Oriental Brewery begins sale of All New Cass nationwide

South Korea’s largest brewer, Oriental Brewery, has begun the sale of its newly revamped flagship beer All New Cass nationwide. Following a ceremony at its Cheongju plant on Sunday, the beer -- bottled in clear glass -- will hit the shelves at convenience stores, supermarkets, restaurants and entertainment venues sometime late this month, the company said. In March, OB unveiled the new Cass, ditching the brand’s famous brown bottle in a dramatic change of appearance, hoping to cont

April 19, 2021

Gamevil buys stake in local crypto exchange firm Coinone

Game developer Gamevil said Monday that it has acquired a 13 percent stake in local cryptocurrency exchange Coinone. It spent some 31.19 billion won ($27.9 million) to acquire the 8,474 shares of the crypto exchange. “The acquisition is aimed at finding new business opportunities in the crypto and blockchain sectors,” said the company in a regulatory filing. With the investment, Gamevil will work together with Coinone to develop solutions that prevent hacking attempts and handle a

April 19, 2021

Authorities vow to crack down on illegal crypto transactions

The South Korean government said Monday that it will tighten up regulations to trace illegal cryptocurrency transactions and cases of fraud amid growing concerns over a speculative bubble in the virtual coin market. The announcement was made after a meeting among top government officials and economy-related ministers on Friday to discuss issues related to the highly volatile cryptocurrency market and alleged crypto crimes. As part of the government’s efforts, the state watchdog Financ

April 19, 2021

S. Korea to raise renewable energy quota

South Korea will be able to require big power generation companies to generate up to 25 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources, starting from October this year, raising the previous maximum threshold of 10 percent. The change is in line with a revision of the renewable energy portfolio, or RPS scheme, introduced in 2012, that mandates 22 power distributors with capacity over 500 megawatts to generate a certain percentage of their electricity with renewables. The minimum quota,

April 19, 2021

Hana faces crisis over executives’ alleged sexism

Hana Financial Group has been receiving intense backlash over its credit card unit chief and bank branch manager’s alleged inappropriate and sexist behaviors that were reported only weeks apart. On April 6, Hana Card’s then-CEO Jang Kyung-hoon stepped down after a leaked audio recording of him saying picking a credit card was like “choosing a wife,” went viral last month. He also drew comparisons to female companions in so-called “room salons” here, which are

April 19, 2021

Kospi hovers around 3,200 points amid recovery hopes

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi hovered around the 3,200-point threshold Monday amid hopes of a global economic recovery, raising hopes of a bounce back to over 3,200 points at the closing bell for the first time in nearly three months. Local market watchers also presented a positive outlook on the index’s upward moves, with some suggesting that it might touch 3,300 points soon. The Kospi closed at 3,198.84, having inched up 0.22 points, or 0.01 percent, from the previous session&rsq

April 19, 2021

Over 70,000 manufacturing jobs moved abroad last year: report

A new analysis has suggested that over 70,000 manufacturing jobs in South Korea moved abroad last year, which accounted for 0.3 percentage point of the country’s unemployment rate. The loss of 72,000 manufacturing jobs came against the backdrop of a tough job market that exacerbated the employment situation, the Korea Economic Research Institute, an organization under the Federation of Korean Industries, said on Monday. “If the 72,000 manufacturing jobs were prevented from moving a

April 19, 2021

ELS sales in S. Korea sink 32% in Q1 amid pandemic

Sales of equity-linked securities (ELS) in South Korea plunged more than 30 percent in the first quarter of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. The value of ELS issues came to 18.8 trillion won ($16.8 billion) in the January-March period, down 31.9 percent from three months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The figure was also down 10.3 percent from the 20.9 billion won floated during the same period a year earlier. ELS refers t

April 19, 2021

Residents' FX deposits rise for 2nd month in March amid brisk exports

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea rose for the second straight month in March as exporters increased dollar holdings amid robust overseas shipments, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $92.7 billion as of end-March, up $2.67 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The FX deposits rose for the second consecutive month in March after they declined for the first time in four

April 19, 2021

Banks to extend loans worth W3.5tr to vulnerable people this year

South Korean banks plan to extend loans worth 3.5 trillion won ($3.1 billion) this year to low-income people with lower creditworthiness to help them cope with the fallout of the pandemic, the financial watchdog said Monday. The 2021 plan represents a rise of 100 billion won compared with 3.4 trillion won initially planned for last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Last year, local banks extended a larger-than-expected 3.7 trillion won in such loans to 210,000 borrowe

