Coupang investigated by FTC over accusations of meddling with algorithms

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has launched a probe into e-commerce giant Coupang over the accusation that the company has meddled with algorithms to prioritize its own products, according to multiple reports on Sunday. According to the reports, the Korea Fair Trade Commission conducted an on-the-spot inspection at Coupang’s headquarters office in Seoul late last month following accusations that it had violated the Fair Trade Act. One of the accusations claims that Coupang had me

July 4, 2021

Demand for courier service soared during pandemic: study

As the coronavirus pandemic swept across Korea, courier services enjoyed a surge in popularity, a new study has revealed. The average number of times people used a courier service rose from 6.22 per month to 9.74 after the pandemic began, according to the recent study, the Korea Transport Institute said Sunday. The study was conducted by researchers at the institute with a sample of 1,153 respondents during November last year to highlight the differences in how people use delivery services in

July 4, 2021

FSC to decide on major Samsung Life’s shareholders

South Korea’s top financial regulator will give a ruling on whether the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s two daughters -- Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin and Samsung Welfare Foundation chief Lee Seo-hyun -- are qualified to become major shareholders of Samsung Life Insurance. This decision is expected to go in their favor, paving their way to become the company’s largest shareholders, industry sources said on Sunday. The policymaking Financial Services Commission is sl

July 4, 2021

[Contribution] Banks’ role as ‘catalyst for change’ to support transition to net zero economy

South Korea has been a great experience for our family since relocating here with HSBC in late 2018. Our daughter who recently turned four is happily growing up.  For those who know me, I’ve always been a big believer that one can learn a lot from kids. From the endless creativity and ever more sophisticated negotiating skills to little things they learn from school, the thought-provoking interactions often provide valuable reflections on life and how we should think about future g

July 4, 2021

Samsung SDI's EV battery biz to swing to profit in Q2: analysts

Samsung SDI Co.'s electric vehicle (EV) battery business is expected to have turned to operating profit for the first time in the second quarter on strong demand by global automakers, analysts said Sunday. Samsung SDI Co., the battery arm of Samsung Electronics Co., was forecast to have posted 3.4 trillion won ($3 billion) in sales and 252.7 billion won in operating profit in the April-June period, according to the data from 15 local brokerage houses compiled over the past month. Samsung SDI's

July 4, 2021

S. Korea to offer sea radiation level via website

South Korea's oceans ministry said Sunday it plans to launch a new platform to provide the latest information on the radiation level in local seas to the public amid growing safety concerns over Tokyo's planned release of contaminated water. "We plan to minimize the public's concerns over the safety of our waters and seafood, and bolster monitoring on the radiation level of the ocean," the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said in a statement. In April, the Japanese government said it

July 4, 2021

Hyundai, Kia's eco-friendly car sales in S. Korea surge 39% in H1

Hyundai Motor Group's eco-friendly vehicle sales in South Korea jumped nearly 40 percent in the first half of this year compared with a year earlier on strong demand for hybrid models and new electric vehicles, its sales data showed Sunday. The combined domestic sales of eco-friendly models by the Korean automotive group's two affiliates -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. -- stood at 94,435 units in the January-June period, up from 67,798 units a year ago, according to their sales data. Among

July 4, 2021

[Weekender] With an eye on the future, financial firms don VR goggles

The emergence of the “MZ generation” -- those born in the 1980s and ‘90s -- has brought significant change in South Korea’s financial landscape, pushing its conservative players to navigate uncharted territory in the technological era. Financial institutions are embracing the technological shift from physical space to digital sphere with big-name bankers experiencing the virtual world via VR headsets and holding executive meetings in “metaverse” online setti

July 3, 2021

Seoul stocks tipped to rebound next week amid earnings hope

South Korean stocks are likely to rebound next week, as optimism for strong corporate earnings is expected to buffer growing virus concerns, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 3,281.78 points on Friday, down 0.64 percent from a week ago. The KOSDAQ closed the week at a 52-week high for the second consecutive day at 1,038.18 points. The country's virus situation is getting worse, with the daily caseload continuing to increase amid woes over sprea

July 3, 2021

LG invests W100b in Kakao Mobility

LG Corp., the holding company of Korea’s fourth-biggest conglomerate, on Friday inked a 100 billion-won ($88 million) investment deal with Kakao Mobility as part of efforts to discover new opportunities in future mobility. Both sides did not reveal how much stake LG would acquire in the digital transportation service app operator with the latest deal. LG said the investment was made as part of considerations to develop potential synergy between the conglomerate’s affiliates and

