S. Korea's kimchi exports hit new high in 2021

South Korea's exports of kimchi hit an all-time high last year thanks to its growing popularity, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of the spicy Korean traditional side dish came to a record $159.9 million in 2021, resulting in a trade surplus of $19.2 million in the sector, according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It is the first time in 12 years that South Korea registered a surplus in the kimchi trade. Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish norm

Jan. 9, 2022

S. Korean economy faces heightened downside risks: KDI

The South Korean economy faces heightened downside risks, as the country has tightened antivirus measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases and the global economic recovery has slowed down, a state-run think tank said Sunday. Since December, the recovery of private spending has been constrained by tighter social distancing measures to tackle the spike in COVID-19 infections, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a monthly economic assessment report. "On the external side, globa

Jan. 9, 2022

Seoul bourse to provide capital market info in English

South Korea's bourse operator said Sunday that it will launch a domestic capital market information portal in English this week to provide more information to foreign investors. The service, dubbed Market Data System, will be provided through the website (http://global.krx.co.kr) starting Monday, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said. The KRX said the website will improve information accessibility and convenience for foreign investors whose influence in the domestic capital market has continuously inc

Jan. 9, 2022

Hyundai set to sell over 3m in cumulative eco-friendly car sales in H1

Hyundai Motor Group is expected to achieve 3 million units in accumulated environment-friendly vehicle sales in the first half, driven by new models, industry sources said Sunday. The South Korean automotive group, which has Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. under its wing, sold a cumulative 2.53 million eco-friendly vehicles as of November last year, according to industry people. From January to November, the two carmakers sold a combined 656,479 eco-friendly models in global markets, higher th

Jan. 9, 2022

GS launches its venture capital for investment in promising startups

South Korean conglomerate GS Holdings said Sunday that it has set up a corporate venture capital (CVC) firm to invest in promising startups. GS Ventures plans to invest in local startups that focus on the new growth industries, such as bio, climate change, resource recycling, retail and renewable energy, GS Holdings said. Heo Jun-nyeong, vice president at GS Holdings who is a merger and acquisition expert, was named the first chief executive officer of GS Ventures. GS Holdings holds a 100 per

Jan. 9, 2022

Seoul stocks may come under selling pressure next week: analysts

South Korean stocks are likely to come under downward pressure next week amid concerns that the US Federal Reserve's tapering policy may be harsher than expected, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,954.89 points Friday, down 0.76 percent from last Thursday, the final session of last year. Stocks traded bearish this week, as investors are worried that the Fed's latest minutes supported aggressive rate hikes and a contraction of its balan

Jan. 8, 2022

[Market Eye] Samsung-Hyundai auto chip alliance? It's more complicated than you think

South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor, like other major carmakers around the world, suffered big from global semiconductor shortages last year, despite wide growing demand for new vehicles.  Deliveries of preordered vehicles have been delayed for months, not because of Korea‘s notorious labor strikes or price hikes in materials, but because of the tiny missing auto chips, which are essential for their digitized auto control system. Not just sharing common roots as Kor

Jan. 7, 2022

Chaebol groups sell shares in subsidiaries over strengthened intercompany trade measures

Descendants of South Korea's chaebol founders have recently sold their stakes in spin-offs in an apparent move to avoid the antitrust watchdog’s tougher intra-group trade scrutiny based on the revised fair trade act.  The Korea Fair Trade Committee’s revised fair trade act came into effect on Dec. 30, expanding the list of target companies in order to prevent chaebol family owners from fattening their wealth through affiliates in family business. Previously, the regulation ta

Jan. 7, 2022

[From the Scene] CES vs. COVID vs. My safety

LAS VEGAS – With just one more day to go, the Consumer Electronics Show 2022, though requiring attendees to be fully vaccinated, is a potential incubator of next variant of you-know-what thanks to people without masks spread out all over town. An unpleasant experience began right after touching down at McCarran Airport on Sunday. Paul, a Lyft driver who gave a brief tour of the Strip throughout the ride to the Westgate Hotel, wasn‘t wearing his mask. Vaccinated or not, Lyft manda

Jan. 7, 2022

LG Electronics’ 2021 sales to top W70tr without mobile biz

LG Electronics has topped 70 trillion won ($58.2 billion) in full-year sales for the first time in its history in an earnings surprise, in the same year that the company took down its mobile phone business, a preliminary filing showed Friday. The revenue of LG Electronics came to 74.72 trillion won through 2021, up 28.7 percent from the previous year, according to its preliminary consolidated financial report. This beat the earnings consensus estimate by South Korean analysts. According to mark

