Seoul stocks rise more than 1%, Korean won surges on Fed's hike, eased Ukraine woes

South Korean stocks rallied by more than 1 percent as the US Federal Reserve's monetary meeting results largely fell within investors' expectations and optimism for Russia-Ukraine peace talks. The Korean won soared by the largest margin in two years against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 35.28 points, or 1.33 percent, to close at 2,694.51 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 535 million shares worth some 11.6 trillion won ($9.6 billion), w

March 17, 2022

Duty-free purchase limit scrapped for Koreans

South Korea’s Finance Ministry will no longer limit duty-free item purchases to $5,000 for outbound Korean nationals starting Friday, it said Thursday. But a government cap on how much is exempt from tax remains unchanged. Duties are exempt for purchases up to $600 of goods, one bottle of liquor worth up to $400, 200 cigarettes, and up to 60 milliliters of perfume. The Finance Ministry explained that the tax exemption limit in other countries are also around $500 and $600 and there was n

March 17, 2022

Korea to remove tariff on rare gases for chip manufacturing amid Ukraine war

SEJONG -- The Korean government will lower tariffs on a portion of imports for three major rare gases -- neon, xenon and krypton -- which are used during the process of manufacturing semiconductors down to zero percent, starting from next month. The action of slashing tariffs for a certain portion of imports of the three gases, but not for all, comes as part of the government’s countermeasures against the Ukraine-Russian war, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said Thursday. Deputy Prim

March 17, 2022

More Koreans end marriage at older age: data

More South Koreans are choosing to divorce at an older age, government data showed Thursday, with divorce rates among people 60 and older increasing as the nation rapidly approaches a super-aged society. The average age for males and females going through divorce here both rose 0.8 year on-year to 50.1 and 46.8, respectively, last year, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea. In the last decade, the average age for males rose 4.7 years, while the age for females rose 5.2 years. While

March 17, 2022

Samsung SDI hints at new EV battery plant in US

Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho on Thursday hinted at the possibility of building the battery maker’s own plant in the US, a burgeoning market for electric vehicles where the company is setting up a joint venture with Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot vehicles. “Adding to the joint venture with Stellantis, we think there needs to be our own production base in the US,” Choi told reporters after a general meeting of shareholders in Seoul. “We are conside

March 17, 2022

Ex-Samsung VP convicted for union busting

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an additional 16-month jail sentence to former Samsung Electronics Vice President Kang Kyung-hoon for his attempts to break up a labor union in South Korea‘s largest conglomerate. This is the final court ruling that found the executive guilty over his scheme to sabotage labor union activities at Everland, an operator of an amusement park in Korea. Everland was considered a key affiliate in Samsung’s corporate structure, and has been merged into S

March 17, 2022

Coupang Eats set to begin alcohol delivery

Coupang Eats, the food delivery service launched by South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, is getting into delivering drinks.  The company said on its webpage earlier this week that it will start allowing restaurants signed up on the platform to sell alcohol, in an effort to help them increase sales. The new service will be rolled out within the first half of this year.  Coupang Eats had kept alcohol off the platform since its debut in May 2019. The move was in contrast to its top tw

March 17, 2022

SK-Netflix battle over network usage fee resumes at high court

Netflix proposed ways to reduce the burden on network providers in the first appellate court hearing over whether the streaming service is liable to pay network usage fees to SK Broadband. The court hearing, held Wednesday evening at the Seoul High Court, is the first since a preliminary hearing took place in December. The case follows a district court ruling in June that gave SK Broadband an upper hand -- the first ruling in the world over which party is obliged to pay network usage fees. Bo

March 17, 2022

Microfilter products certified for removing microplastics

Microfilter Co., an affiliate of water purifier maker ChungHo Nais Co., said 37 of its products have been certified by NSF International for removing microplastics. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic, less than 5 micrometers in length, that are extremely difficult to detect. They are known to cause harmful effects to human body, including cell death and allergic reactions. NSF International is a US product testing, inspection and certification organization approved by the American Natio

March 17, 2022

Naver halts sales of items suggestive of Japanese colonial rule on Zepeto

South Korean IT giant Naver has become an open target on Thursday for selling fashion items suggestive of Japanese outfits that were popular when Korea was under colonial rule on its metaverse platform Zepeto. Fashion items evidently inspired by styles that were trending during the 1912-26 Taisho era were on sale from Tuesday, according to users. Naver seems to have not considered the cultural and political context of such fashion items for Koreans, some argued. The Taisho era was a time of rel

