Beating COVID blues: Koreans open wallets for ‘sweet luxuries’

This year will be the first time Choi Kyung-mi ordered a cake for Christmas. The freelance writer placed an order for a 38,000 won chocolate vegan cake she planned on sharing with friends and family at a party to celebrate the end of the year.  She was one of the lucky ones: Cakes have already been selling out at bakeries across the country. Tous Les Jours bakery franchise operator CJ Foodville said it has seen an explosive growth in reservations for its Christmas cakes this year, as ma

Dec. 13, 2021

SK, Vietnam agree to boost cooperation in eco-friendly businesses

SK Group, South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate, said Monday it signed a deal with the Vietnamese government to boost cooperation in eco-friendly businesses, such as areas related to carbon emission cuts, hydrogen and digital technologies. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won signed the memorandum of understanding during a meeting with top Vietnamese government officials in Seoul, including Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai and Parliament Speaker Vuong Dinh-hue, SK said. Under the MOU, the two sides wi

Dec. 13, 2021

Robotics stocks surge on Samsung’s new team

Shares of robotics tech firms surged Monday following news reports that Samsung Electronics is setting up a new team solely dedicated to the robotics business, one of the frequently-cited new growth engines for the Korean tech giant. Yujin Robot, one of the first-generation robotics companies here with more than 30 years of history, saw a 30 percent jump in its stock price and was trading at 4,150 won ($3.52) as of 2 p.m., as investors cheered for its business potential with Samsung, the natio

Dec. 13, 2021

1 in 5 under-30s neither in employment nor education

　A fifth of people aged 15 to 29 in South Korea were not in employment, education or training (NEET), a report has shown, which would mark the third-highest level among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 　The estimated number of NEET youth in South Korea is nearly 1.59 million, according to a report by Chung Jae-hyun, head of the youth policy research and development division at the Korea Employment Information Service. 　They include about 778,000 who are se

Dec. 13, 2021

Samsung’s Bespoke water purifier becomes first to remove microplastics

Samsung Electronics said Monday its Bespoke water purifier, whose trade name is RWPaxy1bcde(z), has been certified by NSF International, a US-based product testing and certification organization, for removing microplastics from water – an industry first globally. 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 Intern

Dec. 13, 2021

BOK calls for efforts to 'steadily adjust' high levels of leverage

South Korea needs to "steadily adjust" high levels of leverage maintained to prop up the pandemic-hit economy as excessive indebtedness could result in financial instability and reduce future policy room, a central bank report showed Monday. Rising household debt, in particular, has been cited as a major economic risk factor and the government has been tightening rules on lending amid worries that the financial imbalances caused by increased debt in the private sector could put a damp

Dec. 13, 2021

Number of mid-sized firms increases in 2020 amid waning sales

The number of mid-sized firms in South Korea went up in 2020 from a year earlier, but their sales dipped due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 5,526 mid-sized companies as of the end of last year, up 519 from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Mid-sized firms here refer to those which have average annual sales of 40 billion won ($33.9 million) to 150 billion won over the past three y

Dec. 13, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding develops technology to prevent cracks in welded parts of submarines

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Monday that it has secured a technology to prevent cracks in the welded parts of submarines. DSME has developed the technology after two years of research and development since 2019 in cooperation with steelmaker POSCO and KR, a South Korean ship quality assurance and risk management company, the shipbuilder said. The technology is essential to strengthen the performance of submarines, DSME said. The development of the technology

Dec. 13, 2021

Samsung names mobile, appliance business DX, promotes robotics as future growth driver

Samsung Electronics Co. named its newly merged unit for mobile and appliances the device experience (DX) division, the company has said, in a sign of its resolve to provide its customers with new, meaningful experiences. Last week, the tech giant announced it had merged the consumer electronics and IT and mobile communications divisions, and named a new CEO, Han Jong-hee, a former head of the visual display business, to lead the new division. The new name shows Samsung's "ongoing commitme

Dec. 13, 2021

S. Korea to expand financial support for builders' overseas orders

South Korea said Monday it will expand financial support measures for local builders as their overseas orders are expected to fall short of last year's records amid the protracted pandemic. Korean construction firms clinched combined overseas orders worth $24.3 billion between Jan. 1 and Dec. 10, down 21 percent from a yer earlier, according to the government. Last year, local builders secured overseas orders worth $35.1 billion last year, but their combined orders for this year may be around

Dec. 13, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on tech, auto gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, led by advances of tech and auto stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.09 points, or 0.47 percent, to trade at 3,024.32 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks climbed despite a high number of coronavirus cases, with investors keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve for signals about the tapering of stimulus measures. The Fed is set to announce its two-day meeting results Wednesday (US time). In Seoul, market

Dec. 13, 2021

Exports rise 20.4% in first 10 days of Dec.

