Corporate direct financing slips 7.9% in August

South Korea's corporate direct financing fell 7.9 percent on month in August due to a decline in sales of bonds, data showed Friday. Local companies raised a combined 19.35 trillion won ($16.4 billion) by selling stocks and bonds in August, down 1.66 trillion won from a month ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Corporate stock sales rose 10.3 percent to 4.05 trillion won, with the value of initial public offerings jumping 27.4 percent to 4 trillion won.

Sept. 24, 2021

Producer prices up for 10th month in August

South Korea's producer prices gained 0.4 percent on-month in August due to a modest rise in prices of food and energy, extending their monthly gains for the 10th straight month, central bank data showed Friday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 110.72 in August, compared with 110.28 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The July index advanced 7.3 percent from the previous year, the BOK data showed. The prices of agricultural goods

Sept. 24, 2021

[ESG Talk] Overseeing critical ESG risks: Environmental issues

As regulatory and stakeholder issues heighten around environmental, social and governance factors, companies must now oversee the associated risks more strategically. Unfortunately, ESG issues are sensitive to public choices, rely on future scenario-based materiality and require longer time horizons. Thus, the challenge in quantifying ESG risks has prompted companies to adopt different risk management procedures. Since ESG risks can turn to sizable negative impacts throughout a company’s

Sept. 23, 2021

Korean firms neglect science in setting climate targets: study

South Korean companies’ climate targets are not grounded in scientific evidence, a study showed Thursday, indicating that ambitious goals to achieve carbon neutrality for a sustainable future lack substance. This heightens calls for the country, which recently unveiled its ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, to have its companies take more concrete action to cut greenhouse gas emissions -- a major culprit behind global warming -- ahead of the Group of 20 Summit in October, acc

Sept. 23, 2021

DataStreams marks 20th anniversary, vows to grow further

DataStreams, a data management and cloud solutions provider, marked its 20th anniversary with a pledge to accelerate the company’s growth in the next two decades. The company hosted a ceremony for the 20th anniversary of its foundation last Friday, holding it online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 163 employees tuned into the event to celebrate the firm’s anniversary and its growth over the past 20 years. During the event, CEO Lee Young-sang highlighted the importance of l

Sept. 23, 2021

Celltrion to supply rapid COVID-19 tests to US govt.

Celltrion announced Thursday that it had won a contract to supply its rapid COVID-19 test DiaTrust to the US government. Starting Oct. 1, Celltrion USA, Celltrion’s US-based unit, will begin supplying COVID-19 tests to 25,000 sites, including military facilities, nursing homes and COVID-19 test centers. Under the deal signed with the US Defense Logistics Agency, the US authorities could buy more if needed. Celltrion said the total amount could reach 738.2 billion won ($626.61 million),

Sept. 23, 2021

S. Koreans spend all-time high on Netflix in Aug.: data

Netflix recorded record sales for South Korea in August, a local report said Thursday. According to the report released by industry tracker WiseApp, South Koreans’ payments to Netflix last month reached an estimated 75.3 billion won, up 78 percent from a year earlier. The number of people who subscribed to the US streaming service reached 5.14 million, increasing 63 percent from 3.16 million last year, according to WiseApp. By age groups, people in their 20s accounted for 40.1 percen

Sept. 23, 2021

[Herald Interview] ‘Designing user experience key to business success’

Technology is advancing at a dizzying speed, bringing future mobility closer to us. Scenes of driverless vehicles cruising down smart roads and up in the skies no longer sound like science fiction. Against such a backdrop, the idea of design should go beyond just making products look good. It should also be about planning the experience of users, says Kwon Young-jin, who leads Hyundai Motor Group’s Zer01ne Playground, an open innovation platform. “Hyundai Motor Group seeks to rep

Sept. 23, 2021

Finance chief to meet heads of BOK, financial regulators next week

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki will hold a four-party meeting next week with the governor of the central bank and two chiefs of financial regulatory authorities to discuss household debt and other economic issues, officials said Thursday. Hong will preside over the gathering on Sept. 30 with Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol, Koh Seung-beom, new head of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and Jeong Eun-bo, new chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, according to the finance ministry.

Sept. 23, 2021

S. Korea’s stock market retreats amid China’s Evergrande crisis

South Korea’s stock market retreated Thursday, hit by the growing debt crisis faced by Evergrande Group, one of China’s biggest property developers, as financial authorities vowed to closely monitor the situation’s impact on the market. The benchmark Kospi lost 12.93 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 3,127.58 points. The secondary tech-heavy Kosdaq shed 9.86 points or 0.94 percent to close at 1,036.26. Trading volume was moderate at about 612 million shares worth some 13.

