Baemin sales surge 70-fold from 2014 on pandemic delivery demand

Korea’s food delivery app Baemin logged 2.3 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in sales last year, a 70-fold surge from 2014 when it started filing financial reports to authorities, its operator Woowa Brothers said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. “The stellar performance in recent years was largely driven by COVID-19, with many restaurant partners joining our app,” said an official from Woowa Brothers. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the company surpassed 1 trillion won i

April 12, 2022

Consumption to fuel Korea’s growth: AMRO

SEJONG -- The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office has predicted that South Korea would attain a 3 percent growth this year on the back of robust consumption among households. In its outlook report on the 13 Asian economies on Tuesday, AMRO maintained its earlier forecast of a 3 percent growth for Korea, which was the figure suggested by the organization in January. The figure was in line with estimates suggested by the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank. The Ministry

April 12, 2022

Seoul shares down for 2nd day on rate hike, China's slowdown concerns

South Korean stocks ended lower Tuesday, as investors kept a wary eye on the US central bank's hawkish monetary tightening stance and China's economic slowdown amid its COVID-19 lockdown. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 26.34 points, or 0.98 percent, to close at 2,666.76 points. Trading volume was moderate at around 854.23 million shares worth some 9.54 trillion won ($7.72 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 643 to

April 12, 2022

Resort developer Ananti ditches North Korean project

South Korean luxury resort developer Ananti said Tuesday that it has decided to pull out from its resort and golf club project in the Kumgangsan tourist zone of North Korea, a business that once symbolized inter-Korean rapprochement. The decision comes after a news report that Pyongyang appears to have started demolishing South Korean facilities at the Kumgangsan Ananti Golf & Spa Resort on the North’s eastern coast. On Monday, US news outlet NK News published satellite images sugg

April 12, 2022

PPS to host marketplace for global procurement

Korea‘s Public Procurement Service is set to host an annual consultation fair in November to assist small- and medium-sized enterprises seeking entry into overseas procurement markets valued at $12.8 trillion. The annual event titled Global Public Procurement Marketplace (GPPM) has supported SMEs since 2016 to provide information concerning offshore markets such as foreign procurement laws and local market trends. According to the PPS, the event brings together Korean enterprises, forei

April 12, 2022

Korean electronics firms wary of fallout as China lockdown lingers

South Korean companies are keeping a wary eye on looming supply chain disruptions and slowing consumer electronics demand as the pandemic lockdown in China shows no signs of ending. While there are signs that the severe lockdown and fast spreading coronavirus in the Chinese port city Shanghai could spread to other cities, including port city Guangzhou, prospects of the slowing demand of consumer electronics -- especially in China -- is adding to the concerns. The lockdown in Shanghai, beginnin

April 12, 2022

S. Korea, Israel to invest $5.3m for robotics development

South Korea and Israel have pledged to invest up to $5.3 million (6.6 billion won) to support the joint development of robotics technology under a new strategic collaboration project named the Lighthouse Program, officials said Tuesday. As a joint research and development project between Seoul and Jerusalem, the Lighthouse Program is a follow-up of the revisions made to the industrial technology agreement between the two countries last year. Both sides agreed to double the annual funding for th

April 12, 2022

PPS-certified companies’ overseas shipments grow despite COVID-19

Korean small- and medium-sized companies certified by the governmental Public Procurement Service for their technological aptitude and product quality saw their overseas shipments grow despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The certified companies -- called Government Performance Assured (G-PASS) companies -- have recorded $1.25 billion in actual exports last year, a 69.1 percent increase from $740 million in 2020, according to PPS authorities. This far exceeds South Korea’s average expor

April 12, 2022

SK eyes stake in Bill Gates-backed TerraPower: report

SK Group is reportedly seeking to acquire a sizeable stake in TerraPower, a US nuclear power startup backed by Bill Gates, as part of its investment push in the carbon-free energy sector such as electric vehicle batteries and hydrogen. According to local daily Chosun Ilbo on Tuesday, the nation’s third-largest conglomerate is in talks to purchase a 10 percent stake, worth $15.4 million, in TerraPower, from India’s Reliance Industries. “Nothing has been decided yet,” an

April 12, 2022

[HERALD INTERVIEW] Public Procurement Service supports SMEs through expo

Some 460 small- and medium-sized enterprises are participating in an annual expo to market their technologies and products to large companies, public institutions and foreign buyers from Wednesday through Friday. The Korea Public Procurement Expo 2022, organized by the Public Procurement Service and held at Halls 3, 4 and 5 of the Korea International Exhibition Center 1 at Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, will help Korean companies that suffered amid the pandemic stretch their wings in the market tha

