Hana Financial to launch asset manager in Singapore

Hana Financial Group said Monday that it has obtained a preliminary license from Singapore’s financial authorities to open an asset management company in the Southeast Asian country. The Monetary Authority of Singapore granted the partial approval Friday, though it hasn’t notified the banking giant when a final business license will be issued, officials said. Hana Financial’s attempt to make inroads into Singapore’s promising asset management market is part of the group

June 14, 2021

Debt-laden SsangYong Motor's workers to take unpaid leave for two years

Half of SsangYong Motor Co.'s workers will go on unpaid leave for two years beginning next month as part of self-help measures as the debt-ridden automaker is striving to speed up its sales process, the company said Monday. SsangYong said its management and labor union inked a deal on the corporate restructuring plan and will carry out the measures in July after ironing out the details. Over half of SsangYong workers last week voted for the company's proposal of a two-year unpaid leave to ha

June 14, 2021

Smaller firms demand 1-year more grace period for 52-hour workweek

South Korea's smaller firms on Monday called for a further delay in enforcing the 52-hour workweek system for them set to take effect next month amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic.   In a joint statement, the country's business lobby groups, such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea Enterprises Federation, called on the government to allow companies with a workforce of fewer than 50 people more time to prepare for the 52-hour workweek amid the prolonged fallou

June 14, 2021

Over three-fourths of S. Korean exporters to China hit by pandemic: poll

More than three-fourths of South Korean exporters to China have suffered damage from the coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed Monday. The survey of 540 exporting companies, taken by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), showed 75.7 percent of the respondents saying their businesses in the world's No. 2 economy have been hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. Nearly 38 percent replied that they have suffered severe damage, while about 7 percent answered their Chinese businesses have benefited

June 14, 2021

Insurers' risk-based capital ratio down for 2nd quarter in Q1

Insurance firms in South Korea saw their risk-based capital ratio fall for the second straight quarter in the first quarter of this year amid rising market interest rates, data showed Monday. The risk-based capital (RBC) ratio of local insurance firms stood at 256 percent at end-March, down 19 percentage points from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The fall in the RBC ratio came as a hike in bond yields incurred valuation losses from the

June 14, 2021

AsianInvestor to hold virtual forum on trends among Korean investors

AsianInvestor, a Hong Kong-based publication dedicated to the investment activities of Asian asset owners, said Monday that it planned to offer a glimpse of the latest trends among Korean investors at a virtual event June 21-25. Institutional Investment Week Korea, the 14th event of its kind for Seoul investors, will focus on how Korean investors can rebalance their portfolios and build resilience into their investment strategies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual event was canceled last y

June 14, 2021

Chips, displays continue to boost S. Korea's ICT exports in May

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products rose around 30 percent last month, data showed Monday, thanks to strong demand for semiconductors, displays and mobile phones amid signs of a global economic recovery from the pandemic-induced slump. Outbound shipments of ICT products were tallied at $17.73 billion in May, up 27.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The latest figure marked the second-largest amou

June 14, 2021

SK's French bio subsidiary breaks ground for 2nd plant

SK Inc.'s European bio subsidiary Yposkesi has begun the construction of its second drugmaking plant in France to ramp up its manufacturing capacity, the holding firm of South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate SK Group said Monday. In March, SK acquired a 70 percent stake in Yposkesi, a France-based Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) specializing in cell and gene therapies, to expand its presence in the burgeoning biologic CMO market. The latest deal is SK Inc.'s third acqui

June 14, 2021

Celltrion's COVID-19 antibody treatment shows efficacy in phase 3 trial

South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Monday that its COVID-19 antibody treatment has sharply reduced recovery time and the chance of a severe case. Celltrion announced top-line results from a global phase three clinical study of Rekirona, a pivotal part of the study to obtain more comprehensive safety and efficacy results. Rekirona won the South Korean drug safety agency's conditional approval in February, becoming the first locally made treatment for COVID-19. Rekirona is a

June 14, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding wins W1.1tr offshore facility order

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Monday that it has signed a 1.9 trillion won ($ 1.7 billion) deal to build a hull of an offshore facility. The deal is part of a total 2.6 trillion won project to construct a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), which was placed by Brazilian state-owned oil firm Petrobras, DSME said in an emailed statement. The deal was jointly won by Italy's oilfield services company Saipem, DSME said. The FPSO will be delive

