Air Busan expands flights to Saipan amid vaccinations

Air Busan Co., a budget carrier unit of Asiana Airlines Inc., said Wednesday it has expanded flights on the Busan-Saipan route to preemptively respond to pent-up travel demand amid rising vaccinations and eased virus curbs. On Jan. 23, Air Busan began to offer one flight per week on the Saipan route following a travel bubble agreement with Saipan, a quarantine-free travel partnership between two or more cities or countries with similar levels of COVID-19 cases. Starting Wednesday, the low-cost c

March 16, 2022

6 companies to recall over 92,000 vehicles over faulty parts

Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp. and four other companies will voluntarily recall more than 92,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Wednesday. These are the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea due to problems with vehicle components. The six firms, including Ford Sales Service Korea and Porsche Korea, are recalling a combined 92,450 units of 12 different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The p

March 16, 2022

Gen MZ in heavier debt than people at same age in 2000

Young Koreans born between 1980 and 1995, called “Gen MZ” to refer to both millennials and Generation Z, earned a little more but faced bigger debt in 2018 than people at the same age in 2000, the Bank of Korea said in a report. In 2018, Gen MZ -- aged between 23 and 38 -- earned 1.4 times more than what was earned by the same-age peers in 2000. But debts were 4.3 times greater in 2018 than 2000 among people who were identified as Gen MZ at the time. Meanwhile, &ldqu

March 15, 2022

[Test Drive] Volvo C40 Recharge: Sporty, fun but pricey

Simple but sporty is how Volvo’s first all-electric SUV Coupe, the C40 Recharge, can be best described. The first impression of C40 Recharge is that it looks very similar to the brand’s first pure electric compact SUV XC40 Recharge, both from the outside and inside. But on a closer look, the C40 Recharge design has added a spoonful of sportiness. Volvo got rid of XC40’s roof and instead, it let the roof line slip toward the back to make it more aerodynamic and energy efficie

March 15, 2022

[UP IN THE AIR] Volocopter eyes Asia-Pacific as key market for air taxi service

Stepping closer to a longtime dream of mankind, Volocopter, a Germany-based startup that develops electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, will start a commercial air taxi business in the next two years -- but overcoming regulatory hurdles and gaining public acceptance remains a challenge. “At this point, it is no longer a question of if electric air taxi services will come to cities around the world, but when,” said Hon Lung Chu, Head of Singapore and BD Southeast As

March 15, 2022

Market keen on Yoon’s pledge to ease capital gains tax

SEJONG -- A key issue in the real estate market this year is whether the coming Yoon Suk-yeol administration will follow up on his promise to grant a reprieve for a capital gains tax surchargers on owners of multiple homes in Seoul. President-elect Yoon had pledged to delay the application of extra taxation on owners of multiple homes for up to two years. His pledge came amid criticism that multiple homeowners had declined to sell their properties due to the high rate of capital gains tax. In

March 15, 2022

LG CNS offers personal data log service

LG CNS said on Tuesday it began pilot operation of an app that collects, stores, analyzes and processes personal data on everything from daily transactions to hours spent on YouTube to making recommendations for smart spending The Haruzogak app brings together pieces of data scattered across different apps, records a customer’s daily life, and reports how much she spent on delivery food, how many times she visited convenience stores and how many hours she spent on stock investments e

March 15, 2022

Generational shift speeds up in chaebol leadership

Chaebol scions in their 40s and 50s are increasingly taking over their fathers’ sprawling business empires recently, speeding up a generational shift at South Korea’s family-run conglomerates. According to a report by chaebol tracker Korea CXO Institute on Tuesday, there were a total of 270 executives at the nation’s 200 largest companies who are scions of the ownership families born in 1970 or later. Of them, the number of those with the chairman title was 21, including tw

March 15, 2022

Young Koreans eye Yoon‘s W100m savings account scheme

Young South Koreans are anticipating the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s version of its state-backed savings account, with a goal of helping investors accrue 100 million won ($80,500). The state-backed savings account would allow South Korean residents aged between 19 and 34 to subscribe and submit a monthly payment of a maximum 700,000 won for a 10-year term, with an annual yield of 3.5 percent, a booklet of Yoon’s presidential pledges published by the People Power Party sh

March 15, 2022

SK Geo Centric to accelerate waste plastic recycling push with PureCycle

SK Geo Centric announced Tuesday a $55 million investment in US-based waste plastic recycling firm PureCycle Technologies, as well as plans to create a joint venture with the US firm within this year. SK Geo Centric was the new investor taking part in PureCycle‘s $250 million private fundraising via common stocks, announced March 9, along with existing shareholders including Sylebra Capital and Samlyn Capital. The net proceeds will support the construction of PureCycle plants in Ohio and

