Job growth slows in July amid 4th wave of pandemic

South Korea reported job additions for the fifth straight month in July, but the growth pace slowed as employment in face-to-face service segments was hit hard by the fourth wave of the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 27.65 million last month, 542,000 more than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The July additions were lower than an on-year increase of 582,000 the previous month. Amid an economic recovery, the country has

Aug. 11, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on virus concerns

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as a spike in new coronavirus cases weighed on investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 7.24 points, or 0.22 percent, to 3,235.95 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a weak start as South Korea reported a record number of daily coronavirus cases above 2,200, stoking concerns of a growing nationwide outbreak despite toughened restrictions. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.87

Aug. 11, 2021

[News Focus] Samsung’s nonmemory plans needs renewed push from Lee

It was Samsung Group’s de facto chief Lee Jae-yong who in 2019 unveiled Samsung Electronics’ whopping 133 trillion won ($155.77 billion) investment plan, in front of President Moon Jae-in, with a vision to grow the presence of the world’s No. 1 memory chip maker in nonmemory fields. Two years have passed and the Korean chipmaker appears to have made little process on the quest. With its chief busy fighting criminal charges, including bribery and embezzlement, and being plac

Aug. 10, 2021

Banks' crypto transaction fee revenues rise 140%

South Korea‘s banks saw a sharp increase in transaction fees from cryptocurrency exchanges in the second quarter, despite heavy fluctuation in the cryptocurrency market. The three banks in partnership with cryptocurrency exchanges -- K bank, NH Nonghyup Bank, and Shinban Bank -- made a total of 16.9 billion won ($14.71 million) from the transaction fees of the four cryptocurrency exchanges they provide real name accounts for -- Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit -- according to data co

Aug. 10, 2021

SK Bioscience‘s COVID-19 vaccine to begin phase 3 trial

SK Bioscience has been given the green light to proceed with a late stage clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, heightening expectations for a homegrown vaccine becoming available next year. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced Tuesday that it has given approval to the SK Group company’s plan for the final-stage Phase 3 study of GBP510, based on interim data from the company’s phase 1clinical trial. Developed in collaboration with the University of Washingt

Aug. 10, 2021

Krafton market debut disappoints

Krafton, the South Korean game maker behind global smash hit PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, suffered a disappointing market debut upon its landing on the country’s benchmark Kospi Tuesday, although it drew wide attention at home and abroad as the second largest in value in initial public offering market history here. Shares of Krafton closed at 454,000 won ($395.10), up 1.23 percent from its opening of 448,500 won determined between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. in its first trading session.

Aug. 10, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 4th session amid virus concerns, profit-taking

South Korean stocks retreated for the fourth straight session Tuesday, as concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus turned investors risk-averse. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) slumped 17.23 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 3,243.19 points. Trading volume was high at about 719 million shares worth some 21.4 trillion won ($18.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 647 to 214. Foreigners sold a net 638 billion w

Aug. 10, 2021

Naver to acquire 15% stake in Cafe24 in e-commerce push

South Korean internet giant Naver is poised to acquire a 15 percent stake in e-commerce solutions provider Cafe24 for 137.2 billion won ($119.4 million), filings showed Tuesday. Cafe24 plans to issue 3.3 million ordinary shares for the third-party rights offering to invite Naver as its new shareholder, according to filings submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service. In turn, Naver looks to acquire the stake by contributing its 310,300 treasury shares in kind, whose valuation matches newl

Aug. 10, 2021

LG CNS behind smoother operation of vaccine booking system

Two days into online vaccine bookings for those aged 18-49, South Korea has experienced no major errors and system crashes so far, unlike previous sessions for other age groups. According to government officials, the main reason behind the smoother operation is a reduction of traffic. The country has divided the eligible population into 10 groups, depending on the last digit of their birth date, and allows them to book their vaccine slots only on a designated day that matches their number.

Aug. 10, 2021

Foreign investors' bond buying spree continues

Foreign investors have net purchased more bonds from January to July than in all of 2020, amid signs that Korean bonds are largely regarded as an attractive investment destination, data showed Tuesday. Foreign investors have net bought 83 trillion won ($72.2 billion) worth of Korean bonds -- including sovereign bonds, monetary stabilization bonds and bank debentures -- this year until July. The figure is higher than that of 2020, at 73 trillion won, according to data from the Korea Financial I

