Nuclear energy essential for Korea‘s decarbonization goal: FKI

South Korea needs nuclear energy to achieve its decarbonization goal and go in tandem with the global low-carbon drive, as the country has conditions unfavorable to rely mainly on renewables, the Federation of Korean Industries said Tuesday. In a statement, the nation’s major business lobbying group cited the World Economic Forum’s energy transition index -- which benchmarks 115 economies on the current performance of their energy systems across various aspects -- to highlight Ko

July 6, 2021

Brazilian fintech used for KakaoBank, Kakao Pay's value evaluation

KakaoBank and Kakao Pay, which are set to go public only seven days apart, each compared themselves to a Brazilian financial technology firm for their valuations, their initial public offering applications showed Tuesday. The companies last week submitted their applications to Korea Exchange, the country’s stock market operator. KakaoBank said it plans to go public on Aug. 5 while Kakao Pay set its IPO date for Aug. 12. In their IPO applications, KakaoBank compared itself to four over

July 6, 2021

[News Focus] Home prices in 9 major regions up 26% in a year

SEJONG - House prices rose an average of more than 25 percent in the last 12 months in South Korea’s nine major areas, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, the average on-year growth in housing prices in the nine areas reached 26.7 percent during July 2020-July 2021 period. The other seven of the nine are Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Ulsan and Sejong. Seoul saw the average trading price of homes come to 37.38 m

July 6, 2021

For Korean brokerages, investors, metaverse is new growth engine

South Korean brokerage firms and asset management companies are keeping a close eye on a new virtual world convergence of cutting-edge technologies, amid market expectations of the emerging sector propelling greater growth. The metaverse -- a combination of “meta” and “universe” -- refers to a virtual world shared by people in the real world. It has rapidly emerged as a major trend for companies around the world. According to industry watchers Tuesday, two Seoul-based

July 6, 2021

Wealthy S. Koreans expect summer stock market rally: survey

More than half of South Koreans whose financial assets exceed 1 billion won ($893,000) believe that the local stock market may rally this summer on hopes of an economic rebound, a recent survey showed Tuesday.  According to the survey conducted by Samsung Securities, some 64 percent of the company’s 782 high net worth customers, said they look forward to a summer rally in the stock market. Among them, 68 percent forecast the country’s key stock index Kospi would hover around

July 6, 2021

Hyundai Rotem wins W335.4b deal in Tanzania

Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean railway system and plant equipment maker, said Tuesday it has received a 335.4 billion-won ($297 million) order for electric locomotives and electric multiple units in Tanzania. Hyundai Rotem will supply 80 electric locomotives and 17 electric multiple units to the Tanzanian railway corporation by 2024, the company said in a statement. It is the first time for the company to win an order in Tanzania. Hyundai Rotem expects to win further deals as the local gove

July 6, 2021

Finance minister, BOK chief to attend G-20 meeting of top financial, economic officials

South Korea's top economic policymaker and the head of the central bank will attend a Group of 20 (G-20) meeting of finance ministers and top central bankers this week, the finance ministry and the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol will head to Venice, Italy, on Wednesday to attend the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting set for Friday and Saturday, according to the ministry and the BOK. The meeting will center on eco

July 6, 2021

Jungheung looks to advance Daewoo E&C’s property development prowess

Jungheung Group said Tuesday it would advance the real estate development prowess of Daewoo Engineering & Construction, as the conglomerate aims to complete the acquisition of the South Korea‘s sixth-largest construction company within this year. Once the proposed acquisition is complete, the Gwangju-based builder dedicated to housing construction, civil engineering and real estate development, will help Daewoo E&C diversify its business portfolio by strengthening the pillar of r

July 6, 2021

Imported carmakers to bring 53 all-electric models to S. Korea by 2023

Imported carmakers are planning to introduce 53 all-electric models in South Korea by 2023 as they quickly move toward future vehicle technologies amid toughened regulations, the chief of a trade association of foreign automakers here said Tuesday. They also plan to launch 46 mild hybrid electric vehicles, as well as 32 hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, for the next three years, Rene Koneberg, chairman of the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA), said in a

July 6, 2021

S. Korean shipbuilders' new orders spike over 7 times, achieve over half of order targets in H1

South Korean shipbuilders saw their new orders rise over sevenfold in the first half of the year from a year ago, and they have achieved more than half of their annual order targets for the year, industrial data showed Tuesday. During the January-June period, Korean shipbuilders bagged new orders totaling a combined 10.47 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), up more than seven times compared with 1.35 million CGTs the previous year, according to data provided by global market researcher Clark

