Authorities to step up safety checks of imported kimchi

South Korea will introduce measures to ensure the safety of imported kimchi, such as conducting onsite inspections at around 100 kimchi production facilities overseas by 2025, the Ministry of Food and Drug said Thursday. The move came after a video of a kimchi-processing plant in China went viral in South Korea for exposing its poor hygiene and sanitation conditions. In the clip, a naked man is seen swishing cabbages back and forth through a waist-deep pool of unidentifiable brownish liquid,

April 15, 2021

Hanwha Solutions to issue 1st overseas green bonds worth 1 billion yuan

Hanwha Solutions will issue its first overseas green bonds worth 1 billion yuan ($152.9 million) starting from Monday, the company said. The yuan-denominated bonds, with a three-year maturity, carries a rate of 3 percent and will be guaranteed 50 percent each by the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea and Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility, a trust fund of the Asian Development Bank. When swapped to the Korean won, the green bonds will offer an annual interest rate of approximately 0

April 15, 2021

LG-GM to launch 2nd US battery factory

LG Energy Solution and General Motors will build a new electric vehicle battery plant in Tennessee, their second in the US, the US automaker’s South Korean unit confirmed Thursday. The new factory will be similar in scope and scale to their first plant, a $2.3 billion facility currently under construction in Ohio. Set for commercial operation next year, the Ohio plant is designed to churn out enough batteries for 35 gigawatt-hours per year. LG Energy Solution and GM have set up a joint

April 15, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 4th day on economic recovery hope

South Korean stocks finished higher to extend their gains to a fifth session Thursday amid expectations that the economic recovery would be quicker and stronger than expected. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 11.95 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 3,194.33. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 17.4 trillion won ($15.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 468 to 375. Foreigners bought

April 15, 2021

[News Focus] Gangnam housing prices back on the rise

SEJONG -- Housing prices in the wealthy Gangnam area of Seoul were found to have shot up again in recent weeks, after spikes in prices in Seoul’s non-Gangnam districts and Gyeonggi Province’s major cities last year. The Gangnam area generally refers to two districts -- Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu – out of the 25 in the capital. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, the average trading price of homes, including apartments, in Gangnam-gu climbed by 6.1 percent from 59.3 mil

April 15, 2021

Foreign investors to return to market when short selling resumes: FSC chief

The head of South Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday that he expects to see a greater inflow of foreign capital to the nation’s stock market with the reactivation of short selling activities next month. “Resumption of short-selling signifies that the market is going back to normalization and (I hope) foreigners to return to the market,” said Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo in an impromptu meeting with reporters. While the government is set to

April 15, 2021

[Herald Interview] ‘Success of Korea’s Digital New Deal depends on connectivity, cloud, IT talent’

Ever since the emergence of the internet, digitalization has been a popular catchphrase. Yet, it is an elusive goal for many, as nearly half of the world’s population remain unconnected. South Korea, one of the most wired countries in the world and the first country to roll out the next-generation 5G networks, has set digitalization as its new goal, seeking to invigorate its pandemic-hit local economy with the “Digital New Deal.” An executive of Cisco -- a US tech fi

April 15, 2021

BOK chief forecasts rosy mid-3% growth amid new virus concerns

South Korea’s central bank chief said Thursday that the nation’s economy is likely to expand in the mid-3 percent mark this year, rosier than its previous forecast in February. The bank also decided to keep its policy rate frozen at a record low of 0.5 percent on concerns of a looming fourth wave of the COVID-19 virus. “The current situation surrounding both the global and the Korean economy show that the mid-3 percent growth for this year is a possible outcome,” Bank o

April 15, 2021

S. Korean economy to grow 3.5% in 2021 on brisk exports: KERI

South Korea's economy is expected to grow in the mid-3 percent range this year on resilient exports, a leading private think tank said Thursday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is likely to expand 3.5 percent on-year this year, a sharp turnaround from a 1 percent contraction in 2020, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI). KERI's latest projection is higher than the 3 percent forecast made by the Bank of Korea in late February. The think tank under the Federation of Korean In

April 15, 2021

[Exclusive] Hana signals entry to digital payment market

Hana Bank applied for trademark rights to the name “Hana Payments” last month, signaling that it is gearing up to enter the nation’s easy-to-use digital payment market. Industry sources told The Korea Herald on Thursday that the lender applied to register the name with the Korean Intellectual Property Office on March 19. This suggests that the lender may soon join the race to offer online-based easy payment solutions, market watchers said. Major financial groups including K

