[Graphic News] Samsung, LG dominate global TV market in H1: report

　South Korea’s top two TV makers - Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics - represented half of the global TV market in the first half of the year, a report showed, as they maintained their leadership in the premium segment. 　Samsung accounted for 31 percent of the global TV market in terms of sales revenue to defend its top status in the first six months of 2021, while LG followed with 19 percent, according to data from industry researcher Omdia. 　Japan’s Sony came in third w

Sept. 8, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on Wall Street losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street amid concerns about the pace of US economic recovery. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 18.16 points, or 0.57 percent, to trade at 3,169.26 points in the first 16 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.76 percent and the S&P declined 0.34 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite inched up 0.07 percent after the release of a disappointing US jobs report

Sept. 8, 2021

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

Global credit appraiser Fitch Ratings said Tuesday that it would maintain South Korea’s credit rating and keep the economic growth projection positive, citing economic resilience, despite the latest wave of the pandemic hitting the country. During a webinar on assessing regional outlooks, Jeremy Zook, director at Fitch Ratings, expected the credit rating for Asia’s fourth-largest economy to remain intact from its July projection of AA-, the fourth-highest level of the agency’s

Sept. 7, 2021

EV Expo expands scope of e-mobility

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- Amid accelerating global efforts to go carbon-neutral, global automakers are pushing pure electric vehicles into the mainstream, to fundamentally change the face of mobility. The 8th International Electric Vehicle Expo, which kicked off on Tuesday on the southern island of Jeju, seeks to expand the scope of e-mobility, shedding light on other means of transportation, including ships and urban air mobility. “The goal of a carbon-free island cannot be done

Sept. 7, 2021

Hyundai Motor vows to make hydrogen cars as cheap as EVs

Hyundai Motor Group on Tuesday unveiled a new hydrogen vision that includes plans to make hydrogen vehicles as cheap as electric vehicles within 10 years. During “Hydrogen Wave,” the automaker’s first global hydrogen event, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun laid out his 20-year vision for hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen mobility. “Hyundai Motor envisions a future society where hydrogen energy is available for everyone, everything and everywhere. I have no d

Sept. 7, 2021

LG Chem develops new material for foldable displays

LG Chem has developed a new material for foldable displays that is as hard as glass, but can bend both ways without the creasing issue, it said Tuesday. According to the South Korean firm, the “real folding window” could be used for surfaces of foldable smartphones, as well as other portable devices, including laptops and tablet PCs. Hard as glass yet thinner than existing polyimide films, the new material is a plastic film coated with the firm’s own coating technology tha

Sept. 7, 2021

Severance Hospital to introduce telemedicine program for inpatients

Yonsei University‘s Severance Hospital has decided to introduce non-face-to-face care program for inpatients to increase efficiency and minimize the risk of virus infection amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Severance announced Tuesday that it will introduce the telemedicine application My Severance, which will make doctors’ ward rounds digital. Patients at the hospital will be advised to download the application, which will automatically send alerts to patients at the time o

Sept. 7, 2021

Financial firms ask regulators to keep hands off internal affairs

South Korea’s financial services lobby groups have called on regulators to take a step back from their involvement in corporate internal affairs, industry sources said Tuesday, apparently irked by the authorities’ clampdown on their chiefs held responsible for private fund misselling scandals. Six representative bodies for financial service firms here, including commercial banking, brokerage and insurers, filed a joint request Monday asking regulators to hand the companies’ b

Sept. 7, 2021

Seoul stocks slump amid US tapering uncertainties

South Korean stocks retreated Tuesday amid lack of major market-moving events as investors still assess weak US job data and its impact on the Federal Reserve's timeline for tapering its stimulus. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) decreased 15.91 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 3,187.42 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 745 million shares worth some 11.7 trillion won ($10.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainer

Sept. 7, 2021

Daily mobile stock trading volume surges 220% in 2020

Stock trades carried out through mobile transaction platforms in South Korea hit an all-time high in 2020, data showed Tuesday, reflecting retail investors’ strong appetite for stock investment during the pandemic-hit market. The daily average amount of stock transactions via mobile trading systems came to 26.66 trillion won ($23.03 billion) last year, up 219.6 percent on-year from 8.34 trillion won, the Bank of Korea said in its annual report on financial information. An average of 11