Sept. 23, 2021

Seoul stocks down on Powell's tapering comments, Evergrande scare

South Korean stocks retreated Thursday after the three-day Chuseok holiday in the face of comments by the US Federal Reserve's chief that it could start tapering its stimulus as early as November, as well as growing woes over a default of a giant Chinese real estate developer. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 12.93 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 3,127.58 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 612 million shares

Sept. 23, 2021

[Newsmaker] Korea raises electricity price for first time in 8 years

A family of four in South Korea will see electricity bills rise as much as 1,050 won ($0.89) per month starting October as the Korea Electric Power Corp. decided to raise utility prices for the first time in eight years to mitigate skyrocketing fuel costs. According to the state-run utility firm Thursday, the electricity bill will go up 3 won per kilowatt-hour, the first increase since November 2013. For an average four-member household that consumes 350 kW of electricity per month, this would

Sept. 23, 2021

4 out of 10 Seoul apartments bought by 20s, 30s

On the back of soaring housing prices, a growing number of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s have rushed to buying apartments, with nearly 4 out of 10 Seoul apartments being purchased by those young buyers, data showed Thursday. According to data from the Korea Real Estate Board, people in their 30s bought a total of 12,550 homes in the capital city between January and July, which accounted for 36.9 percent of the total 34,045 properties that changed hands in the given period. Those aged 20-29

Sept. 23, 2021

More travelers to fly to Saipan as travel demand grows

A growing number of people in South Korea are planning to travel to Saipan via a travel bubble amid rising vaccination rates and extended benefits offered for travelers. According to Asiana Airlines on Thursday, over 1,000 bookings have been made for flights to Saipan scheduled throughout the rest of the year. An Asiana flight to Sapian last Saturday, just ahead of the Chuseok holiday, had 150 passengers on board, accounting for 85 percent of bookings. With more than 9 in 10 people on board

Sept. 23, 2021

LG buys Israeli automotive security firm, delves further into auto biz

LG Electronics is taking over an Israeli firm with expertise in cybersecurity for automobiles as part of its plan to strengthen its auto parts business portfolio. According to the South Korean electronics maker on Thursday, the company recently signed a deal with Tel Aviv-based Cybellum to acquire a 63.9 percent stake. Founded in 2016, the Israeli firm’s valuation is estimated at $140 million. It has around 50 employees. The company is recognized for a platform that is designed to analy

Sept. 23, 2021

Number of top online lender Kakao Bank customers passes 17m

South Korea's leading internet-only lender Kakao Bank said Thursday its customer number has surpassed the 17 million mark nearly four years after its launch. Kakao Bank, led by Kakao Corp., the operator of the country's dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, said its customers numbered 17.17 million as of the end of August. Kakao Bank said slightly over 15 million customers have accounts at the online lender, with 2.15 million people using its services. Kakao Bank has achieved the milestone four year

Sept. 23, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on Fed chief's tapering comment, Evergrande fallout

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Thursday after the three-day Chuseok holiday, following comments by the US Federal Reserve's chief that it could start tapering its stimulus as early as November and growing woes over a default of a giant Chinese real estate developer. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 17.83 points, or 0.57 percent, to 3,122.68 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The key stock index plunged as investors digest the overnight US FOMC mee

Sept. 23, 2021

S. Korea wary of market volatility from Evergrande woes, Fed's tapering: official

South Korea plans to closely monitor financial markets as China Evergrande Group's debt problems and uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's tapering issue could increase market volatility, a senior government official said Thursday. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said the government will also pump up efforts to slow the growth of household debt in a bid to ease financial imbalances. Global financial markets were rattled this week ahead of the Fed's policy meeting and due to concerns

Sept. 23, 2021

KEPCO to up electricity rate for 1st time in 8 yrs amid rising costs

The Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), South Korea's state-run utility firm, announced Thursday it plans to raise the electricity rate in the fourth quarter of 2021 to reflect the hike in the global price of resources. KEPCO said it plans to terminate the discount of 3 won ($0.0025) per kilowatt-hour, which has been applied since the first quarter, in October, effectively raising costs for households. Under the new rates, an average four-member household is expected to pay 1,050 won extra eve

Sept. 23, 2021

Chip dearth forecast to have limited impact on automakers' profit

A global shortage of chips used in autos is expected to have a limited impact on third-quarter earnings of South Korea's top two carmakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., a market tracker said Thursday. The market consensus for Hyundai's operating profit amounts to 1.78 trillion won ($1.51 billion) for the July-September period, according to an analysis by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap. Yonhap Infomax has analyzed earnings forecasts for the leading automakers, which 17 loca

Sept. 23, 2021