South Korea's exports grew 20.4 percent on-year in the first 10 days of December on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $19.5 billion in the Dec. 1-10 period, compared with $16.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)

Dec. 13, 2021

Nearly half of big S. Korean firms have yet to unveil investment plans for 2022: poll

Nearly half of South Korea's large companies have yet to come up with their investment plans for next year due mainly to high economic uncertainty, a poll showed Monday. The survey of 101 big firms out of the country's top 500 companies showed 49.5 percent having no investment plans for 2022 or having not decided on their investments. The poll was commissioned by the Korea Economic Research Institute, the research arm of South Korea's conglomerate lobby Federation of Korean Industries. Nearly

Dec. 13, 2021

Kia outpaces Tesla in Swedish EV sales

Kia Motors, the nation’s second-biggest carmaker, has claimed the No. 2 spot in EV sales in Sweden this year, outpacing its US rival Tesla. According to market tracker EU-EVs on Sunday, Kia sold a total of 6,018 EVs in the January-November period this year, becoming the second highest-selling EV brand with a 12.7 percent market share. At the top of the list was Volkswagen, which sold 9,296 vehicles for a 19.6 percent market share. During the same period, Tesla sold 5,666 EVs, claiming

Dec. 12, 2021

Posco International to beef up gas reserves with Senex deal

Posco International, the trading arm of the country’s leading steelmaker, said Sunday it was accelerating its business expansion into global natural gas exploration and production by acquiring Australian natural gas producer Senex Energy. The company said it had signed a joint investment deal with Hancock Energy, an Australian partner, to acquire a 50.1 percent stake in Senex Energy. The deal is expected to be finalized sometime in March as soon as it gets approval from Senex’s shar

Dec. 12, 2021

[Battery+] Two recall risks hanging over LG Energy Solution after IPO

With LG Energy Solution about to go public in January, investors are asking two vital questions. One is, “Should I buy its stocks?” The other is, “But what if there’s another recall?” These questions are perfectly legitimate, considering the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars LG Energy Solution had to cough up to compensate automakers every time its batteries exploded. But whether LG Energy Solution is capable of containing recall risks is the wrong qu

Dec. 12, 2021

SK chief to attend antitrust hearing over stock purchase

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won himself will personally explain to South Korea’s antitrust watchdog his reasons why his 253.3 billion won ($214.4 million) stock purchase four years ago was legitimate, and not a sweetheart deal. According to the Fair Trade Commission Sunday, the head of the nation’s third-largest conglomerate is scheduled to voluntarily appear before the antitrust regulator on Wednesday. The 61-year-old tycoon is expected to deliver his defense over allegations tha

Dec. 12, 2021

BNY Mellon downsizing Korea operations

BNY Mellon, one of the oldest US banks, plans to downsize its South Korean operations and withdraw its financial investment business, sources said Sunday. It is one of many foreign financial institutions that have lost interest in Asia’s fourth-largest economy in recent years. According to industry sources, Korea’s policymaking Financial Services Commission recently approved BNY Mellon Seoul branch’s request to pull the plug on its financial investment business and trust serv

Dec. 12, 2021

CJ Olive Young to speed up online push ahead of IPO next year

Health and beauty store chain CJ Olive Young plans to go beyond brick-and-mortar retail and transform itself into an “omnichannel platform” that connects e-commerce with offline retail, ahead of its plans to go public next year. “No one inside the company defines Olive Young as a health and beauty store. We see our brand as an omnichannel platform,” Olive Young CEO Koo Chang-geun said at a press event at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Friday. The renewed push to

Dec. 12, 2021

S. Korean economy forecast to grow 2.8% in 2022: think tank

The South Korean economy is expected to expand 2.8 percent on-year in 2022, slower than this year's projected 3.9 percent growth, amid weaker private consumption and global demand, a local think tank said Sunday. The projection by the LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI) is lower than that by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of 3.3 percent and the 3.0 percent estimate by both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Bank of Korea. "The export-led gro

Dec. 12, 2021