Sept. 7, 2021

[Newsmaker] LX Hausys enters race for top furniture maker Hanssem

LX Hausys, formerly LG Hausys, which specializes in windows and interior materials, has entered the race to acquire South Korea’s top furniture maker Hanssem. The company, which is part of LX Group – a new entity that was separated from LG Group earlier this year, is the latest to show interest in buying a controlling stake in the firm, following other retail giants including Lotte, according to multiple reports. For its bid, LX Hausys will be joining a private equity fund set up

Sept. 7, 2021

Financial holding firms' H1 profit jumps 50% on interest income

South Korea's 10 financial holding firms saw their combined net profit jump 50.3 percent in the first half due mainly to higher interest income, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of KB Financial, Shinhan Financial and eight other financial holding firms stood at 11.47 trillion won ($9.9 billion) in the January-June period, compared with a profit of 7.63 trillion won for the same period last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The FSS attributed

Sept. 7, 2021

[Herald Interview] ‘Hiring philosophy is changing at South Korean companies’

When Lee Bok-kee, founder and CEO of Wanted Labs, quit his high-paying consulting job in 2013, he had only one goal: to solve problems. Having spent around five years at a consulting firm seeing tech mammoths like Samsung and LG pay millions of won to solve business problems, he was certain there would be at least one problem he can solve on his own. But finding the right one was not an easy journey. After brainstorming hundreds of businesses ideas, two failed startups, and losing his 100

Sept. 7, 2021

Economic uncertainty growing over 4th wave of pandemic: KDI

South Korea's economy is under pressure over growing headwinds as a recent spike in COVID-19 infections is likely to delay a recovery of domestic consumption, a state-run think tank said Tuesday. The nation's economy is on a recovery track amid robust exports, but the toughest virus curbs, in effect due to the fourth wave of the pandemic, may dampen improving domestic demand, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "Our economy has recen

Sept. 7, 2021

KAI buys 20% of satellite footage analysis firm Meissa

Korea Aerospace Industries said Tuesday it had acquired a 20 percent stake in Meissa, a South Korean satellite footage analysis firm, to make a foray into the global space services market estimated to be valued at 300 trillion won ($255.4 billion). Together with Meissa, which developed the nation’s first “reconstruction engine” that can convert a 2D footage into 3D, KAI aims to provide advanced satellite footage analysis services using artificial intelligence and big data inst

Sept. 7, 2021

FSS warns KB Savings Bank against lax control of soaring household debt

Amid the government’s move to bolster household debt management, the Financial Supervisory Service said Tuesday it has handed down a warning to KB Savings Bank over its loose screening for unsecured loans. KB Savings Bank turned out to have increased the amount of credit loans allowed for households since July last year by raising its lending programs’ loan limit and offering a discounted interest rate, without a strict review process led by the executive meeting, a FSS official sai

Sept. 7, 2021

S. Korea maintains No.1 spot in new shipbuilding orders for 4th month

South Korean shipbuilders far outstripped their Chinese rivals in terms of new orders in August, retaining their top spot for the fourth straight month, industry data showed Tuesday. Local shipbuilders led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. won a combined 780,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) in new orders last month, taking up 57 percent of 1.37 million CGTs of global orders, according to data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service. Chinese shipbuilders obtained 370,000 C

Sept. 7, 2021

Current account surplus narrows in July on decreased trade surplus

South Korea's current account surplus slightly narrowed in July due to reduced trade surplus, although exports maintained strong growth, central bank data showed Tuesday. The current account surplus reached $8.21 billion in July, narrowing from a surplus of $8.85 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. Since the country logged a deficit of $3.33 billion in April last year, the largest in almost a decad

Sept. 7, 2021

[Graphic News] South Korea’s ready-to-drink coffee market grows 5.9% in H1

　South Korea’s market for convenient coffee beverages expanded nearly 6 percent in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, a market tracker said. 　The value of the local ready-to-drink coffee market stood at 672.9 billion won ($574 million) in the January-June period, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier, according to Nielsen Koreanclick. 　Canned coffee accounted for the largest portion at 258.6 billion won, followed by cups of coffee at 217.5 billion won and bottled

Sept. 7, 2021

Seoul stocks open slightly lower on investors' wait-and-see mode

South Korean stocks opened a tad lower Tuesday as investors took to the sidelines in the absence of major events related to the US Federal Reserve's timeline for tapering its stimulus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 1.82 points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,201.51 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the US stock exchanges were closed for a holiday. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics lost 0.91 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 0.47 perc

Sept. 7, 2021