July 6, 2021

S. Korea faces increasing ransomware attacks this year

South Korea's ICT ministry said Tuesday the country reported 78 ransomware attacks in the first half of the year in the latest sign of growing cyberattacks. Ransomware is a type of malware that holds a target's data hostage or locks up its systems until a ransom is paid. It is not immediately clear whether the targeted companies paid ransoms to hackers in return for restoring access to their data. The latest figure represents a rising trend, compared with 22 in 2018, 39 in 2019 and 127 cases

July 6, 2021

S. Korea set to cut maximum legal lending rate

South Korea will lower the maximum interest rate this week as part of efforts to ease financial burdens on low-income people, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The maximum legal interest rate that private lenders can charge will be cut to 20 percent from the current 24 percent Wednesday, according to the Financial Services Commission. It will mark the second cut in the maximum legal interest rate in three years. In 2018, the government cut the lending rate ceiling to 24 percent from 27.9 p

July 6, 2021

No. of fake banknotes dips to record low in H1 amid pandemic

The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes dropped to a new record low in the first half as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the decline of cash use, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday. In the January-June period, the number of fake banknotes found here came to 38, down from 161 a year earlier and marking the lowest since the BOK began releasing such data in 2000. By denomination, 5,000-won counterfeit bills accounted for more than half of all counterfeit bills found here, with 22 bil

July 6, 2021

Online shopping hits record high in May amid contactless trend

Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in May as more people used e-commerce shopping platforms amid the pandemic-induced contactless trend, data showed Tuesday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 16.1 trillion won ($14 billion) in May, up 26 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The May reading marked the largest since November 2001, when the statistics agency began compiling related data. Amid an economic recovery and a non-conta

July 6, 2021

80 listed firms change their names in H1

A total of 80 listed companies in South Korea changed names in the first half of the year largely as part of efforts to burnish their corporate image, data showed Tuesday. Twenty-seven companies listed on the main Kospi market renamed themselves in the January-June period, with 53 firms registered with the tech-laden Kosdaq market changing names, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository. The total number was up 45.5 percent, or 25 corporations, from the same period a year ear

July 6, 2021

Joseon-era govt. office, palace rituals to be reborn through AR, VR technology

The Seoul metropolitan government said Tuesday it is developing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platforms to enable the public to virtually experience a government office and historical palace rituals from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The city government will develop the platforms in partnership with the Cultural Heritage Administration, Woomi Construction Corp. and Cheil Worldwide Inc. under an agreement signed Tuesday, and unveil them to the public next year. The project w

July 6, 2021

Exports of farm goods hit all-time high in H1

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports of agricultural products shot up to set a new record in the first six months of 2021, data showed Tuesday, on the back of stronger global demand for healthier foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Outbound shipments of such goods in the January-June period came to $4.15 billion, up 15.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. Exports of fresh products advanced 11.4 percent over

July 6, 2021

LG Electronics to expand cloud-based call centers

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it will expand cloud-based call centers to offer better customer care services and protect its workers from the novel coronavirus outbreak. With its recently launch of cloud-based call centers in the United States, LG said they will be also available in 10 more countries, including Brazil, France, Vietnam and South Korea, by the end of this year. Cloud-based call centers allow employees to work wherever internet is connected, which will promote a work-from-home

July 6, 2021

[Graphic News] Nearly 80% of S. Korean consumers increase online shopping amid pandemic

　Nearly 8 out of 10 South Korean consumers have increased their online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed. 　The survey of 1,000 local consumers, taken by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, showed 78.4 percent of the respondents saying their online purchases have risen since the outbreak of COVID-19. 　About 71 percent of them said they have purchased more foodstuffs and beverages online, followed by dining out and other food services, kitchen and daily goods an

July 6, 2021

Hyundai's Genesis vehicle sales jump 33% in H1

Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday its independent brand Genesis' domestic vehicle sales jumped 33 percent in the first half compared to a year earlier amid tougher competition with imported brands and the COVID-19 pandemic. Hyundai sold 72,710 Genesis vehicles from January to June, up from 48,886 units a year earlier, the company's sales data showed. Genesis models accounted for 19 percent of Hyundai's domestic sales of 386,095 units in the first six months of this year. On the overseas front, t

July 6, 2021