for NFT Art

LG Display said Wednesday that media artist Refik Anadol’s “An Important Memory for Humanity,” a non-fungible token work of art on its transparent OLED display, recently raked in $6.2 million at auction. LG is the sole producer of a large-size transparent OLED display that boasts glass-like clarity to be used across industries, including digital art.

May 25, 2022

S. Korea becomes world’s 10th largest luxury market: report

With Millennials and Generation Z -- those born from the 1980s onward -- emerging as major players in the luxury industry, South Korea ranked No. 10 in high-end fashion transactions last year, a report showed Wednesday According to Samjong KPMG, a Seoul-based consulting firm, the country’s luxury goods market size soared on-year by 29.6 percent to $5.8 billion in 2021. By 2024, it is projected to exceed $7 billion. Foreign luxury brands in major department stores in South Korea have see

May 25, 2022

Posco’s high manganese steel gets technical approval from ExxonMobil

South Korean steelmaking giant Posco said Wednesday that its high manganese steel which withstands extremely low temperatures has received technical approval from global energy firm ExxonMobil for usage in LNG storage tanks. The two firms joined in a technical partnership in 2020 to expand the use of high manganese steel which Posco succeeded in mass-producing for the first time in the world. High manganese steel is a new type of material that Posco has developed in 2013, by adding 10 to 30 p

May 25, 2022

Homegrown Nuri rocket set for 2nd launch on June 15

The second launch of South Korea’s homegrown Nuri rocket will take place on June 15, about eight months after its first blastoff failed to complete its mission in October last year, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday. The launch control committee, composed of officials at the Science Ministry and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, left a window of backup launch dates open from June 16 to 23 in case of bad weather or other issues that could hinder the planned blastoff.

May 25, 2022

Korbit delists luna, vows to use transaction fees for customer protection

Korbit, one of South Korea’s top four cryptocurrency exchanges, has decided to delist luna, the sister coin of controversial stablecoin terraUSD, on Wednesday, following in the steps of other top platforms such as Bithumb and Upbit. The decision comes a day after chiefs of major crypto exchanges here were criticized by lawmakers for their “uncoordinated” response towards the price fall fiasco of terraUSD and luna. The exchanges failed to coordinate when to delist luna, with

May 25, 2022

Samsung teams up with Red Hat for memory software development

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it has partnered with US software company Red Hat to develop software technologies for next-generation memory solutions, as the industry is anticipating the birth of software to be integrated in memory chip hardware. Red Hat, an IBM subsidiary, is known for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a commercial open-source Linux operating system distribution developed by the company. Under the partnership, Samsung and Red Hat will jointly develop and validate a software tha

May 25, 2022

SC Korea offers special interest rate of up to 2%

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said it will offer a special interest rate of up to 2 percent per annum to new customers opening a checking account by May 31. Launched in July last year, the SC My Signature account has been popular for its stable interest rate amid high market volatility. For those with over 100 million won ($79,140) in SC bank transactions, an interest rate of up to 1.7 percent will be applied to the amount in deposit for 31 or more days, the bank said. For those making their

May 25, 2022

Kumho Tire diversifies marketing strategy

South Korean tiremaker Kumho Tire said Monday that it has incorporated new and differentiated marketing strategies to accelerate business normalization. The tiremaker has launched a new commercial in April under the slogan, “There is no road you cannot go,” to express its belief that there is no road in the world that Kumho Tire can‘t go, said company officials. The commercial was uploaded to the tiremaker’s YouTube channel. Kumho Tire currently operates the largest Yo

May 25, 2022

LG CNS lays out 52 real-life applications for AI

South Korean information technology solutions firm LG CNS has come up with 52 real-life applications for artificial intelligence, in line with its move to expand AI-related consulting services, the company said Wednesday. The use cases will allow its clients to better identify what kind of AI solutions they would need, and help LG CNS recommend the most optimal solution to the clients, LG CNS said in a statement. For example, if a company is looking to avoid worksite disasters, LG CNS will r

May 25, 2022

S. Korean leather company recognized by BMW for sustainability

South Korean recycled leather company ATKO Planning said Wednesday that it has been selected by German carmaker BMW as a potential business partner at a startup pitching event held at the Seoul Trade Exhibition Center on April 21. The annual event, BMW Startup Garage Open Innovation Pitching Day, is co-hosted by the automaker, the Korea Venture Investment Corp., and Korea’s trade promotion agency Kotra to select local enterprises that could work with BMW to accelerate the automaker&rsquo

May 25, 2022

SK Telecom seeks wider applications of crypto chips behind Samsung Galaxy Quantum phones

South Korean telecommunication firm SK Telecom unveiled Wednesday plans to explore more use cases of quantum-protected chips used in Samsung Galaxy Quantum series smartphone, in hopes of entering mass market by the first quarter of 2024. The world‘s first-ever crypto chip solutions have so far been applied to the Galaxy Quantum series smartphone -- available for purchase only in Korea -- based on the quantum random number generator chip solutions SK Telecom developed jointly with Switzerl

May 25, 2022

T'way Air adds 3 A330-300s to resume flights amid eased virus curbs

T'way Air, a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Wednesday it has added three A330-300 planes to its fleet to open a new route and resume flights on international routes amid eased COVID-19 virus curbs. In February, T'way Air brought in its first A330-300 plane and has been operating it on the Gimpo-Jeju route since March 22. The second one arrived last month and the third has just been added. With the latest two A330-300s, T'way Air plans to open the Incheon-Singapore route and t

May 25, 2022

S. Korea-led intl. association on hydrogen industry kicks off

South Korea, the United States and 16 other countries on Wednesday launched an association meant to boost cooperation in the development of the hydrogen industry, Seoul's industry ministry said. The member countries of the Global Hydrogen Industrial Association Alliance shared the current status of their hydrogen industry and related policy measures at an inaugural meeting at a Seoul hotel. The South Korea-led alliance will set up a network and data hub in the hydrogen field to boost cooper

May 25, 2022