F&F joins TaylorMade buyout as Korean PEF switches partner

South Korean clothing company F&F is set to commit capital of $350.5 million to take part in a private equity firm-led acquisition of California-based golf equipment maker TaylorMade Golf, a filing showed Tuesday. The outfit maker, dedicated to licensed productions for brands such as MLB and Discovery, is taking the place of local rival The Nature Holdings, which on Monday withdrew from its $87.6 million commitment to the deal. According to a disclosure filed with the Financial Superviso

July 20, 2021

Securities settlements jump 19% in H1

The amount of securities settlements in the South Korean financial market soared nearly 19 percent in the first half of the year from six months earlier, industry data showed Tuesday. Stocks and bonds worth 3,772.2 trillion won ($3.28 trillion) were delivered through the Korea Securities Depository (KSD) in the January-June period, up 18.6 percent from the second half of last year, according to data from the KSD. It was also up 10.3 percent from a year earlier and marked the largest-ever half-

July 20, 2021

S. Korea to create think tank for space program

South Korea's science ministry said Tuesday it will create a space policy-oriented think tank in a move to bolster its space development ambitions. The country has recently ramped up its space program, with its first homegrown space rocket set for a launch in October and a lunar orbiter program scheduled for next year. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the new think tank, tentatively named the Korea Space Policy Research Center, will conduct space-related research and analysis to offer guid

July 20, 2021

S. Korea to lift tariffs on imports from Indonesia, Israel under trade deals

South Korea will gradually lift or lower tariffs on more than 95 percent of its imported products from Indonesia and Israel as it has clinched trade deals with the two nations, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The Cabinet approved a revised enforcement ordinance in preparation for implementing trade deals with Indonesia and Israel. In December last year, South Korea and Indonesia inked the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), which is equivalent to a free trade deal but cente

July 20, 2021

ADB ups its 2021 growth outlook for S. Korean economy to 4%

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday sharply revised up its growth outlook for the South Korean economy this year, citing robust exports and an expansion in facility investment. The Manila-based bank expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 4 percent this year, up from its earlier estimate in April of 3.5 percent. The ADB maintained its 2022 growth forecast for Korea at 3.1 percent. The ADB joined other organizations that have jacked up their growth estimates for the South Korean

July 20, 2021

Internet lender Kakao Bank to break into new areas: CEO

Kakao Bank, South Korea's largest internet-only bank, will seek to expand into new business areas and become the country's No. 1 financial platform, the company's CEO said Tuesday. "Kakao Bank will strive to emerge as the top financial platform and break into such areas as insurance, fund and asset management," CEO Daniel Yun said at a news conference to mark the lender's planned initial public offering (IPO). To that end, Kakao Bank will continue to seek the digital innovation of it

July 20, 2021

Kia launches new Sportage to meet SUV demands

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, launched the all-new Sportage SUV in the domestic market Tuesday to meet rising demand for the vehicle type. The new Sportage comes with a 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline hybrid engine, a 1.6 turbocharged gasoline engine or a 2.0 diesel engine, the company said in a statement. The model is equipped with a set of safety features, such as front collision avoidance, blind-spot collision-avoidance assist and rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance a

July 20, 2021

[Graphic News] US auto brands rank No. 2 in imported car sales in S. Korea in 2020: data

　US automakers overtook Japanese brands to take the No. 2 spot in the imported car market in South Korea last year, a report showed, taking advantage of local consumers’ boycott of Japanese products over trade and wartime legacy disputes. 　A total of 46,000 cars from US automakers were sold in South Korea last year, accounting for 15.2 percent of the overall imported car sales, according to data by the Korean Automobile Manufacturers Association. 　German brands topped the ranking wi

July 20, 2021

Seoul stocks open steeply lower on US stock plunge

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Tuesday, tracking a US stock plunge that stemmed from concerns that the resurgence in the new coronavirus and its variants may hamper the ailing global economy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) slumped 18.44 points, or 0.57 percent, to 3,225.6 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Virus worries continued to pull down the Kospi after the key stock index's 1 percent retreat the previous session. Overnight, the big-three US sto

July 20, 2021

Corporate direct financing rises 34.2% in H1

South Korea's corporate direct financing rose 34.2 percent in the first half from a year ago due to a robust rise in sales of bonds and stocks, data showed Tuesday. Local companies raised a combined 122 trillion won ($107 billion) by selling stocks and bonds in the January-June period, up 31.2 trillion won from a month ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Corporate stock sales soared 486.9 percent to 10.4 trillion won, with the value of initial public offeri

