Investors hope for jackpots from crypto exchanges' official market entry

With four crypto exchanges having nearly passed market authorities’ high bar for official registrations, investors are turning their eyes to the four entities already enjoying soaring profits and making steps for their respective market debuts. The four -- Upbit, Korbit, Coinone and Bithumb -- were able to apply for registration by undertaking the long list of anti-money laundering and security measures required by financial authorities. As of Tuesday, Upbit and Korbit have received appr

Oct. 21, 2021

Seoul stocks open slightly higher on tech, auto gains

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday, led by advances in techs and autos. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.82 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,017.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.43 percent to 35,609 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 0.05 percent to 15,121 points. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 0.14 percent to 70,400 won, while LG Chem shed 2.62 percent to

Oct. 21, 2021

Exports rise 36% in first 20 days of Oct.

South Korea's exports rose 36.1 percent on-year in the first 20 days of October on the back of robust demand for chips, petroleum products and autos, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $34.2 billion in the Oct. 1-20 period, compared with $25.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports increased 48 percent on-year to $36.7 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.49 billion during the cited period, the data show

Oct. 21, 2021

Naver's Q3 net up nearly 40% on pandemic-driven biz

Naver Corp. said Thursday its net profit jumped 37.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier largely due to a stellar performance of its content businesses amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Net profit reached 322.7 billion won ($274.8 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 235.3 billion won a year earlier, South Korea's top internet portal operator said in a press release. Operating income reached a quarterly high of 349.8 billion won during the cited period

Oct. 21, 2021

5 companies to recall over 19,000 vehicles over faulty parts

Ford Sales & Service Korea, Hyundai Motor Co. and three other companies will voluntarily recall more than 19,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Thursday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components. The three other companies are Porsche, Honda Motor Korea and Tera Motors which sells electric two-wheelers, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a state

Oct. 21, 2021

Producer prices up for 11th month in September

South Korea's producer prices gained 0.2 percent on-month in September due to a rise in prices of energy-related products, extending their monthly gains for the 11th straight month, central bank data showed Thursday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 111.13 in September, compared with 110.86 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The September reading was up 7.5 percent from the same month a year earlier, the BOK data showed. The rise

Oct. 21, 2021

49 new color combinations available for Galaxy Z Flip3

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled the Bespoke edition of its Galaxy Z Flip3, offering as many as 49 new color choices for the clamshell-type foldable smartphone. Samsung presented the new edition on its YouTube channel at 11 p.m. at an event called Galaxy Unpacked, Part 2. The frames come in two colors, black and silver, and customers can choose from five Bespoke colors for the front and rear of the device: blue, yellow, pink, white and black. A total of 49 new combinations are a

Oct. 20, 2021

Finance minister says crypto tax plan still on for next year

South Korea’s finance minister once again downplayed the possibility of delaying taxation on cryptocurrency earnings, while emphasizing that his ministry is gearing up to carry out its plan as scheduled. Hong Nam-ki, the minister of Finance and Economy, made such remarks during an Assembly hearing on Wednesday when asked about the preparedness of taxation infrastructure on crypto assets. Hong’s remarks came one day after a lawmaker revealed a survey result in which three crypto e

Oct. 20, 2021

[Newsmaker] Edison Motors likely preferred bidder for troubled SsangYong Motor

Edison Motors, a little-known electric bus manufacturer, seems likely to emerge as the preferred bidder for SsangYong Motor, South Korea’s longest-running car brand, which has experienced debt troubles in recent years. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court said a consortium led by Edison Motors is the only remaining bidder, effectively making it the preferred buyer. Its competitor, another consortium led by EV firm Electrical Life Business and Technology, was excluded from the list as it failed

Oct. 20, 2021

Fitch keeps S. Korea’s credit rating at AA-

Global credit appraiser Fitch Ratings said Wednesday that it would maintain South Korea’s stable credit rating and keep its economic growth projection positive, citing the country’s economic resilience. During a webinar hosted by Fitch on assessing regional outlooks, Jeremy Zook, a director at Fitch Ratings, reaffirmed the credit rating for Asia’s fourth-largest economy at AA-, the fourth-highest level in the agency’s system, in line with its July projection. It has rema

