NK defector gets US doctorate under Hanmi Global chief‘s support

A North Korean defector sponsored by a South Korean company received a doctoral degree in international relations from a US university. Kim Seong-ryeol, a 37-year-old from Chongjin, North Korea, made three failed attempts to flee North Korea with his family by crossing the Tumen River to China since 1997, and was subsequently jailed. Kim finally fled the North in 2004, and settled in South Korea with his family. Having dropped out of middle school in North Korea, Kim completed the South Korean

Feb. 17, 2022

APG calls for 10 S. Korean firms to cut carbon emissions

Dutch pension fund APG said Thursday it has urged Samsung Electronics Co. and nine other South Korean companies that it has invested in to intensify efforts to reduce carbon emissions. APG, the largest pension fund in the Netherlands, said it has sent a letter to major companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix Inc. and LG Chem Ltd., urging them to conduct "ambitious climate and carbon reduction strategies and commitments." The pension fund called on them "to evaluate thei

Feb. 17, 2022

Seoul stocks up for 2nd day on eased Fed uncertainties

South Korean stocks advanced for a second straight session Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve's January minutes largely remained within the market expectations. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased 14.41 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 2,744.09 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 602 million shares worth some 11.7 trillion won ($9.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 464 to 372. Foreigners bought a

Feb. 17, 2022

Lippert’s expertise to boost Samsung’s US strategy

Samsung Electronics America said Wednesday it has hired former US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert as its public relations chief, in an apparent move to better respond to uncertainties surrounding policy changes in the US, especially on chips. The former envoy will lead the company’s Washington office as executive vice president and head of North American public affairs from March 1. Samsung said Lippert’s insight into policy changes and regulations in the US will play a key

Feb. 17, 2022

Coway Q4 sales up 9.7% to W945b

Coway posted 945.9 billion won ($789 million) of sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 with an operating income of 139.2 billion won, the company said Thursday. The firm also logged 3.66 trillion won in 2021 sales, logging a 13.2 percent growth year-on-year. Operating income was 640.2 billion won and net income 465.5 billion won, each up 5.6 percent and 15 percent.　 The company‘s global outposts saw a yearly revenue of 1.21 trillion won last year and 301.6 billion won in the fourth quarter

Feb. 17, 2022

Auction for additional 5G spectrum band delayed

The auction for an additional 5G spectrum band, which was slated to take place sometime this month, will be delayed over the remaining differences between the country’s three largest telecommunication companies, officials said Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Science and ICT minister and CEOs of SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus met at the Seoul Central Post Office to discuss the ongoing dispute of the 5G spectrum auction, but failed to come to a conclusion. After the meeting, Hwang Hyun-si

Feb. 17, 2022

Secret of maintaining the top: OB brings real life story to ads to soothe customers

Oriental Brewery (OB), Korea’s largest beer maker, won the grand prize at the 2021 Korea Brand Awards for its marketing strategy that added sentimental elements to soothe customers hit by the pandemic. The award, overseen by the Korean Marketing Association, recognizes companies that put “consumer value” at the forefront of brand management. The key to OB’s marketing strategy was “clicking with” consumers, stressed the beer manufacturer. While beer advertisem

Feb. 17, 2022

Korea's 'Grand Challenge' unites Korean firms to commercialize flying cars by 2025

Under the South Korean government’s plan to commercialize flying cars, or Urban Air Mobility, in central cities by 2025, the Transport Ministry on Thursday kicked off the K-UAM Grand Challenge program to coordinate all of South Korea’s UAM-related activities as part of its focus to enable emerging aviation markets. This Ministry-led program will bring together industry players including aircraft developers, airspace designers, and air traffic management operators with the goal of d

Feb. 17, 2022

Samsung woos wine lovers with new Bespoke refrigerators, IoT features

Samsung Electronics said Thursday a wine cooler will be part of its new home appliance package under its Bespoke brand to target wine lovers in South Korea, coupled with its Internet of Things features for wine pairing recommendation. Its new premium built-in side-by-side refrigerator, under its brand-new Bespoke Infinite lineup, has a dual-zone vertical wine cooler that can hold up to 101 bottles of wine. The temperature for each zone can be set at between 4-18 degrees Celsius, enabling user

Feb. 17, 2022

[Market Eye] MSCI upgrade for South Korea: How much does it really matter?