April 15, 2021

LG Electronics to invest $20.5m in US washing machine plant expansion

LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday it will invest $20.5 million to expand its washing machine factory in the United States in a move to meet growing demand in the country. The home appliance maker said the investment will create 334 new jobs at the plant in Clarksville, Tennessee, bringing its total workers to 1,000. LG has invested $360 million to build the plant, which has been operational since late 2018 and currently has the capacity to produce more than 1 million front- and top-load washer

April 15, 2021

Korea witnesses growing co-investment opportunities: Adams Street Partners

The burgeoning co-investment market in South Korea has reached maturity enough to offer attractive opportunities for investors, US-based investment firm Adams Street Partners said Thursday. Institutional investors that carry out co-investment strategies with its private equity fund managers in Korea and abroad are likely to take advantage of the private equity market in the fourth-largest economy in Asia, a trade powerhouse with growth potential in select industries, noted Dave Brett, partner

April 15, 2021

BTS represents Korean beer Kloud

K-pop juggernaut boy band BTS is the new face of Korean beer brand Kloud, Lotte Chilsung Beverage said Thursday. The South Korean maker of liquor, soft drinks and tea has signed a modeling contract with the septet – RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook -- with financials of the deal undisclosed. The first commercial featuring the group will be unveiled Friday, the firm said. The signing of BTS signals a new marketing war among the three major beer makers in Korea – Orient

April 15, 2021

Venture capital investments hit all-time high: KDB

The amount of venture capital investments made in the South Korean market last year reached a record high of 4.3 trillion won ($3.8 billion), according to state-owned Korea Development Bank on Thursday. The startup industry has seen an increasing inflow of capital in recent years. The amount of venture investment pumped into the startup market came in at 3.4 trillion won in 2018 and 4.2 trillion won in 2019. The startup segment is expected to gain further momentum thanks to the government&rsq

April 15, 2021

Tesla's sales nearly quadruple in S. Korea last year

US electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc.'s sales in South Korea nearly quadrupled last year from a year earlier on rising popularity of its vehicles, its financial statement showed Thursday. Tesla Korea said in a regulatory filing that it logged 716.2 billion won ($640 million) in sales in the Korean market in 2020, up 295 percent from a year earlier. Its annual operating profit soared 429 percent on-year to 10.7 billion won, and its net income skyrocketed 507.7 percent to 7.9 billion won, the com

April 15, 2021

S. Korea eyes to set global standards for EV wireless charging

South Korea said Thursday it will ramp up efforts to promote a homegrown charging technology for electric vehicles (EVs) as an international standard, as the country plans to penetrate deeper into the growing sector. The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards held a virtual meeting with experts from home and abroad to further foster the wireless charging technology for EVs with a capacity of 50 kilowatts, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy. South Korea proposed the te

April 15, 2021

S. Korea launches research on clean energy source for internal combustion cars

South Korea said Thursday it plans to study deeper into electrofuel, a clean energy source that can be used by internal combustion engine cars, in line with its vision to go carbon neutral. Under the plan, local businesses and institutions launched a research team to carry out research and development projects for the alternative resource, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Electrofuel refers to an environment-friendly energy source that can be used in traditional fossil-

April 15, 2021

S. Korean telcos to share 5G networks in remote areas

South Korea's three major mobile carriers will share their 5G networks in remote coastal and farm towns in a move to accelerate the rollout of the latest generation networks, the ICT ministry said Thursday. The carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- signed an agreement so that 5G users can have access to the high-speed network regardless of the carrier they are subscribed to in 131 remote locations across the country, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Under the

April 15, 2021

Aero K begins regular flights as S. Korea's 8th budget carrier

Aero K Airlines Co. on Thursday began regular flights with an A320ceo aircraft as South Korea's eighth low-cost carrier. Aero K began services on a domestic route between Cheongju, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, and Jeju Island, with a plan to expand flights to Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, Japan and Vietnam, the company said in a statement. The budget carrier has leased three A320ceo passenger jets from US-based aviation investment manager Carlyle Aviation Partners Ltd. "We are

April 15, 2021

Exports hit record high in Q1 amid pandemic

South Korea's exports hit a record high in the first quarter as shipments of chips and autos remained robust amid the pandemic, customs data showed Thursday. Overseas shipments amounted to $146.5 billion in the January-March period, up 12.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service. The reading marked the largest volume for any first quarter since the customs agency began compiling related data. The country's exports rose for the fifth straight month in March as ship

April 15, 2021