April 19, 2021

Korea Shipbuilding bags W208b order for 2 oil tankers

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Monday that it has signed a 208 billion won ($185.8 million) deal to build two crude-oil carriers. Under the deal signed with a European company, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., a unit of KSOE, will build and deliver the 300,000-ton ships from the fourth quarter of 2022, the company said. The deal has an option to construct one more same-sized crude-oil ship, KSOE said. KSOE has won 11, or 42 percent, of 26 crude-oil carriers o

April 19, 2021

Nokia to tap S. Korea's indoor 5G equipment market with LG Uplus

Nokia Corp., a Finnish telecom equipment giant, said Monday it has signed an agreement with South Korean mobile carrier LG Uplus Corp. to install its next-generation indoor 5G equipment here. Nokia said it will deploy its small cell AirScale Indoor systems in indoor locations across the country, including shopping malls and office buildings, for LG Uplus' 5G network. The system allows seamless 5G connectivity between indoor and outdoor locations and can be easily upgraded to accommodate future

April 19, 2021

Power companies asked to use more renewable sources from October

South Korea said Monday it has revised the renewable portfolio standards (RPS) system to have power companies utilize more sustainable resources, in line with the country's green energy drive. Under the new rules, power companies are requested to produce up to 25 percent of all their power output from renewable sources, up from the previous 10 percent, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The policy will be implemented in October. It marked the first time for the ceiling to

April 19, 2021

LG Electronics teams up with Bvlgari for rollable TV marketing

LG Electronics Inc. on Monday said it has joined hands with Italian jewelry and luxury goods brand Bvlgari to promote its rollable TV to European customers. The world's second-largest TV maker said it recently held events for high-end customers at Bvlgari shops in Switzerland to introduce the SIGNATURE OLED R TV. "As the target customers for the SIGNATURE OLED R and Bvlgari are those who buy products based on their value, not their price, we believe the joint marketing events will create

April 19, 2021

Doosan Infracore wins order for 15,000 forklift engines in China

South Korea's construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. said Monday that it has signed a deal to provide 15,000 forklift engines to Linde China Forklift Truck Corp., a Chinese forklift maker. Doosan Infracore will offer small-sized diesel engines and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) G2 engines from 2023 to 2027, which will be mounted on Linde China Forklift Truck's forklifts under 3.5 tons to be exported to Europe and North America, the company said. Doosan Infracore did not reveal the va

April 19, 2021

S. Korea's Q1 growth estimated to have recovered to pre-pandemic level

South Korea's first-quarter economic growth is widely estimated to have recovered to pre-pandemic levels on a rapid rebound in exports and investment, experts said Monday. South Korea's gross domestic product came to 468.8 trillion won ($419 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2019, about a month before the new coronavirus hit Asia's fourth-largest economy. As the economy shrank 1 percent on-year in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the country's GDP dwindled to 463.4 trillion

April 19, 2021

Seoul stocks nearly flat on valuation pressure

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Monday as investors took to the sidelines amid increased valuation pressure. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 0.16 points, or 0.01 percent, to 3,198.78 points. Stocks got off to a muted start after the Kospi gained in the past five sessions, closing Friday just shy of the 3,200-point mark on expectations of a global economic rebound and better earnings reports in the January-March season. In Seoul, market kingpin Samsung Elec

April 19, 2021

SK Telecom launches 5G-based disinfection robot

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Monday it has commercialized the world's first 5G-based disinfection robot in a move to automate anti-infection efforts against COVID-19 in health care facilities. The telecom operator said it partnered with Yongin Severance Hospital to deploy the robot, which uses a real-time location system using a 5G network to roam around the hospital on its own and monitor people's temperatures and whether they are wearing masks. The robot is also

April 19, 2021

Sales of pickup trucks dip 34% in Q1

Sales of pickup trucks in South Korea tumbled more than 34 percent in the first quarter of the year amid sluggish demand, industry data showed Monday. A total of 5,539 pickup trucks were sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy in the January-March period, down 34.4 percent from a year earlier. SsangYong Motor Co. saw sales of its Rexton Sports come to 4,391 units in the three-month period, down a whopping 42.1 percent from the previous year. GM Korea sold 940 units of the midsized Colorado pick

April 19, 2021

[News Focus] Seoul moves to enact its own ‘chip act’

With a growing sense of crisis amid an unfolding global power struggle involving chips, South Korea is moving to legislate its first special bill on the local semiconductor industry. If enacted, it would mark the first time that the country, home to world’s No. 1 and 2 memory chip producers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, acts to provide practical support and benefits, including tax credits, to chipmakers and the local chip ecosystem. It would also be a signal that Korea won’

April 18, 2021