Jan. 7, 2022

Internet-only bank K-Bank begins process of going public

K-Bank, a South Korean internet-only bank, said Friday it has begun the process of an initial public offering (IPO) as part of efforts to raise funds to strengthen its foothold as a major digital financial platform. K-Bank sent a request for proposal to local and foreign securities firms earlier in the day, the first step of a company going public. It also plans to select a lead manager for an IPO by next month, according to company officials. "Details on IPO timelines will be determine

Jan. 7, 2022

[CES 2022] SK Innovation rolls up its sleeves to tackle emissions across value chain

SK Innovation, a chemical arm of South Korea‘s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, said Friday its high-ranking officials including Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kim Jun agreed on a course of actions to achieve its net-zero goal before 2050, while at CES 2022 on Thursday morning local time. Under its Carbon to Green initiative, SK Innovation executives approved plans to tackle indirect emissions that occur in the company’s value chain, often described as Scope 3 emissi

Jan. 7, 2022

Seoul shares end higher on tech gains

Seoul shares ended higher Friday spurred by gains in tech shares, though investors remain concerned about the Fed's looming tapering move. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 34.36 points, or 1.18 percent, to close at 2,954.89 points. The KOSPI rebounded from a 2.3 percent drop in the previous two sessions. The decline was attributable to Fed meeting minutes that suggested the US central bank may raise interest rates s

Jan. 7, 2022

[Newsmaker] Woori Bank pulls back Osstem funds amid theft probe

Woori Bank, one of five major local banks, said Friday it had stopped selling funds involving Osstem Implant, whose shares were suspended from trading on the Kosdaq after an employee was arrested for having allegedly stolen funds equal to 91 percent of the company’s equity as of last year. “It’s a precautionary measure to protect our investors and we do not know at this point when we will begin selling the funds again,” a Woori Bank official said, adding five funds

Jan. 7, 2022

[CES 2022] SK ecoplant unveils blueprint for circular economy

SK ecoplant, a construction unit of SK Group, unveiled a blueprint of what they call Zet Zero City, a circular economy system in line with the company’s focus on eco-friendly energy solutions, at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday. Debuting at CES, SK ecoplant said the purpose of Net Zero City is to solve environmental and energy problems by turning waste and air pollutant into resources and energy through high-technology. SK ecoplant, which has been transforming itself fr

Jan. 7, 2022

[CES 2022] SK seeks data center chip development with Qualcomm

South Korea-based SK Group is in talks with US chip maker Qualcomm to develop a new hyper speed memory chip tailored to data centers, its communication technology arm SK Square said Friday. The new chips would run applications or computers for data center operation in order to meet soaring corporate demand amid the global chip shortages that could cause server delays, according to SK Square, the parent of memory chip maker SK hynix. The world‘s data center chip market could potentially gr

Jan. 7, 2022

NFT of ‘Jirisan’ characters sells at record-low price

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit said Friday that nonfungible tokens featuring images of main lead characters from TV drama series “Jirisan” had sold at record-low prices. NFTs are digital tokens of physical or digital assets, mostly of music or art, that guarantee ownership through blockchain technology. According to the digital asset trading platform, the pixel art NFTs of the characters played by top Korean actors Gianna Jun and Ju Ji-hoon sold for 18,653 won ($15.50)

Jan. 7, 2022

SPC Group acquires Shake Shack operation right in Malaysia

SPC Group said Friday that it has acquired the operation rights of US burger chain Shake Shack in Malaysia and will open the first store there in 2023. The Korean confectionery conglomerate owns the operating right of Shake Shack in Korea and Singapore. It has opened 20 stores in Korea and eight in Singapore since 2016 and 2019, respectively.  Michael Kark, chief global licensing officer of Shake Shack, said that the US burger chain and SPC will have more than 45 Shake Shacks across Korea

Jan. 7, 2022

Korea ranks 2nd in property tax-to-GDP among OECD members

SEJONG -- South Korea ranked second among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the ratio of property tax to gross domestic product in 2020, with its on-year growth posting No. 1 and ranking in terms of the ratio climbing by four notches from a year earlier. According to a recent analysis by the Paris-based organization, Korea recorded 3.97 percent in the ratio of property tax -- in which the capital gains tax on trading of homes and land takes up a dominant po

Jan. 7, 2022

[CES 2022] Hyundai, Unity to build factory linked to its digital twin on metaverse

LAS VEGAS -- Hyundai Motor has partnered up with Unity, the world’s leading platform for real-time 3D content, to connect an actual factory with its digital twin operating on metaverse space, the companies said Thursday. The Meta-Factory project will enhance plant management and innovate manufacturing, Hyundai Motor said, adding that it plans to first apply the concept to the Hyundai Motor Global Innovation Center in Singapore. The facility is due to be completed this year. ”Hyunda

Jan. 7, 2022