March 17, 2022

S. Korea to launch antidumping probe into copper pipes from China, Vietnam

South Korea's trade commission said Thursday it plans to launch an antidumping investigation into seamless copper pipes from China and Vietnam. The Korea Trade Commission under the industry ministry said it has decided to launch the antidumping probe on the judgment that cheap imports of such products caused damage to the related industry in South Korea. Seamless cooper pipes are commonly used in air conditioners, refrigerators, and cooling and heating systems due to their high levels of corrosi

March 17, 2022

T'way Air targets W3tr in sales by 2027 on expanded fleet

T'way Air, a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Thursday it targets to achieve 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in sales by 2027, as it aims to expand its fleet and serve long-haul routes. T'way Air added an A330-300 chartered plane last month for operations on the Gimpo-Jeju route from later this month, with two more A330-300s scheduled to arrive by May. "We are planning to operate 20 large-sized planes and 30 mid- and small-sized ones by 2027 to achieve the (3 trillion won) sales target. To

March 17, 2022

Jin Air resumes Busan-Guam route amid vaccinations

Jin Air Co., the budget carrier unit of Korean Air Lines Co., said Thursday it has resumed flights to Guam to preemptively respond to pent-up travel demand despite the extended COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, Jin Air began operating two flights a week on the Busan-Guam route as South Korea moves to further ease virus curbs amid accelerating vaccinations. Jin Air also offers flights from Incheon to Guam, Fukuoka, Cebu, Indonesia's capital city of Dhaka and China's Xian mainly to meet travel dema

March 17, 2022

S. Korea's tax revenue up 10.8tr won in Jan.

South Korea's tax revenue increased 10.8 trillion won ($8.8 billion) in January from a year earlier amid the economic recovery and the collection of deferred taxes over the pandemic, the finance ministry said Thursday. The government collected 49.7 trillion won in taxes in January, compared with 38.8 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The higher tax revenue came as the South Korean economy is on a recovery track and the government collected deferred

March 17, 2022

Seoul stocks open steeply higher on eased woes over Fed's rate hike

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve's monetary meeting results largely fell within expectations. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 44.5 points, or 1.67 percent, to trade at 2,703.73 points as of 9:15 a.m. Stocks lifted, taking a cue from the overnight stock rallies. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 3.77 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 2.55 percent. The Fed raised its key interest rates by a quarter

March 17, 2022

Fed's rate hike to have limited impact on financial market: official

The US central bank's decision to deliver its first rate hike since 2018 is expected to have a limited impact on South Korea's financial market as the move is in line with market expectations, a senior government official said Thursday. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday (local time) raised the federal funds rates by a quarter percentage point to 0.25-0.5 percent to fight high inflation, after freezing borrowing costs at near zero since March 2020 to cushion the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 17, 2022

S. Korean battery makers to present latest technologies, future visions at Seoul exhibition

Major South Korean battery makers are showcasing their latest technologies and visions for future growth during an international battery exhibition in Seoul this week, the companies said Thursday. SK On Co., LG Energy Solution Ltd. and Samsung SDI Co. were among some 250 battery and battery parts manufacturers and automotive companies around the globe participating in the three-day InterBattery 2022, taking place in the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) through Saturday. The InterBattery

March 17, 2022

S. Korea to stabilize FX market if won's fall is excessive: finance minister

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday the government will step up its efforts to stabilize the foreign exchange market if the South Korean currency's slide against the U.S. dollar is deemed excessive. Hong's verbal intervention came as the Korean won has sharply weakened against the dollar because Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted investors to chase safer assets. The Korean won fell to end at the 1,240 level against the greenback for the first time in nearly two years Monday. "If w

March 17, 2022

Hyundai to produce IONIQ 5 in Indonesia plant

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday it will produce the IONIQ 5 all-electric model in its first manufacturing plant in Southeast Asia. Hyundai Motor completed the 150,000 unit-a-year plant in the Deltamas industrial complex near Cikarang, 40 kilometers east of Jakarta, in December. The Indonesian plant is already producing the compact Creta SUV, a strategic model for the region, and is expected to churn out the Santa Fe SUV in the first half and a small multi-purpose vehicle in the

March 16, 2022

Renault‘s Korean unit carves out Samsung from its brand name

Renault’s Korean unit announced Wednesday that it has started the process of removing Samsung from its name and rebranding itself as Renault Korea Motors. The carmaker explained that it hopes to enhance its brand image as a domestic carmaker with its new name by replacing Samsung with Korea despite being part of Renault Group and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. “Under the new name Renault Korea Motors, we will revise product and service competitiveness to meet the high sta

March 16, 2022