Oct. 20, 2021

BlackRock becomes 3rd-largest shareholder of Hanwha Solutions

US-based investment manager BlackRock has become the third-largest shareholder of energy services company Hanwha Solutions, a filing showed Wednesday. BlackRock’s 11 affiliated entities were holding a combined 5.08 percent stake in Hanwha Solutions -- which is dedicated to petrochemicals, advanced materials and solar energy -- as of Friday, according to the disclosure filed with the Financial Supervisory Service. Solely on Friday, BlackRock had invested 65.4 billion won ($55.6 million)

Oct. 20, 2021

Nuri rocket’s launch to go ahead as scheduled Thursday

South Korea’s first domestically developed satellite launch vehicle has been moved to the launch pad for liftoff as scheduled on Thursday, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday. As favorable weather is forecast for Thursday, the launch will go on as scheduled at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, the ministry added. The three-stage liquid fuel rocket, also known as Korean Space Launch Vehicle II or Nuri, will blast off at 4 p.m., with the moment to be live

Oct. 20, 2021

Kumho Group looked into most times by antitrust watchdog for violation

Among major Korean conglomerates, Kumho Group has been under the microscope of Korea’s Fair Trade Commission the most, a lawmaker revealed Wednesday. According to data submitted by the FTC to Rep. Kim Hee-gon of the main opposition People Power Party, the state-run antitrust watchdog’s Business Group Bureau in charge of overseeing company irregularities has conducted 10 investigations into Kumho over the past four years. Since September of 2017 when the bureau was established up

Oct. 20, 2021

SK Hynix introduces Gen.4 HBM product for data centers

In an industry first, SK Hynix has developed the fourth generation of high bandwidth memory, or HBM3, the company said Wednesday. HBM is a high value DRAM product with fastened data processing, which combines multiple DRAM chips vertically. Demand for HBM products has been growing from high-performance data center businesses as well as machine learning platform operators. SK Hynix has three previous HBM products, HBM, HBM2 and HBM2E, and the latest development is an update to the HBM2 by in

Oct. 20, 2021

Seoul stocks retreat on institutional selling

South Korean stocks retreated Wednesday, led by strong institutional sell-offs. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 15.91 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 3,013.13 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 668 million shares worth some 11 trillion won ($9.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 521 to 337. Institutions sold a net 208 billion won, while retail investors bought 284 billion won. Foreigners offloaded

Oct. 20, 2021

K Shipbuilding to join forces with Norwegian firm for smart ships

Midsized shipyard K Shipbuilding Co., formerly known as STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., said Wednesday it has signed a preliminary deal with Kongsberg Digital AS to cooperate on digital technologies for smart ships. Under the deal with the Norwegian company that has technologies for autonomous ships, K Shipbuilding will narrow the technology gap with large shipbuilders in the area of smart ships, the company said. K Shipbuilding also showed its autonomous navigation system called K-ADIS o

Oct. 20, 2021

Only 15% of Kospi firms pursue ESG management: survey

Despite industrywide efforts to promote sustainable corporate management through environmental, social and governance aspects, many South Korean companies appear to be struggling to integrate the values into their businesses, a survey suggested Wednesday. Only 123 companies, or 15 percent of all Kospi-listed firms, have established committees to deal with ESG issues, according to the survey conducted by CEO Score, a local corporate tracker. Most of the ESG management committees included chief

Oct. 20, 2021

Gmarket promotes Korean products with Mega G sales event

With the Netflix hit “Squid Game” spurring interest in all things Korean, e-commerce giant Gmarket said it is offering discounts on various South Korean products for international consumers next month. The platform’s annual Mega G sales event will take place Nov. 1-12, as part of its year-end promotion Big Smile Day. A record-breaking number of Korean brands will participate in the discount event this year, the company said. Gmarket’s global shop is also becoming a h

Oct. 20, 2021

[Feature] Is a year-end spending spree on the horizon?

For a year and a half, South Korea’s tourism, cosmetics and liquor businesses endured the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, hope is on the horizon. As early as next month, the country shifts to “living with COVID-19” mode. Accordingly, many of the virus containment measures that restricted gatherings and human contact are set to be eased. “I literally can feel the eagerness of people to have a party and enjoy the things that have been taken away from their

Oct. 20, 2021

Analysts upbeat over Kakao Pay’s valuation

South Korean mobile payment app operator Kakao Pay embarked on a two-day book building process targeting institutional investors Wednesday, following delays due to local authorities’ requests. The result will determine at which price a share of Kakao Pay, the Ant Group-backed financial technology firm, would be offered, as well as the proceeds Kakao Pay will be able to attract through the initial public offering, ahead of its proposed market debut on Nov. 3. Korean analysts are valuing

Oct. 20, 2021