June 14, 2021

Nearly 16,000 enjoy 'flights to nowhere' amid pandemic

Nearly 16,000 people have used "flights to nowhere" offered by South Korean airlines since the sightseeing flights were introduced late last year, the customs office said Monday. The Korea Customs Service (KCS) said 15,983 passengers used a total of 152 international flights designed for the purpose of the air journey, not the destination, between December 2020 and May 2021. Passengers using the flights have bought duty-free products worth 22.8 billion won ($20 million) over the past

June 14, 2021

Hyundai to temporarily halt US plant on chip shortage, maintenance

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, said Monday it will suspend its US plant for three weeks due to lack of semiconductors and routine maintenance. Hyundai Motor will halt the Alabama plant for one week from June 14 on a chip shortage and two weeks from June 16 to July 11 for the plant's maintenance work, a company spokesman said by phone. In recent weeks, chip parts shortages continue to affect production of carmakers and other manufacturers in the United States and

June 14, 2021

Seoul stocks open nearly flat as investors eye Fed meeting

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Monday as investors await the upcoming US Federal Reserve meeting. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) edged down 1.53 points, or 0.05 percent, to reach 3,247.79 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi got off to a muted start as investors are holding onto their cash, seeking more hints about when the world's largest economy will start tapering its asset-buying policy. In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics retr

June 14, 2021

Naver-Kakao rivalry heats up in global webtoon market

South Korean digital comics platform operator Naver faces growing competition from its crosstown rival Kakao as the latter ups investment to tap into overseas markets. A webtoon refers to a series of comic strips published online. In South Korea, Naver and Kakao are the two largest online webtoon platform providers. Earlier last month, Kakao Entertainment launched its webtoon platform, Kakao Webtoon, in Thailand and Taiwan. Last week, the firm revealed that it has taken the top spot in the Go

June 13, 2021

Upbit warning on digital coins sends prices diving

Digital coins that were flagged for delisting and given warnings by South Korea’s largest digital asset exchange Upbit plunged over the weekend as financial regulators tightened its grip on the cryptocurrency market. The double-digit plunge in prices came after Upbit on Friday announced that it planned to halt the trading of five digital tokens while issuing “investment warning” on 25 cryptocurrencies. Maro, Paycoin, Observer, Solve.Care and Quiztok will be delisted from th

June 13, 2021

‘Ban on multiple IPO subscriptions to have limited market impact’

A new rule banning investors from placing multiple subscriptions for popular initial public offerings is unlikely to cool off the heated market with a slew of conglomerate-affiliated firms and tech companies planning their market debut in the second half of this year, market watchers said. “A total of 37 companies submitted preliminary applications for IPOs in between April and May. Since they are highly likely to try making market debuts within this year, the latter half is expecte

June 13, 2021

GS25 to expand AI robot delivery service

South Korean convenience store GS25 said Sunday that it has recently launched a delivery service using an artificial intelligence-based robot at a second location in southern Seoul. The second AI-powered robot dispatched at its GS Tower branch in Yeoksam-dong in the Gangnam area comes after the company first unveiled the service last year. Customers can place an order via KakaoTalk to have staff load the items onto the robot, which then brings it to the customer’s doorstep using wireles

June 13, 2021

Race to take over eBay nears end, as delivery app Yogiyo seeks buyer

The new owner of eBay Korea, the third-largest e-commerce operator in the country, is expected to be announced this week after a monthslong bidding process draws to a close, industry sources said. The race is between two retail giants Shinsegae and Lotte Shopping. Both operate a wide range of businesses in the retail sector, including supermarkets and department stores, and have submitted their letters of intent for the Korean unit of eBay during the final round of bidding on June 7. Whoever w

June 13, 2021

Will BOK hike rate before US Fed?

With South Korea’s central bank chief continuing to adopt a more hawkish tone on monetary policy, anticipation is growing for an earlier-than-expected interest rate hike. The US Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has officially expressed its commitment to maintaining its interest rate near zero, with experts projecting no rate hikes until after the first half of next year. This could mean that the Bank of Korea raises its key rate ahead of the US Fed, a rare occurrence that hasn’t happene

June 13, 2021

[Contribution] Innovative financing mechanisms to drive a circular economy

PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is the inexpensive, versatile plastic used to make bottles, food containers and other modern conveniences. Even though PET is a highly valuable and readily recyclable material, there is not enough waste collection and recycling capacity in many countries in South and Southeast Asia. PET and other plastics stay in the environment for hundreds of years, and when exposed to sunlight and seawater, they fragment into microplastics that are consumed by marine life a

June 13, 2021