March 15, 2022

Housing biz sentiment dips for 3rd month in March

South Korea's housing market sentiment shrank for the third straight month in March amid waning hopes of business improvements, a poll showed Tuesday. The Korea Housing Institute said its housing business sentiment index (HBSI), based on a survey of about 500 construction firms, stood at 66.2 for this month, down 1.7 points from the previous month. Yet March's on-month decrease was smaller than the previous month's decline of 9.7 points. A reading below 100 means the number of companies forecast

March 15, 2022

SK On to beef up EV battery alliance with Ford

An upcoming electric vehicle battery plant in Turkey built by South Korean company SK On is the latest testament that its battery alliance with US carmaker Ford is ever becoming stronger. On Monday, SK On announced plans to set up a new plant on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey, with an annual capacity of between 30 and 45 gigawatt-hour starting as early as 2025, in a deal with US carmaker Ford and Turkish conglomerate Koc. The battery arm of South Korea-based conglomerate SK, Ford and Koc hav

March 15, 2022

Container freight rates skyrocket in Feb. on cargo recovery

Outbound container shipping costs shot up in February from a year earlier on a recovery in global sea cargo, government data showed Tuesday, in a big burden to South Korean exporters. The average rate for a 40-foot container from Asia's fourth-largest economy to the European Union came to 14.02 million won ($11,300) last month, up a whopping 261.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS). Compared with the previous month, the cost was up 9.5 percent

March 15, 2022

Samsung's foundry market share rises in Q4, narrowing down gap with TSMC: report

Samsung Electronics Co. expanded its share of the global foundry market in the fourth quarter, slightly narrowing down the gap with the industry's leader TSMC, a report showed Tuesday. The South Korean chipmaker's share rose 1.1 percentage points to reach 18.3 percent in the October-December period, according to market analyst firm TrendForce, while the dominant market player Taiwan's TSMC shed 1 percent to 52.1 percent. Samsung's foundry business grew 15.3 percent from the previous quarter, com

March 15, 2022

SK Geocentric invests $55m in US plastic waste recycling company

SK Geocentric Co., a chemical materials unit of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Tuesday it has acquired a stake worth $55 million in a US plastic waste recycling startup, in a step to bolster its green business. It acquired the stake in PureCycle Technologies Inc., a Florida-based plastic recycling company, through a recent rights offering, SK Geocentric said in a release, without disclosing details on the size of the stake. SK Geocentric has already partnered up with PureCycle to build

March 15, 2022

Daewoo Shipbuilding, Babcock sign MOU for warship partnership

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world's fourth-biggest shipbuilder by orders, said Tuesday it has signed an initial pact with a British shipbuilder for warship technology development. Daewoo Shipbuilding has signed a memorandum of understanding with Babcock International for a "strategic partnership" in developing technologies in aircraft carriers, the company said in a statement. Babcock was involved in developing the UK aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. &quo

March 15, 2022

[Graphic News] Monthly salary of wage workers up 3.6%

　The average monthly salary of wage earners rose 3.6 percent on-year in 2020 from a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a government report showed. 　South Korean wage workers earned a monthly average of 3.2 million won ($2,669) in December 2020, up from 3.09 million won a year earlier, according to the report from Statistics Korea. 　The figure for workers with large companies stood at 5.29 million won, with those in smaller firms earning 2.59 million won.  　The monthly pay for m

March 15, 2022

Seoul stocks open lower ahead of Fed meeting

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, taking a cue from overnight Wall Street losses ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had decreased 13.62 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,632.03 points as of 9:15 a.m. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 2.04 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat. The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to start hiking the interest rates from near zero this week, as the Uk

March 15, 2022

Korean Air suspends routes to Russia until April

South Korean national flag carrier Korean Air Lines Co. said Tuesday it will suspend routes to Russia until April due to safety concerns involving Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Korean Air will temporarily halt the operation of passenger jets to Moscow and Vladivostok and cargo planes that are bound for Europe via Moscow until the end of next month, the company said in a statement. Flights on some routes from Incheon to Europe and the United States will take a detour to avoid the Russian and Ukra

March 15, 2022

Import prices up for 2nd straight month in February on higher crude oil prices

South Korea's import prices grew for the second straight month in February as crude oil and other commodity prices jumped, central bank data showed Tuesday. The import price index gained 3.5 percent in February from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The rise followed a 4.4 percent rise in January. The rise came as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has sent oil and other commodity prices even higher. The average monthly import prices of Dubai crud

March 15, 2022