April 12, 2022

Samsung's financial affiliates to launch integrated platform, brand

Financial affiliates of Samsung Group, South Korea's top conglomerate, on Tuesday said they will launch a new integrated brand and unified platform to secure a larger pool of customers from the MZ generation. Named Monimo, the single platform, which will house five financial affiliates, including Samsung Life Insurance Co. and Samsung Securities Co., will provide various services. The platform will go into operation Thursday. Additionally, the affiliates said they will launch a new and unified b

April 12, 2022

AMRO maintains 2022 growth outlook for S. Korean economy at 3%

An economic surveillance organization in Asia on Tuesday maintained its 2022 growth outlook for the South Korean economy at 3 percent, citing improving private spending despite heightened external economic risks. The projection by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) remains unchanged from its January estimate and is in line with the 3 percent growth estimates by the Bank of Korea and the International Monetary Fund. The Singapore-based international organization forecast Asia's four

April 12, 2022

Market watchers divided over BOK's rate-setting meeting this week: poll

Market watchers are sharply divided over whether the Bank of Korea (BOK) will raise its key policy rate this week amid persistent worries over inflation that has been under growing upward pressure from surging oil and commodity prices, a poll showed Tuesday. The BOK is set to hold a rate-setting meeting Thursday. In February, the central bank froze its policy interest rate at 1.25 percent after hiking it by a combined 0.75 percentage point since August last year. According to the poll of 100 b

April 12, 2022

Hankook Tire supplies tires for Mercedes-Benz's S-Class sedan

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, said Tuesday it started supplying tires for Mercedes-Benz's S-Class sedan last year. Hankook Tire has been providing the high-performance tires, including Ventus S1 Evo3 and Ventus S1 Evo3 run-flat products, since early last year in the form of original equipment (OE) products for the luxury sedan, the company said in a statement. To enhance its global brand image, the tiremaker has provided its OE tire products for

April 12, 2022

Hyundai Glovis wins LNG shipping deal from Australia

Hyundai Glovis Co., the logistics unit of Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday it has signed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping deal with Australian energy firm Woodside. Hyundai Glovis has ordered a local shipbuilder to build an LNG ship to transport LNG for Woodside. Once the ship is delivered in late 2024, the company will begin shipping, a company spokesman said. Hyundai Glovis is the first Asian shipping company to sign an LNG shipping deal with Woodside. The company said it will

April 12, 2022

Seoul stocks open lower amid rate hike, China's economic slowdown woes

South Korean shares opened lower Tuesday as investors remain wary over the US central bank's hawkish monetary tightening stance and China's economic slowdown amid its COVID-19 lockdown. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 9.6 points, or 0.36 percent, to reach 2,683.5 as of 9:15 a.m. Investors fret over potential rapid rate hikes as the US Federal Reserve repeatedly signaled at an aggressive tightening policy to counter inflation. China's continued lockdown in Shanghai ov

April 12, 2022

Asiana to resume Incheon-Rome route in June

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest carrier, said Monday it will resume the Incheon-Rome route in June to meet pent-up demand amid eased virus curbs. Asiana plans to offer two flights a week to Rome from June 18 and gradually increase the number depending on demand, a company spokesperson said over the phone. The carrier suspended the Rome route two years and three months ago as countries strengthened entry restrictions to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asiana used

April 11, 2022

Seoul shares end lower on rate hike, China woes

South Korean stocks ended lower Monday, as investors were worried about the US central bank's aggressive monetary tightening and China's growth momentum amid high inflation and the protracted COVID-19 pandemic. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 7.29 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 2,693.10 points. Trading volume was moderate at around 730.81 million shares worth some 8.71 trillion won ($7.06 billion), with losers outnumbe

April 11, 2022

Food firms flustered over resurgent kimchi feud

Korean companies exporting kimchi or food containing the Korean spicy cabbage are on high alert after a decades-long cultural feud over its origin has resurfaced online. Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul and a cultural heritage activist, blasted a local bakery chain on Monday for using Chinese word “pao cai,” in the Chinese translation of the name of one of its breads. Starting in March, the bakery has written the Chinese translation of its k

April 11, 2022

Korean Air joins UAM surveillance research project

National flag carrier Korean Air announced Monday that it is taking part in a government-led research and development project of an urban air mobility surveillance information acquisition system. Under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s project, Korean Air will be developing the operating control system and operation simulating system needed for UAM operators, the airline said. The operating control system allows operators to plan, monitor, and schedule flights as well

April 11, 2022