July 2, 2021

SK Energy, Kepco team up to facilitate domestic EV supply

SK Energy and Korea Electric Power Corp. agreed to jointly develop automotive services to promote the use of electric vehicles in the country, SK said Friday. SK Energy, South Korea’s leading oil refinery and gas station operator, said it is partnering with the state-run electricity provider Kepco, which operates the country’s largest EV charging infrastructure business, to expand its EV service business. SK Energy P&M CIC Chief Executive Officer Oh Jong-hoon and Kepco Vice

July 2, 2021

Korea’s tax agency joins European tax body to support companies’ overseas expansion

South Korea’s National Tax Service has joined a nonprofit European tax body in a bid to enhance cooperation with member countries and provide policy support for local companies making forays into the European market. The Intra-European Organization of Tax Administrations approved South Korea’s entry as an associate member -- the first in Asia -- at the 25th General Assembly held through video conferencing from Wednesday to Friday. The IOTA consists of 44 member countries from the

July 2, 2021

SK Biopharm aims to crack ranks of world’s top 10 health care companies

South Korean central nervous system drug developer SK Biopharmaceuticals CEO Cho Jeong-woo vowed to help the firm attain a value of 50 trillion won ($44.02 billion) by 2030 and make the list of the world’s top 10 health care firms. SK Biopharm shared its latest corporate vision during an online event titled “Financial Story,” held Friday. During the event, SK Biopharmaceuticals presented detailed strategies to achieve the goal. SK Biopharm said the company would launch mor

July 2, 2021

Samsung Electronics, SK hynix likely to be subjected to new global tax rules

South Korean conglomerates Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are likely to be subject to a global minimum tax rate that multinational companies will have to pay regardless of where their headquarters are. Some 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 90 percent of global gross domestic product, endorsed a set of tax plans aimed at addressing the tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and D

July 2, 2021

S. Korea to maintain expansionary fiscal policy, slowly shift toward monetary tightening

South Korea’s fiscal policy will be expansionary but its monetary policy could turn slightly more hawkish, the respective chiefs in charge of each said Friday. Both said their solutions would minimize the economic woes stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki met Friday with Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol amid controversy over policy discord. There have been strong signals of a rate hike by the end of the year from the central bank, and the government recently unv

July 2, 2021

LG Chem chief takes initiative to attract top talent

LG Chem Vice Chairman Shin Hak-cheol has rolled up his sleeves to recruit top-tier talent who could lead the company’s future research and development under environmental, social and governance standards. The chemical affiliate of LG Group on Friday held a conference at InterContinental Seoul COEX in southern Seoul, inviting 45 engineers who are pursuing master’s or doctorate degrees at local universities and research institutions. LG Chem’s executives joined the conferenc

July 2, 2021

NPS logs 9.6% annual investment return in 2020

South Korea’s public pension fund National Pension Service posted an annual return rate of 9.58 percent last year, marking the second-highest record in a decade, the nation’s welfare minister said Friday. “Last year’s figure stood at 0.99 percentage point higher than our benchmark of 8.59 percent. ... The amount of profit earned from the investment also came to 72.1 trillion won ($63.6 billion),” said Kwon Deok-cheol, minister of health and welfare, who chairs the

July 2, 2021

Hyundai Motor, Kia record all-time high sales in US

Hyundai Motor and Kia witnessed all-time high sales in the United States in the first half of this year, the companies said Friday. The two automotive brands of the largest Korean automobile group sold a combined 804,944 vehicles in the US in the first half of this year, a 48.1 percent increase from a year earlier, according to Hyundai and Kia’s US branches. Hyundai Motor America said its sales grew 49.4 percent on-year, selling 407,135 units, while Kia America sold 378,511 units, up 4

July 2, 2021

13 biz group owners hold stocks worth over W1tr

Thirteen out of South Korea's top 50 business group heads hold stocks worth more than 1 trillion won ($881 million) as of end-June, with Samsung Group's chief being the richest, a corporate tracker said Friday. The number, which came amid a bullish local stock market, was up from 12 recorded in the first quarter of this year, according to CXO Institute Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto chairman of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, owned the largest amount

July 2, 2021

Korean biz community expresses concerns about OECD ‘digital tax’

South Korea’s business community expressed concerns Friday about a global move toward additional taxes on technology companies that would affect Korean tech giants such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The Federation of Korean Industries, an organization that represents the interests of Korean businesses, said in a statement, “We express concerns about the side effects of an agreement on the digital tax announced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

July 2, 2021