Aug. 10, 2021

LX International receives Red Dot Award for homepage design

LX International, formerly LG International, said Tuesday that its official homepage was among the winners of this year’s Red Dot Award in the brand and communication design category. The trading arm of LX Group said it had been recognized for the excellent user experience on its corporate homepage, which seeks to embody three concepts: trendy, interactive and innovative. The company conducted a survey of businesses partners, shareholders and job seekers before coming up with its user

Aug. 10, 2021

KAI to supply two Surion choppers to Korea Coast Guard

Korea Aerospace Industries said Tuesday it has signed a 49.7 billion-won ($43.2 million) deal with the Public Procurement Service to supply two Surion helicopters to the Korea Coast Guard. According to the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer, the two units of KUH-1CG, a police version of the multi-role utility helicopter Surion, will be delivered to the Korea Coast Guard by July 2024. “The contract includes Osprey 30, a new radar that can detect 1,000 targets simultaneously. Th

Aug. 10, 2021

Xiaomi makes show of force one day ahead of Samsung Unpacked

Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi has scheduled a livestream event on Tuesday night to unveil its new flagship smartphone Mi Mix 4, just one day before Samsung’s annual Unpacked event, in an attempt to steal the spotlight from the South Korean electronics giant. Industry watchers say the timing of the Mi Mix 4 launch, an under-display camera model, is an open challenge to Samsung, whose soon-to-be unveiled foldable phone also happens to be a UDC model. A UDC smartphone refers to a mode

Aug. 10, 2021

Samsung expands presence in domestic smartphone market in Q2: report

Samsung Electronics Co. further expanded its dominance in the domestic smartphone market in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Tuesday, as its rivals struggled to gain presence. Samsung logged a share of 73 percent in the South Korean smartphone market in the April-June period, up 6 percentage points from a year earlier, according to data from market researcher Counterpoint Research. Its second-quarter market share was also 6 percentage points larger than a quarter earlier. Apple

Aug. 10, 2021

Banks‘ revenues from crypto transaction fees more than double in Q2

South Korea‘s banks saw a sharp increase in transaction fees from cryptocurrency exchanges in the second quarter, despite heavy fluctuation in the cryptocurrency market. 　The three banks in partnership with cryptocurrency exchanges -- K bank, NH Nonghyup Bank, and Shinban Bank -- made a total of 16.9 billion won ($14.71 million) from the transaction fees of the four cryptocurrency exchanges they provide real name accounts for -- Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit -- according to data

Aug. 10, 2021

KT Q2 net up over 70% on 5G growth

KT Corp., a South Korean telecom giant, said Tuesday its second-quarter net income rose 77.4 percent from a year earlier on the back of robust growth of 5G network subscribers as well as its media content businesses. Net income for the April-June period stood at 370.8 billion won ($322.9 million) on a consolidated basis, compared with 209.1 billion won the same period the previous year, according to a company statement. Operating income reached 475.8 billion won, up 38.5 percent over the cited

Aug. 10, 2021

FSC chief urges banking group heads to strengthen household debt control

Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo on Tuesday called on the heads of five major banking groups here to ramp up efforts to curb snowballing household debt.  “A steep increase in household debt was inevitable for the real economy to minimize the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the growth pace of household debt has been too rapid, raising calls for tighter household debt control measures,” Eun said during a meeting held with chairmen from KB Fin

Aug. 10, 2021

71 listed firms received 'adverse' audit opinions in 2020

A total of 71 listed firms in South Korea received "adverse" audit opinions in 2020, up from 65 the year prior, as the COVID-19 pandemic increased business uncertainties, government data showed Tuesday. An "adverse" opinion suggests that a company may have violated accounting standards or significantly misstated their financial records. According to a survey of 2,293 listed firms by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), 97 percent of the firms received clean opinions in

Aug. 10, 2021

Manufacturers' Q2 domestic supply rises at fastest-ever pace

South Korean manufacturers' domestic supply rose at the fastest-ever pace in the second quarter as the country's economy is on a recovery track on brisk exports, data showed Tuesday. The manufacturing domestic supply index stood at 111.1 in the April-June period, up 9.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest on-year gain since the first quarter of 2010 when the statistics agency began compiling related data. The index, which measures b

Aug. 10, 2021

KTB commits W550b to US real estate debt strategies

KTB Asset Management has closed a 550 billion won ($478.8 million) commitment to Bridge Debt Strategies Fund IV, a pooled investment vehicle mainly targeting securitized multifamily residential housing loans in the United States, the company said Tuesday. The Seoul-based asset manager added it has attracted capital commitments from eight undisclosed South Korean institutional investors, targeting annual returns of up to 11 percent from its fund-of-funds strategy. Bridge Debt Strategies Fund I

Aug. 10, 2021