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki was supremely confident in November last year when he said the government would consult index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International on having the country reclassified as a developed market from its current emerging market status. The government’s drive to receive MSCI’s highest recognition is not new, as it has been pursuing it for the last 14 years. Seoul first floated the idea in 2008 to remove underlying market volatility of Asia’s four

Feb. 17, 2022

SC Bank Korea partners with Posco Chemical, L&F for sustainable financing

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said Thursday it signed an environmental, social and governance-related supply chain financing deal worth a combined $180 million with local electric-vehicle battery material suppliers. The lender’s new partnership with Posco Chemical and L&F will provide the EV battery material suppliers with financing in the form of trade receivable discounting. Trade receivable discounting or TRD is a type of factoring in which a supplier provides its products to the

Feb. 17, 2022

Samsung SDS joins AWS’ exclusive global network

South Korean IT solutions provider Samsung SDS said Thursday it has signed a new partnership with cloud giant Amazon Web Services to bolster bilateral ties and strengthen their corporate cloud business. Under the renewed partnership, Samsung SDS is also joining AWS’ “exclusive” global business network, along with other global partners like Verizon and NEC. The two firms have already carried out diverse corporate projects since January last year, in which they support business

Feb. 17, 2022

5 confectionery firms fined W135b for price fixing

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Thursday it has decided to impose a combined 135 billion won ($112.9 million) in fines on Lotte Confectionery Co. and four other snack manufacturers for fixing sales prices of ice creams. The five snack makers, also including Binggrae Co. and Haitai Confectionery & Foods Co., colluded between February 2016 and October 2019 to fix supply and sales prices of ice creams and divide retail channels for distribution, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FT

Feb. 17, 2022

Money supply up in Dec. over increased savings, exports growth

South Korea's money supply rose 0.7 percent on-month in December due mainly to an increase in savings boosted by rising interest rates and brisk exports, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's M2, a key gauge of the money supply, stood at 3,613 trillion won ($3.02 trillion) on average in December, up 23.8 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The growth rate slowed down in December compared with the previous month. From a yea

Feb. 17, 2022

BOK forecast to hike key rate to 2% by yearend

South Korea's central bank is expected to raise its benchmark interest to 2 percent by the end of this year to tackle rising inflation and a brisk economic recovery, a local brokerage house said Thursday. Hana Financial Investment Co. said its latest forecast is 0.25 percentage point higher than its earlier projection of 1.75 percent for the end of this year. "The key rate outlook has been raised in light of high inflation at home and abroad, and South Korea's economic growth outpacing its

Feb. 17, 2022

ICT minister calls for telcos' cooperation on dispute over additional 5G frequencies

Science and ICT Minister Lim Hye-sook on Thursday met with the heads of three major South Korean telecom operators to discuss a dispute over additional 5G network frequency bands and urged cooperation in providing better network service to consumers. In December, the ministry agreed to open bidding for additional 5G networks in the 3.4- to 3.42-gigahertz spectrum, as requested by LG Uplus, the smallest mobile carrier. Lim earlier hinted at a possible delay in the auction -- initially planned for

Feb. 17, 2022

S. Korea logs smaller-than-expected fiscal deficit in 2021 on larger tax revenue

South Korea's fiscal deficit is estimated to be sharply smaller than its previous estimate last year on the back of larger-than-expected tax revenue, the finance ministry said Thursday. The consolidated fiscal balance, a key gauge of fiscal soundness, logged a deficit of 30 trillion won ($25 billion) in 2021, smaller than the government's earlier projection of 90.3 trillion won, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The improved fiscal health was attributable ma

Feb. 17, 2022

LG Energy Solution buys US energy storage solutions provider

LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES) said Thursday it has acquired a US-based energy storage system (ESS) solutions provider as part of efforts to expand its portfolio into all-round energy management services LGES took over a 100 percent stake in NEC Energy Solutions Inc. from NEC Corp., its Japanese parent company, the South Korean battery maker said in a release. It did not provide details on the amount or terms of the transaction. ESS refers to a technology that stores excess energy to be used for

Feb. 17, 2022

Seoul stocks open higher after Fed minutes released

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve's January minutes largely remained within the market expectations. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 14.44 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,744.12 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. According to the Fed's minute, the officials reiterated their stance that they would soon start raising the key interest rates to rein in price pressure. The January document did not include the impacts from the U

Feb. 17, 2022

4 companies to recall over 38,000 vehicles over faulty parts

Audi-Volkswagen Korea, Tesla Korea and two other companies will voluntarily recall more than 38,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Thursday. These are the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea due to problems with vehicle components. The four companies, including Bumhan Mobility and Kiheung Motors, are recalling a combined 38,246 units of four different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. Th

Feb. 17, 2022