July 20, 2021

Jungheung Group donates W30b to KAIST

South Korean construction firm Jungheung Group on Monday pledged to donate 30 billion won ($26.2 million) to the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST, in the hopes of contributing to the growth of the nation’s semiconductor sector by nurturing global talent in the industry. The company will spend 20 billion won to build an education and research center in Brain City, a technology complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and donate 10 billion won in cash to the nat

July 19, 2021

Samsung to up the ante with new foldable phones

With the absence of a new Galaxy Note series model, Samsung Electronics is poised to steer its marketing and sales resources toward its next-generation foldable smartphones to outsmart its archrival Apple, which is set to launch a new iPhone later this year. Samsung used to release its Note series model targeting those who wanted a dedicated stylus and upscale features ahead of Apple’s annual iPhone launch. This year, however, Samsung has not rolled out a new Note due to chip shortages.

July 19, 2021

Korea Consumer Agency vice president promoted as new chief

Korea Consumer Agency Vice President Jang Deok-jin has been appointed as the 16th president of the consumer agency, the Fair Trade Commission announced Monday. After passing the 31st state examination for administrative officials, Jang served for the FTC as head of the Seoul regional office, director general of planning and coordination, director general of the consumer policy bureau and as a standing commissioner. In March 2019, Jang was appointed as vice president of the consumer agency.

July 19, 2021

Posco partners with Doosan to develop ammonia-extracted hydrogen gas turbines

Posco is partnering with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction to develop ammonia hydrogen extraction technology, as well as gas turbines that use the hydrogen as fuel, the company said Monday. The country’s leading steelmaker said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction and the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology, in a ceremony held online Monday. Ammonia is a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen. Using ammonia a

July 19, 2021

Digital exiles: Bankers in 40s take buyouts amid bleak outlook

While emptying her desk on her last day at the office, Kim Young-sun, 46, recalls the day 18 years ago when she started working at a bank in Seoul. She built her career mostly in retail finance, except for a brief assignment in corporate banking. Management began imposing a heavier workload on bankers in recent years while strictly assessing performance, she said. The stress of that accompanied concerns about the faster-than-expected growth of the fintech industry and platform-based, nontra

July 19, 2021

Insurers enter health care service market via digital platform

South Korea’s leading insurance firms are set to offer customized health care services through digital platforms after a regulatory bar was lifted for offering non-financial services. Amid fast growth of the elderly population, the government‘s plan to revitalize the health care industry coupled with the insurance sector’s needs to discover new revenue source prompt insurers to create digital health management solutions.　 The Financial Services Commission last week allowed

July 19, 2021

Seoul stocks slump 1% amid virus resurgence, mixed US indicators

South Korean stocks retreated 1 percent Monday amid concerns about the resurgence of new coronavirus cases and mixed signals in the US economic indicators. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slumped 32.87 points to close at 3,244.04 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.6 trillion won ($11 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 679 to 184. Foreigners sold a net 454 billion won, while re

July 19, 2021

Samsung Electronics unveils 1,000-inch commercial micro LED display

Samsung Electronics on Monday announced the global launch of a commercial version of its Micro LED display “The Wall” where customers can customize the size of the display even larger than 1,000 inches. According to the South Korean tech giant, The Wall IWA, despite its vast size, supports high-definition images thanks to enhanced upscaling capabilities. “The latest model is mounted with artificial intelligence processor chips each comprised of 16 neural networks that can

July 19, 2021

From BTS to Blackpink, card issuers collaborate with K-pop stars to lure MZ generation

South Korean credit card issuers are rolling out credit cards themed after K-pop stars or animation characters, specifically targeting millennials and Generation Z as they emerge as the new main sources of revenue. BC Card said Monday that it has partnered up with K-pop girl group Blackpink for a new credit card. It is the first credit card issued in collaboration with K-pop idols, they said. According to the company, the credit card is to come in various designs featuring 10 images of Blackp

July 19, 2021

More teens buy apartments in Seoul

A growing number of South Korean teenagers bought apartments in Seoul with financial support from their parents, data showed Monday.  People in their teens bought a total of 69 new homes for speculative purposes in the January-May period, a tenfold increase from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport submitted to Rep. Park Sang-hyuk of the ruling Democratic Party. The young homeowners’ parents appeared to have handed cash to their

July 19, 2021